Stunning Botswana (page 3 of 7)

Oh, you’ve seen other scenes and lots of animals we haven’t spotted yet. For example, the oryx, which we only glimpsed, even though it’s a "common" animal. Guess we’ll have to go back toooooo

Incredible story. You're making us dream. Keep going, I can't wait to read the rest. And the photos—what a treat! You're a real pro.

After this visit, we continue to Xakanaka. We set up the tents and head out for a drive that turns out to be quite an adventure (but I’ll get back to that later). I really loved this park for its landscapes. It’s totally my "style"









Now, let me tell you about our wild adventure. Jonah spotted carnivore tracks on the ground. We search in vain. Then we cross paths with a 4x4 with a guide, and... I don’t know what they said to each other, but suddenly we’re zooming off at full speed, following the other car. Just imagine what it’s like to drive fast on a track in Botswana! 😕 We crossed streams and puddles, barely slowing down, and the potholes—well, I won’t even describe the bumps we took in our seats (it had us laughing the whole time). And all this to arrive just in time for what? A peaceful group of impalas and, a little further away, four African wild dogs. Of course, they chased the impalas in vain (too bad for us, but good for the impalas). What luck to see that! The failed hunt, and the animals disappeared. We continue on our way, alone and calmly, when suddenly we come across the wild dogs again. We’re the only ones there, and they’re relaxed. We get to follow them for a while in the setting sun. Amazing!

Sorry, the photo’s blurry, but oh well...





Jonah explains that this animal is being tracked by scientists for its movements, which explains the collar around its neck.



That’s the puddle we crossed at full speed on the way there.

Tuesday, August 22: Morning drive then departure for Moremi Khwai















Love it!







Arrived in Khwai, we set up camp. Once that’s done, we head out to scout the area.









Off to a great start, I’d say! 😏

We’ll be staying here for four nights. Awesome. We’ll get to make the most of this place—it looks packed with wildlife.

Wednesday, August 23: First night in Khwai. This morning, when we woke up, there was some minor damage around the campsite. I heard noises last night (like every night, actually 😏), but this time they were particularly loud. Since we weren’t allowed to go outside, I didn’t poke my head out. And sure enough, we hadn’t put away our flip-flops in the tents or the water bottles that were left outside. So, Mrs. Hyena took advantage of the situation.

My daughter lost a pair of flip-flops, a small bottle was shredded, and a 5-liter water jug was ripped open. Oh, not nice 🏴‍☠️. After that, we made sure to put everything away properly on the following evenings.





Otherwise, the game drive during the day went well.

yeah, the day went really well 😛 🙂 the photos are still just as beautiful... and the sunsets/sunrises are just as magical 😎

Thursday, August 24th: Today is a bit of a special day. We’re doing our last morning drive with Jonah. He’ll be leaving after lunch with Joe, who’s coming to pick him up. William (Joe’s brother) will take over until the end of the trip. A little emotional moment when he says goodbye to us 😕 We really appreciated his good mood, his joy for life, and his eagerness to always please. In the meantime, he’ll finish in style, the guy!! What a morning 😏



Face-to-face battle

Friday, August 25: Another full day of driving around Khwai. It's so enjoyable spending our days searching for animals. Today, William decides to take us a bit outside the park.





After an hour and a half on the road, we don’t see anything. Everything is quiet. So, William heads back to Khwai, and that’s when we hit the jackpot!



But what’s going on here?





Oh right! Unfortunately, the hunt was unsuccessful again, even though it was really close!



What a spectacle!! The technique is impressive. The birds slowly gather at one spot and then dive all at once.



This afternoon, we were playing cards with Junien and Doris while William was napping when suddenly, we heard a roar very close by. William jumped up and left. Ten minutes later, he came back and said, "lion." We all quickly followed him to the car. Less than two minutes later, we were just 1.5 meters away from a magnificent lioness, with no one else around!

The lioness wasn’t even 200 meters from our tents. So, we had to be extra careful: no running, no shouting, to avoid provoking her. It was amazing being that close —or maybe it was just reckless of me 😕

🙂

Saturday, August 26: Today, we leave Khwai for Savute. Packing up tents and an early departure. This transfer will serve as our morning drive since we don’t leave the track. Savute is a very pretty region, and the road is very sandy.







During our afternoon drive, we were lucky enough to come across a pair of lions and witness a lioness feeding.

Sunday, August 27: Today, we're spending the day in Savute, with game drives in the morning and afternoon. And it's a good thing because it's truly magnificent! William is a real champ, and we're going to be so lucky again!











The leopard came so close to the car that I could’ve petted its back. Honestly, I’m not kidding! But I didn’t try

He went hunting after those poor impalas, but we couldn’t witness it. He was taking too long to make up his mind 😕







Uh, 1 lion and 3 lionesses keeping an eye on 3 poor little elephants!!! They’re flattening themselves like pancakes, watching those big beasts in case they need to bolt!

Where are the lions hiding?









Wood-fired pancakes for tonight. Well done, Doris 😉

I’ll say it again—you had an awesome trip!

Thanks Mathilde for this travel journal. We're heading to Botswana in 10 days. Your photos are stunning. I have a few questions: what camera do you use? Which lenses? Did you have any issues recharging the batteries? Thanks in advance. Muriel

Did you have any issues recharging batteries?

If you're traveling solo, I’d definitely recommend bringing a 1/220 V converter to plug into the cigarette lighter. If you're with an agency, they usually have one.

Still, two batteries is a "must-have" minimum 😉

Thanks Mathilde,

It's just... stunning!! Your photos are ab-so-lute-ly gorgeous... You were lucky enough to see several big cats (lion, cheetah, and leopard), whereas I only saw a lone lioness in Chobe (in July)... though I did see oryx several times 😉! You can't have it all... I guess there's an advantage to being driven by a guide rather than doing a self-drive where you might miss things... No worries, I'll have to go back until I've seen the leopard—the only big cat I've never seen in Africa, in the wild... Well done again and thank you!

Hi Muriel, You’re so lucky to be heading to Botswana in 10 days! I’d love to go back—we had such a fantastic time.

I took two Canon 7Ds: one loaded with an 18-200mm lens and the other with a 100-400mm. That way, I didn’t have to swap lenses all the time—super convenient.

For batteries, since we were mostly camping, I’ll admit I took some extra precautions. I had five batteries for the two cameras, so more than enough to last. Can’t risk running out! 🤪 That said, we also had a car charger, which was really handy—no issues for us at all.

Have a great trip!

Totally agree with you!

Thanks for your comment. That’s really kind of you. And you forgot the African wild dog (in your list) that we were lucky enough to see too. That said, you’re right—we’ve got to go back until we’ve seen it all. For us, it’ll be to see oryx and plenty of other animals It’s true that going with a guide makes a huge difference. They’ve got a great eye. We definitely wouldn’t have seen half of these incredible animals without them

Monday, August 28: Today we leave Savute for Chobe. We take down the tents and hit the road. The African wild dogs say goodbye to us.



At Chobe, the site is also stunning. We settle into our new campsite and then head out on a drive.



Too cute, a baby elephant! 🙂

We’re lucky (once again) to come face to face with a group of 16 lions!! We counted them: 2 lionesses, 4 teenagers, as William told us, and 10 cubs. Fantastic!











On our way back, we run into two more lions. These are the males, and they have really dark manes. One even has an eye infection. Poor guy.

The sunset is gorgeous. A few clouds add a beautiful effect.