Final Days in the Bush, Lions, and...

We have two more days in the Okavango Delta, and are visiting during the rainy season or rather the end of the rainy season when water is plentiful and lots of greenery.  Typically, this is not the best time for animal sightings since they are more difficult to see in heavy foliage and have a wider range without water restrictions.  Plus, it could be rainy and miserable for days.  We have been blessed with beautiful weather, and the only truly rainy day was rhino tracking.  Seeing all the animals we have and so close I couldn’t imagine a better time to be here!

Noss says she has NEVER had a group that has seen all of the Big Five....elephants, lions, Cape Buffalo, leopards, and rhinos in the wild!  Some groups never even see a lion, and we have been blessed to see them twice plus the elusive leopards - twice!  OAT uses different camps in various areas and most groups never see rhinos because they don’t stay in Livingston near Mosi-au-Tunya National Park.  This trip really has had multiple National Geo moments!

We tease our guides that we want to see more cats and more baby animals.  He finds “cute/ugly” warthogs with babies, and then on a wooded island lies a majestic male lion surveying his domain!  The sun is shining on his mane, and I just want to pet him if I didn’t know those large teeth would do serious damage. 

He rises from his perch and strolls down to a shady spot in the grass.  Our guide says he has a full stomach and probably fed last night.

Our day continues with tsessebe, another member of the antelope family.  These resemble wildebeast with their long faces but no shaggy beards.  We see numerous birds and the crocodile tree named for the bark resembling a a croc’s hide.  

A bull elephant lumbers by along with a family of giraffes.  We stop by a hyena den and there lies an old female hyena missing her ears which she probably lost in a fight.  Zebras are grazing before another gorgeous sunset sends us back to camp for dinner and bed.

Dawn breaks on our final day in the bush and our last game drive.  Tomorrow we fly back to Zimbabwe and Victoria Falls.  We have seen so many animals, had so many amazing experiences, but we keep asking our guides for more.   They tell us “Let’s see what nature offers today”!

We have spent 12 days in the bush at four different sites and other than missing my family and friends, I would willingly stay.  Africa and the bush and these amazing creatures have cast their spell on me.

The delta wakes with wildebeasts and hyenas on their scavenging prowl.  We see a large male Cape Buffalo with a broken horn covered with mud.  Giraffes strut across the grasslands giving us numerous opportunities to photograph them.  

Our guide gets the call that “the water is arriving”.  We race off to see this amazing sight of the annual floodwaters arriving in the Okavango Delta.  This is the world’s largest inland delta which is the site of an ancient sea that dried up.  There is no outlet, instead, it empties into the sands of the Kalahari Desert.  75% of the waters that irrigate the delta comes from the north in Angola.  The waters flow into five major channels like the fingers of a hand and then spread out across the surface of the land.

The waters are late this year, and the residents have been eagerly awaiting them.  One guide scoops up a drink and washes his face with it.  We see a fresh water terrapin that has washed in with the waters.  Each day the waters will rise flooding the grasslands leaving islands for the animals.  The waters are not deep...inches to a few meters.  Soon game drives will be in flat bottom boats rather than trucks.

Today is a “monkey lunch” - a picnic outside which may be populated with monkeys instead of ants.  We don’t believe they will be much of a problem until they start stealing our food!  If you turned your head to talk to someone, a monkey would swoop out of the trees and grab whatever was available.  Noss had told us to grab sticks in the beginning, and we finally realize the only way to eat is with a stick in hand and ready for battle.

As we head out for our final game drive and our last African massage, we are still looking for cats.  Noss spots a beige area in the grass and announces, “Lion”!  We can’t believe she spotted another lion, and we speed over ruts to see the male lion from yesterday on his back spread eagle in the grass.  

He obviously is completely comfortable sunning himself with his belly exposed.  He looks hungry with his full belly from yesterday markedly shrunk.  He glances our way occasionally, scratches his face and rolls over.  Our guide says he knows we are there both by sight and an ear to the ground; however, he looks dead to the world!

This is a wonderful way to say goodbye to the bush.  Dinner tonight is kudu which tastes like venison!  We have a final Cultural Night enjoying the staff singing and dancing before we entertain them.  We conclude all together as we teach them the Hokey Pokey!

Another day in Africa!

Morula and Leopards and ...

I’m sitting on the porch at Camp Sebu watching my new elephant friend graze on the lush green grass of the Okavango Delta.  He is accompanied by a troop of baboon, but otherwise, it is quiet...whoops, here comes a monkey...on this lazy hot afternoon.  Birds also gather on the mud flat near camp, but I’m too excited to siesta after my animal encounters.  

Wake up drums were at 5 AM for our flight to the delta.  On the way to the airport, six hyenas lined the road for a final animal sighting as we said goodbye to Chobe National Park in the northeast corner of Botswana.

We boarded 10 seater planes, and an hour later we were flying over the waterways and grasslands of the delta.  Several people spotted elephants and zebras below.

After tea....yes, we have to eat our 5 meals a day!...we arrived at Camp Seba and were greeted again by scented washcloths and lemon and ginger sparkling water.  It’s a similar treehouse feel as Camp Baobab but looks directly out on the grasslands and a large mudflat.  Now a warthog has joined the other animals.

Lunch concluded, Robyn and I headed to our assigned tent...#1.  As we walked down the wooden raised walkway, a congress of baboons were jumping on our roof.  Suddenly, the biggest male baboon I had ever seen was on the roof and mating with a female.  She let out a holler, they both jumped down, and commenced eating the round green fruit of the morula tree.  Life in Africa!

Suddenly our escort stopped, ”Elephant”!  Right by our walkway, right by our tent door, was a formidable gray male elephant scooping up the same morula fruit with his long trunk.  He was very peaceful and was distinctive with a large chuck missing from his right ear.  Robyn and I couldn’t believe our up close and personal encounter.

Several of the camp employees tried to scare him away, but they only succeeded in him “hiding” in a bush.  

A guide put himself between the elephant and us, and we scooted into our tent to watch from the window.  Only a wooden walkway and a piece of canvas were between us and one of Africa’s big 5 animals.  We spent another 20 minutes watching from screen netting windows before he turned and disappeared into the foliage.  My thoughts, “He’ll be back for more fruit”!

Another new creature is also hanging around our deck.  He looks similar to an impala and is also part of the antelope family, but this is a bush buck with beautiful white markings.  

After spending time on the camp’s patio and watching our new “friend” in the grasslands, he headed back in the direction of our tent.  I packed up and ran...ok, I trotted...to our tent where Robyn was taking a siesta, but this elephant moved faster than I did.  He was already by our front porch so I had to stop to give him space and shouted quietly, “Robyn, don’t come out!”

I watched from a safe distance on the boardwalk while Robyn watched from inside the tent.  Our friend definitely wanted more fruit, and then he started stripping limbs of low growing bushes.  After about 15 minutes he turned to go, but instead of leaving, he calmly walked around our porch and down the other side of our tent to the back where the morula tree grew and more fruit was on the ground.

I ran inside, and Robyn and I were in awe as we looked out our screens to see this giant of the bush within reach of our hands and nothing but a piece of canvas separated us from him.  He seemed gentle enough, but that is when human and animal interaction can turn deadly.  Robyn and I watched quietly from the “safety” of our screens for 30-40 minutes, and at time I was either eye to eye or eye to trunk with him.

He knew we were there; elephants have extremely good hearing and smell.  They certainly should with those big ears and trunk!  Robyn and I were clicking away with our cameras and “Morula” (I named him after the fruit that he loves!) fascinated me as he sniffed the ground for fruit.  When he found one, he carefully picked it up and plopped it in this mouth.  Those trunks can be deadly and pick up trees, but they can also pick up a pencil.  He finally turned, walked right by our tent side, and back into the bush.  People pay big bucks for this!

I didn’t think we could beat that experience, but we loaded trucks for an afternoon game drive.  It was quiet...impalas, zebras, giraffes, elephants, warthogs, hippos in a pond; same old, same old.  Suddenly, our guide gets a call...a confirmed leopard sighting!  It’s the only animal in the “Big Five” that we haven’t seen during our trip.

We raced and bumped and turned off-road which is allowed here until arriving at a grassy area where a beautiful full grown leopard was resting.  It was difficult to take pictures since my camera wanted to focus on the grass surrounding him.  His spotted coat was exquisite, and he tolerated our presence until he stood, stretched, and headed to another shaded area.

The guide, Go, who found the leopard did so by watching giraffes nearby.  His father educated him growing up in the bush, and he is astute at reading animals’ behavior.  He noticed the giraffes were all facing one direction and were very watchful.  “A predator is close”, and he was right.

The leopard must have heard a noise in the brush because he crouched and started to slowly stalk his prey. One footstep, pause, two footsteps, pause, and each step was taken to insure silence.  We watched this performance for 10 minutes and left him to find dinner without our intrusion.

Dusk was falling, and our guide gets another call...another leopard sighting.  We had asked for one, and now we might be blessed with two!  Off roading again through tall grasses...not the place for allergy sufferers, and a much smaller lighter colored leopard is within sight.  With darkness approaching we watch him, and his interest in a small rank of impalas.  

Excitement that we might get to see a hunt ended when the impalas let out a warning noise.  The leopard had probably been smelled, and the element of surprise spoiled.  Our truck headed to camp, but the other truck’s adventure continued when a herd of wildebeast ran towards them and around both sides of their truck.  Suddenly, the small leopard jumped on a wildebeast’s back but was shaken off.  It was dark when we arrived at camp with the other group excitedly telling us about their adventure!

Wow; another day in Africa!

Wishes Do Come True and ...

We load into our trucks for the final day in Chobe.  We jokingly refer to our wish list, but we have been blessed to see an incredible number of animals and so close.  I knew we would see them, but I envisioned they would be in the distance like the first day.  Never did I think they would be right next to us.  I thank God for this opportunity to see his creation!

As we head out of the camp, the shout goes up, “Hyena”!  We all strain forward and along the road trots a spotted hyena.  These are scavengers, and this one is searching the road in the early morning for road kill.  Brilliant!  Their scat is normally filled with fur, and turns white in the sun from the calcium of bones they have eaten.  

Hyenas have powerful shoulders and jaws and are one of the Ugly Five.  Yea, we’ve see all of the “uglies” - vultures, Maribou stocks, wildebeast, warthogs, and hyenas!

Our guides are amazing trackers and often point out animal prints in the road.  He believes lions are nearby, and as we round a curve, there is a pride of tawny colored top predators lying in and on each side of the road.  Six female and young males, but wait, up ahead in the road is a shaggy headed adult male lion in all his glory!

We cannot believe our morning....hyena, and now male lion.  Our truck is stopped, and the engine is off, and I think, “I hope we don’t have to make a fast escape”!  I stand up in the second row to get a better look and quietly but firmly told to “Sit down”.  The lions were calm but watching us guardedly.  I am told that anyone standing or making a sudden movement will be seen as a threat to them, and they might attack.  You can’t help but admire their huge paws and subtle strength

We watch these magnificent beasts sun themselves in the warm road.  We are especially fascinated by the male as he blinks and preens and shows his profile.  We are so close I can see the flies around the lions’ noses and the swollen ticks around their eyes.  

After 20-30 minutes, the lions tire of our stares, and walk into the bush.  The male stretches, marks his territory as king, gives us a final look while licking his chops, and struts after his harem.  We are so excited!

The game drive continues with more warthogs which are finally calm enough for me to take pictures of their tusks and faces.  

Giraffes, kudus, and impalas with oxpeckers so close I watch them clean ears and faces.  Birds, monkeys, and in a pile of elephant poop, we spot  dung beetles!  We add them to our Small Five list.

We stop by a pond to watch a pod of hippos.  Finally, we see some out of the water and closer for photos.

A large bull elephant wanders out of the bush heading to the river.  It glances our way but is more interested in a long drink.  Slowly, he lowers himself into the water and rolls!  As we watch him, more elephants emerge which may be the ones we watched yesterday since there are multiple ages.  The bull, finished with his bath, powders himself by throwing dirt on his back.

We are thoroughly entertained as this memorial of pachyderms enjoy an afternoon mud bath!  The babies are rolling in the mud and youngsters are splashing reminding me of human children.  The adults sling mud up into the air and coat their skin to deal with the heat and insects.  I take dozens of pictures hoping to capture some of the joy these elephants seem to express and are certainly giving us!

We look behind and here comes another large bull getting closer with each mighty step.  Our guide moves the truck forward to give him plenty of space to pass and join the other elephants.  He lumbers by swinging his trunk ignoring us as if we are part of the landscape.  We, however, are glued to our seats since he could certainly change his mind and perceive us as a threat.

The elephants finish their mud baths and blend back into the bush grazing and shaking tree limbs as they go.  Our game drive isn’t over, but we agree the day couldn’t be better - hyena, male lion, and elephants playing in the mud.  But wait, where is that leopard?  One member of our group quips that “You can let the leopard out of his cage anytime!”

We see another leopard tortoise, hippos, and giraffes.  In a field, impalas and zebras are grazing together and a sable antelope joins them.  

We return to camp ready for another Cultural Night with staff.  I am sad to leave, but a final kudo joins us in the valley below.  I say goodbye to my favorite “loo with a view” with a stunning sunset.

Another day in Africa!

Warthogs, Elephants, and ....

Heading to the Zambia-Botswana border, 18 wheeler trucks filled with freight line both sides of the road.  Nos explains that the only way across is a small ferry which can only take one truck at a time.  They may wait days to get across from the Zambia side, but the Botswana side will be delayed for 2-3 weeks.  Due to this, there is a high percentage of sex workers in both areas and HIV.

As we prepare to board the ferry, vendors are selling carvings and bracelets.  I have bought several wooden animals as souvenirs from staff in the camps to add to a collection at home.  I think these will be cute for Jackson to play with them one day while I tell him about my African adventures!

Camp Baobab will be our new home for 3 days as we explore Chobe National Park, Botswana’s 1st national park and home to an estimated 50,000 elephants.  This camp has a treehouse feel with a beautiful lounge and eating area.  Our tent’s patio looks out on a valley with animal trails down to the lake.  We are anticipating great game viewing.

Heading out for an afternoon game drive, we immediately see a brown sable antelope which is larger than an impala with beautiful chocolate brown fur and straight horns.  Around a bend is a family of warthogs, another one of the Ugly Five.  This is the first warthog I’ve seen close since the others always turned and ran through the bush.

A group of warthogs is a sounder, and these animals have poor eyesight and memory.  They sleep in burrows at night and many lose their tails due to hyena attacks.  If they have a tail, they hold it high like a flag running through the grasses so others can follow.  They kneel on their front legs to use their tusks to help dig for roots but Africans say they are kneeling to pray before eating!  These critters are actually cute so don’t know why they are in the ugly list.

We spot one then two and finally a large memorial of elephants walking and feeding in the bush.  There are multiple ages and sexes including youngsters and babies which we haven’t seen before.  As we watch, the baby nurses from the mother.  The young ones cavort around the adults, and it’s amazing no one is trampled.  The herd also includes a large bull elephant proudly displaying his manhood who is probably the father of these babies.

We have been thoroughly enjoying the elephants, but as they wander into the bush out of sight, we spot another member of the antelope family, the water buck.  These large beige and light brown creatures have slightly curved horns and a distinctive white round mark on their rear.  Our guide tells us that from “sitting on the toilet seat”!  When they are stressed, they exude a hormone which causes their meat to have a bad taste.  Even lions and crocodiles don’t like water bucks for dinner!  They have a 7 month gestation and live about 14 years.

As dusk approaches, we see the ghost of the bush.  The kudu is the largest member of the antelope family with spiral horns and beautiful white markings on the face and haunches.  He is skittish and nervous around humans so isn’t seen as often as his cousins the impala or even the water buck.  Their large horns are fully grown at 6 years of age with 3 twists growing a twist every two years.  They have a muscular hump on their shoulders which enable them to jump 3 meters straight up standing still.  This particular kudu has oxpecker birds riding along his back, and I capture a silhouette of him beside the river.

Bedtime is right after dinner, but 5:30 AM wake up calls come early with the staff beating drums. We will be on game drives all day today in Chobe.  We spot animals along the way but nothing new and exciting- impalas, zebras, guinea fowl, warthogs, birds.  By the river we see several Nile crocodiles which feed on fish and animals that come down to the river to drink.  Normally 6-18 meters long, Nile crocs have pointy snouts and green eyes.   Nest temperature determines the sex of the 20 eggs which the female lies and tries to protect from lizards and baboons.

A tower of giraffes capture our attention, and we watch these graceful creatures.  Their necks seem to weave in and out of branches as they eat stopping periodically to look at us.  

..

Nearby is a bachelor group of impalas.  I’ve started saying, “Good luck!” as we pass these guys since they may each be fighting for a dominant position soon.

Down by the river again, we spot a water lizard in the grass.  These love to eat crocodile eggs digging up nests that mother crocs bury about a meter into the ground.

Someone spots elephants nearby, and we speed up the truck to intercept them.  Suddenly, they are all around us...in front, behind, beside.  We watch quietly, and let them move on as they head towards the river.  We follow and especially love the antics of the little ones!

Learning and discovery continues in the afternoon with a basket weaving demonstration and a beautiful display of their handiwork.  I purchase one from the woman who made it, and she said it took her 4 weeks to complete.

We continue to enjoy the animals on the trails below the patio.  Baboons, impalas, and even an occasional kudo passes by.  The communal bathrooms near the lodge have the BEST view!  You sit on the toilet looking through the open back to the valley.  I have no idea why monkeys and baboons aren’t in there with you!

Tomorrow will be our last day at Chobe before boarding planes to fly to the Okavango Delta in another area of Botswana.  We have a “wish list” of animals to see...hyenas, a male lion, and a leopard.

Another day in Africa!