On the road again

On the road again became our theme song, since Jimmy played it practically every time we got in the bus, weeeee

I knew that there were ostriches in Africa. I was pretty darn excited the first time I saw one because I hadn't really expected to get to see one up close.

Who knew that we would see so many of them that you would hardly even pay attention to one in perfect view?
I still think they are really beautiful birds. Stupid, but pretty.

This was a common sight in Botswana.

We were on the way to the Okavango (yippee!) for 2 nights of camping. It was amazing how many people didn't bring sleeping bags (as stated in the trip instructions) for 4 nights of camping. Led to some punting, or even cold nights for the non punters)

This is what it looked like in the land on the southern edge of the delta. Pretty dry, but these particular trees don't grow unless there is a good supply of ground water.

And, another attempt to get a picture of a village, this time Botswana style

Next, it's the Okavango, and I have soooo many pictures there, be prepared. This is after I culled the majority of them. hoo boy

Elephant Sands

An unexpected (but not unwelcome) detour in our plans sent us to a lodge called Elephant Sands instead of our regularly scheduled stop in Nata or something. We were supposed to go to some town, and tour an elementary school (empty), have a cooking competition (?), etc. Instead, we went to a beautiful lodge in the middle of nowhere, where elephants come to drink from the swimming pool. Thank goodness Nata was overbooked, right?

Getting there was a little interesting in our Avis bus on sandy roads, but Jimmy is the man.

Made us get out and walk though, it was that sketchy.

Ahhh, the adventures of a Gap tour

While we waited for elephants, we watched the wonderful birds.

This tree had the nests of a weaver (a specific kind, but Jan said it so many times, I apparently didn't write it down, ha). They interestingly always build their nests on the west side. The large nest on top of the tree is unknown, as Jan had to repeat over and over as new people trickled down to our sitting spot.
This is the bird responsible for the bush compass
Glossy Starlings are very pretty. Much better than our invasive European ones
Jimmy the driver, taking a well deserved break after the crazy trek in
So, just beyond this sign is the watering hole. We sat around waiting all afternoon, for the elephants Jan promised us. There were bush fires all around us and things weren't looking so good.
When it started to get dark, we eventually gave up, convinced ourselves that it was still a spectacular place (and it was), and settled in with our beers to wait for dinner. I brought out my flutes and amusingly, within 20 minutes of me twiddling, here comes an elephant. Some idiot ran around and talked too loud, scaring it off though.
So, we settled in again, this time happy that we at least saw an elephant at Elephant Sands, and I pulled my flutes out again. And lo and behold, 20 or so minutes later, here come more elephants. (Thoroughly cementing my reputation as an elephant whisperer, ha) This time they stayed. The momma and baby went to the slightly more distant watering hole due to the mass of people, but two younglings decided the draw of clean water was worth the danger and came to drink out of the swimming pool.
Imagine, standing 20-30 feet from an elephant, with nothing between you and them. and no tame little indian elephants (not knocking the indian elephants, but there is an appreciable size difference, no?), or zoo buddies, but wild african elephants. These guys are BIG! The most amazing thing about them is how quiet they are. You couldn't even hear them as they moved around.
Some idiot still managed to scare them off, this one running around to get a picture (with no flash allowed and moving animals, in the dark. yeah, thanks buddy for ruining it for us and getting nothing yourself) For these reasons, I didn't even try to take a picture, but it was a spectacular experience.

So, Elephant Sands was a wonderful place, one of the highlights of the tour

On the road in Botswana

Our first (of many) long drive from Chobe to our next stop in Elephant Sands.

Changing landscape

Jan freaked out when he saw this and made Jimmy (our driver) stop and back up on the main road so we could see this creature: a Sable antelope. Not the most common animal to see, so pretty cool.
Hard to get a picture of an animal in brush though.

Botswana has a lot of issues with foot and mouth diseaseSo we periodically had to go through checkpoints, get out of the busWalk through a salt solution... and hope this stopped the spread. I have my doubts, but... hey.

I thought these guys looked cool as they carried their firewood. I never did get a good picture of women carrying things on their heads, but I saw it everywhere

Here we saw the tail end of a roan antelope, and poor Jimmy had to screech to a halt again

No picture since that thing could move. Nice chance to stretch the legs though

We did see a giraffe on this stop though

he didn't like us getting too close

pretty thing

Botswana: Chobe National Park

The morning after our Chobe River cruise we took a game drive into the Chobe National Park. While we practically froze in our 20 minute drive to the park in the open truck, it was worth the beautiful morning light.
I'm not sure what kind of eagle this is, but it's beautiful regardless
This picture reminds me of an old fashioned painting, like one you would see in an old Victorian home or something.
I like the pictures of the impalas, can you tell?

Marabou stork

More impala. Photogenic little buggers

These boys were very aware of danger nearby

Although this guy was just passing through, they watched him the entire time

Getting this picture was infuriatingly difficult. My camera and I had some words. Can't it tell I want to focus on the beautiful lion, not some stupid sticks? grrrrr

A red-billed hornbill

Giraffe

Fish eagles

Cape buffalo

I loved these little birds, the Lilac breasted roller

Kudu bachelor's party

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