Jenny's Mountain Adventures: African Safari Part II

From Victoria Falls, we hopped in a van to drive to the Zimbabwe/Botswana border, which was only about an hour away. Crossing into Botswana, we immediately noticed the improvement in infrastructure and that there seemed to be more going on. There were more people out working, driving or exercising and people seemed happier and friendlier than they had in Zimbabwe. This was most obvious when we arrived at our lodge. The staff greeted us with a shrill wavering sound called ululation (see/hear example here), which is used as a greeting and celebration noise. Throughout our stay, we tried to emulate the women and they tried to teach us, which usually ended in lots of laughter. The staff were cheerful, friendly and welcoming and genuinely excited to get to know us during our stay. The lodge was beautiful, situated on the bank of the Chobe River. Each couple had their own little river house and we shared a communal dining and lounge area with the other guests. The pool area was popular with lots of areas to relax between safaris, and there was even a swim cage in the river so if you wanted to go for a dip with the crocodiles, that was an option too!

Bakwena Eco Lodge near Chobe National Park

Chobe National Park in Botswana was the last destination on our Southern Africa trip. The park is massive (over 11,000 square km) and is know for its herds of elephants. We visited just before the rainy season, which is a good time to see animals who gather on the banks of the river to get water. Once the rain starts to fall, they spread out across the park again and are not as concentrated around watering holes or the river bank.

We started out with an afternoon boat safari along the Chobe River. This was a great way to escape the heat and see some animals from a different vantage point.

The river safari gave us a different perspective of the park and got us up close to some different animals

Huge hippo grazing. Hippos don't come out of the water very often during the daytime, their skin can sunburn easily!

A well fed crocodile

River boat sundowners

African sunsets never get old

Candle-lit dinner under the stars

Each morning, we woke before sunrise to head out on safari. It was about a 20 minute drive from our lodge to the park gate where we would enter into Chobe for the morning. The park is open to anyone and you don't need a guide to travel through the park. There was a mix of guided groups and private vehicles in the park, although most people seemed to be on tours. Kyle was excited to see everyone's overlanding/offroad set ups. There were some pretty decked out vehicles! Despite the morning rush to get into the park for opening at 6am, the vehicles quickly dispersed and it never felt like we were being crowded or in a traffic jam. It helped that our amazing guide Max knew some secret spots!

Bright and early at the park gates with all the other safari groups

"Mad Max" our amazing guide through Chobe

We had 4 days in Botswana which meant we had 3 evening and 3 morning safaris. Each day was a completely different experience and we saw many different sections of the park.

A family of lions

Family love

Male Kudu antelope

Bee Eater bird - there were hundreds of species of birds in Chobe and Max seemed to know the name of each one!

Elephant family stopping for a snack

Mom and baby crossing the road

A herd of zebras

We stopped each morning for a coffee break and snack. One thing I noticed about safari camps is that you never go hungry!

Morning tea in the park

Our safari team!

Sleepy hippo having a nap

Giraffe checking us out

Elephants coming up from the river

You won't see this road sign back at home!

Elephant crossing

Elusive leopard high in a tree

A curious Bee-Eater comes to say hello

These vultures found a tasty treat

The circle of life

We were lucky to have an up-close encounter with this leopard who was guarding a dead impala. It jumped up a tree just in front of us, but was scared away by baboons. Apparently a group of baboons can kill a leopard and will do so for sport!

The leopard hears the baboons warning call and gets ready to take off

During each evening safari, we would stop for a break and have a cold drink. Max would whip up gin and tonics for us on the hood of the vehicle while we took in the view and munched on snacks. It was very luxurious!

Evening gin and tonics whipped up by Mad Max

Male giraffe chasing down two females

Baboon and its baby out for a stroll

Long days of safari are exhausting

Ostrich out and about

Sunset giraffe

Other safari groups out for a drive

Female hyena guarding a den of pups

Chobe was my favourite part of our Africa trip for a few reasons. First of all, it is a huge national park and all the animals that live there are wild. After spending time on a game reserve in South Africa, Chobe felt way more wild. Secondly, the landscape was spectacular. You had views up and down the river and across to Namibia on the opposite shores. The views from the hills were often unobstructed by underbrush so we could watch large herds of animals moving along the river bank. I loved seeing different species all moving together and interacting with one another. Finally, I love elephants. Chobe has over 80,000 elephants and they were everywhere. The group dynamics, curiosity of the babies and the way the elephants moved were captivating. Luckily, we saw lots!

Over looking elephants by the Chobe River and Namibia on the far bank

Single file herd of elephants (impala for scale)

Walking along the river bank

Shy but curious babies stick close to mom

Cooling off at the watering hole

Elephants in the river

By our final day, we were totally satisfied with our experience in Chobe. We had seen so many different animals and couldn't imagine a better trip. There was even talk of skipping out on the last safari so we could sleep in, pack and chill out before we left for the airport. Good thing we didn't! The final morning, Max took us through a different section of the park that we hadn't been to before. He was driving quickly but didn't give us an indication of where he was taking us. Then, we came to a carcass of a huge elephant. A whole pride of lions was taking turns eating the elephant and we spent almost the whole morning watching the lions. It was unbelievable. We watched as a huge male walked right past our jeep, close enough to touch its mane. It came around a corner and surprised a much younger male who bared its teeth. The big male reacted quickly and showed him who was the boss with a pounce and roar. The young male backed down immediately. It was all over in an instant but my heart was racing for a long time afterwards. That split second was the highlight of the trip.