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This cat came wandering along a dry channel near us while we were having sundowners alongside the landrover. As soon as we realised what it was we got back in pretty quickly. He then proceeded to lay down for about ten minutes just watching us watching him before he strolled along just behind our truck.The great thing about the Okavango is there is nobody else around we had this guy all to ourselves - no troops of vehicles following him.
One of the great things about being an Okavango safari is seeing the animals in their natural environment without the crowds. But how close do you really want to get to them in a open top Land Rover. Personally I want to get as close as possible without it getting too dangerous or upsetting the animals. However a South African guy on another truck always made sure he was right in the centre preferably with someone between him and the lions.
This chap was entertaining us while we prepared our sundowners. Having sundowners seems to be an almost universal tradition in the "posh" safari lodges. But it really is quite wonderful standing, watching whatever entertainment is on offer with a glorious sunset as a backdrop.
Chobe was THE place to see elephants while I was travelling thru southern Africa. We also saw baboons, warthogs, water buffalo and various antelope but the elephants were my favourite.We parked by a large watering hole and watched an elephant pool party for at least 30 minutes, until an elephant appeared too close for comfort and charged at our small jeep. Our driver honked the horn and revved the engine to scare him away. It was quite an experience.see my intro for more animal pics
You add another level of excitement to your game viewing when you go on a game walk. Obviously on these you will not see the big game close up - or you hope you don't. The guides will be keeping their eyes open for tracks of any animals that might be dangerous to you on foot. We had to move to another site on one wallk when we came across the tracks of a lone buffalo, definitely something you don't want to meet on foot. In fact after hippo's these are among the biggest man killers in Africa. As you walk along you feel incredibly exposed, especially as you walk past clumps of bushes that look just like the one you saw lions around yesterday.It is especially important when walking that you wear clothes that are very neutral coloured so you don't stand out too much. This has a double effect, it could attract predators or more importantly scare away the more timid game.
Bushcamping in the Okavango Delta is a great adventure for anyone who likes being in the wilderness. On my trip, we started by a mokoro (dugout canoe) ride on the delta. The ride is really peaceful and quiet and allowed us to see a few animals including hippos. After about 3 hours we got to a small deserted island where we bushcamped. On the island we noticed a lot of elephant dung, so we asked our guide how often the elephants visited the island. "Every night" was our guides answer. Cool!Sure enough, after sunset we heard some splashing in the water. The elephants were coming! They got very close to us but started charging (away from us) when they smelled us. According to our guide, they panicked because they had baby elephants with them. We were also visited by hippos, but stayed away from them. They will charge and attack anything getting close to them!The next morning we went for a...
The Okavanko has around 460 species of birds. Among the ones I saw were Fish Eagles, Martial Eagles, Eagle Owls, Lilac Breasted Rollers, Carmine Bee Eaters, Secretary Birds, various Herons, Storks and Kingfishers etc.....A couple of South Africans I wents out with were avid bird spotters and in three days they reckoned they saw getting on for 200 different varieties.
Chobe National Park is a smaller wild park with a lot of open plains and therefore you can see very far. Go with on a morning or evening expedition to spot the wild life. We saw a lot of animals; you can read about it in my travelogues. You can do a boat trip or take a jeep. You will see lot's of animals.You can read more about it on my Chobe national parc page.
We came across this group of hippo's as we were on a small boat in the channels. As soon as one of them disappeared under water our guide got us out of this pool. A little later we enterd a narrow channel from a pool and almost bumped into another hippo. It was as startled as we were and dived into the papyrus alongside the channel, all we could see as we motored past was his backside sticking out of the gap he'd made in the reeds. He was still there a couple of hours later as we returned.
I stayed at Mashatu Private Game Reserve - part of the Rattray Reserves. It was Incredible! Lots of animals... elephants in herds of over 100! Ruins of ancient civilizations (you can literally walk around and find artifacts - beads - in the ground!). And I wasn't even in the more famous Okavango Delta region! (have to go back to visit there).
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Reviews and photos of Botswana attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Botswana sightseeing.
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Q: Hi, want to do this trip last week in March/1st week April, should we get good weather or is it a bit too early for the Okavanga...
A: Hi Chanes are that you'll see far fewer animals if it has flooded, as when the water is scarce, the animals congregate around the little water that's around. Once the...
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