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Published: August 11th 2009
Hi Everybody!
We just returned from safari. It was fantastic! There were 2 other people and our guide. We could'nt have asked for better, we all got along so well. Angela from England and Danny from Australia. We had to camp en-route to Botswana which gave us a chance to get to know each other.
Our first adventure was the Okavango Delta. We met up with local native guides who took us into the Delta by Mokoro, a dug out canoe carved in one solid piece out of a tree trunk. The guide is also the poler. He stands in the back of the Mokoro and uses a long pole to guide the canoe through the water and reeds. It was a little scary at first because the canoe sits very low in the water and seems unsteady, but it's really not. They just wanted us to lay back and relax so that's what we did. The more we move around the harder it makes their job. It seemed like we went quite a way into the Delta. It took about and hour and a half to get to our campsite. Our lead guides name was Alfred. After we got our
tents set up and they dug us a bush toilet and got a campfire going, he took us on a 3 hour afternoon game walk in the bush. We saw some elephant, giraffe, zebra, birds, hippo. It's a lot different seeing these animals when you're out in the wild walking among them. It's really cool.
We got back to camp right at dark. A troop of Baboons moved into the trees hanging directly over our camp and settled themselves in for the night. The moon was almost full and the light from it was so bright we could see them moving in the trees overhead. They are pretty noisy creatures. There was one directly over our tent who had a cold. He coughed and sneezed all night. It sounded so human I wanted to pass him a Kleenex.
The night was just so spectacular and the moon so bright that we all moved our sleeping bags out to the grasses that lined the Delta. An Elephant came through eating and drinking, then later in the night a Hippo woke us up grazing out in the water. The moon went down about 3am, then you could see the stars. It was
like someone had thrown diamonds onto a black velvet cloth. I've never seen the stars that clearly before. There is absolutely no light pollution out there. It is one of the most pristine eco-systems left.
Next morning we were up bright and early for a 6am game walk. Alfred took us on a 4 hour walk that was fantastic, we saw Water Buffalo and Kudu and Elephant then back to camp for brunch. We spent the afternoon relaxing then the guides took us on a sunset Mokoro trip down the Delta a little way to watch a group of 22 Hippos. It was so amazing. We sat and watched them at least an hour, then watched the sunset. A perfect neon orange orb with a background of pink, gold, blue and purple sky. There is nothing like an African sunset.
We slept outside our tents again tonight, it was fantastic with the Baboons, Elephants, Hippos, frogs, and the thousand other sounds you can hear during the night. It was much colder tonight though so we were all ready to get up and go on our 6am game walk. This was the most amazing walk ever. We saw great groups of
Impala, Zebra and Giraffe and they let us get really close. We were following an Elephant and he went up to a palm tree and he ran his trunk up the side of the tree trunk and started shaking the tree with his head making the palm fruits fall down so he coud eat them. It was a pretty cool show. We saw alot in an hour and a half. Then back to camp for breakfast, breakdown of the camp and another great Mokoro ride out of the Delta.
After getting back to the campground we were at for that night and getting cleaned up, the four of us took a 45 minute flight over the Delta in a small Cessna 5 seater. The bush pilot flies 300-500 feet over the Delta. It was so amazing. You can't imagine how much water and wildlife is in the Okavanga until you see it from overhead. It was spectacular. I hope the pictures do it justice.
More driving the next day, our guide David was terrific. He was really funny and a great cook. 6 more people joined our safari group today. They joined up with us at Elephant Sands Campground. We
were kind of apprehensive about new people joining us because the 4 of us got on so well. But, they all turned out to be terrific and a load of fun, too. We were joined by Amy & Ann, mother and daughter from North Carolina, Ashley -a law student from New York, John -18, Birmingham, England, just graduated high school going through Africa by himself before going off to university and Hannah and Amy from New Zealand, they were a hoot!
So our great group left bright and early next morning for Chobe National Park. After setting up at the campground we all had an afternoon game drive that was absolutely mind boogling. We were going through the park and had seen a few animals then the driver goes over this hill that lead down to the Chobe River and there were at least 1,000 elephants. They were scattered in family groups up and down the river and you could see more walking across the plain behind the river. It was one of the most awesomes sights any of us had ever seen. Then a herd of Giraffe moved in on our right and stayed pretty close to our vehicle.
Okavango Delta Botswana
Sausage Tree Fruit, the mokoros are made from sausage trees.They were so cool to watch, the way they spread their legs to drink and then pop back up in one single jump. There were also Hippo moving about among all the Elephants. It was such a wonderful scene we didn't want the driver to take us any where else, so we sat for quite a while just taking in this amazing sight. After we started moving again, we came across a lone Lioness eating a Warthog by the river. She was a little ways away, but all the other animals coming to drink were really giving her a wide berth. The game driver said it was unusual to see a lone lioness like that and he wasn't sure where she had come from. We also saw a dead Elephant being eaten by about 200 Vultures. Nothing goes to waste out there. On our way back in Amy from NC spotted a Sable. None of us had ever seen one, they're kind of scarce. He was so beautiful. About the size of a large deer, 250-300 lbs., solid black coat with white on his nose and a white strip running down his throat, across his chest and belly. His horns
were just perfect arcs that went over his back and came to a point. They were almost touching his back. He had a big thick neck with a bristly black mane. He was a cool character.
The next morning we had a 6am game drive that was absolutely unbelievable. We went back down to the river where thousands of animals had been the previous evening and it was completely empty. Unbelieveable. The driver moved away from the river out into the bush and suddenly there was a Lioness being followed by 2 little cubs walking through the bush just a few yards off the path. The cubs were about 10-12 weeks old, so cute. We're sitting there watching and the lone Lioness from the previous evening crossed the road in front of us and started to go in the same area. As soon as she spotted the mother Lioness she stopped dead in her tracks and she actually had a really scared look on her face. She stood really still for a couple of minutes then high tailed it out of there. Then, 3 bigger lion cubs, 7-8 months old came up from the right and crossed the road in
Okavango Delta
Zebra in Delta front of us and were going towards the mother Lioness. She did not like them being there at all and started growling and chasing them. Two ran off, but the third, a little male stood his ground and tried to fight her. It was scary, her growls and her attacking him. She did hurt him and his left shoulder was bleeding before he backed down. It was just such an incredible sight. How many people see something like that. She went on off into the bush with her babies before any other lions came along.
Then just about 15 minutes later we came around a bend in the road and there was a big male Lion walking along through the bush. He was so cool, he let us get a look at him then he disappeared behind a bush. The driver was going to circle around and see if we could get another look at him and when he turned another bend there was a female lioness lying in the shade. The mother of the 3 bigger cubs who didn't stay where she left them. We already know they got into trouble by not staying where she left them! Chobe
Okavango Delta Botswana
Elephant Shaking Palm Tree To Get Fruit To Fall was an amazing wildlife experience that will be hard to match.
Coming next. . . Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and rafting the Great Zambezi!
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Rick Barnett
non-member comment
Beautiful Botswana Safari
The safari story and the pictures are really cool! What an experience! Can't wait to see how the others react to reading and seeing these pictures. Keep them coming! Be Safe! Rick