So to the Zambian border we headed to get in line for our visa...
Passport stamped, a short boat ride over the river and yey we arrived in Botswana.
We started off with a river cruise down the Chobe River which is the point where the 4 bordering countries meet... Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
I was excited about the first hippo sighting, as I have never seen hippo's out of the water before!
Botswana has beautiful wildlife with many people embracing the animals, plants and birds...
Was really nice and chilled and a great way to take in the scenery...
We were really lucky as we saw some elephants wandering down to the waters edge....
Think they were both thirsty and curious ...
Then "look" someone cried on the boat...Hippo's! Lot's of them lay in the sun, from a distance they just looked like rocks...
until you see their faces up close...
They look harmless, you wouldn't think that they were responsible for 300 human deaths per year!!! With a yawn the span of 4 feet and a run of 30mph, being trampled or bitten by one of these animals will literally be the death of you!
Errr should we worry that we have them in the garden sometimes by the volunteer house at Lion Encounter???
Definitely beautiful to see them in their natural environment basking in the sun and looking after their young.
Always lurking and silently floating in the waters are the crocodiles...
A great start to the morning and a good way to get us to our destination to meet our driver who will be taking us into Chobe National Park for a 2 day safari.
The elephant skull was HUGE!!
And just to put into perspective the size of some of the antelope horns...unbelievable that they are well over a meter in length.
Chobe National Park, in northern Botswana, has one of the largest concentrations of game in Africa. By size, it is the third largest park of the country, after the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and the Gemsbok National Park, and is the most diverse. It is also the country's first national park.
Always amazing seeing the elephants in their natural environment....
They are gentle giants, always looking out for the herd and their young...
Was great to see them having a mud bath to keep cool in the Botswana heat
and even the baby one attempted to join in the fun!!
Did you know it takes an elephant 6 months to learn how to use it's trunk:-)
we were lucky to come across a lioness after she had made a giraffe kill. Even our Chobe guide 'X' got his camera out for this lol!
She was exhausted but was trying to drag it up the sand for her and her cubs to feed.
She looked happy with her hunt and the meat on the feed would be well worth her efforts!
We passed by a few cheeky monkeys drinking at a waterhole...
and then passed by lots of buffalo...
...they always look so grumpy!! Haha.
But where you see one, there's always more around...
Was so nice to see them strolling in the open plains.
The giraffes we still visible even as the sun started to go down... love this picture!
As the daylight faded it was time for us to head into the bush to our camp for the night...
Was so nice everyone chilling and we even had a camp fire to keep us warm...although am sure the temperature here had only dropped to a cool 15 degrees that night!
Was funny as before we went to bed 'X' the guide gave us instructions that if we wanted to get up in the night, shine the torch all around and if you see eyes DON'T get out of the tent and if you are already out of the tent...DON'T RUN!!! As if we would ever run seeing eyes glaring at us in the african bush...am sure it would just be a pussy cat...not a lion, elephant, buffalo...eek!
We all survived the night under canvas :-)
Bright and early, 6.15am wake up for us to go on a game drive to see what animals we could see first thing...
So a quick breakfast snack and bags packed...
We were ready to go!!!
Bright and early we were able to watch the sun blazing over the waters in Chobe national park...
and our first stop was back to the waterside to see if the the lioness had managed to move her giraffe kill...
She had and the cubs were with her too!!!
A good hunter and mother!With 'X' our guides crazy driving we also managed to see the wild dogs hunting and chasing Impala's...
Again their black and tan fur help them blend in very well in this environment...
'X' was so funny and he said that he always found animals doing the 'jiggy jiggy' and today was no exception...he found the warthogs!
The eagles and vultures were always a good sight and they were also a good indicator of where the animals may be grazing as they were never far behind looking for leftovers...
Another lion sighting...
Very protective of her cubs...
This cub must only be 2/3months old, so tiny!
Then back to camp for breakfast at 10am...a busy morning!
With all of our things loaded we headed out for another game drive but to a more remote part of Chobe National Park
We spotted hundreds of buffalo's along the way lazing in the bush...
The giraffes were as inquisitive as ever!!
We spotted more sneaky crocodiles in the water...
Watched a large male elephant stroll ahead of us...
We learned how to tell the difference between the male and female giraffes... it's determined by the size of the lump on their heads!!
We spotted some Zebra's deep in the national park...such beautiful animals...
You can see how they would be able to hide in denser bush and confuse their stalkers...
Incredible again seeing more elephants, although we were all a little more cautious this time after being mock charged by an elephant a couple of metres away from the jeep!!! Yes we know who's in charge and we weren't going to argue haha!
After a long drive we took a few minutes to take in the incredible views and reflect on everything we had seen..
Another great trip with good friends to share this Botswana experience with...
As we headed back towards the outskirts of chobe and the national park, we were all full of smiles, with more memories to add to our African Adventure:-)
Thanks Botswana for an incredible trip x
So after a little time off, back to Zambia and Lion Encounter volunteer project we go, more pics and info to come in lion encounter blog part 2.
