Chobe National Park
Kasane, Botswana
After checking in to the hotel and dropping off my bag, I grabbed my camera with telephoto lens and headed off for a game drive at Chobe National Park. I will add that I was very glad I brought along a real camera this time. In the past, my only camera I'd bring was my iPhone. While good for street photography, the iPhone is almost useless for wildlife photography, as I'd discovered in Kenya. Bringing a full frame MILC resulted in a massive improvement in the quality of my photos and was worth the large weight penalty. However, I only brought the one lens (a telezoom), so the camera was hopeless for my typical style of travel photography.
The park is only a 5 minute drive down the road and boasts large and varied populations of many types of animals. Notably, the park is host to 130,000 African elephants. Before it became a national park, the area near Kasane was a teak plantation. When the park was created, the people living within the bounds of the park were resettled in Kasane.
I was visiting at what was typically the start of the rainy season, but the rains had not yet begun. So the area was still very dry and animals were staying pretty close to the largest water source around, the Chobe River.
Chobe National Park Entrance
Dirt Tracks
Chobe River
Chobe River
Chobe River
Chobe River
Impala
Impala
Chobe River
Chobe River
Chobe River
Lion Tracks
Impala
Young Male Impala
Chacma Baboon
Impala and Baboons
Chacma Baboon
Mongoose
The best photo I could get of them
Chacma Baboon
Chacma Baboon
Chobe River
Chacma Baboon
Chobe River
Chacma Baboon
Warthog Snoozing
Any time an animal dies of suspected anthrax, the park rangers burn the corpse to prevent the disease from spreading.
Suspected Anthrax-infected Carcass
Impala
Before long, we found the elephants. With over 100k, they're not too hard to find. Especially during the dry season where where foliage cover is pretty minimal.
Elephant
Elephant
Elephant
Elephant
Baby Elephant
Baby Elephant
Not a Baby Elephant
Elephants don't necessarily live at the river full time. Instead, they walk fairly long distances from their grazing areas to the river every few days.
Chobe River
Elephant Swimming
Note the two crocs flanking it
Tourists
Nile Crocodile Incubating
She'd been in that spot essentially unmoved for the previous 10-11 weeks.
Marabou Stork
African Openbill
Warthogs
Eventually, we received word (via radio) on the location of a pride of lions, so we set off to find them.
Lions
Lions
Lions
Lions Crossing the Road
Lions
Lions
Young Male Lion
Lions
Lions
Giraffe
Giraffe
Chobe National Park (Day 1)
Charred Elephant Bones
Another suspected anthrax case
Charred Elephant Bones
Elephant Butt
As the sun got low, we made our way to the park exit and heard some load rumbling from the bush. After driving a bit, we stumbled upon these two lounging a few feet from the road.
Lion Mating Pair
Lion Mating Pair
Lion Mating Pair
Lion Mating Pair
Lion Mating Pair
Lion Mating Pair
Male Adult Lion
Lion Mating Pair
Taken with my iPhone to get a sense of my actual distance from the lions.
The tour was over and it was getting dark, so we headed back to the hotel for the evening.
Chobe National Park Sunset
Chobe National Park Sunset
