Chobe Game Drive Sept 8 Monday

Today we had an all day game drive through and around Chobe National Park. We discovered that each of the three NPs we have visited so far on this trip are very different. Hwange NP contained large open fields and small forests with small herds of animals in the area where we were camped. Kafue NP was located on the confluence of the Kafue and Lufupa rivers and had tons of hippos and birds. Chobe NP is located on the border between Botswana and Namibia and there is a vast delta area created by the Chobe River between the two countries which attracts herds of thousands of animals. We saw gigantic herds of Cape buffalo, zebra, elephants, impalas, kudu, and large herds of giraffes. We were lucky enough to see several herds of elephants, giraffes, and zebra cross the road right in front of us. They come down the gently sloping hills to drink from the river and graze on the fertile grasses that grow in the delta.

During the rainy season, the delta is full of water, but since we are here in the dry season, we saw the river flowing gently through with a few tributaries trailing off here and there. Locals from Namibia routinely walk from their homes across the delta to fish in the river using small canoes known as mokoro. The river is inhabited by crocs, so yes, those people are crazy. We can see the Namibian villages across the delta from our lodge.

In addition to the herds of animals, we also saw two separate prides of lions lounging around under the Woolly Caper bushes where it was cooler. Not cool, mind you, as it was 97 deg F here today and it’s only early spring. The big difference is the humidity. It’s only 11% today, so while 97 is certainly hot and we are sweaty, it’s not the same as 97 at home.

The highlight of the day had to be all the babies we saw: lion cubs, giraffe babies, zebra babies, elephant babies with super floppy trunks that they can’t seem to yet control or know what to do with, baboon babies, and monkey babies. So. Many. Cute. Babies!

Baby elephant

Lion cub

Chacma baboon babies

In the afternoon, we had another interesting discussion with our guide Tyson about poaching in Botswana. It’s a hot topic in this part of the world, and that’s why we have discussed it every country we have visited. Botswana has a shoot to kill law, which means that NP officials can shoot to kill suspected poachers without asking questions. The law has created some controversies and nearly caused a war between Botswana and Namibia a few years ago. It has also caused the numbers of poached animals to go way down, so it is achieving its intended actions.

In the evening, we had our final dinner at Baobab I Camp. We ate outside around the fire pit and it was a finger licking good meal, meaning we could eat with our hands as the local tribespeople do if we chose to. Of course, I had to try it, and I kinda sucked at it. These trips truly give you an appreciation of the local culture. All the people we met at this camp were amazing individuals who welcomed us with open arms. After dinner, they performed several songs for us in their local language and shared some of their customs with us. We did our sad rendition of Take Me Out to the Ballgame again, and it paled in comparison to their songs and dances. The camp manger, Tsephie, had a birthday today, so we all sang to her. We are sad to be leaving again, but happy to be headed to the Okavango Delta tomorrow.