Wednesday, March 13, 2019

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





3 comments:

  1. Absolutely incredible for you to witness. A Leopard and a stand-off!!
    Do you think that the crocodile noticed??
    Great bird photos, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm quite certain he saw the cat but was far enough off the bank to be of no threat.

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  2. Wonderful pictures! I enjoyed the leopard and wart hog sequence a lot!

    ReplyDelete