Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana
Kruger National Park
Bongani Mountain Lodge is a great resort and we have a beautiful room with a private view of the bush below, water hole and all! We do bush walks and game drives around and below the lodge.
One morning we are up at 4:00 a.m. for a day at Kruger National Park! This is very different from our usual arrangement where we stay in small camps and see few other people or vehicles. Kruger is a total of 7,500 square miles and has millions of visitors each year. We drive down many dirt roads and find elephants, zebras,
giraffes with their necks twisted with each other (known as "necking") and greater kudu. The wet season is supposed to begin but until the rains come the park has many watering holes where fresh water is pumped in.
And oh, so many rhinoceros--Kruger has 4-5,000 of them
We also see cape buffalo and even a leopard. It is up a tree on our way out but really too far away for pictures.
But there is a bit of a disappointment when we actually pull into a picnic/rest stop to find a few hundred people buying things from the huge gift shop, and the many food places, with many little tables and chairs all around and when we find a place to sit down with our box lunch out we also discover that we aren't the only ones who want our lunch! There goes my yogurt, there goes your apple, and if you had a banana that would be gone too! There is no sign saying that the monkeys are quick and will enjoy your lunch!
Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe
Sable Sands Lodge
We move on to Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, and our first game ride is amazing! We find FOUR cheetahs playing and running into the trees and up and down the termite mounds.
It seems to be a mom and her three juvenile cubs. As OAT (our travel company) would say, "This is a learning and discovery experience". We are headed to the national park but we don't make it as planned; when there is something to see on the way we take advantage of the opportunity. We watch the playfulness of this cheetah family when all of a sudden the FOUR of them start heading to the flat area ( the "vlei") in between two bush roads, just following one another. We try to see what they see and in our binoculars we discover a male lion heading straight toward them. Cheetahs are afraid of lions but the FOUR of them stand their ground and start the game. They set up on each corner of the lion and one goes in near the lion but when the lion chases back another goes in close. This gets the lion turning another way, chasing the other one.
This happens over and over--it is a fast game and we are getting as many pictures as we can! It is exciting to watch but before too long the lion is exhausted. We watch the cheetahs run off, and later find the lion resting in the shade. The cheetah mom is teaching her cubs how to prowl around, what to hunt and not hunt, and to live another day!
Later that evening the lion is back in our sights, right outside of our camp... When we wake in the morning there sits Poncho, the lion we watched with the cheetah, with not only one kill but two! Poncho is new to the area, and is trying to establish his territory. He got his name from the drivers because he took a tourist's poncho. Poncho earlier had wounded a cape buffalo; the buffalo was resting near our camp and the lion was able to find it and complete the kill. No one can really explain why, but Poncho also took down a baby elephant,
which was explained as a mistake--the elephant just got in the way. All day Poncho sits and guards his kills, hoping for a lioness to come but she never does, That evening we get a wild thunder, lightning and rain storm which sends Poncho into the woods. When he leaves, the scavengers--perhaps fifty vultures and several hyenas-- take over, and by morning the carcasses are disappearing.
Meanwhile, up the vlei a mile or two we see a large male lion, the resident king of the jungle, with his sweetheart during a honeymoon break in the action, unaware or uncaring that his turf has been invaded by Poncho. It has been an adventure that will be hard to beat!
We also have a couple of days with herds of stressed elephants in Hwange National Park itself. The animals are waiting for the rainy season to begin and to provide relief from a very dry and hot period. Until the rains, water is very precious. When the elephants show up at the watering holes there is no room for other animals, and the family groups wait their turn, for the most part. The watering holes are quite large, like little ponds, but get messy with all the activity around and in them. Fresh water is piped in during the dry season and that is the preferred water of the elephants.
The watering holes of fresh water are small and get very crowded, with occasional elephant temper outbursts! The elephants are desperate for water and can smell the water underground, so they are found digging and pulling up water pipes belonging to the camps and lodges in the bush. They survive any way they can...
On our way to see the elephants we find a small dazzle of zebra, which includes a baby who had been attacked and was meant to be dinner but somehow got away from its predator. Its side is ripped open and one leg is injured, so it is lucky to be alive! It is in a lot of pain but will survive... Once we arrive out by the watering hole we witness a crocodile grabbing a baby elephant. The baby is badly wounded and cannot get out of the water. Another bigger elephant tries to push the baby to the edge and out of harm's way but is unable. So the baby just floats around, struggling to get out, but it is drowning before our eyes and we can do nothing about it. It is explained to us that the family of the baby probably forgot about the baby as they left the watering hole. We experience the cruel and harsh wild kingdom.
As we return to camp we pass another watering hole with families of elephants coming in from all directions. We are lucky to end the day on a more positive note as a family arrives with a tiny little one who sees the water and takes off in a full run with the mother trying to keep up! As it reaches the muddy hole it slips and slides, it is up and it is down again, and provides us with a good laugh!
This has been a wild day in the WILD!
Chobe National Park, Botswana
Chobe Bakwena Lodge
This is our fourth visit to Chobe National Park but the first time we have stayed on the river! We are at a beautiful new lodge, where the cabins/rooms have thatched roofs and whitewashed walls made with sand bags and metal supports, which are then plastered over. The lodge is Eco friendly and this type of construction keeps the little houses much cooler.On the first morning drive, we are all overwhelmed with what we find! We first see elands, which are the largest antelopes, then a steenbok, the smallest of the antelopes. We find a kori bustard, the national bird of Botswana and the heaviest flying bird. I am happy to get a pictures of the colorful Carmine Bee Eater and the beautiful Lilac Breasted Roller!
Then the word gets out that there are lions close by--the jeep speeds up and we are heading near to the river where we find four lions, all but one under a tree. A young male sits beside the tree looking a little restless--
stretching and rolling, sitting and laying--really giving a good photo opportunity!
The jeep radio squawks again and this time we are told that a leopard has been spotted close by. Again we are on the move--not far away our driver/guide sees something that no one has seen yet, the leopard's footprints along with a drag mark heading up the side of a small hill and going onto a restricted area. Our driver decides to go for it anyway--the first thing we see is the leopard's kill in the bushes, an impala. The driver is looking for the leopard and spots him in the side mirror just opposite the kill under a beautiful hollowed out tree trunk.
Get your pictures!
We leave that area quickly and just a little way upriver we see hundreds of elephants, with more coming from all directions, having mud baths and trying to cool off.
The day is very hot, the land without rain, and many animals come down to the river for a drink and some relief. The picture tells the story of these gentle giants!
We are back out in the jeeps after afternoon tea and the first thing on the agenda is to check on the leopard! Has it taken its kill up a tree to keep the other animals away? What we find is not what we expect--remember the four lions? They now have the kill. The leopard turns out to be a female and she could not get her kill up a tree--just not strong enough. We are told that the lions are really lazy and would rather steal a kill than hunt for themselves.
As the day is ending we see Blackback Jackals with two pups, a Grey Heron, Yellow-billed Stork, and the ugly Maribou Stork. Moving on, we come upon a few jeeps stopped, so we decide to join them and as we settle in, right in front of us,
walks the elegant and very composed lady leopard. She is on her way to the watering hole after a long hot day.
The last morning in Chobe we have yet another special sighting, this time a male and female lion. These lions are away from the pride for several days of mating, a honeymoon.
As we snap our pictures we notice a lone elephant heading straight for the lions. We expect some conflict but again we are surprised when the elephant chases the lions away. It is a young male elephant that has been run out of the family because he has become sexually active and is showing interest in the females of the family. Now we have a stand off, but the lions are distracted--there is no harm done, the elephant finally leaves and the lions get back to business.
Our last adventure is a boat ride on the Chobe River. The first animal we see is a crocodile, so our guide tells us the fascinating details of the croc's life. It can live to be 100 years old plus but only 2% of the hatchlings live to maturity. Once the hatchlings hatch mom cares for them for only two months and then she is gone. Their bony back panels absorb and hold in the heat, acting like solar panels. A croc can live off one guinea fowl for 2 to 3 months, for it stores the fat on the bottom of its stomach. The crocodile kills its prey by grabbing it and taking it under water. It can regulate its heart beat to 4 beats a minute to stay down until the prey is suffocated. The croc rips its prey as its teeth are like razor blades, and it doesn't chew but just swallows, then uses its bile to break down the food it has eaten. The tail is like a propeller and the feet are useless in the water. And, yes, it is poisonous-- the only edible part is its tail, where blood doesn't flow.
We can't forget the elephants crossing the river, cooling off and finding river grass to eat that is still green. These elephants are so close to us they look gigantic! We watch as they rip the grass by the roots, wrap the long grasses around their trunks like spaghetti, and swish it back and forth to shake off the mud. This is a pretty comical as dirt goes flying and water sprays up and out of the river. It goes on and on because it takes a lot to fill up an elephant, who each day will eat about 300 pounds of grass and leaves, and drink about 50 quarts of water.
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