expedition_retirement | Entries tagged with big five

The Okavango Delta is one of the world's largest inland deltas, where the waters of the Okavango River, which drains the Angolan highlands, spread out, trapped in a tectonic trough. This river once flowed freely across what is now South Africa to the Indian Ocean, but tectonic activity lifted a series of ridges that cut off the river's course. The water from the river now dries up as it traverses the delta, creating a seasonal wetland that has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Elephant walking through camp

We stayed at the Santawani Okavango Delta Camp, located in the Moremi Game Reserve on the eastern side of the delta, in an area that has dried considerably over the last decade or so. While we would see active water channels during our stay, the channels near our camp have not carried water in at least 10 years, according to the staff members we spoke to. Our accommodations here were a return to the more rustic tents like those we used in Hwange. While they were semi-permanently mounted on concrete pads and had indoor plumbing and king-sized beds, these were definitely tents. There was a pump-filled watering hole in front of the camp, and we had elephants passing through the camp every day going to and from the water.

We went on a total of five game rides here, and each one had a specific highlight. On our first drive, the afternoon we arrived, we found two female lions with their litters of cubs. When we first arrived, the two females and the older cubs (two or three months old) were sleeping near some logs and brush. As we watched, one of the females got up and walked over to some nearby bushes, where her newborn cubs (maybe three weeks old) were hidden. The older cubs were cute and playful, but the younger ones were absolutely adorable. Watching these cubs nurse was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Later, we saw a black-backed jackal, a nocturnal predator that we hadn't yet seen, and as the sunset, I was finally able to get a shot of giraffes silhouetted against the setting sun!

The next morning, on our second game drive, we saw a female cheetah with three older cubs. Unfortunately, her cubs were not used to the presence of the trucks, so they wouldn't settle in one place for long. We followed them through the bush for a while, hoping to get better views of them, before moving on to explore more of the area. We found evidence of leopards, specifically, the skin and bones of an impala hanging in a tree, and saw a number of eagles and vultures in the area, but weren't able to actually locate the leopard.

That evening, we actually found the leopards. It was a mating pair, but the male was very skittish, so we had to keep following them as they moved. Eventually, they appeared to settle down, but we had to move along to allow another truck the opportunity to see (unlike Chobe, there was a limit of three trucks at a sighting here, so the truck that had been there longest had to pull away if a fourth truck arrived). We eventually circled back to see them again, but apparently, the pair had mated while we were gone, and the male had left the area. But we did get a good look at the female as she rested. When we stopped for our sundowners I was able to frame a sunset shot with an acacia tree to create my best sunset photo of the trip.

On the second morning, we set out across the sandy dry landscape towards the nearest portion of the wetlands, where we were going to be taken out for a short ride in mokorow, the traditional dugout canoes used by the tribes of this region. As we neared the water, the landscape became noticeably greener and we saw more wildlife feeding on the green grasses and drinking from the channels and ponds. Our mokorow ride provided us with a more intimate view of the wetlands, and we got to see water fowls nests, and aquatic plants that we wouldn't have seen from shore. After a full lunch served in the bush, we made our way back to our camp for the afternoon. It was while we were at camp that afternoon that we noticed clouds in the sky. These were the first clouds we had seen since our layover in Cape Town in the torrential rain. The camp staff took the clouds as a good sign that perhaps the rainy season might arrive early, after several years of drought.

Our final game drive, we found a large pack of the extremely endangered African Painted Dogs. The pack numbered about 35, with something like 17 puppies. The number of puppies was unusual, because typically only the alpha male and the alpha female mate, so there is normally only one litter at a time. But this pack had recently accepted two new females in, and apparently, the alpha male had mated with them as well, because they had puppies from three litters. With only about 7000 left in the wild, these dogs were demonized by ranchers and farmers, who would leave poisoned carcasses out for them. Efforts to educate the population about the risks to the species are ongoing, and it remains to be seen if they can be saved. We watched these dogs for a long time, especially the puppies, until the adult dogs all got up and trotted off into the bush to hunt. We followed the pack, and watched a couple of unsuccessful attempts to chase down impalas before it became too dark to continue.

Finally, as we were getting ready for breakfast the final morning, we saw our only hyena of the trip. It had come to the watering hole in front of the camp, and we watched as it finished and walked off across the bush in front of us. And that was our send off, ending the safari portion of our trip. We had enjoyed about two dozen game rides, at five locations, in four countries in the previous two weeks. The experiences were truly memorable, and in many ways we still have trouble believing it was all real. But even though we were no longer "on safari", the trip was far from finished.

Chobe National Park is the largest park in Botswana, and encompasses a significant portion of the Northeastern portion of the nation. The Chobe River, from which the park takes its name, is the border with Namibia here, with a wide river bottom land between the two countries, with the river meandering through it. We stayed at the Boabab I Safari Camp, just outside the National Park, overlooking that bottom land and across into Namibia. Our tents here were really more like huts, with solid walls, and only the roofs made of canvas. But like our other camps, there were no barriers to prevent animals from coming into the camp, and in fact the very first evening, we had a herd of giraffes grazing almost inside the camp.

Our first game drive, the evening of our arrival, didn't take us into the park, but instead was just down onto the bottom land below our camp. In fact, almost the entire drive was within sight of our camp. As the sun sank toward the horizon, we watched the zebras, impalas, and other grazers make their way across the flats towards the river, while at the same time, entire troops of baboons were traveling the other direction to find shelter for the night in the trees on the higher ground. There were giraffes grazing all around our camp, and warthogs wandering around the flats. And there were lots of Lilac-breasted Rollers, which are, without exception, the most beautifully colored birds I have ever seen. I spent quite a while trying to capture a good photo of one in flight, to highlight just colorful they are. I didn't get a perfect shot, but there were several that will serve to highlight their incredible beauty.

On our first full day here, we had our normal morning and evening game drives into the National Park. Much of our time was spent driving along the edges of the river bottom lands. There were an astonishing number of elephants here, along with numerous antelopes, zebra, buffalo, and warthogs, all of which rely upon the river for their water. We witnessed a large flock of vultures devouring the carcass of a young elephant. And birds! There were birds of all sizes and colors. It is hard to appreciate just how many different species of birds we saw. In the afternoon, we found another leopard lounging in a tree, utterly unfazed by the dozen or so trucks jockeying for a good view. If anything detracted from the experience here, it was the sheer number of other safari vehicles we encountered. There were dozens of other companies operating safari tours in the park and there were individuals in private or rental vehicles as well, which meant that any significant sighting occurred, it was a bit of zoo as the various drivers tried to get close enough to get a decent view.

The following day we did a day-long game drive much further into the park. The highlight of the morning was watching a leopard stalk a herd of impalas. Again, there were dozens of safari trucks present, all trying to get a good view, but the leopard ignored all of them, instead focusing solely on its prey. At one point, it decided that the best path to take was to go underneath one of the trucks, using it as cover for its approach. The leopard was in no hurry. She would pace forward a few steps and lay down and watch for a bit, then repeat. Ultimately, we didn't wait around to see if she was successful in her hunt.

We stopped for lunch at a picnic area in the park, which was a nice spot under some trees with picnic tables and nearby restrooms. Or it would have been a nice spot, except for the troop of monkeys that had taken up residence in the area. They were sneaky, and you had to stay very alert or they would steal the food right off your plate. One of the people in our group thought he could solve the problem by standing and holding his plate, but a monkey jumped and flipped the plate out of his hand, much to his surprise.

After lunch, as we worked our way back across the park, we found a herd of elephants that had a youngster that had clearly survived an attack by a predator. Its trunk was missing, its lower lip was damaged, and it had some significant scars on its reach haunches. Its mother was very protective of it, and definitely did not like us hanging around near them, so we soon moved along. We also found a very recently killed young giraffe lying in the road. The female lion that killed it was resting in the shade nearby, probably waiting for the rest of the pride to arrive. The kill was so fresh that hardly any flies had landed on the carcass yet! As we drove by, you could clearly see the puncture wounds made by the lion's teeth and the bruising on the throat where she had suffocated the giraffe. A powerful reminder of the reality of life in the bush.

Our next camp was the Lufupa River Camp in the northern part of Zambia's Kafue National Park. Located on the banks of the Kafue River where the Lufupa River joins it, our tents were positioned on the embankment above the water, but with areas in between the tents where the banks sloped gently down to the water. These paths to the river were used by hippos to leave the river at night to graze and other animals both during the day and at night to drink.

Because of the travel time from Hwange, our game drive the evening we arrived in Kafue didn't start until after dark, and we did our wildlife sightings by spotlight. While that didn't make for great photography, we still saw an abundance of wildlife, including a variety of different antelopes, wildebeests, and warthogs, among others.

The next day, we discovered that there was an abundance of different birds here. We saw eagles, storks, herons, vultures, rollers, and bee-eaters, just to name a few. Some of these birds were impressive because of their sizes, others because of their colors. We also found some watering holes that had attracted diverse herds of grazing animals...zebras, antelope of all types, buffalo, and more. We even saw warthogs with piglets!

Our second evening game drive was the show stopper for this location. We found two young male lions resting after gorging themselves on a fresh kill. They had stuffed themselves to the point where they actually looked uncomfortable and seemed to be having some difficulty breathing. They had dragged the remains of their kill into the bushes nearby, hoping to protect it from scavengers until they were ready to finish it. We also saw crocodiles basking in the late afternoon sun, and a hippo out of the water grazing. After our sundowners, as the darkness settled in for the night, we found a leopard sitting in a tree. It didn't seem at all fazed by having the spotlights of several trucks pointed at it, and continued to rest quietly in the tree as we watched. Then, on our way back to camp, we found another leopard walking in the road right at the very edge of our camp. Again, it didn't seem at all bothered by us or our lights, and continued on its way down to the river's edge, presumably to drink.

Instead of traditional game drives on our second full day at Kafue, we went out for cruises on the Lufupa and Kafue Rivers. This provided use with a very different perspective and exposed us to different animals. The river was full of hippos and crocodiles, of course, but there were also a wide variety of birds as well. And, as we returned to our camp from the morning cruise, we saw an elephant down by the water right at the very edge of our camp. After drinking some water, it then picked up some of the sand from the shore and dusted itself with it.

On our evening cruise on the Kafue River, we found a hippo that was trying to get back into the water, but was unwilling to do so with us nearby. We wanted to watch it, but ultimately had to move on so that it could return to the river in peace. We again got to see lots of birds, and the sunset from the river was stunning.

Our first destination for the main portion of our trip was Hwange National Park, in Zimbabwe. This is the largest national park in Zimbabwe, located in the northwestern part of country, along the border with Botswana. The park began as a conservation area in 1928 and was formalized as a national park in 1961. After flying to Victoria Falls, we transferred to the park by van minibus as far as the main camp area at the main entrance to the park, which took about two hours. From the main camp, the ride in safari trucks to our camp was about three additional hours, and was technically considered a game drive, although because of the distance and the arrival of sunset, we didn't stop often or long to look animals.

Lion right in front of our camp

We spent three nights at the Mokalolo Plains Camp, deep inside the park, where our accommodations were semi-permanent tents mounted on cement platforms. The tents had king-sized beds, and were fully equipped with electricity and indoor plumbing (both the electricity and the hot water were solar powered). The accommodations were surprisingly comfortable, although we did appreciate the extra blankets that were available because it got quite chilly overnight. The camp did not include any fencing or other barriers to prevent animals from wandering through it, so anytime we walked outside at night, we were escorted by a safari guide, and even in the daytime, we needed to remain alert for the presence of wildlife when we moved around the camp. This would be the case for every camp we stayed in for the remainder of the trip.

The game ride on our first morning here proved to be spectacular, allowing us to witness a pride of lions attempt to bring down a Cape Buffalo in a drama that was worthy of a National Geographic video. We found the pride of lions not even a half mile from our camp, and followed them to the watering hole right in front of our camp, where they stopped to drink. While they were relaxing there, the alpha female of the pride suddenly became alert and started walking out across the field.

Soon, two bull Buffalos came out of the bush, and the female came around behind them. As the Buffalos began to run, the rest of the pride fanned out in an effort to flank them. Eventually, the pride separated the smaller of the two and attempted, unsuccessfully, to drag it to the ground. The Buffalo managed to fight off the lions and took refuge in a watering hole, with the lions waiting on the shore, pacing, and occasionally making attempts to approach the bull. Eventually, as the sun climbed higher and the temperature rose, the lions retreated to the shade and eventually went to sleep and the bull was ultimately able to escape and run away. Our guides speculated that the lions were not particularly desperate because they had eaten recently, but had they been hungrier, the scene might have ended very differently. This entire drama played out within a mile or so of our camp!

That afternoon, we returned to the same watering hole to find a very different scene. The pride of lions was still resting under the tree where we had left them earlier, but now the watering hole was surrounded by a large herd of elephants, along with some zebras and antelope. We spent some time watching the elephants, and observing their complex social behavior. Eventually, we heard that another truck had found some cheetahs, so we set off across the bush and found them basking in the evening sun. We then stopped for our sundowners next to a watering hold with hippos in it and watched yet another glorious sunset.

The next day, our game drives would be done as we traveled to and from the village of Ngamo, just outside the park. Our visit to the village was a cultural experience, and we visited a local homestead in the village, where one of the village elders and his extended family demonstrated the various chores that make up their daily life and we sat down for a cross-cultural conversation over tea and snacks. We also visited the local school, where we spoke with one of the teachers and got to meet some of the students.

On our way back to camp, our game drive continued, and we saw a number of animals we hadn't yet seen, including jackals and Kori bustards (the largest flying bird in Africa). Along the way, we stopped for a picnic lunch in the bush before returning to our camp in the late afternoon. By now we were becoming accustomed to the dry, dusty landscape, with its stunted and elephant damaged trees and plentiful termite mounds, which now were just part of the landscape and not something to be remarked upon, as they had been just days earlier.

The next morning, we packed our bags and retraced our route back through the park to the main camp area to start our transfer to our next location. Along the way we saw our first ostriches and a large troop of baboons, along with lots of zebras and giraffes. In all, it was another wonderful safari experience, but we still had more excitement in store.

Officially, this was our "pre-trip extension", which means that it wasn't part of the base itinerary, and we paid extra to include it for our trip. After a short flight from Johannesburg, we were transferred in a van to the Shiduli Game Lodge at the Karongwe Game Reserve. Our accommodations for the next three nights were a cabin in a comfortable compound on the edge of the Reserve. After getting settled in, we met our guide and tracker, who would be taking us on our twice daily game drives during our stay here. At this point, we really did not yet know what to expect from our game drives, but we were excited to find out.

Rhino with calf

Our first game drive was the afternoon of our arrival. We boarded our safari truck and set out into the reserve to see what we could find. We immediately found impalas, which, because they were still new to us, was exciting. It wouldn't take long before the sight of these smaller antelope would be so common as to not spark much reaction. We also found a small herd of zebras and a herd of Cape Buffalo. And just before sunset, we found a mother Rhino with its calf, which was an amazing thing to see, especially on our first day in the bush.

Hippo

As the sun dropped to the horizon, we stopped near a watering hole for our "sundowners", a tradition that we would observe on almost all of our evening game drives. Our guide found us a safe spot and we got out of the truck to enjoy a beverage (wine, beer, soda) and snacks as we enjoyed the sunset. And the sunsets did not disappoint. Every evening, the sun set in a glorious show of orange and red, and then about 15-20 minutes later, the entire horizon would light up with the most incredible red/orange glow that was simply spectacular. I don't know when I have seen so many gorgeous sunsets.

The next morning, we did our first morning game drive, leaving the lodge area just before sunrise. On that first morning ride, we saw two juvenile lions resting along the banks of the dry river, and we also found a herd of elephants. Our guide positioned our truck ahead of the herd as it moved across the bush, so that when the herd reached us, they walked by on either side of our truck. The elephants were so close that we could have reached out an touched them, although that would have been unwise and unsafe.

We continued to do an afternoon/evening game ride and a morning game ride every day through our entire stay here. Each ride was different, and we saw some amazing things. On one ride, we left our truck to walk into the bush to see three young cheetahs resting in the grass. These cheetahs had been raised in a sanctuary, so they were comfortable with people around, but we still were very much aware that these were wild animals, and we were in their domain. On our second evening game ride, as we stopped for our sundowners, our guide told us to stay quiet. He had heard on the radio that a herd of rhinos was headed our way, and he had positioned us across the watering hole from where he expected them to appear. Soon, a half-dozen or so rhinos walked out of the bush and down to the water to drink. It was a truly incredible moment to witness.

In between rides, we had free time in the lodge area. We soon discovered that the compound was open to wildlife, and it was common to see Nyala (another species of antelope) wandering the grounds. One day while we were eating lunch, a Nyala gave birth right outside our cabin, so when we got back to our cabin after lunch, we spent much of our free time watching the new mother lick her newborn as it learned to walk and tried to nurse. It was a remarkable thing to witness.

On our final afternoon game drive, we found an entire pride of lions resting on the dry riverbed after having eaten their fill of a kill. In an effort to position us for a better view, our guide followed another truck off road onto the river bank. Unfortunately, the river bank was very sandy, and both trucks ended up stuck. This provided us with a prolonged opportunity to watch the lions, while the lions watched the guides and trackers work to free the trucks. Ultimately, another truck had to come down and pull us out.

Finally, on our last game drive, the morning before we had to return to Johannesburg to begin the main portion of the trip, we found the alpha male lion, who was enjoying a "honeymoon" with one of the females from the pride. They were resting together in the shade, and we were able to pull the truck remarkably close to them without any reaction from the pair. We sat and watched them for quite a while before they got up and moved off into the bush.

After completing six game drives at Karongwe which included some truly remarkable sightings, we were concerned about whether the rest of the trip would live up to what we had already experienced. We still wanted to see a leopard, to complete our "Big Five", but we couldn't believe that we wouldn't become bored on our future game drives at other locations after what we had already seen. It turns out we didn't have to worry. There were plenty more incredible things to see.

Everyone on an African safari trip will talk about the "Big Five", which are the Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Cape Buffalo, and Rhinoceros. The name "Big Five" was coined by big game trophy hunters to categorize the animals they considered the most difficult to hunt on foot. The list has become iconic and sighting these animals has become the goal of most safari tourists.

We were exceedingly lucky...we saw four of the five in the first two game drives of the trip, less than 24 hours after arriving in the bush. We saw buffalo and rhinos on the first ride the evening we arrived, and saw lions and elephants the next morning. Leopards would remain elusive for a week or so, until we reached Kafue National Park, but once we saw our first, we would see several more over the remainder of the trip. But it was the rhinos that would be the most remarkable. We saw another group of six rhinos the second evening, but this would be the last rhinos we would see on the trip. These magnificent animals are severely endangered and are being poached at an alarming pace. Most of the national parks in the region have confined their rhino populations to IPZs (Intensive Protection Zones), where they are surrounded by electrified fences and protected by armed guards. But this means that visitors to these parks cannot see them. The only way to see rhinos is to visit a private game reserve that has a population. These reserves are responsible for protecting their animals, but rely on tourist income, so they try to balance tourist access with anti-poaching protections. Our first safari location was such a reserve, and we were quite fortunate to see as many rhinos as we did. It would be just the first of many lucky breaks we would enjoy over the course of the trip.

Because the "Big Five" have become so popular, additional lists have been created. One of the other popular ones is the "Ugly Five": Wildebeest (also sometimes called Gnu), warthog, hyena, vulture, and Marabou stork. These animals are also iconic of the African bush, although they are distinctively less attractive than the "Big Five". Again, we saw all of these over the course of our trip, some of them frequently. But the hyena (which is nocturnal and normally not active during the day) remained elusive until the final morning, when one visited the watering hole in front of our camp as we were preparing to leave. All of these animals are impressive in their own way, and it was a truly remarkable experience to see them in their native habitats.

My wife decided that she wanted a summary slide show of our trip to share with people, so I spent several days putting together a video that combines photos and video clips to provide a summary of what we saw on our trip. I wanted to keep it under 15 minutes, but in the end, there was just too much that I needed to include for that to be possible. The final video is just over 20 minutes long. It was a lot of work, but I've gotten positive feedback from people who have seen it. Here's the video, for those who would like an entirely visual summary of our adventures in Africa:

Watch on YouTube

Now that I've finished this, I find myself contemplating doing more of these for future trips. We'll see...