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.

Kalahari Desert, Botswana, Africa

After 2 days of flights from San Francisco to Frankfurt, Germany then on to Johannesburg, South Africa totaling over 20 hrs. in the air we landed in Maun, Botswana.
It took us only 10 minutes to go through the line showing our passports then a quarter mile walk to a Bush plane where we were met by the Pilot and his Co pilot.

Bush Pilots
Within an hour of flying over arid and semi arid land below we landed on a small dirt airstrip near the Deception Valley Lodge in the Kalahari desert.
It is situated in a landscape so vast and untouched by civilization or as another author wrote “one of the last places on earth to be corrupted by humans”.

It is not a true desert but rather a semi-arid land covered by drought resistant plants such as the dominant Acacia Thorn bush and several grasses.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that we were the only guests during our 2 night stay. As a result we were treated like special guests by our guide Adriaan his future wife Wanda.

Our room was reached by a boardwalk and had an enclosed outdoor shower and a deck overlooking the water hole 50 yards away.

Just outside our room I photographed exotic birds never before seen by either of us.

Crimson-Breasted Shrike


Fork-Tailed Drongo


Shaft-Tailed Wydah
On our first evening we went on a “Game drive” in a beat up Toyota Landrover with Numsi a Sans Bushman descendant as our point guide/tracker.

Numsi sat in a small seat mounted in front of the Landrover where he astutely looked for tracks and listened for sounds that would alert him of something nearby. Adriaan a South African of Colonial descent and ex professional Cricket player told us that he always wanted to be a guide and here he was in his prime proving that he knew his subject well.

We stopped at a large water hole for our “Sundowners” (South African Sauvignon Blanc). I had just sipped my first taste of the wine when Adriaan said “Get back in the Land Rover, Lions!”

I quickly sucked the entire glass of wine as I scrambled back into the vehicle to grab my camera. Kimberley calmly got back into her seat with full glass in hand filled with joy and excitement to see her first Lions in the wild.


Before us less than 20 yards away were two huge Black manned adult male Lions. According to Adriaan they were 7 year old brothers. They sauntered by us on their way to drink side by side then came back and lay down to relax and were completely oblivious to our presence.

What a beginning we both thought of what would turn out to be a continuing adventure of a lifetime.
On our return to the Lodge we saw a Nightjar in the middle of the road and stopped to get a closer look.
Rufous-Cheeked Nightjar
We were in the vehicle when a heavy rainfall hit and lasted for about an hour.
While enjoying good food with our hosts a large African Porcupine entered the dining area giving us a chance for photos.


The next day our expert guides were attracted by the sounds of alarm calls by birds that told them something was up nearby.
It turned out to be one of the most poisonous snakes in Africa and it was apparently not welcome by the birds. I photographed it as it slithered up into the bush.

The Boomslang is active during the day and feeds mostly on birds and chameleons.


Boomslang (Dispholidus typus) Large green eyes indicate juvenile

Helmeted Guineafowl
The Guineafowl were plentiful usually on the road and would run fast (25 mph)in front of the Landrover for well over 2 minutes before escaping into the grass.

Tawny Eagle
We were never without a new bird or mammal to look at or photograph. I was snapping away at every opportunity but would find out later that many of my photos were out of focus despite the fact that I was using a lens with optical stabilizer and usually automatic focus. Fortunately I did manage to get a few good photos.

Southern White-Faced Scops Owl
I am particulary grateful to the owner of The Deception Valley Lodge for pointing out the owl that was perched during mid day near our room.
The water hole near the lodge was visited by Warthogs,Kudus and Impalas.

Greater Kudu

Warthog running with tail straight up are reffered to by the locals as "radio Botswana".
I will continue this in another post soon and talk about the Bushman and our adventures in the Okavango Delta and Victoria Falls, Zambia.