Wessie returned from a Namibia Botswana Southern Circle NBa21 which is one of her favourites and the following to share..You get to see some great scenery and visit two beautiful countries who couldn’t be more different from each other. One more than halfway covered in desert and the other again in water. Just a few highlights of our recent tour.
We had our first game drive in the Caprivi (now called the Zambezi province) and it was a lucky morning for us coming across some big sable antelope walking proud in the grassland. We were also fortunate enough since it being an overcast morning to find some hippos grazing outside the water.
On our boat cruise the following day we also came across a big herd of buffalo who were drinking and trying to cross the river. Also found some hippos who on the other hand was not at all too happy to see us crossing their territory and tried to show us who is boss of that part of the river by chasing our boat down for a few minutes, a very spectacular sight to see such a huge animal moving with such a speed through water.
From there we were off to Etosha National Park with excitement of what awaits us. Our first game drive was a little quieter and we didn’t see much. The very next day though things turned around. We found a big herd of elephants enjoying their morning bath and drink at the watering hole. Also it has to be mating season for the big cats there (the lions of course) we came across more than one male who was trying his luck with the fairer sex and getting his own gene pool into the world. Usually one male will spend a good amount of time with a particular female and the two of them will mate for short periods, a couple of times a day, for several days. If successful she will give birth to cubs in about 2-3 months and then they would become part of the pride which is protected by the male. The females is very protective over their youngsters for the first part of their lives since they are still vulnerable to attack from other males and even other predators.
Later the afternoon on our way to exit the park we were driving on a dirt road not seeing any movement for what felt like hours, but then all of a sudden to our amazement a cheetah female had come from the side of the road followed by her 3 cubs. She was surprised to see us so crossed the road quick but the youngsters were more reluctant to follow. With a bit of encouragement from the female calling to them they braved it and ran towards where the bird like chirping sounds were coming from. We followed them for a short while until she disappeared into the high grass followed by the troops and being so well camouflaged the 4 of them disappeared out of sight. It was perfect cheetah territory as it was a very wide open space so there they could really use the advantage of their great speed to hunt and kill prey.
Coming to Botswana one of the memorable things was the walk with the bushman in the Kalahari. Everyone was hanging on his lips while he was telling stories about growing up, hunting, and his father who told stories to him, their beliefs and how they live today. On the walk there was many animals in our vicinity but we didn’t care too much for them was so much nicer at that moment just learning about this quickly disappearing culture where there is so little of left.
Our last boat cruise on the Chobe river also never disappoints, and even though it was cloudy and cold and we didn’t get to see the sunset like it was planned the sightings we enjoyed on the river made up for it in three fold. We came close to crocodiles trying to bask in what little sun there was left for the afternoon, hippos grazing on the sides with cattle egrets happy to catch all insects that was chased up from them walking around, buffaloes and also elephants swimming and having mud baths in the shallow ends and a troop of baboons playing and chasing each other up and down the palm trees.
Our last dinner we went to a lovely restaurant in the town of Kasane and enjoyed our last evening together with delicious food. The next morning it was off to the ferry to cross back into Zambia and from there everyone dispersed and went back to their own lives but at least having this trip to look back on.