We got up for a sunrise game drive, which was very successful, as we saw a pride of lions twice, the first time in the golden hour in the morning and the pride had a very young cub. To top if off, we were able to be on the perfect side of them to take advantage of the light. It has to be said that the rest of the drive was fairly uneventful, with just some bok, a few elephants and a few giraffe. Sadly, the leopard at leopard rock remained elusive.
We then drove out of the are we were in and up to the Chobe Waterfront area, for our next night, in another wild unfenced campsite. En-route to the campsite we did another self-drive, although there aren’t many photos due to the midday light.
On our evening drive we saw so many elephants, it really was unbelievable, some water buffalo (a first in the wild) and some giraffe. Our evening was spent at camp, watching elephants no more than 50m away from us, and listening to lions roaring. We had a decent campfire, to, hopefully, keep them at bay.
- Start: Savuti Campsite
- Destination: Ihaha Campsite
- Distance: 125km
- Planned Duration: 2h30min (this was always wildly ambitious)
- Actual Duration: 5 hours (with a game drive)
- Animals Seen: Zebra, Jackal, Gnu, Lion, Giraffe, Elephant, Warthog, Water Buffalo, Slender Mongoose, Baboon, Waterbuck, Bushbuck, Impala, Springbok, Common Reedbuck, Magpie Shrike, Lilac-breasted Roller, Cape Starling, Red-billed Spur Fowl, Helmeted Guinea fowl, Marabou Stork, Tawny Eagle, White-backed Vulture, Southern Carmine Bee-eater, Yellow-billed Egret, African Openbill, Southern Red-billed Hornbill, Bradfield’s Hornbill, Blacksmith Lapwing, Kori Bustard, Black Kite
Morning Game Drive
Today I was woken up by Becky, due to her excitement at there being some kind of stand-off between an elephant and a lion in the Savuti channel, which was directly in front of our truck without any form of fence. I was less excited, as I was in deep sleep thanks to my earplugs, but it was only 10 mins before our alarm so it wasn’t exactly a problem.
Very shortly after sunrise on the self drive we were lucky enough to stumble on a pride of lions, chilling out in the morning sunshine. This provided us with some really excellent photographic opportunities, and was also wonderful to see. Both of the males were very handsome with the manes and there was also a very young cub.
The rest of the self drive was fairly slow and we didn’t see much, other than a couple of elephants, a few giraffe and a couple of herds of antelope. On our way back towards the camp we stopped to get our breakfast stuff out and headed back to where the lions were previously. They were still there, but mostly chilling out in the shade, so we sat in the car and ate our breakfast while watching them. The highlight was the cub feeding with mum & dad sat next to them, and the other male on patrol and going to the watering hole for a drink.
Drive from Savitu to Ihaha (Chobe Riverfront)
The drive out of the park was much faster than our way in as we took two shortcuts, which we didn’t use on the way in due to a concern about soft sand. Eventually we reached the tarmac road for some easier driving and a respite from the constant bumps from driving on sand.
We entered the Chobe Waterfront area at Ngoma gate, where we did a self drive on the way to the campsite, before having an early dinner and heading out for our evening drive.
Lunchtime Self-Drive
The self-drive en-route to the campsite was not that lucrative photographically, but we enjoyed seeing some new forms of antelope, lots of elephants, some giraffe, some birds and a family of warthog. By the time we arrived at the campsite, we were very ready for a break from being in the car, as we started driving at 5:45 this morning and it was now around 14:00.
Evening Self-Drive
After an early dinner we headed out for our evening self-drive, and all I can say is, wow there are a lot of elephants in Chobe. It was really unbelievable to see, if not a little intimidating at times with so many in every direction. We also enjoyed seeing our first water buffalo in the wild, along with antilope and giraffes.
When we got back to our camping area, there were giraffes eating out of the tree above our camping spot. As we sat drinking a beer by the truck, we were watching a number of elephants no more than 50m away, just chilling and eating some grass. Very special.
We spent the evening by a fire, not because it was cold, but because we hoped it would keep the roaring lions at bay. I am now writing this back in the truck, so it seemed to do the job!
Comments