April 25

 River, Chobe  NP 

Our most ideal safari day so far!

We left Thebe River Camp rather late (9am) and drove into Kasane for provisions.  Then we began driving west through the northern section of Chobe NP.   

Our general idea was to cross the border from Botswana to Namibia, but first  we decided to turn north down a sandy single track that we thought might led to the Chobe River.   Little did we realize we were about to an entire day "on safari" in an incredible river habitat. 

At first we saw only a few birds, most notably a colourful Woodland kingfisher.  Al expressed an interest in seeing giraffes and soon after we noticed three giraffes lingering behind some trees!  

The sandy track went down, but we still could not see the river for several km.  Then it suddenly appeared below us and we got out for a short walk on the shore.  

Then our animal sightings became more frequent, and exciting!  We saw  a buffalo, with two ox pecker birds on his back.  These birds eat tics that land on the buffalo, and on little mammals too.  We read that one of these birds was found with 200 tics in its stomach!  We saw impala too, some also sporting ox peckers on their backs. 

As we continued down the river track we found more giraffes among the trees,  and walking across right across our track in front of our vehicle.   Groups of impala, with dominate males aggressively chasing away intruders, hovered nearby.  Warthogs were feeding on low vegetation.  More giraffes, their long necks stretched out, were chewing on high branches.  We watched as their tongues - which can be 18 inches long - reached out to snatch branches.  

We stopped to watch some dung beatles at work.  In the distance we observed some hippos.  Colorful birds were everywhere.  This environment supports over 400 bird species!  

Our safari went on for over 5 hours, until we finally stopped at the Ihaha NP campsite on the river bank.   We had to chase away the vervet monkeys who were scrambling around, keen to steal anything we might leave unattended.  

Sunset comes early here, and the sky turns a brilliant red.  Our camp on the river was large and very private.  Devon and Charlotte created a delicious braii (BBQ) feast and we relaxed together over a game of Scrabble while listening to animal sounds. 

An amazing day!