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.
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!
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