Kelwan Kaiser is a new guide at Sunway Safaris and has just completed his first tour, the Botswana Wildside camping tour. He tells us all about the Chobe River cruise the group did.
“On a typically hot, but glorious Botswana afternoon we boarded a small private cruise boat and headed south down the Chobe River. This was my first time on the Chobe River. I had heard so much about the game viewing from the boats and couldn’t wait to see what was in store for the group (and me). The banks of the river were littered with herds of Impala, Egyptian geese, egrets and a small herd of elephants, gently flapping their ears enjoying the shade from a cluster of trees, waiting for the afternoon to cool down.
We heard two Pied Kingfishers noisily alarm calling (typically noisy birds) and when we looked closer we realized there was a flock of White-fronted Bee-eaters flying towards them. We think they were alarm calling because they felt threatened by the Bee-eaters - possibly they thought their nests might be hijacked. While this is not 100% certain, both birds are hole nesters and nature is unpredictable and often opportunistic. We couldn't see any other threat to the Pied Kingfishers, so this was our most logical explanation. Once the Pied Kingfishers had settled down we heard another sound and saw a juvenile nile crocodile snapping its empty jaws closed while sunning himself on the bank of the river.
As we continued our journey down the river we noticed a young elephant bull knee deep in the water mock charging another boat. We could see he wasn’t really serious and so our skipper slowly headed off in the direction of this young elephant bull to see what he was up to. By the time we got to him he was relaxed and starting to submerge further into the water. He had a wonderful bath in the river, cooling off, pulling reeds and grasses out and feeding on them. The bull seemed oblivious to the fact we are even there as he happily went about his afternoon swim. Elephants love the water and you can regularly see them swimming, bathing and playing in the water. This was a definitely highlight for me. I think most of us are fascinated by these beautiful and intelligent animals. Their feeding normally takes place in the morning, afternoon and evenings and they can consume up to 40L of water per day!
We had such a wonderful afternoon on the river and ended our cruise with an amazing sunset. The afternoon was full of great birding and game viewing and I can’t wait to go back with another group and share the magical experience with them.”
