29th & 30th December ‘09: Final safari to Chobe National Park, Botswana. After two relatively unsuccessful safaris to date we decided to have one last try at seeing the African wildlife everyone expects to encounter. The border with Botswana is only 70k west of Livingstone and the animal densities are reported to be much greater than in Zambia so we signed up for a two day / one night expedition to Chobe NP in the far NE of Botswana. The crossing point is where the Chobe and Zambezi Rivers meet and is the point of the map where 4 countries (Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia) all join at a single location. The river crossing to Botswana was short and the frontier is only 750m wide, making it the worlds shortest border.
Border crossing: Zambia; Zimbabwe; Botswana & Namibia
This area is a little sensitive as the Caprivi Strip, a 200k long, 40k wide strip of Namibia that juts out east is subject to several disputes between Botswana and Namibia about some small islands. However, there appeared to be no outward signs of conflict, save the presence of a number of Botswanian gun-boats and a very large flag flying from one of the islands in question.
Hippos a plenty on Chobe River
A river trip up the Chobe River is the first chance to encounter animals. We saw plenty of crocodiles, hippos, elephants, fish eagles and monitor lizards on the way. One of the unexpected sights was that of 2 lizards feeding on a dead catfish as a croc looked on.
Once we left the boat we had our first drive. The amount of wildlife was astonishing compared to previous trips. Diane got to see her giraffes. In fact she got to see lots of them. The number of elephants, buffalo, antelope, warthogs and other animals numbered in their hundreds. A highlight was to see some lions as dusk was approaching. We drove until it was too dark to see anything else and then headed to our bush camp. It is situated in the middle of the park and there is no fence or any protection except our tents. In total there were 11 in our group and we all enjoyed a nice meal and an open campfire, with wine to soothe our nerves. Just as we were preparing to go to bed an elephant made an appearance on the outskirts of the camp, but that was as near as it got.
Ringside seat for lion kill
Diane was woken at midnight by the sounds of two large male lions roaring close by (Chris and I slept through it all) and hyenas in the distance hunting. We were awake by 05:15 for the early morning game drive and several giraffes cruised by while we were eating breakfast. We boarded our 4×4s and set off on another exploration. What happened next was an amazing stroke of luck. We spotted several lionesses in close proximity to a large herd of impala. One was separated from the group and stood
African Wild Dogs on the hunt
nervously a few meters away from our 4×4. Suddenly from behind a bush a lioness pounced and pinned the impala to the ground. The other 4 members of the pride soon arrived and and one of the older offspring was given the task of administering the final death grip of the windpipe of the unfortunant victim. Then within a few feet of us they began to tear the animal to pieces. Our guide, who had been working for 15 years, had never seen something so spectacular this close. We were truly lucky. We were so close that we could hear the breaking bones and smell the contents of the stomach as it was torn apart by the lions. Within 15 minutes there was hardly anything remaining of the antelope, save a trampled patch of ground.
To round off an awesome morning we also encountered a pack of very rare African Wild Dogs hunting a large Water Buck. We followed this pack for nearly an hour, having to make several changes of track as the dogs chased their prey across densly vegetated parts of the park. To our knowledge the dogs were unsuccessful on this occassion, but the driver assured us that generally this animal is considered to be an effective predator. There numbers in the wild have been decimated by hunting and now only a few thousand survive.
The Lion Kill:
Initially we encountered a large herd of impala
The two adult lioness's begin the stalk. One goes left to isolate an impala the other remains close to the road (right beside our vehicle) in ambush.
One impala is isolated from the herd. Stalking lioness is behind the bush in the background.
Three young adult lions watch patiently from the sidelines.
Adult lioness exits stage left to stalk isolated impala
Junior gets to administer the killing bite!
Roadside take-a-way
Every lion fights for their share of the kill
Disembowled body of hapless victim
Tearing the last tasty bits off the carcass
Not much left after 15 minutes of feasting
Relaxing after a hearty breakfast of impala