Welcome to the Okavango Delta Sept 9 Tuesday

Today we left our beautiful Baobab Camp in Chobe NP and took another bush plane ride to the Okavango Delta. The Delta is famous for being one of the few inland deltas that does not flow into an ocean. During the rainy season in January and February, the rainfall from neighboring Angola eventually floods the delta in Botswana to the south and completely changes the landscape. The peak flooding happens later than the rains, typically filling the delta between June and August. The delta is basically a huge oasis in the Kalahari desert and it can be seen from space. When the floods begin to recede, they leave tons of lagoons and pools that bring thousands of animals from around the region. We planned this trip to coincide with the recession of the waters so we could be here at peak animal viewing time. We watched several documentaries on the Okavango Delta before the trip and are super excited to see it.

Lovey dovey lions

On the way to the camp from Santawani International Airport (really just a dirt airstrip), we immediately encountered a pride of eleven lions napping under a tree. The pride is well known to the guides. One of them is collared for research, and the guides told us she lost two babies just after they were born in June. They weren’t sure if it was a predator or natural causes. We are still on the hunt for leopard, cheetah, and rhinoceros, and hope to get lucky here in the delta.

We are staying Santawani Camp in the bush and are back on solar power again here. The camp is owned by Wilderness, the same company that owns all of the camps that OAT contracts with for this trip. We have a waterhole right outside that attracts the animals and we had a small herd of elephants with babies getting a drink while we had lunch. This camp has the best public restroom of all the camps, known as the loo with the view. It is literally missing a wall and you can watch the animals while you use it. (We have an actual bathroom in all of our tents.)

11 lions napping under a tree

The lodge area at Santawani Camp

In the late afternoon, we set out on another game drive and immediately encountered two young leopards. Score!!! They were a brother and sister and mama was likely nearby but we never saw her. One was in a tree with his paws hanging down, exactly like you see in photos, and one was resting in the shade of a giant termite mound. We watched them for quite a while before moving on to see what else we could see. When they find elusive animals like leopards, the guides call out on the radio to the other guides in the area, so we had a couple other trucks join us, but this area is not at all crowded like Chobe.

The bush was kind to us today because we saw a family of jackals with two cute little babies coming out of their den in the ground. We also saw quite a few impala, some elephants, a giraffe, and some tsessebe antelope, which we had not seen before. It wasn’t long before we encountered the pride of eleven lions again and this time it was evening and they were wide awake and on the hunt. We watched them spread out and surround a small herd of tsessebe antelope and impala, but they were spooked when the birds started calling out danger signals. It was getting dark by this time, so as we were heading back to camp for our dinner, we watched the lions regroup and start to figure out a new plan for their dinner. We could hear them roaring as we walked to our cabins later in the evening.

Lions on the hunt

The cutest leopard cub in the world

In this camp, like all the others, we have to be escorted to our tents with a guide and are not allowed to leave until the wakeup call in the morning. During the day we can walk to and from our tents by ourselves, but we have to stay vigilant. Steve and another guest encountered an elephant on the path today and had to wait until she passed before they could walk to the lodge. At Lufupa, I was leaving my tent one morning and had to run to the neighboring tent and jump on their porch when I encountered a mama warthog and three babies right outside my tent. Basically, a lot of things want to kill you here.

When we returned from our 5 star game drive, the camp staff had set up a beautiful dinner outside for us. We had a lovely dinner by lantern light. Our guide Ona, had a birthday today and the staff prepared a special celebration for him and we sang to him also. It was another very special evening with the amazing staff. The staff is really appreciative for all of us being here. The tourism industry provides jobs and opportunities for lots of folks who otherwise would not have the income they are able to earn by working here. They spend six to eight weeks at a time away from their families and go home for two weeks. At all the Wilderness owned camps, they work from March 15 to November 15 while the tourism season is in full swing. They want everyone in the US to know they want us all to come visit!