Namibia and Botswana - Caprivi and Chobe

Chobe River at dawn

From Shakawe we drove the Caprivi Strip, the panhandle of Namibia, to the border of Botswana and entry into Chobe National Park. At the eastern end of Caprivi four countries come together - Namibia, Zambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. It was mostly a driving day but there were a few good bird and photo ops along the way.

White-browed Scrub-Robin as we left the lodge

Dark Chanting Goshawk

Martial Eagle

We turned south and crossed into Botswana and Chobe National Park. Our life view of Racket-tailed Roller greeted us as guide Charly pulled another rabbit out of the hat. And some really cute elephants.

Chobe driving list

Racket-tailed Roller

African Elephants

Our full day in Chobe National Park was quite spectacular. We started off with a game drive in the morning along the Chobe River. 

Morning drive bird list

Red-billed Oxpecker and African Buffalo

Egyptian Goose

Spur-winged Goose

African Fish Eagle

Bradfield's Hornbill

Hippos

Lesser Kestrel

 And around the lodge grounds, some more great new birds.

White-browed Robin-Chat

Collared Palm Thrush

Ashy Flycatcher

The afternoon had us out on the Chobe on a boat. Kingfishers and the elusive White-backed Night-Heron were a great start to the outing.

Chobe boat trip list

Giant Kingfisher

Giant Kingfisher

Half-collared Kingfisher

Immature White-backed Night-Heron

Immature White-backed Night-Heron

Adult White-backed Night-Heron

And other goodies from the boat:

African Jacana

African Stonechat

Hippo

White-crowned Lapwing

And as we cruised the river, Charly beat the boat guide to the punch by finding a leopard lounging in the shade along the riverbank. It was a good distance off and an amazing find. My long lens shot doesn't show how really difficult this spotting was, but none of us were surprised as Charly did this kind of thing day after day.

Leopard lounges in the shade

We parked the boat a respectful distance away to watch the leopard. This was our first daytime sighting so we wanted to savor it. After about 30 minutes a pair of Warthogs ambled out of the forest for a drink. Uh oh, action time. 

Noticing the leopard, one warthog high-tailed it back to the forest. But the big boar wasn't intimidated. It was a stand-off of epic proportions. The cat stood and hissed and the warthog stood his ground. It lasted several minutes while each sized up the other. A large boar warthog can do serious damage to a cat. Finally they called a truce and the warthog trotted off. Fun stuff!

Warthog

The cat takes notice

Hissing!

Sizing each other up!

Truce

The leopard laid back down for a few minutes before heading down to the water for a drink, and hissed again at a large croc watching offshore. As the sun set he ambled down the river right in front of our boat. Satisfied with another great wildlife encounter we cruised back up the river for dinner.

More lounging

A yawn looks quite ferocious!

Heading down to the river

Hissing at a croc

Drink time

Good night kitty