Blogs from Chobe National Park, North-West, Botswana, Africa - page 11

One thing I can say about this vacation, there was never a dull moment! Between the beauty of the sunsets, the glaze of the milky way, the sounds and sights of the animals, I had grown quite fond of Africa. I must warn you, that when you go to Africa, there is a part of Africa that never leaves your spirit, or so they say. I have come to believe that. As you all know, I have a great passion for the outdoors, animals, and travel, and to photograph nature, for me it is a labor of love. One of the surprises we encountered while at Linyanti Camp is Wild Dog! There is less than 4500 Wild Dog, and we saw a pack of 28 dogs! Other animals we saw were: Birds, Hippo, Elephant, Water Monitor, ... read more

We took a "puddle jumper" to Savuti Camp, it was a little over an hour & half flight! I'd say the plane was smaller than the Concorde, and slower than a Snail in a quick crawl. It was fun though, especially when we hit some turbulence. Our arrival at Savuti Camp was a little on the wet side as an afternoon shower developed. Yours truly, my lower lip began to extend out because in the back of my mind, were we going to have one of those Texas showers that can go on forever, or would we have a "quickie". My mind eased up about an hour later! Off we went for a late afternoon drive to see what "dangers" would lie ahead. As we were driving down a hill, we encountered a couple of frisky, ... read more

January 26, 2006 Our first day of the safari. The night before we spent re-packing our stuff, doing laundry and getting ready. We left the hostel at 8:30am, and headed on our way to Greater Kruger National Park. Our tour leader, Charlie, seems really nice and incredibly enthusiastic. She's full of energy and information! Our group seems really great...mostly Aussies, with two Kiwis, a Brit and an American. We're 18 in total, plus Charlie, Dzingi (our driver) and Heinrich, whose learning to be a guide. Heinrich is hilarious. He's pretty young, from Namibia, and is really enthusiastic. This is his very first trip, and he doesn't seem to know what's going on at all, but that doesn't stop him! The group itself is great, lots of really fun people, which is great. A horrible group would ... read more

Travelling north through the Chobe Forest we ventured into the National Park. On our game drive we saw big herds of elephants including a small orphan elephant and a 2 day old calf who had not yet learn't to use his trunk - bless! Also saw antelope, hippos, crocs and a tortoise. Crossed into Zimbabwe late in the day. ... read more

We stopped at a wholesaler to spend our left over Zim dollars & stocked up the bar with red label Smirnoff vodka for less than US$2 a bottle & then set off for another border crossing into Botswana. When we got to the Katane campsite they said there was space & we drove down to pitch our tents. Unfortunately the only space was next to the Chobe river on paths made by crocs & hippos. As soon as the tents were up we rushed to the jetty passing grazing warthogs & playful banded mongooses & took a boat trip down the river. Chobe National Park isn't short of animals, from sun-basking crocodiles & mud-wallowing hippos to herds of elephants & buffalos, in every direction there was always something flying, swimming, feeding or peeing (as one elephant ... read more