On my way home!
Updated: Nov 9, 2023
I'm waiting for my second flight (of three), on my way home. I am so far behind on this blog that I’m going to skip writing about the drive to Johannesburg and the flight to Victoria Falls, and write about them later. I’m going to skip right to Botswana and Chobe National Park. Warning: picture heavy post!
After two nights at a truly spectacular hotel in Victoria Falls, we said goodbye to five more of our group. The trip I took was a 16 day trip that included Victoria Falls and Botswana. The five that left us here did not realize that there was a 16 day option or they would have done it. The Gate 1 webpage didn’t show it to them as an option. (I found out today that their flight to the US was delayed and they didn’t leave Johannesburg until yesterday, so they’re only getting home 24 hours before me.) Anyway, we were down to 4 and our guide, Ish. Strangely, the four of us were the four solo travelers—everyone else was traveling in groups of 2-3.
It was just over an hour to the border of Botswana, and the drive was enlivened by a couple of giraffes and a herd of elephants that crossed the road. There was so little traffic that we were able to stop and watch them cross. I have seen dozens of elephants on this trip, and I’ll never get tired of watching them. At the border, we had to get out of the van and dip our shoes in a disinfectant, both the pair we were wearing and an extra pair. Zimbabwe is very worried about foot and mouth disease, so dipping is supposed to mean we won’t carry it in on our feet. The van also drove through a big ditch filled with the same disinfectant. We then walked to the Zimbabwe customs and got our stamps, then walked across the border and entered Botswana (more stamps). From there, it was a short drive to our hotel in Kasane. The hotel, the Cresta Mowana Safari Resort, was nice, but not quite as nice as the one in Victoria Falls. It was on the banks of the Chobe River, and warthogs roamed the grounds everywhere. Did you know that they kneel as they eat?
The highlight of the hotel was a large baobab tree in the center of the grounds. I'm not sure I took a picture of the tree, but I did take one of one of the flowers that had fallen. The decks and walks all circle this enormous tree...hmm, I think I'll borrow a picture from one of my fellow travelers' FB page.
Anyway, this tree is probably about 500 years old and absolutely amazing in scope. But, at the front gates of the hotel, there is an even larger baobab. This one is probably at least 1000 years old. It's breathtaking, maybe even more so than the giant redwoods of California, because of the girth and pattern of growth. I saw a number of baobabs on the game drives and by the roads. They are important to the people here, and are called the Tree of Life.
We checked into our rooms and had a few hours to relax before we left on a river cruise on the Chobe River. I actually spent some time in Zambia, as the river is the border between the two counties. It was a very lazy ride, as the boat we were on was large and lumbering. However, the guide was excellent, pointing out lots of animals and, even better, he knew the birds! Thabiso was our guide on our two game drives as well, and was so knowledgeable—it really added to the experience.
We were lucky enough to see some hippos out of the water!
There were plenty of other interesting things to see, including people fishing, fish eagles not fishing, cormorants, crocodiles, and Cape buffalo.
We got back to the hotel just after dark, and I skipped dinner. We had an early wake-up, as we were leaving on our first wildlife drive at Chobe National Park at 5:30 AM! The sun comes up here just after 5 AM, and I've been waking up around that time, hence all the sunrise pictures I've been posting on IG and Facebook. There was coffee ready for us, and muffins if we wanted. I grabbed some coffee and headed to the vehicle (grabbing the highest seat in the rear). As I said, Thabiso was our guide again, and we climbed in the vehicle for the 10 minute drive to the Sedudu gate of the park.
Chobe is not like Kruger—the roads are not paved. They are sandy and very bumpy, and the more vehicles are on them, the worse they get! But that didn't matter at all! We saw so many animals, starting with a honey badger! It moved away too quickly for me to get any pictures. They are rarely seen—not as rare as a pangolin, but close. Next up was a slender mongoose.
There were so many animals. Impala by the dozens, kudu, giraffes, and so many elephants! And birds, of course! When we got down to the river, there were hippos too, and Cape buffalo. We saw lions, but they were quite distant. The drivers are not allowed to leave the "roads," but the part of the park I was in was honeycombed with roads.
We saw a large bird flying toward us, carrying something. It was a tawny eagle, carrying an impala leg which it had probably stolen from a leopard's cache (they cache their prey in trees, out of reach of most other predators, like hyenas). The eagle landed in a tree very close to us, and ripped into its prize.
We were in the park till about 9, then we headed back to the hotel as the day heated up. It was slightly cooler here than at Victoria Falls, but I'm talking 99–100˚F instead of 101-103˚F. In other words, it was astoundingly hot. We had a break until our next game drive at 3:15 in the afternoon. I had originally planned to go to town with one of the other women, but instead I holed up in my room and worked on my bird lists. I did go down to lunch, and birded for a few minutes, avoiding close encounters with warthogs. I saw a couple of new birds right under the baobab tree in the courtyard. They were watering the foliage, and I'm sure that drew the birds in. I also saw my first snake, but couldn't get a photo of it. One of the birds, a tropical boubou, was having a conniption about the snake. You never heard such a racket!
Then it was back on the vehicle with Thabiso and our gang for the most magical game drive of the entire trip. We saw only one new animal (a jackal–more later), but the views that we got of the animals and their behaviors were almost indescribable. Fortunately, I have a camera, so I can show part of it.
On the way to the river, we passed a troop of baboons. They look so wise. I think I'm intimidated by the look in their eyes.
We drove down to the river and found a herd of elephants taking mud baths and playing in the mud, including flinging it at each other. The wallowing was so much fun to watch, especially with the tiny babies, who seemed to be having such a fun time!
Next we found a giraffe family wandering back from the marshes. They have to really contort their bodies to get their heads (and long tongues) down to the water. One thing you will notice is that they, like all large mammals here except elephants, have birds on them. These are oxpeckers, and they eat ticks and other insects from the mammals. They also eat dead skin and insects in open wounds, and may even open wounds themselves. (I looked it up, and there is actually a debate about whether oxpeckers are scavengers or parasites!) Anyway, there are two species here, the red-billed and the yellow-billed, and these giraffes had both all over them.
After they drank, the giraffe family crossed the road near our vehicle and I was able to get some amazing pictures.
We moved on down the riverside, as our guide had heard that the lions from the morning had moved closer to the road. Wow, had they! Most of the price was a couple of hundred feet away, and were either walking around or lounging in the grass. There was an older male, told by the darker mane color, several younger males on the outskirts, and many females.
And, there was one female who was under a tree, right by the road. (I used the word road loosely, as it was not a road, but a track of very soft sand.) There were probably 15 vehicles in the vicinity, and she just lay there panting, ignoring them all. I think I explained earlier in my Kruger post how the vehicles are viewed by the animals, but in case I didn't, I'll do it again. This is per our guides, and they all said the same thing. The animals view the Jeeps, Land Cruisers, etc., as large "boxes." I don't think they view them as other animals, but they view them as units that can be ignored. They don't view them as boxes containing tasty morsels of prey, unless the prey items do stupid things. For example, if you dangle your leg outside of the box, then the predator takes notice—yummy limb there, not just a box! They also notice noise. When we were watching elephants cross the road, and not being as quiet as we should have been, a large elephant started to approach, clearly viewing us as a threat. When we shut up, he lost interest and wandered away.
Anyone, the one female paid us no mind, though we were maybe 15 feet from her in the jeep. Being so close was something I'll always remember.
One of my fellow travelers snapped this image. I think i may make it my profile picture, because it pretty much says it all.
After the lions, we started to head back to the gate. On the way, a lilac-breasted roller flew into a tree right by the road, and I got a few images that satisfied me. As I've said (on IG/FB, if not here), I pick a grail bird for each trip. It's nothing formal, just a bird from the area that I'd really like to see. For this trip, it was the lilac-breasted roller. I had seen a couple already, in Kruger and in Chobe, but this bird posed for me in perfect light. I wish I could say I'd not bother to photograph this species again, since I have a near perfect shot, but I know I'd be lying. Actually, I'd like to catch one in flight, as the wings are royal blue and white.
Finally, we saw our last new animal of the trip, two black-backed jackals. They were strolling among the helmeted guinea fowl, as if decided which one would make a meal, but the guinea fowl didn't seem to pay attention, so maybe jackals don't usually eat them. Seems unlikely though.
After the jackals, our driver told us that he had to drive fast, that the park closed at 6:30, which was only 12 minutes away! We told him to go for it and we hung on. What he didn't tell us is that at 6:40, they lock the gates! We joined several other vehicles, racing along sandy tracks toward the gate, and made it in the nick of time (6:38!).
Back at the hotel, we met up for a final dinner, the 5 of us. I haven't talked much about our group or our guide, but, except for Mr. Know-it-all, who is beginning to fade from my memory, it was a pretty good group. Irshaad was a our guide (we called him Ish), and he turned out to be a good guy and a good tour leader. He was as excited about what we were seeing as we were. He shepherded us through airports and border crossings. Reminded us to do passport checks, and wrote up our daily schedules with ungodly wake-up times. He goes on my list of good guides on my Gate 1 trips. As I mentioned, the 4 of us that did the whole trip, including the days in Botswana, were the solo travelers. Debbie and Cary were both from Florida, and Patrick was from Canada. We got to know each other very well, and will stay in touch.
After dinner, it was time to pack! And I'll pick up with a brief entry about the long trip home, before going back to write about Johannesburg and Victoria Falls.
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