Chobe Nat. Park, Savute

Our flight to our next lodge in the Chobe National Park was a little over an hour. We were met at the airport and driven about 30 minutes to the Savute Safari Lodge where we would spend the next two days. Our room looked out over a water hole that had Elephants drinking from it and the odor of elephant dung wafted in the air.

The Chobe is known for having one of the worlds largest elephant populations and is

the second largest national park in Botswana encompassing nearly 11,000 sq. km. renowned for its uniqueness and abundance of wildlife.

The African Wild Dog has large rounded ears a "Hyena-like" head and beautiful
mottled black, white with shades of light yellow brown patches of short hair giving it a
very distinctive appearance.
This beautiful dog-like animal is only a distant relative to our domestic canids.
A small pack of four adults were found napping under a tree in the late afternoon.
We waited patiently until they arose to begin their evening sojourn and watched them eagerly as they trotted slowly away.

They are exclusively carnivorous and like the North American Wolf, hunt for their prey cooperatively. They can run up to 35 mph and as long as 3 miles making it difficult for their prey to escape.
We were thrilled to experience the sight of these rare animals since they are considered endangered with only 5,000 of them remaining.

The Blackbacked Jackal reminded us of the North American Coyote by the way it moves.
It has a distinctive black and silver "saddle."
An interesting habit of laying on Elephant dung to mask its odor also hides it from predators.

Our guide was a big African gentleman named Ngande with a deep voice and keen sense of humor. I found out early that he was not into birds as much as we were but he quickly caught on when I was stopping him frequently to take photos.

A common resident throughout Botswana is the beautiful Lilac Breasted Roller.

The Kori Bustard (Ardeotis kori) is the largest bustard in Botswana and have become extinct in some areas due to habitat destruction from agriculture, development, hunting and a slow reproductive rate.
They are mostly terrestrial and one of the heaviest birds capable of flying.

The Southern Ground-Hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) is also threatened in many parts of its range and confined to reserves and national parks.


The Plains Zebra (Equus burchellii) was present in great numbers grazing in the Savute marsh where the grass was lush and not far from water. To see them in such high density in this vast savanna, each with their slightly varied markings was truely one of the heights of our experience.

Hundreds of Cattle Egrets(Bubulcus ibis) followed the herd


Our guide was constantly in touch by radio with other guides and learned of a pride of lions found a few miles away. We arrived within minutes to see two male lions loafing in the shade in the late afternoon while other members of the pride were a few yards away near the water hole.
It was like watching a National Geographic episode on TV in HD but this time we were actually seeing the drama before us as it took place.

There less than 20 yards away were three 5 month old cubs drinking and playing near a water hole.

The cubs attacked their parents playfully and generally ignored us and the
sound of our cameras clicking away.

The cubs went to their mothers side periodically for comfort and affection which they received with licking and rubbing.

We were immersed in the action before us for nearly 45 minutes but these precious moments would remain in our memories the rest of our lives.
On the way back to our lodge we saw dozens birds unfamiliar to us.

The African Sacrid Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) are common here but all of the wildlife in this wonderland were new for us.While passing through a grove of trees the stricking African Hoopoe (Upupa africana) posed briefly for a photo but didn't flair it's crest for us. Back in the open grassland a Northern Black Korhan (Eupodotis afraoides) appeared walking cautiously away from our approach.

Another amazing sunset on our last evening at Chobe as we headed back to our lodge with thoughts of the next adventure on the Zambesi River.

Close calls

In the early 70's while Murray Fowler was on sabatical leave I worked with Dr. Roy Hendrickson on Zoo rounds at the Sacramento Zoo. In those days the Zoo was a mish mash of farm-like enclosures for many of the Ungulates and Camels. We needed to restrain a camel to check it's foot for a problem noted by one of the keepers. It was roped around the neck and then tied to a large post in the ground. As we moved in to check the foot the camel reared back and the post came flying out of the ground. The camel more frightened by the post began turning in circles and the post became a flying missle which nearly wiped a couple of us out as it circled the entire enclosure.
Everyone luckily got out of the way but it was a very close call on that day.

While assisting Murray Fowler get a young camel into a cattle scale to weigh it the camel became nervous and got one of it's legs between the outer rail. As I grabbed the camels foot to push it back into the chute it turned and grabbed me by the back of the neck. Murray saved my life by punching the camel squarely on the nose which caused it to release it's hold on my neck. Had it shook it's head with my neck in it's teeth I wouldn't be sitting here writing about it today. I've always appreciated that Murray did what he had to do on that day. For the next week or so I walked around with my head slightly tilted and a very sore neck.

Murray Fowler and I were inside the Giraffe Barn at the Sacramento Zoo trying to get a long stomach tube down the throat of a recumbant Giraffe. During the procedure the Giraffe began thrashing it's long legs as if running on it's side. As it continued to thrash on the straw covered floor it became clear that we were cornered and the legs were getting closer and closer.

I realized that if hit by one of the thrashing legs it would be all over so I instinctively dove over the animals body and tumbled on the floor reaching safety. When I got up Murray was still cornered and I shouted to him to jump. I remember the look on his face was one of a person faced with a do or die decision. He soon dove over the giraffe also realizing it was the only way out. Another close call!

A young male elephant was delivered to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital for castration.

Dr. Murray Fowler would be the first person to successfully castrate an elephant. Male elephants go through a musth period not clearly understood physiologically but characterized by restlessness and aggressive behavior. Castration was indicated in this particular 8 year old male named Delinger due to it's recent history of destructive behavior. After the elephant had it's Testicle removed and was recovering in a outdoor enclosure it had to be medicated with large doses of Antibiotics on a daily basis. I was given the responsibility to deliver the antibiotics with a 30 cc syringe.

This responsibilty turned out to be not only difficult but treacherous. Although the elephant was tethered by chains to a metal fence it still had the inclination to slap at me with it's tail and trunk as I injected the very viscous antibiotic slowly into it's body. I learned to bob and weave while injecting with one hand using my other to deflect the attack. It was like defensive boxing which I had learned years earlier from my step father Jimmy Britt who was a former professional out of Tacoma Washington. I also learned quickly not to get between the elephant and the fence or it would squeeze you against it. It would additionally try to step on you if you were not careful.

A good friend and Zoo keeper at the Sacramento Zoo the late Tony Peters was seriously hurt by an Elephant. The elephants legs caught him as it attempted to get up from a recumbant position and knocked him to the ground. Tony recovered from that incident but his body was never the same.