We continued our Botswana tour by moving to our third tent camp of the week, located in the Moremi Game Reserve. This camp is called Khwai and is known for their extensive variety of wildlife. This is truly wild animal country, and we were warned again not to come and go from our tents without an escort. There are no fences around camp, and animals wander in and around constantly.

On one of the drives, we followed a pair of female lions stalking their prey with their male companion following behind.  After a session of lying down, they both got up and began to walk through the dry grass. The female does most of the hunting for food, and you can see in the lower image just how well they camouflage into their surroundings. Unless they moved, we not able to find them in the field at all.

After dinner that evening, we heard a shout. Tuaro, the staff member responsible for turning down our beds at night, was severely frightened. He had gone down the path to our tent without a flashlight, and had seen eyes following him. The others went back to inspect the scene, and the eyes turned out to be that same trio of lions, only 15 feet outside our tent. They were now stalking Tuaro. We stalked the lions by day, but they stalked us by night. That evening, we were warned again not to leave our tents.  Sure enough, we could hear sounds of hyenas and lions fighting over a kill around 3:00 AM. Our lions finally left us sometime after that.

We found quite a few more hippos in this region than earlier. Most were quietly lying in the water, or moving slowly through it with only their eyes and ears showing (upper left).  One suddenly did an interesting total roll, leaving a period with only his feet dangling in the air (lower right). Each time we encountered hippos, Sam, our driver and guide, would look around, to make sure that a hippo wasn’t about to cross nearby as we drove our jeep across. Hippos are considered one of the most dangerous animals in Africa.

As before, there were plenty of elephants to be seen. Most of these were in short dry grass fields.  One of them took exception to our being there, and started shaking his head and throwing water (upper) for a short time.  Within a few seconds though, he seemed to lose interest in us, and returned to his eating of grass. We were warned not to get to close to male elephants in heat. These are the most aggressive elephants and most likely to charge a jeep. One swipe of their strong trunks can knock you out of the jeep. You can identify them by their strong smell, as well as see the wet glands below their eyes.

A wider range of antelopes existed in this region, with kudu (upper row) being much more common than before. We also saw quite a few red lechwe (lower two rows) here for the first time. Antelopes like to eat in shallow water areas (middle right), as it gives them protection against predators. Leopards and lions move more slowly through water than do antelopes, plus the predator splashing yields more advance warning.

Our guide is an excellent tracker, able to spot how fresh the tracks are for various animals, and what directions they are headed. Since this is a private reserve concession, we are allowed to drive off road, which is a mixed blessing.  That meant we can get to where the animals are, but it also means we need kidney belts as we try to hang on.

As we were driving on the dirt path, a serval cat suddenly jumped in front of us (middle row).  We followed him for awhile in a bumpy, jarring chase, until he turned into the brush (middle right), where he quickly was out of sight.  The monkeys are overhead in the tree in this Botswana camp, and occasionally you see swarms of them around the tent. The staff doesn’t mind the monkeys, as they serve as “alarms” to warn of larger predators such as leopards, lions, and hyenas coming nearby.

Our Land Cruiser went through several places where we would have turned back if I had been driving, and it was quite nerve-wracking, as we went in search of the leopards and lions. One place that gave us pause was a rather rickety wooden bridge that looked like it was barely strong enough to hold us alone, let alone a heavy 4-wheel drive vehicle (lower right).  We also crossed many major expanses of water that were more than a foot deep, with the actual bottom being unknown.

We were now ready to expect another singing welcome as we came into camp with Tuaro, Mulapisi, Cady, and Emanuel. Emanuel introduced himself as our “skinny cook”, and told us to eat as much as we wanted, since the more of his food we ate, the more weight we would lose. I really wanted to stay and test his theory…! ☺

After four game drives in Chobe camp, we were driven to our second camp. Savuti is located along the Savuti Channel on the western side of Chobe National Park and is a private camp of  &Beyond. Savuti is known for its exceptional wildlife viewing. We also realized what the pattern of our week would look like.  We always arrived at each new camp just after lunch, where the camp support staff serenaded us with a welcome song (upper-left and video at end of this post), handed us a glass of fresh lemonade and a warm towel.  After putting our luggage in the tent, we would head out for an afternoon game drive around 4:00 pm, returning back to camp shortly after sundown.  The next day would involve two game drives, with breakfast, lunch, a hot shower and a superb dinner.  The third day (after two nights in the tents of the current camp), we would do a morning drive in the area, have lunch on the road, and then drive to the next camp, where we would have an afternoon game drive, and start the process anew.

There was no marshland around this camp, so all driving was in our Land Cruiser that we used for most of the week.  We are not “birders” and thus do not take very many images of birds. There were so many yellow billed hornbill birds (lower-left) that came close to our lunch stops, looking for dropped crumbs, that we made an exception.

Zebras were more plentiful in this part of Chobe National Park, so spent some time watching several small dazzles.

There was more variety among the antelope in this part of the park, and kudu became more common.

We also saw groups of wildebeests, which are called an implausibility of wildebeest, grazing on the dry grass or just walking casually to their next feeding area.

We had our first sighting of a leopard today.  We were lucky enough to first spot it lying down on sand in a relatively open area (upper).  We waited for awhile to see what would happen, and soon he got up to start to hunt.  The image lower-right shows the leopard no more than maybe 50 yards away.  Notice how hard he is to see among the grass. His rosette spots on this skin help him to approach his prey more closely before being detected.

By the way, if we had seen a group of leopards, they would have been called a leap.  Seems that almost every animal on this continent has odd names when referring to them in large numbers. ☺

There were also massive herds of elephants (yeah, kinda boring to be called a “herd” after all those exotic names…).  We particularly struck it rich while waiting at two natural water holes.  More than 100 elephants approached, drank, bathed, and left, while we watched and photographed. The youngest baby elephants were still trying to get control of their trunks to drink from, and they stood in the pool near their mother and tried to mimic the motions.

We also saw a couple more prides of lions.  At one point, we saw a female lion walking purposely forward, with three cubs in her wake.  We followed them at enough of a distance to not disturb their actions.  Not long later, she arrived where a male lion (top row) was guarding a fresh giraffe kill.

The kill had been dragged into the brush to hide it from scavengers, while the mother retrieved her cubs.  We then watched the cubs eating the giraffe… or at least trying to.  The cub teeth were not strong enough to pierce the tough hide of the giraffe neck (lower-right), so there was a lot of frustrated biting and pulling, and then trying elsewhere on the body, until they finally found a spot they could gain access through.

This part of Botswana is desert, with almost no annual rainfall.  Thus, most of the plants are barely more than scrub brush.  However, the baobab and acacia trees do find root throughout this region, and are  representative of Africa.

We were again greeted by the camp staff singing a welcome song to us.  Note that there are five support staff shown, plus our driver/guide, for a total of six. (Boesi, Bonno, Charlie, Obi, Kopana, and Sam Kudomo at this camp)  We were the only two on this tour, meaning we had up to six people waiting on just the two of us.  Always friendly, often laughing, we certainly received exceptional service while in Botswana! Each night, we had a treat — when the beds were turned down, a hot water bottle awaited us in bed. In the mornings, someone would do a wake up call at 6:00 AM, pour us a bucket of hot water to wash up, and when we went on our morning drives, we would have “bush babies” (hot water bottles) for our laps.

After a one night layover in Victoria Falls, we were set to join our safari tour group in Botswana. There was some confusion at the meeting place, until Sam came over and introduced himself as our guide and driver.  Turns out we were a “safari of two” and this was going to be 8 days with just the two of us in four different luxury tent camps. Each camp was quite unique in terms of their variety of animals and terrain.  The original tour did say “minimum of two people” and it turned out that we were the two.

The tour started with a boat cruise along the Chobe River, where we saw herds of elephants eating hippo grass, crocodiles absorbing the rays of the sun, families of elephants crossing the river to various islands, antelope grazing on shore, hippos taking a dip in the river and Cape Buffalo.

Our Botswana tour was with &Beyond (known in Google as AndBeyond), and our first two nights were at their tented camp in Chobe National Park. This was true camping in the sense of mobile canvas sleeping quarters, no internet and barely enough electricity (via inverter on the jeep battery) to keep our camera batteries charged. However, this was no tent that we ever carried on our backs when younger and exploring the Pacific Northwest. The tent had three rooms, including a comfortable double bed, fine linen, and even a full porcelain toilet in the back section!

As we arrived at our first camp, we were met by four camp workers who sang a gorgeous quartet of welcome in their native language (upper left plus see video below).  It was a surprise, both to be greeted in this way, and by the exceptional quality of their combined voices.  These four men (Gabriel, Phillip, Petzel and Simon) were to be our cooks and general support staff for the next two nights.

After a brief settling in, we were introduced to “Bush TV”, a camp fire, with snacks and cocktail. As with all four camps we stayed at during our Botswana trip, this area was teeming with a variety of wildlife.  There were lots of birds, such as the Lilac Breasted Roller (upper right). Crocodiles were a frequent water hazard here (middle row and lower-left), and there were a few giraffes (lower-right).

The island was lush with “hippo grass” which was an obvious favorite food for the many cape buffalo and elephants in the area.

This was our first chance to get close to zebras, which had been scarce in Namibia.  We also saw a few hippo, but usually from a considerable distance.  We had hoped to get up close and personal for images of hippos “yawning” (which is actually a warning from the animal to show how large he is). We did see the behavior a few times, but always in the thick marsh grass (lower-right).

Antelope are everywhere throughout the region. Our driver repeatedly referred to the impala (upper-left) as “appetizers” because they are relatively small, plentiful, and frequent prey by predators.

As we entered the Chobe tented camp, the staff greeted us with this native welcome song,

This is the second post from the two-day game drive on the Erindi Private Reserve in Namibia (see Lions and Elephants).  We saw giraffes several times during the three drives. I always get a kick out of seeing them bend down for drinking (or tasting a salt lick in upper-right), and of seeing such gangly beasts run (lower-right).

We had never seen giraffes fight before (entire block), and it was fascinating to see all the action in slow motion. They were fighting over… what else?… a female (middle-right).  They would face each other (upper left),  then very slowly bend their necks down and hit the opponent in the rear with their horns (upper-right). Sometimes they would just bang their necks together (middle-left). There were occasional breaks in the fighting, while they ate off nearby trees (middle), the then it was right back to the fight (lower-left and lower-right).

FN, our Erindi guide (he introduced himself to us with two initials, saying his full name was not pronounceable) told us that this  fight would go on for days, until one of the two young males either broke his neck, or fell down from a numb rump having been hit too many times.  We apparently were just seeing the warming up acts of the battle to come.

See some video from this fight at the end of the post.

There were also many antelopes on the range. Perhaps the most important ecological purpose these animals play is to be food for the larger carnivores.  The Oryx (upper row) are also farmed for human consumption, and we can attest that Oryx meat, when properly cooked, is very delicious. The impala are considered the rabbits of the range, being so prolific, and our guide kept referring to them as “appetizers.”

Antelope do tend to be more active, often running away from us or from other perceived threats.  Since they are perhaps the most common meal of the carnivores, it is pretty clear how this behavior developed.  The bottom image shows a Spring Buck antelope, so named because of its off running posture, shown here in mid-stride.

Many other animals were also found on the reserve, though in smaller numbers. One hippo (upper-left) stared down from the river bank at us, but we never saw the open-mouth yawn that we wanted to capture.  Crocodiles (upper-right) were very common, and one of the largest dangers of the waters in the region.  We saw very few zebra (middle) or warthog (middle-right).  We did come upon an extended family of wild dogs though (bottom row), with roughly 20 pups all huddled together for warmth and protection (bottom-right).

As we left Erindi, and finished our Namibia excursion, there were just enough clouds on the horizon to create a beautiful sunset.

One final side note. July is winter in Namibia, and the morning and evening game drives are quite “c-o-l-d”.  We were always rewarded with a gourmet meal and a hot shower after each game drive, both of which were quite welcome.

Here is some video we took of the fight that was going on between the two giraffes. This may look like slow motion, but it is actually being shown in real time.  That is, these fights are real slow, almost like the giraffes were fighting in a pool of molasses.

We finished our Namibia tour by staying at the luxurious Old Trader’s Lodge in the Erindi Private Game Reserve for two nights. This is a huge reserve covering 273 square miles or 71,000 hectares. We had three game drives here. With the abundance of wildlife to be seen, including animals that visited regularly to the watering hole at the lodge restaurant,  this post is being broken into two parts.

Lions are a major component of “The Big 5” game animals of Africa.  As such, they are always considered prime game to track for any photographic safari. On private game reserves, jeeps can drive off road, often times over very heavy brush to track the animals, whereas it was required to stay on the established roads in public parks. Erindi has two large prides of lions, both of which were found in our three drives. The females (above) are the most active during the day, often hunting for food.  We witnessed one “kill” where a wild cat was caught by the lions, then strewn aside like a rat. The young lions were clearly practicing their hunting technique. One of the 10+ females on the reserve has a radio collar (top row, 2nd image) to assist researchers studying the range of the lion family.

The male lions are the King of the Jungle in song and myth, but are actually rather lazy. It was rare to see them do anything but sleep, or walk slowly behind a female lion. One male lion had a severe limp, apparently from a prior fight.

Elephants have been hunted throughout Africa for their ivory tusks, almost driving them to extinction.  Private reserves such as Erindi are leading the efforts to repopulate this majestic animal (another of the The Big Five) throughout Africa. Though these mammoth animals destroy trees and grassland they trample through, that action is actually critical to maintaining the existing ecological balance. We had a chance to see several dozen elephants during these two days.

One interesting behavior of elephants that we have seen before, is their throwing of dirt upon themselves.  A small family of elephants came onto the road just a few yards in front of our jeeps, and one of them proceeded to give a full demonstration of the process (full block above).  Elephants apparently do this for a number of reasons, including using the dirt as a sunscreen and to keep off parasites.

There are over 300 species of birds known to inhabit the Erindi reserve.  Though we are not “birders” and are not able to identify more than the most common species, it was obvious that there was an abundance of them wherever we looked.

And, of course, there were the humans of the area.  One advantage of doing a safari on a private reserve vs public national park, is that the number of people is severely restricted here.  We had a small band of local bushmen do a small dance for us each morning, wishing us a successful hunt (left column).  Once we left the lodge area though, it was rare to find any people not belonging to our group on the roads.

The jeep shown above (right column) was the second half of our safari tour group organized by Squiver.  At one point, our two jeeps were near each other, watching a lion sitting down.  I took a photo of the other group, then commented that there didn’t appear to be any photographers in the group (we had been in that spot for 20 minutes and the lion was only showing how well he slept…).  Within seconds of my making that comment, all cameras from that group pointed my way, yielding the image upper-right. ☺

There were a lot of elephants in this area. At one point, this family came out onto the road just a few yards behind us. The baby started playing with the older sibling, then the adults started spraying dirt on themselves.