Safari Sunday: A lion family for New Year’s

Early in the day, our guide found a mama lion in an area where he knew that a pair of mama lions often “stashed” their babies during the day. Our guide knew that they would often call them out in the late morning and/or late afternoon to get them some exercise.

When the lion walked into the brush, we poked around the bushes to see if she would call them out to get some exercise. She didn’t, but we found where on litter was waiting patiently for their mama. We could barely see them, because they were tucked away behind some bushes. But I did see one toddle past – barely able to walk. The guide guessed that they were maybe 2 months old – old enough that their eyes were open, but young enough that they weren’t very good at walking, and the mama wouldn’t be having them come out.

However, we returned late in the afternoon, because the guide also knew there was a second set of cubs. We found the two mama lions together first, and waited around for the one to call out her cubs. They came out and hung around mama for a little while. A good looking family!

Tags: safari, safari sunday

Safari Sunday: “I want a hippopotamus for Christmas…only a hippopotamus will do…”

It’s Christmas and #SafariSunday, what could be better than a hippo picture? How about a *baby* hippo picture??

On our first river cruise, we quickly learned to expect amazing things. Before we’d been out on the boat even 15 minutes our guide spied this little hippo eating grass on a small rock outcropping. We kept a respectful distance, acutely aware that Mama was watching us the entire time. Before too long, she hopped back in the river and spied at us from behind Mama. (I don’t know that the baby is a girl, but just decided it was a girl – I do that a lot with the babies we saw on this trip.)

The baby is about 4 months old. The moms keep the babies away from the rest of the pod for the first six months or so. These two were still separated. Fun fact that the guide told us: baby hippos can nurse underwater.

Tags: safari, safari sunday

Safari Sunday: Tiny baby baboon

These were taken on our first game drive at the Chobe Elephant Camp. Our guide thought this little one was just a few days old, and the guide seemed to marvel over this tiny baby baboon. We sat and watched him crawl over his mom for several minutes.
Anytime we found something that even the guide was impressed by or marveling over, I knew we were seeing something special.

Tags: safari, safari sunday

Safari: Nxamaseri Day 2

Today was our full day at Nxamaseri, and we took off early to drive to Tsodilo Hills. We had another couple with us for the drive. It was about an hour and a half drive – in the states it probably would have been less than an hour, but the roads we were taking were mostly dirt. I think we had about 10km on a paved road, but those are rare in Botswana.

When we arrived at the site, we split up from the other couple, each of us with an additional guide from the site itself, along with our Nxamaseri Camp guide. They took one look at my booted foot, and decided that Andrew and I should take the easier trail. Unfortunately that meant we didn’t get to see as much, but I understood the decision. Even at that, there was one cave that I couldn’t go into – or rather, I probably could have gotten in, but I wasn’t confident I could get out again.

We took a path along the base of one of the hills – the Mother. Along the way, our guide would stop at various tableaus to show us the paintings. The paintings weren’t exactly dense anywhere that we looked, but they were quite different from the ones I’ve seen in the Southwest. Rather than horses and desert animals, these paintings featured giraffes, rhinos, buffalo (okay, there might have been those in the Southwest), and antelope.

In one place, there was even a whale and penguin. The hypothesis is that a traveler came through and wanted to share what they had seen at the coast.

The final paintings we saw were the rhinos. Sadly, these were the only rhinos we got to see on our trip.

Tsodilo Hills was well worth the trip. If we ever go again, I’ll try to have a healthy foot, and insist that we do one of the other trails. And there were many trails.

We opted out of the evening boat trip in favor of just relaxing in the lodge on our last night in Botswana. I knew I would miss Botswana – our whole trip was so amazing that I knew that safari would lodge itself in my blood. I hope we get to go back someday.

Tags: safari

Safari: Nxamaseri Day 1

Our last camp, Nxamaseri, along the Okavango River, is not about game drives, but rather about taking a side trip to the Tsodilo Hills site – a site with ancient rock art.

The trip in was…interesting. From the airstrip we took a truck to a small boat. The boat took us to the camp.

After the customary check-in, drink, and safety briefing, we were shown to our cottage.

After lounging for a bit, we took a sunset cruise on the Okavango River with our guide, Fish. We saw hippos, crocodiles, and loads of birds.

While we were making our way down the river, Fish spotted some hippos. He stopped the boat, then backed up a bit. He stopped and explained to us what he was about to do. We were going to gun the boat, and go over the hippos. I think we must have looked at him like he was crazy. But he went on to explain that the hippos in the river are used to boats, and they know when one comes by, they should get down low, let the boat pass, and then they can pop back up. It sounded insane, but Fish grew up on the river, so we had to trust him.

At one point, we pulled into a little side stream/alcove in the river, and Fish turned off the boat so we could talk a bit. He went over the plan for our outing the next day. He also talked about how the bushmen use the papyrus plants, among the ways was as a hat. He also talked a bit more about the bushmen, which was his background.

While we were stopped there talking, I suddenly heard a hippo surface near the boat – just a bit of water gurgling and a clearing of nostrils, but it was enough to make me scream! Fish tapped his hand on the side of our boat, to scare the hippo away. Between his tapping and my screaming, the hippo decided he wanted no part of us. Thank goodness!

We stopped on the river for a sundown drink.

Then back to the lodge. During our pre-dinner drinks, we got to talking with the other guests. One couple was on their honeymoon, and suddenly I hear Andrew ask the husband, seemingly out of the blue, “Did you used to work with [some former co-worker of Andrew I can’t now remember]?” I think I looked at him like he was an alien, and even more-so after I heard the answer of “yes”. Andrew explained that his former co-worker had mentioned a that she knew of a couple who would be in Botswana about the same time as us. What are the chances?? We struck up a conversation that continued through dinner.

Then to bed.

Tags: safari

Safari: Nxai Pan Day 3

Our last morning at Nxai Pan, we decided to forego the safari drive and take in a bushman lesson from our tracker – a real bushman. (He had given me a lesson in clicking the night before.)

This meant a leisurely morning, so Fifi joined us for breakfast in the lodge.

Then we learned about a bushman’s pack. This one was made from an entire pelt – springbok? I can’t remember.

And, of course, the traditional hunting wear.

He told us about how they use some of the plants in the area for healing and cooking.

He demonstrated how to tie a snare.

Then attempted to make a fire.

It was just a little too windy, but we did spy some smoke!

Then we were on our way to the airport.

We spied an oryx crossing the airstrip.

And the bachelor group of elephants was waiting to see us off. They were very close to the airstrip, and our guide let us watch and take pictures for a while.

I was attracted to the textures of the elephants, and we were close enough that I could grab some pictures to highlight those.

When our plane radioed in that they were getting close, our guide had to chase the elephants away from the airstrip.

A fitting farewell to our last camp for game drives.

Tags: safari

Safari: Nxai Pan Day 2

Today we took two drives around the Nxai Pan park. Our guide explained that the area had recently had their first good rain, so many of the animals had started moving toward the center of the pan. Since the area is a national park, we were confined to the roads, unlike in the reserves we stayed at in the Okavango Delta. So, we would find what we could from the roads, which did not go through the central areas of the park.

Still, we saw a lot of amazing things. We started the day with a herd of springbok, including this silly guy rubbing his head on the ground.

Then a jackal graced us with his presence.

We came upon a herd of wildebeest.

And two of them started running around, chasing, and mock fighting.

We did find one truck that was off-roading. The guide explained that it was a documentary crew that was following a cheetah with two babies. They had special permits to follow the cheetahs wherever they went. That meant we always knew where the cheetah was…but sadly they never came very close to the road. I swear, though, I did see a couple small shadows moving near the truck, where the guide and tracker were pointing.

Then we returned to where we had spied the male lions yesterday…past the even smellier elephant carcass. I swear that smell is still caught in my nose.

Sadly, the lions were sleeping well off the road, so we could barely see them.

We passed by one of the human-made watering holes, but no one was there. Then we took our morning coffee at one of the official camping sites in the park. This was the bathroom building – with a number of means to keep elephants away from the building.

Another jackal came up close for a good shot.

Then we stopped by one of the baobabs in the park. Our guide let us get out and grab some pictures near the tree – though, I stayed in the truck because it’s hard to get in and out with my orthopedic boot on.

And then we found some elephants. Most of the family groups had moved toward the center of the salt pan, so what we found was a group of bachelor elephants. These guys have a loose group where different members come and go as they please.

While we were watching, another member joined the group. We watched as he was greeted by another member. They touched and intertwined their trunks.

On the other side of us, a small group of giraffes passed by.

Then we returned to the camp for lunch and our siesta time. During that time, I spied some of the smaller animals in the park.

On our evening drive, it wasn’t long before we found the bachelor group of elephants.

And a male ostrich.

The wildebeest were grazing near a kori bustard.

We returned to the male lions, through the stinky-elephant-carcass gauntlet, but this time they were much more picturesque.

As dusk was approaching, we spied a kori bustard taking off, and I was able to grab a shot of him silhouetted against the colorful sky.

Then our sundowner drinks…

… and elephants on our drive back.

Back at the lodge, I brought my iPad with a map of the night sky for our area, so Andrew and I could do a little star gazing. I easily spied the Magellenic Clouds – they are huge and look a lot like the Milky Way, but just as clouds, not a streak across the whole sky. We also found Orion, Sagittarius, the Southern Cross, Cetus, and Cygnus.

I had hoped to do more star gazing when we returned to our cottage, but it was not to be. Andrew found a scorpion hanging out on one of the walls, and when we sprayed it with the “doom” bug spray, it got annoyed and crawled out through a crack in the wall…right out to our back porch where I was going to go to stargaze. So…no. I was good. Didn’t need to go out again.

Tags: safari

Safari: Pom Pom Day 3 and Nxai Pan Day 1

Not much to say about our last morning at Pom Pom because we opted to skip out on the morning drive. We were still exhausted (and not too fond of our truck-mates at this camp), so we relaxed in the lodge, watched the elephants in the lagoon, and waited in the peace and quiet until it was time to meet our plane.

I took the camera with me again on the flight.

And was rewarded with a giraffe greeting at the Nxai Pan airstrip – our next destination.

After our customary house drink and safety briefing, we were shown to our accommodations – this time a huge cottage.

After freshening up and taking a rest, we joined the other guests at the lodge for afternoon tea before heading off on our evening drive.

And before long, we were off again in a safari truck. This area is a salt pan, with lots of open space and trees in the middle and on the edges of the pan.

We saw lots of baobab trees dotted around the landscape. These beautiful trees take hundreds or thousands of years to grow to the heights we saw. However, the elephants can take them down. The damage at the bottom of the tree below is from elephants trying to get at the liquid inside.

We also spied a kori bustard walking around. These are the national bird of Botswana. It was chosen as such in 2014 because of its association with royalty – it was reserved for their consumption and it was believed that if eaten by others, they would become mentally ill.

We saw plenty of antelope – herds of springbok this time.

From there, we drove to where our guide knew a pair of male lions had been hanging out. The problem? They were hanging out not far from an elephant carcass, and we had to drive past the carcass to get to the lions. No problem, you say? Well, then you’ve never smelled a days-old dead elephant.

However, this was our pay-off.

Then we returned to the main path around the park (yes, past the elephant carcass again), and found a safe spot for our sundowner.

On our way back to the lodge, we spied a group of bachelor elephants in the dusk light.

Two of the elephants, though, were fighting. The guide wondered if there was a female in the area. We could see their outline as they approached one another, and we could hear the crack of their tusks as they made contact. The sight and sound was one of the most impressive things I’ve experienced. I can still feel it in my chest.

Tags: safari

Safari: Pom Pom Day 2

Our morning started with breakfast and a greeting by the elephant grazing in our lagoon.

We would be taking another mokoro ride this morning. On our way to the mokoro site, we spied this herd of reedbuck …

… and kudu.

And then we climbed into the mokoros – Andrew and I in one, our other safari mates sprinkled between the other three canoes.

Andrew was feeling a little dizzy this morning, so our poler kept us closer to the trucks. The other mokoros headed off across the pond and down a channel. This left things very peaceful on our side of the pond.

There were loads of daylilies …

… and birds all over the place …

… and a herd of elephants on the shore.

Our poler spotted a reedbuck, and suspected it would start jumping across the water. Again, as if by magic, he perfectly predicted what the animals would do. A few moments later, with us in a good position to get pictures, we watched him jump and bound from the island to the shore.

As always, there were hippos in the water, too. We kept our distance, and they kept their eyes on us.

Before long, our safari mates returned.

We got back in our safari trucks and continued on our drive. The antelope were out in force today! We spied this herd of impala. Have I mentioned that the guides love to refer to impala as the “McDonalds” of the savannah? First, if you look at their heinies, there’s a vague impression of the giant “M”. Second, there’s one on every corner.

Before we knew it, our guide and tracker had found the pride of lions again.

And there was cuteness to be had.

On our way back to the lodge, we found this reedbuck who decided he didn’t want to be around us.

It started sprinkling a little, and these elephants seemed to want to be somewhere quickly – they were moving fast!

Then we returned to the lodge. After lunch, we retired to our tent for a shower and rest. The elephant we keep seeing near the lodge was never far away.

We did a little shopping at the curio shop and picked up a couple baskets. Camp employees weave traditional reed baskets and put them for sale in the lodge. By coincidence, the two I picked out were both weaved by Max, our guide.

And again, we were off on adventures in the safari truck. Our truck mates declared that they didn’t want to see the lions again. I tried not to be too upset that they didn’t bother to consult with the rest of us – you know, those of us who love lions and all the big cats. I tried to keep in mind that our guide would find amazing things no matter where they went in the savannah.

We headed to the other side of the lagoon from our lodge. There, our truck mates could see the birds – everyone else in our truck were birders. Andrew and I…well, birds are cool to look at, but I can’t tell most of them apart, and didn’t necessarily care if I was seeing the super rare wing-a-maurader or the very common flighty-mcflighterson.

But our naughty elephant was hanging out near the lagoon, so I grabbed picks of him, the birds, impala, and hippos.

When our truck-mates had had their fill of the birds, we moved on and found this very picturesque reedbuck with a termite mound in the background.

As we were driving around, we also spied a couple of very young giraffes in the bush. They were quite shy – understandably – so we couldn’t get pictures. Our guide guessed that the youngest one was only a few months old; the other was maybe just shy of a year. We moved on after the giraffes hid further in the bush.

Once again, the guide appeared to perform magic when they found a hyena den. From a great distance, he spied a hyena cub and took us straight there.

And then there were two cubs.

And a couple of mama hyenas – one nursing yet another cub, one just hanging out with the older cubs we spied first – and another pregnant hyena.

Max explained that hyenas separate from the pack when they are in advanced pregnancy until after the cubs wean. Then they rejoin the pack.

We watched for a long time, and then had to head for a location for our sundowner. On the way we spied a wildebeest.

And a pair of baboons in a tree.

When we found a spot away from the animals and at a vantage where the guide could keep an eye on things, we stopped for our sundown drinks.

Max, our guide, made Andrew look short. That’s quite a feat.

And again, we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

On our drive back to the camp, we found some giraffes, silhouetted against the sunset sky.

We did something a little different for dinner tonight. We were both tired of all of the togetherness, so Andrew had requested a private dinner. They had set up a table for us off to the side, away from the large dinner table. It was nice to be just the two of us and not feel like we had to be “on” the entire time.

Tags: safari

Safari: Pom Pom Day 1

For our flight to Pom Pom, I took my camera with me. Here’s Andrew in the plane:

I grabbed some pics of the landscape.

There were elephants dotting the way.

And we arrived safely.

We were being ushered into the lodge, when I spied this guy:

The lodge manager indicated that he could be a bit naughty, and it was best to wait a moment before entering the lodge. She grabbed our guide and he tried to get the elephant to move on. The elephant didn’t move for a normal hand-waving, but our guide then discovered that he didn’t like having water hosed on him!

With the elephant safely moved on, we entered the lodge, got our normal greeting and safety briefing, and then were shown to our tent, which was another gorgeous accommodation.

This was our view:

After unpacking, changing, and lounging for a bit, we took off again in a safari truck. Our first site was a wildebeest.

And a baboon up a tree.

And then our guide found this guy – this beautiful male lion. We’ve seen lions almost every day of this trip, but this was the first male lion we’ve seen.

Then along came his brother. This coalition of lions held the territory together. The two of them made an impressive site.

We were no more than 10-15 feet away from them. Andrew and I were in the middle seat of the truck, which meant our feet were up on the wheel wells – feeling like our legs were exposed as fresh white meat for the lions. I felt him lean a bit toward me and whispered, “Scared, honey?” He nodded yes.

The lions settled in for a moment and groomed each other.

Then the lions moved on, our truck followed, and suddenly I was on the same side as the lions. I leaned over to Andrew and said, “I see what you mean!”

These boys clearly have had a hard life. One of their canines is chipped, there are flies swarming their faces, and there were a number of scars across their faces.

One of them laid down for a moment, and I marveled at their giant paws.

Then we moved on. We spied a rainbow on the way.

And then happened upon a pride of lions munching down on an antelope carcass. Among them was this naughty little fellow.

He rolled around …

… and then re-joined the rest of the pride at the carcass, but was wholely uninterested in eating. Instead, he was playing with the antlers.

Attack the antler!

I just wanted to scratch his little ears!

Our return trip took us past a group of tsessebe – including a shy baby.

We also passed back by the male lions. This guy was just lounging in the middle of an opening with sunset over him.

We moved on to find a good spot for our sundowner. The sunsets never get old.

And again our evening ended with dinner as a large group. However, I was getting tired of so much togetherness. This time there was a group of guests who all spoke German, so Andrew and I felt left out of the conversation. We ate and then asked our guide to bring us back to our tent.

Tags: safari