Final Botswana posting

 August 16

Our final morning in Botswana started with a wake up call provided by nearby lions roaring, but then overtaken by very loud elephant trumpeting right at our water hole. As it was still dark, we had to speculate on the cause but it seemed to be a mother elephant becoming exasperated with her young one when it was time for the herd to move on. As the light improved, we could see that the mother finally had to  push her recalcitrant baby with her trunk.  We also watched several sets of mother-and-young warthogs at a water hole. Ironically the young warthogs have white whiskers missing from the adults. The mothers are very protective and chase others (even other warthogs) away while their babies drink. The young ones seemed to say “oh look, mom chases things, we could do that too” and set off to chase impala just for fun. 

Some general reflections on the trip and the areas we saw.  The people of Botswana are warm, welcoming and fun. As a former British colony, there is a lot of English influence in Botswana, from driving on the left to afternoon tea to an appreciation of irony and sarcasm. There are 20 local dialects of the native language, so in school most classes are taught in English. This certainly helps the comfort level for visitors. 

Botswana only has about two million inhabitants and most of those are in cities. The Okavango region if very sparsely inhabited. There are huge areas of protected land, and a few farms that are only inhabited and filled during the rainy season. While raising beef cattle is a major industry, for many years the risk of malaria and tsetse flies (sleeping sickness) protected the Okavango from development. A second inhibitor is the lack of ground transport. While we could have driven from Gomoti to Maun for our outbound flight, there are no roads connecting Linyanti or jacana with Gomoti.  Ecotourism is the key to the economic health of the delta and the surrounding regions. 

On trips like this you learn so much about the interconnectedness of nature.  While the role of vultures in preventing the spread of disease is well known, the role of hyenas may be less so. Hyenas can break up, consume and digest bone (except skulls usually); this not only cleans up the landscape but their (white) droppings provide calcium to other creatures. Termites are a keystone species— they also help recycle debris, provide food for creatures like the aardvark, and their abandoned nests provide homes for many species including dwarf mongoose. In the area around Jacana, the wooded islands that rise above the floods and stay dry all year are based on termite mounds. 

Pictured: warthog, dwarf mongoose

Lions and elephants again

August 15

It was very windy overnight, bringing the sound of sand flying against our tent sides and dry acacia leaves on the roof (which sounded like rain but we knew that was highly unlikely during the dry season). We didn’t see many new species today, but we witnessed a lot of animal behaviors. Early on our morning dive we met 2 lionesses and their 4 nearly grown cubs, all slightly pink from their overnight meal. We watched them settle down for a long snooze, and then on our evening drive we met them again: stretching, yawning, and grooming one another. Then they headed off to a nearby water hole for a drink. The water hole was already in use by a large herd of elephants with many young ones. We watched the four young lions practice their stalking skills, sneaking up on the elephants. We expected a great trumpeting and rushing away by the elephants, but instead the lions lay down near the water and patiently waited for the elephants to leave. 

This afternoon we met with a researcher from the nearby predator conservations center, which started as a dedicated center for wild dogs in the 1980s and expanded to the full suite of Gomoti predators (lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena and dogs) in 2006. They collect a lot of tracking and behavioral data, including identifying individuals, that are then used by guest researchers to study specific questions. Did you know that not only leopards and cheetahs have unique spot pattens, but also hyenas?  They are also researching how to introduce synthetic pheromones to discourage predators from raiding domestic livestock. Gomoti has an unusual, and growing, concentration of lions. While this is wonderful for tourists, it is detrimental to the wild dog population. The local pair of wild dogs at Gomoti started with 8 pups this season. The lions have reduced that to three, and the adults had to move their den.  No tourists are allowed near the den to prevent accidentally tipping off the lions to the new location. 

On our night drive tonight we saw a young genet and got some great astronomy photos. Back at the camp, elephants visited the water hole as we were gathering for our farewell dinner, and two hyenas dropped by as we were heading back to our tents. 

Pictured: young genet, young giraffe at our water hole, kori bustard

First full day at Gomoti

 August 14

Today was a day of Jeep drives, one from dawn to lunch and another from an hour before sunset to several hours afterwards. On the morning drive we saw many familiar species, including two male lions sleeping under an acacia tree. Their fat bellies told us that they’d had a successful hunt last night and that they would be unlikely to move much all day. We visited a watering hole and watched a mixed flock of small birds of several different species zipping to and from the the water’s edge to get a quick drink. We also watched impala, giraffe and warthogs cautiously drinking (water holes are a risky business if you are prey).  This evening our drive produced a few new species, but after dark we got really lucky— we saw the lions again, but also jackals, African wild cats, springhares and a civet. Springhares are amazing little creatures. They are rodents, not really rabbits, and the locals call them Botswana kangaroos. They jump high, fast, and seldom in a straight line, on their large back legs, with a long tail that swings behind them. The black end of the tail is meant to confuse predators, and we watched a jackal fail to catch a springhare during our drive. Then we drove to a quiet spot and were able to take photographs of the stars; with a late moonrise and no ambient light, it was spectacular.

Pictured: wild cat, jackal, crimson-breasted shrike 

Two sides of the Okavango

 August 13

We went for another set of boat and Jeep drives this morning and saw two new types of antelope (not just new to this trip, new ever for us). The highlight of the morning, though, was finally being able to get a picture (after three frustrating days of trying) of a black crake, a small wading bird with bright red legs and an uncanny ability to disappear into the undergrowth as soon as a camera is raised in its direction. While not all of our group are birders, everyone got into the spirit of competition with this small avian adversary.

In the afternoon we flew southeast across the Okavango Delta to our final camp, Gomoti. This camp is in an area that originally flooded with the rest of the delta, but seismic shifts have diverted the water flow and it is now dry except for the rainy season. We had tea at a watering hole near the airstrip, with a family of elephants as our company. On the drive to the camp, we saw three owlets and two honey badgers.  The camp itself is far more rustic than the others on this trip.  It is much closer to a platform tent and the meals are basic but tasty.  Animals, including hyenas, elephants and lions, routinely come through the camp at night.  There is an artificial water hole in front of the dining pavilion, which also attracts animals.  As at other camps we have to be escorted to and from our tent once darkness falls. Tonight our escort was delayed because he had to wait for a hyena to leave the main area, and we saw a springhare on our way back after dinner.  It is incredibly quiet here, and the stars look amazing as there is no ambient light. 

Pictured: honey badgers, black crake, pearl spotted owlet

August 12, last full day at Jacana

 This morning we mostly traveled by Jeep on sections of the delta that have dried out.... vast grasslands like the savannah in other parts of Africa, except for the prevalence of reeds with the grasses. We did drive through some sections of road that were still underwater; the bottom of the Jeep got a good washing! We also saw a lot of “shorebirds” except their shire was the edge of the road puddles.  Altogether we saw 20 new species today, including a new bee-eater and a tiny reed frog, despite having already seem so much. One of the favorite group activities is to encourage red lechwe (a type of antelope that likes swampy places) to stampede, splashing and leaping through the shallow water. This afternoon we learned from some of the lodge staff about the beautiful local basket weaving techniques, including how they use the palm fronds, how the create the colors, and the symbolism of the patterns. 

After high tea, we went out in the motor launch for a sunset ride again including hippos and a colorful but elusive swamp hen. We ate dinner outdoors on the stargazing deck and enjoyed the rising of the orange super moon.  As we were getting ready for bed we heard the characteristic slosh slosh slosh of a hippo feeding on land, and sure enough there one was right off our tent porch munching through the swamp. 

Pictured: long reed frog, stampeding red lechwe, swallow-tailed bee-eater

Jacana wet and dry

 August 11

Our first full day at Jacana Lodge (aptly named as we constantly see the colorful and noisy African Jacanas in the surrounding wetlands) began with a motor launch ride from dawn till lunchtime. We of course took a break for morning tea and snacks... we cannot break the pattern of eating every 3 hours on this trip!  We had amazing experiences with hippos and elephants this morning.  On two different occasions a pod of hippos surfaced very near our boat, and we watched as they played, yawned and moved around, while keeping a careful eye that they were not getting annoyed or too close to us.  A family of six elephants, including two quite small young ones, crossed a channel very near to us. It was fun to watch them all lift the end of their trunks out of the water as they crossed, especially the young ones who went entirely underwater except for that snorkel. When they emerged you could see the water line on the adult elephants, and proof that the young ones were submerged.  We also had fun taking videos of red lechwe, a type of antelope, as they went leaping and splashing through the water when they got spooked by something. There were also beautiful water lilies, some of which only open during the day and others that only open at night. 

The lodge is on an island that stays dry all year. Most of the islands have only large trees and a few low palms, because of elephant grazing. The lodge installed electric fence around their perimeter, and the difference is striking: lush mid level vegetation not seen elsewhere. It is fascinating to consider that by October this area will be dry and all these aquatic or water-loving species will have to move further east to areas that retain water year round... that concentration is a benefit to predators but not to prey.

This afternoon we went out in makoras, small dugout wooden canoes that are poled through the channels. Being lower than the tops of the reeds was an interesting perspective, especially for little reed frogs and dragonflies. It also showed that our leader Francis really can do everything: trip logistics, nature expert, Jeep driver through the brush ( sometimes literally through it) motor launch pilot and makora poler.  His ability to know where he is in the wet and dry bush is amazing.

Pictured: elephants after a swim, hippo yawning, Malachite kingfisher, African jacana 

Moving west

 August 10

We spent the morning on a last set of drives around Linyanti, with great views of hyenas, zebras and elephants. Then we flew to Jao in the Okavango Delta. Normally the delta would be heavily flooded at this point in the year, but the rains this year were unusually low and many areas are already dry. This meant that we had to drive from the airstrip to a spot where we could board a motor launch for the 20-minute ride through the reed beds to the island that hosts our lodge for the next three nights. The Okavango is beautiful, and watching the sunset over the reed beds, surrounded by water lilies, papyrus and water birds, was great. The lodge and our tent accommodations are a bit more lavish than at Linyanti.

However, the highlight for today was undoubtedly our adventure at 2am before we left Linyanti. As previously mentioned, at Linyanti the hippos can be quite noisy at night. On the night of the 8th we had heard and smelled them coming out of the water and up onto land to graze, passing right by our tent, but we weren’t able to see them. On the night of the 9th, a hippo snorted so loudly that Kevin awoke and went out onto our porch with a flashlight to look for it. We were not permitted, at any of the camps, to walk around alone after dark for safety reasons. Anyway, at 2am on August 10 we saw a large hippo exiting the water, munching grass as it went, and Kevin was able to photograph it.  Then at breakfast the whole group was able to see a hippo mostly out of the water in front of the main building. Finally, on our motor launch ride to the Jacana lodge, a hippo sprang to the surface within about 50 yards of our boat... wonderful if a bit terrifying. 

Pictured: zebra, baby elephant after a swim, moonlight hippo

Linyanti continued

 August 9

We began today with a slight sense of “what more is there to see here” although we know that seeing the same species doesn’t mean the same individual, context or behavior.  Our trip leader is a great tracker, and we followed the footprints in the sandy road bed of two lions who had roared near the camp in the night — fifteen miles later we found them, a pair of your adult males who were in search of a good daytime napping spot. We got to within 15 feet of them, and they were even more beautiful than the pictures can show. Their overnight wandering was part of scouting the territory in order to try to takeover the current pride leader for this area. Contrary to popular wisdom, male lions can and do hunt for themselves in this sort of situation. 

Then we heard that the leopard from yesterday had moved and was dozing in a tree not far from the lions. We thought there might be an altercation but the lions did not choose to chase her away. On our way back toward our camp we saw a male ostrich in fully breeding plumage, which means he has a bright pink bill and matching stripes on the front of his legs. We also saw kudu, wildebeest (gnus) and a herd of elephants protecting their young ones, who were taking a nap.   Then we went home for lunch and a nap of our own!

Before our afternoon drive, we learned a bit more about Botswana, particularly the northern and western areas. Many species migrate across the borders with Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and even Angola, following the rains and the seasons. Combatting poaching and conserving species requires cooperation across these nations, and World Wildlife Fund helped negotiate a five nation treaty that not only works to benefit animals but the people living in the region by encouraging ecotourism. 

Pictured: male lion, crested barbet, ostrich 

Linyanti lions and more

 August 8

Our first game drive began at dawn, and our first stop was the giraffe carcass mentioned in yesterday’s posting. There didn’t seem to be much left, but it was enough for a large flock of vultures and several spotted hyenas. The first group of three hyenas appeared to be from one clan; when members of a second clan tried to join the party, they were chased off.  And while the vultures were respectful of the hyenas in general, they were quick to rush in to feed when they sensed the hyenas were distracted. 

Next we went in search of a rumored pride of lions. We expected to find them resting, but instead found the walking single file through the bush to a napping location. There were six young females and a young male just beginning to grow a mane. They groomed one another and snuggled together for their nap. One lay down directly in front of the truck, and didn’t move when we drove around her. Another example of the amazing comfort animals in this reserve have with the safari vehicles. Were someone to step out of the vehicle, it would be a different story altogether.

There was also a rumor of a second leopard, so off we bounced through the bush. She was sleeping under a shrub next to a tall tree where she had hung her meal to keep it away from hyenas.  It was an elephant afterbirth, demonstrating again that in nature “no waste goes to waste”.

In between these milestone sightings we saw elephants (many groups of them and lots of small ones), giraffe, warthogs, impala, red lechwe, a dwarf mongoose and lots of birds.  All of this before lunch!

After lunch, a rest, and afternoon tea (we eat constantly on this trip), we headed out for an afternoon drive that included watching an elephant and six hippos in the river at sunset and a short night drive to see a jackal as well as our hyena friends. The giraffe was reduced to bones, but hyenas can digest bone. It is one of their important roles in the ecosystem. While that is laudable, the sound of rib bones being crunched is a bit jarring! Back at camp, the staff serenaded us with traditional songs before dinner. Another long but great day in Linyanti, with one more to come. 

Pictured: lions, hyenas 

What. A. Day. August 7 — Now with photos

 Our trip leader, Francis, had promised us a long but “productive” day and he was so right!

We began by crossing the new bridge from Zambia to Botswana, at the point where the Chobe River joins the Zambezi. This is a four corners point that separates four countries, Namibia and Zimbabwe as well as Zambia and Botswana. The immigration offices for Zambia and Botswana are in the same building, you just walk across the room to accomplish the transition. Very civilized and efficient!

Our first activity was a two hour boat ride on the Chobe, where we saw 39 species of birds as well as elephants, hippos, Cape buffalo, impala, greater kudu, waterbuck and Red Lechwe.  But we REALLY saw some of these.. We watched a group of seven elephants enter the river, swim across, come up onto shore and play in the mud. They got very close to us, as our boat sat on the edge of the shoreline.  We had several other elephant sightings as well, including babies. We saw hippos in and out of the water, including a group with a baby. We also watched crocodiles in and out of the water (there is something really spooky about watching them slide into the water). On the circle of life side, we saw two hippo carcasses, providing food for crocodiles and fish (and the fish in turn for the egrets, herons and kingfishers). The collection of water birds was pretty amazing, including openbill storks and four types of heron. Watching pied kingfishers hover and dive is always fun.

We then flew in a 12-seater plane to the air strip at Linyanti. Our lodge in Linyanti is about a 30 minute drive from the airstrip, but that’s only if you don’t stop to look at anything.  Since we saw warthogs, impala, kudu, elephants, baboons, zebra, giraffe, red lechwe, buffalo and many birds along the way, it took us just a bit longer. Then other guides radioed in that a young leopard had been spotted (no pun intended), so off we went on barely defined tracks. We spent about 30 minutes with the one-year-old, who was no more than 20 feet from us. Initially there was one other vehicle there;  the rest of the time we had the cub to ourselves. Spectacular.

We witnessed a number of inter-species encounters: an elephant chasing away red lechwe from a favorite spot; kudu snorting to alert other animals that the mother leopard was in the area; egrets following wading elephants to take advantage of the insects the elephants disturbed; two kinds of vultures and marabou storks sharing a giraffe carcass.  

Around sunset we finally made it to the Linyanti Tented Camp, right on the edge of the Linyanti River (the other side of the river is Namibia). This is much more of a wilderness camp than Toka Leya, with platform tents right on the river and a simple open air lounge-and-dining room. In our part of the camp there are five tents and our group is the only group here. Dinner was fabulous.  Sleeping may be a challenge, as the hippos, frogs and hyenas are quite loud!

Pictured: young leopard, elephants in the mud

Rainbows and Rhinos

 August 6

Today was a day in three parts. We returned to Victoria Falls this morning, to take advantage of the morning light angle to see the rainbows created in the mist.  Then we visited a local village to understand their way of life.  It was fascinating to observe their off-the-grid but not primitive methods. Our tour company, Natural Habitat Adventures, has been partnering with this village for many years, particularly supporting their K-9 schools. 

Then in the late afternoon we traveled into the Mosi-o-Tunya (the original name for the falls) National Park. Although this is one of the smallest national parks in Zambia, it is home to all 10 of the country’s white rhinos. The rhinos are protected 24x7 by a team of 15 rangers. We met with one of the rangers who took us walking through the bush to observe 5 of the rhinos grazing and wandering at will. We were able to get quite close to them (perhaps 20-30 feet from them), and then they started walking towards us to make that distance even smaller— needless to say we slowly and calmly backed up! To see these animals at eye level and so close was just amazing.

Tomorrow we will cross into Botswana and begin our trek into the Okavango Delta. 

Pictured: rainbows at Victoria Falls, white rhinos grazing, black-collared barbet 

Toka Leya

 August 5

We spent the morning birding around the Amani Victoria Falls resort; highlights included two kinds of kingfisher and a tree filled with twelve trumpeter hornbills.  We spent quite a bit of time chasing the elusive but aptly named Giant Kingfisher.  It is truly enormous, but also very skittish, so while we saw him several times, the camera didn’t.  We also encountered a pack of about 20 banded mongoose, which are always fun to watch as families and as scurrying waves across the ground. Late morning we transferred to Toka Leya, the first location for the main trip. Toka Leya refers to a local Zambian tribe that have been the hereditary caretakers of the falls. The camp is luxurious and right on the Zambezi River. The views from every part of the camp are wonderful, but the views from our cabin, the furthest away at about 1/4 mile, are stupendous. We saw 2 elephants on our way to the cabin, and about an hour later realized that an additional 22 had arrived! There were several quite young ones, one of whom amused himself by chasing away the bushbuck that had been resting in the shade of a tree nearby. 

Late afternoon we met the rest of our group, including two friends from our 2018 Madagascar trip. The final two members of our group of six are friends or family of our friends.  We had tea together and then went for a sunset cruise on the Zambezi, including hippos, crocodiles, marabou storks and a (small) Nile monitor. The hippos are quite territorial, so the boat had to divert around them. This is tricky as they only surface briefly to breathe and then submerge again, so you have to watch the surface bubbles to guess where they are underwater and what to avoid!

Pictured: elephants (duh),  nile monitor, banded mongoose  

Victoria Falls

 August 4

We flew from Johannesburg to Livingstone this morning. In the afternoon we wandered around the hotel grounds and then spent two hours looking at Victoria Falls from different angles and in different lighting (including sunset). Our hotel is very close to the Zambian side of the falls, and is surrounded by national park land. One consequence of that setting is that there are impala, giraffe, zebra and particularly baboons, everywhere. The animals were all very calm about humans, in fact we had to keep apologizing to them as we walked on the grass to let them have the sidewalk. The baboon family groups were particularly fun; the children loved to roughhouse and explore. To see a mother baboon grab her young one by the hand and drag him back to the family group was almost too familiar. (Of course we also saw birds today...) We ate dinner outdoors tonight, enjoying traditional Zambian food, music and dancing. 

Pictured: baby Chacma baboon, southern cordon bleu, trumpeter hornbill, Victoria Falls at sunset

Birding in Johannesburg

 August 3, 2022

24 hours of flying brought us to Johannesburg mid-morning on Wednesday August 3rd, but not early enough to catch the once per day direct flight to Victoria Falls. We learned when we were here in 2018 that if we don’t plan an activity we’ll doze all afternoon and have trouble adjusting to the time zone. So today we took an outing to the Walter Sisulu Botanical Garden, about an hour away from our hotel. This garden shows up as a birding hotspot in ebird, and despite its being a chilly (50s) and drizzly day, we saw 21 species of birds, of which 12 were new to us.  We visited the eastern part of South Africa in 2018, but the high veld around Johannesburg is a different biome, so there are a number of species here that we’d never seen, and that are not to be seen on the rest of this trip. 

When we first got to the garden (mid afternoon by the time we’d checked into the hotel, changed money, found some lunch and a driver) it was raining and we really questioned the whole outing, but having driven that far we persevered. The garden itself is lovely and nestled into a valley below red sandstone cliffs (complete with waterfall).  The weather gradually improved, and about 30 minutes before the park closed, the sun came out and so did the birds... not just additional species, but flocks of them at a time.  Seeing a dozen Speckled Mousebirds was particularly surprising, or perhaps the highlight was two new species of sunbirds and a new kind of kingfisher.  

We were distracted in our bird hunting by the huge number of simply enormous grasshoppers in the trees, many of them at least four inches long and some even larger. That meant that the grasshoppers were larger than some of the birds, and certainly more plentiful. 

Pictured below: White-breasted Sunbird, Brown-hooded Kingfisher.