Chobe National Park

We took a game drive this morning in Chobe National Park, a short distance from our hotel. From the sign, if we went past the park’s entrance, we would be crossing over to another country, Namibia.

Game Drive 1

The roads or trails in the park are either all sand or a mixture of dirt and sand, making them much different from the paved roads in the parks we visited in South Africa. I think the dirt/sand made the park more authentic as the home of many animals. To me, it felt more like what I had always pictured a safari to be. It was not unusual to see animals on the road such as this baboon.

Baboons Playing–MOVIE

These young baboons were having a great time playing in the tree while their elders watched nearby.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/ic16v6t8ir8

Lions

A new sight for us were seeing lions on the move.

My Tour Group

A photo of those of us who went on to Botswana. I took the photo from the safari truck. I had to change seats in the truck as my original seat’s seat belt was broken. I climbed down on three stairs to the ground with the lowest rung about two feet high and then had to hoist myself up to a rung about three feet from the ground to get to the next seat row. No easy feat but I had some good help. I was not going to get down and then up again. But a little late, our game driver showed me how to get off the truck: put my feet on the rung next to my row, then move my feet over to the middle of the three steps while holding on to the upright bars. Easy, but I wished he had instructed me earlier.

Impala

Another great sight: an impala darting across the road.

Colorful Bird

There are over 450 species of birds in Chobe National Park. We were lucky to spot this lilac breasted roller bird. But we didn’t see a leopard this morning which would have completed our Big Five total. We were one animal short.

I have put my photos of our morning game drive on a slideshow. Go to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/chobe–natl–park–game–drive–1/

(Slide Shows, Southern Africa, Botswana, “Chobe Nat’l Park, Game Drive–1”).

Kasane

After our morning game drive and after lunch, a number of my group walked to the souvenir shops near our hotel. Both sides of the street were lined with them.

Kasane People

We also got to do some great people–watching on our walk.

I have put my photos of Kasane on a slideshow. Go to http://www.peggysphotos.com/kasane/

(Slide Shows, Southern Africa, Botswana, “Kasane”).

Game Drive 2

Five of us wanted to see a leopard before we left Botswana and Africa, so we went on one more game drive––an afternoon one. Most people avoid afternoon game drives because it is too hot outside. We left at 3 p.m. and didn’t find it too hot as we mostly were on the road near the river. One big reason to go on an afternoon game drive is because there are few other safari trucks in the park and we didn’t have to jockey for position to see the animals. The park felt much like it was all ours. We saw this mother monkey carrying her baby underneath her––a new sight for us.

Baboons

Now the baby baboon is being carried on its mother’s back.

Baby Baboon

The baby baboon. So cute.

Elephants

On our Chobe River boat cruise yesterday, we saw many elephants. Here, the elephants are returning to the Chobe National Park from the island in the river on which they were grazing.

A Wild Ride

Our game driver was just told by another game driver that his group had seen a leopard in a tree. Our game driver told us that to reach the area where the leopard was spotted was 20 minutes away by a high–speed drive and one in which we wouldn’t stop for any animals that we saw on the way. He also didn’t guarantee that the leopard would still be there. We were all game and excited about the chance to see a leopard. First, we had to get these elephants out of our way. The one on the left was stubborn and defiant and wasn’t going to let us by. But finally it moved and we were off.

The Leopard

Our wild ride, I am sure that we broke all Chobe National Park speed records, we made it in 15 minutes to the area where the leopard was spotted. Our game driver slowly drove around the area looking for a leopard in a tree. He spotted it but it was hard to see the leopard as it was hidden by the tree’s branches. But not to disappoint us, the leopard jumped down and sat down so we could take photos of it. A very considerate leopard. We felt we had achieved something by seeing our fifth of the Big Five animals.

Elephants

After taking photos of the leopard, our driver told us that we would have to hurry back to the park’s entrance 30 miles away before the park’s gate was closed. So another very high speed drive. We had to ask these elephants to move out of the way. We made it to the park entrance with about three minutes to spare. I asked our driver what would have happened if we were late and the gate was down. He said that he would have to nicely ask the gate attendant to open the gate but that he could be given a violation for being late to leave the park. I don’t think he wanted one. I thought the Chobe National Park was the best of the three game reserves that we visited. Along with our ride on the Chobe River, we saw more animals than we saw in the other parks and I very much liked the setting that we saw them in.
I have put my photos of Game Drive–2 on a slideshow. Go to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/chobe–natl–park–game–drive–2/

(Slide Shows, Southern Africa, Botswana, “Chobe Nat’l Park, Game Drive–2”).