Botswana: Chobe River

Our first stop in Botswana was the Chobe River national park for a sunset boat cruise on the river.These 2 young men were waiting, for what I don't know, but they were photogenic, so...
The river itself we quite lovely, and I was lucky enough to get the front seat in the boat (though I'm not sure if I agreed with that statement later when the sun was going down and the boat driver racing to get back to the park entrance. oh, the spray! brrrr)

The first thing we saw were some buffalo off in the distance. The amazing thing about this tour was that we were in a boat. You can get pretty close to things from the water side.

As we got closer to the island, we noticed all the birds everywhere

Darters and cormorants. I'm not confident which is which, but I think I have mostly pictures of darters

This one has something in/stuck on its beak

They are striking birds

And they look like snakes in the water

Buffalo grazing on an island in the Chobe, now that we are close enough to see

I think this is an open mouth stork. maybe

Buffalo

This monitor lizard was pretty adventurous

He came so close to the boat that you could have touched him. (if you were crazy)

Hippos, buffalo, and even elephants grazing in the distance

These buffalo were a little on edge. Why?

Well, tourists of course.

It was amazing how close the guides would try to take you. Against better judgement, all to keep the tourist happy

A kingfisher

Kudu ladies

Their coloration is so odd to me. Hints at stripes and spots

Elephants and hippos

Hippos in the water

The elephants were eating the marsh grass

They would swish it around to get rid of dirt and rocks

Did you know that elephants have 6 sets of teeth? When one set wears down, another replaces them, a process that usually takes 10 years. Hence elephants live to about 60-70 depending on how quick they wear their teeth down. A whole herd of elephants. Look at the tiny babies! (who are still big enough to squash me with very little thought)

Watching elephants drink was always fun

One thing I had never really thought about is how much elephants might play. They love to mess around!

African Fish Eagle

Impala ladies. I just think they are so elegant

Nile crocodile and an egret

A tour boat full of crazies came in a bit too close and made this guy mad

baboon baby

baboon thinking

Hippos butts

Red Lechwe

Elephants crossing back to the mainland

These two boys decided they weren't ready to leave the water yet

While the family gathered, these boys played

Jungle book anyone?

Even the hippos joined in on their own games

I'm not actually sure what these guys are, other than pretty

Maybe a waterbuck?

Fishermen in a mokoro

Sunset

Leaving Zambia

A typical Zambian village, from a speeding bus. This may be another common theme as we spent many hours on the bus this trip. The only pictures to be had were through dirty windows at high speeds.

Here is the dry season forest.
Maize, obviously a staple of the region since almost every meal is based on nshima.
Another attempt at a village pic

At the border

This is a pretty interesting border. Four countries come together here on the Zambezi river: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia.

There was a very long line waiting for the ferry, mostly trucks carrying copper to transport to South Africa. Since we actually took a public bus and met our real bus on the other side, we got to skip the line and take a little boat across.