Life on the Chobe

Life on the Chobe was pretty simple for us. Maybe not as simple for all of the wildlife though in their daily quest for food/water and safety from predators. Our primary activity was looking for animals via boat safaris from the lodge at sunrise, midday, and sunset with our local guide, Felix. We had the option to do as few or as many of these outings as we wanted to each day. This turned out to be a good way to ease into this portion of the trip (with the intent of allowing time to overcome the jet lag for most of the travelers who were just starting their international journeys – and, for us, it gave our bodies a few more days of R&R after our trek through the Alps last week). All that was needed was a good camera, a pair of binoculars, and neutral-colored clothing (to blend in with the environment and avoid scaring away the animals).

Here are the commonly sought after animals on African safaris (your likelihood of seeing a particular one depends a lot on where you are on the continent):

The Big 5: African Elephant ✔, Cape Buffalo ✔, Leopard, Lion, and Rhinoceros. So named because they are considered the most difficult and dangerous African animals to hunt on foot (they will hunt you right back if threatened!).

The Little 5: Ant Lion, Buffalo Weaver, Elephant Shrew, Leopard Tortoise, and Rhinoceros Beetle.

The Ugly 5: Hyena, Wildebeest, Vulture ✔, Warthog ✔, and Marabou Stork ✔.

Highlights from the morning safari included: Watching the sun rise over the Chobe River, a herd of cape buffalo grazing nearby the lodge, a pod of hippos settling in to sleep, baboon hijinks in their riverside village, a fish eagle living up to its name, a colorful woodland kingfisher, newborn baboons frolicking with one another and being carried by their mothers, and animals coming down to the riverbank to drink in spite of crocodiles lurking about.

Midday was a popular time for the animals to come down to the waterbank to drink and to cool down. This allowed us the opportunity to see groups of different animals all together at once – elephants, impala, zebra, warthog, hippos, and crocs. This is Africa!

The elephants were the star of the show though! It was hilarious to watch them taking a mud bath and then the younger elephants struggling to climb out of the mud hole.

And, getting to watch this herd of elephants cross the river in front of our lodge was a very special moment. A young bull got in the water first, but the herd didn’t follow until the matriarch made it clear that it was time to go.

We didn’t have to wait long for our first wildlife sighting, as a tower of giraffes was waiting for us just across the river. It was funny to watch them fold over their legs in order to reach their necks down low enough to drink water. Interesting fact about giraffes: the color of their skin darkens with age.

And, it was more of the same in terms of the animals that we saw earlier in the day.

Can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring!