Final Safari Drives

We wrapped up the safari portion of the trip at Camp Okuti in Botswana. We shared our drives there with Tom and Valerie and had a great time getting to know one another even as we had a couple of vehicle breakdowns. I finally got a decent shot of an impala - they're skittish and run away pretty quickly, so most of my shots were of them running away.

Our guide Captain estimated that this young zebra at no more than four days old.

We saw the same lions as well as antelope and of course elephants.

We saw a huge Baobab tree that elephants are trying to cut down. Check out the wedge they're carved out in the lower right of the tree. They're getting close.

A vervet monkey posed for us in a tree.

It's getting late on the final drive, and though we've been hoping to find an elusive leopard or cheetah, it seems like we're just heading to a nice spot for the sundowner glass of wine. Then we pull up to this guy, and leopard cub that's ~18 months old. Mama has left him while she's out on a hunt. He's totally docile and basically spends his time grooming like any house cat and checking out the cars that have pulled up by him. What a finish to our safari time!

Finally, a shot of Tom, Valerie and Captain at the sundowner lining up a photo of some spotted hyenas that came by to check us out. Don't worry, they stayed several hundred yards away as Captain said they would.

Deeper into the Delta: Camp Okuti

We wrapped up our final morning at Kanana Camp with a short game drive before hopping another bush flight deeper into the Okavango Delta.

We had the same pilot from two days earlier and I got to fly the plane for a while. This came with the assurance that I wouldn't brag about it in camp or let the bosses know...

Note: This is as easy as steering a car on cruise control. Though I will say that every bit of turbulence was greeted with a bit more anxiety from the person taking the picture. A view of the delta (our camp is presumably in the picture) and the view from our tent. Camp Okuti is perhaps the most luxurious yet, including both indoor and outdoor showers.

As we head out on our first drive from Camp Okuti, our driver points out a tree that's being overtaken by a Strangler Fig tree. About a year ago at work, someone shared a post about Agile software development being similar to a Strangler Fig tree: you're often replacing software a bit at a time while always keeping it running. I enjoyed seeing one in person.

The termite mounds here are incredible. We saw some in Kenya, but they weren't nearly as big. The ones here take decades to build and can last over 100 years. Many are much taller than me. There consistency is similar to concrete.

We also found some lions on the drive and enjoyed a few more amazing African skies.

Frogs and Birds

We took a few boat rides into the Okavango Delta including some time in a mokoro (canoe). From camp, here's the beach (with fire pit put to good use each evening), dock and boat.

We headed out into the delta, carefully passed some hippos (just stay in the shallow water), got into the mokoros and learned to spot tiny frogs on the reeds.

We also saw birds. Lots and lots of birds. A disturbing number of birds. Let's just say that the "white" tree in the one shot isn't a white tree. It's just the bird droppings... We start with an African Fish Eagle, some Grey Pelicans, and then just an idea of what I mean when I say lots of birds. There were dozens of trees like this.

If you're thinking the sunset on the water while drinking a lovely glass of rose was nice, you'd be right.

Kanana Camp in the Okavango Delta

We next took a small plane to Kanana Camp in the Okavango Delta and flew over some wildfires in the Kalahari Desert.

The accommodations were splendid. Our tent looks modest from the outside, but comes complete with hardwood floors.

There wasn't much new on the first game drive, so we'll close with another amazing sunset.

The Chobe river

We took a boat on the Chobe river Sunday and circled Sedudu island. Cape buffalo, crocs, a lizard (with very tasty meat according to our guide Daniel), and so many elephants. We even saw two elephants make the swim over to the island.

On that evening's game drive, an elephant showed off its agility. And another sunset - this one extra red due to smoke from some wildfires 30 to 50k west of here.