This morning we got up fairly early for a 715am pickup to take us into Botswana. We were dropped off on one side, and picked up on the other, and it wasn’t the most efficient process, but the day’s events had allowed for this. Around 10am, we had arrived at Chobe National Park in Botswana. We first boarded a boat on the Chobe River in hopes of spotting some animals. I’d like to think I had realistic expectations before taking part in this day-long safari. I would have been perfectly content if I was able to spot a few elephants, maybe a giraffe or something if we were lucky. As it turns out, these expectations were not realistic. I should have expected much much more. Chobe is the kind of place that could guarantee that you see elephants numbered in the hundreds, not just single digits. For the first half of the day, we cruised the river and saw crocodiles, hippos, puku, water buffalo, and elephants. My camera battery went down to 9%. I imported just a few for you to see here...
We had a lunch back at the lodge where we boarded the boat, and then got on a jeep for a game drive around the park. Chobe park is essentially an oasis of water and vegetation in an area that is extremely dry this time of year. This is why there are such large numbers of animals, as they become more and more concentrated in a smaller area until November when the rains fall again. Nicole and I had both seen pictures on the web of some other national parks where there are 20+ jeeps all stationed around a single water buffalo. This was not the case at Chobe. At most, I think there were maybe six jeeps from what we could tell. And there were certainly plenty of animals to go around. We even saw a lion up close, lounging next to an elephant carcass. The guide told us the elephant had died of natural causes about three days ago from disease, and the lion was essentially free loading. I guess ecoli is not a concern for the lion. Enough with my words, I’ll let a few of my pictures describe the day more accurately. Africa certainly is wild.
We had a lunch back at the lodge where we boarded the boat, and then got on a jeep for a game drive around the park. Chobe park is essentially an oasis of water and vegetation in an area that is extremely dry this time of year. This is why there are such large numbers of animals, as they become more and more concentrated in a smaller area until November when the rains fall again. Nicole and I had both seen pictures on the web of some other national parks where there are 20+ jeeps all stationed around a single water buffalo. This was not the case at Chobe. At most, I think there were maybe six jeeps from what we could tell. And there were certainly plenty of animals to go around. We even saw a lion up close, lounging next to an elephant carcass. The guide told us the elephant had died of natural causes about three days ago from disease, and the lion was essentially free loading. I guess ecoli is not a concern for the lion. Enough with my words, I’ll let a few of my pictures describe the day more accurately. Africa certainly is wild.
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