Day 19 - Aug 9 - Chobe National Park, Botswana
Trip start
Chobe National Park, the second largest national park in Botswana (covering 10,566 square KMs), has one of the greatest concentrations of game (and predators) on the African continent.
This trip was an option from Thorntree Lodge and we decided, the previous night, to do ONE MORE GAME DRIVE. Stuart set everything up for us and it went perfectly.
Vaughan's 10x zoom captured most of the excellent close-ups.
The day began with a transport to the Botswana border and then moving easily through customs (all the details were handled for us from Thorntree Lodge). The next step was a small boat ride across the Zambezi River and transport to the Chobe River where our boat cruise took place.
Where the Chobe and Zambezi Rivers meet, forms Impalila Island (for the birders), where we could see four countries; Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The end of a wonderful and memorable safari and trip to Africa!
Send questions and comments to [email protected] and I will answer when time permits
Safari start
previous - Livingstone - Thorntree Lodge
Why we came to Chobe national Park ... a female lion guarding a young water buffalo kill
It proved to be a good decision as we were treated to the aftermath of a lion kill that occurred the day before, as well as a boat cruise where many elephants, water buffalo and crocodiles were captured on film.
As well, in Chobe national park, we were lucky to see puku (or kudu) close up, giraffes in unusual positions and the rare sable at the end of the drive.
The boat cruise, adjacent to Impalila Island, presented a variety of animals and birds ... resulting in many pictures.
Kudus
During the boat cruise, we could see many elephants on the left bank and crossing the river
Zoom of a pied kingfisher
The 380mm version
Another close-up
Ready to make one of its many unsuccessful dives for fish
300mm zoom of a fish eagle, the national bird of Zambia
The 380mm zoom version
African skimmer
Water buffalo with a cattle egret on top
300mm zoom
380mm zoom
We stopped at a very expensive hotel for lunch (cost part of the trip), during the boat cruise, and this radiant tree was in bloom.
During our drive into where the kill should be in Chobe National Park, we came across these giraffes
We finally got to the kill after a good half hour steady ride in an open game drive vehicle over very sandy roads.
We looked around the area and came across this lioness guarding a kill behind a bush
Close shot of a kudu
On our way back from the lion kill, we were lucky enough to see these giraffes in excellent positions
That 380mm zoom was very useful
As we were about to exit the park after the game drive, we came across these rarely seen sable
The end of an excellent game day in Botswana ... highly recommended for any safari
next - Return to Joburg
Safari start
Trip start