Blogs from North-West, Botswana, Africa - page 2

Nous sommes en Afrique! Je n’ai pas vraiment le temps d’y aller avec de longs exposés, mais je vais faire un bref résumé de ce que nous faisons avec quelques photos pour ceux que ça intéresse. Nous avons quitté mercredi en fin de journée. Trente-cinq heures de voyagement, donc 25 heures d’avion et deux escales (Doha et Johannesburg). À Doha, nous avions neuf heures d’escale donc nous avons quitté l’aéroport pour aller dormir quelques heures. Doha était un four avec une température de 43 degrés Celsius, sans l’humidité. Le projet d’aller se promener à pied dans la ville a donc rapidement été abandonné. J’ai dû dormir 15 minutes sur 25 heures. D’une part pour ne pas rater la distribution d’un sac de croustilles et d’un verre de jus d’orange (on prend ce qui passe en classe ... read more

Botswana! What a country, not just in terms of it's beautiful landscapes and incredible flora and fauna, but for the memories this gorgeous little country gave us! Botswana isn't a country I had ever really considered and I have no idea why. Home to Chobe National Park, the Okavangko Delta, the Kalahari desert and a haven for wildlife- having the highest population of elephants on the planet, it is no wonder that Botswana was named one of New York Times places to visit in 2017! We arrived pretty quickly into our lodgings just outside Chobe national park, checked in and headed straight for the bar! A few tipples later and off we went for a sunset cruise on the Chobe river, which was possibly even more stunning than the Zambezi river cruise- we were blessed with ... read more

Geo: -19.0933, 22.4451 All night long we heard hippos bellowing not too far outside our tents, plus -- one of my favorite sounds in all the world -- frogs singing for mates. I had my best sleep of this trip so far, waking at 5:30AM only when one of the staff walked by, calling a good morning to each tent. Dressing quickly in the dark, I walked to the main hall and learned that two lions had visited our camp last night, right after everyone had left for the evening. There were their tracks, and where they had lain down, in the mud at the foot of one of the short stairways leading into the dining area. So it is good we are told that no one should walk around at night, although of course, lions ... read more

Geo: -18.5421, 24.5105 Drums waking us again at 5:30AM, our typical wake-up call, our Chobe National Park safari again began as we boarded the jeeps an hour later. But this time we were searching for animals for the whole day, not returning to lovely Baobab Lodge for lunch and quiet time. The Baobab Lodge staff promised to provide PB&J sandwiches for our picnic lunch, but we should not have been surprised by the amazing feast that was presented instead, and served to us in the wilds of Chobe NP. Moses was the driver and guide on the jeep I was riding in today. Even as the jeep was climbing up the severely rutted road from Baobab Lodge, we saw two giraffes, a mama and her big baby. Like the kudu, giraffes seem to use standing still ... read more

Chobe National Park, Botswana We stayed at Chobe Chilwero Lodge overlooking the Chobe River and the Caprivi flood planes. In the morning we did a morning game drive along the Chobe River. Lots of elephants with some new babies. The babies were always surrounded by several adults to provide protection. We also encountered a pride of lions that had killed a buffalo that morning. Interesting that 3 other buffalo came very close to the pride. Our guide said that were pissed off, before we were aware of the buffalo the male lion was the first to react and then several of the female lions rose. This did not stop the lions from feeding, but I guess the buffalo wanted to make some kind of statement. At dusk we did a cruise on the Chobe River, lots ... read more