Rivers and Rails of Africa
March 31 - April 12, 2023
Mike and Judy Henderson
I'll leave this map up so you can see where we are. Right now, we're up at the top of the map, in the Victoria Falls area.
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This is a continuation of our 4/4/2023 (Tuesday) day. The previous web page was too long, and I had to split the day.
This African Darter is drying his wings after diving for a fish.
An African Openbill.
A family of elephants came down to the water to drink. Looks like four young ones.
Mom with the tiny baby.
We encountered a group of giraffes who came down to the water. Look how difficult it is for this giraffe to get to the water to drink.
Another giraffe.
A closer view of one. Notice the bird on the giraffe's neck.
A close up of one of the giraffes.
Next we encountered some warthogs.
They get by because they're so cute.
And so clean!
Then we encountered a group of baboons.
A bit further on, we saw these elephants running towards the water. We often saw that. I don't know if they were thirsty or excited about having a drink.
Ahhh, tastes so good.
I'm just like my mom!
The family that drinks together stays together.
We encountered some hippos in the grass. We couldn't see anything but their backs, but I focused on the Egret that was riding on the hippo.
An African Darter.
Two kudus. (A kudu duo.)
As we were heading back to the ship: "Look! There on the bank. It's a crocodile!"
Moving in closer.
It was a good thing he didn't lunge at me.
That was the end of our safari activity for today. We had dinner and went to bed. We go to Chobe National Park for a land safari tomorrow.
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4/5/2023 (Wednesday) We awoke to another spectacular sunrise on the Chobe River today.
We had to go to the Namibia passport office and "exit" Namibia. Then, go by boat to the Botswana passport office and enter Botswana.
Our safari vehicles were waiting for us at the Botswana passport office. This is a Toyota pickup truck. The people cut off the top of the cab and add the seats in the truck bed. The problem is that it has "truck suspension" and rides very stiff. Makes it almost impossible to take pictures while the vehicle is moving. Climbing aboard is also tricky, until you figure out how to hold on and keep your footing.
Then we drove to the Chobe National Park, and stopped at the entrance to use the rest rooms. Mike and Isabel are with their driver. They had a vehicle all to themselves.
Then we headed out into the bush. We spent all day there, including having lunch in the park. We encountered a LOT of animals, all herbivores. We did not see any carnivores, such as lions.
A male impala.
A Cape Buffalo, also known as an African Buffalo.
A family of mongoose crossed the road just ahead of us. It was hard to get a picture - they were hidden in the grass and moved quickly.
I believe this bird is an African Marabou.
A White Crowned Lapwing. I'm no bird expert. I put this picture into Google Image Search and that's what it told me.
This bird is feeding in the shallows, unconcerned about the crocodile in the background. The bird is probably an African Openbill.
Hippos in the water.
A closer view, showing whiskers.
Helmeted Guineafowl. Some people used to raise these in Louisiana.
Why did the elephant cross the stream?
To eat some grass.
A young male impala. His horns are just starting to grow out.
Some warthogs.
A family portrait.
We came upon a large herd of impalas, and I took some close-ups
Who's a pretty girl?
Me, me.
The dominant male.
This Three Banded Courser was really well camouflaged and very difficult to spot.
As we were driving along, an elephant suddenly appeared next to our vehicle. Luckily, all she wanted to do was eat from a bush.
She moved on and passed right by us, almost bumping our truck.
A short while later, we came upon a family, with two younger elephants.
This was the smallest one.
Hippos, again. They were all over.
Suddenly, out in the bush, giraffes! A whole bunch of them. [Photography note: I changed the sky in a few of the following photos just for artistic effect.]
We were in the middle of a herd. Their graceful movements were fascinating.
An elephant down by the water.
Mike and Isabel watching the elephant.
We encountered another group of giraffes.
This one was checking us out.
A closer view.
By now, it was lunch time and we arrived at the picnic area where AMA Waterways had set up. Here's Thomas setting up his 360 degree camera.
They created a station for us to wash our hands.
Lining up for lunch.
The group at lunch.
This web page is getting long, so I'll stop here.