Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Southern Africa - 1

Hi, My wife, Ruthe and I completed a 3 week trip to southern Africa last Thursday. We spent 3 nights in each of 5 wilderness camps plus 2 nights in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The other 3 nights were spent in transit.

We began our trip with a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, with a daytime layover at Heathrow Airport in London. Upon our arrival in Johannesburg we were transferred to a small airport and flew on the plane shown below to Parfuri Camp, a concession adjacent to Kruger National Park.

As soon as we were settled into our tented cabin we left for game viewing. During this drive we came upon a heard of some 40 elephants across the river from us. While we watched they crossed the river.

We saw at least 6 different species of eagles, including this Bateleur Eagle.

Most of the rivers had Crocs in them and they could frequently be seen sunning themselves on shore.

We had some birders on the trip and they counted almost 140 bird species sited. This one is a Yellow Hornbill.

And this one is a White Fronted Bee Eater. They had some truly beautiful birds and they would sometimes pose for photos.

These young Impala bucks were just playing.

After 3 days at Kruger we flew back to Johannesburg where we spent the night. The next morning we took a jet to Victoria Falls and then a 2 hour bus ride to our wilderness camp just outside Chobe NP in Botswana. Again, we had a game drive after we settled in. Baboons were common at every place we visited.

The Tawny Eagle was our second species.

While driving along the flood plain of the Chobe River we encountered a herd of Cape Buffalo.


In the same general area a herd of elephants were bathing and these 2 were engaged in mock combat.

Warthogs also were seen frequently.

It took awhile to get a Giraffe in good light.


One afternoon we took a cruise on the Chobe River. This Fish Eagle is eating lunch in a tree along the river.


While this Monitor Lizard hunted nearby.

The river was a haven for Hippos. It is unusual to see them out of the water during daylight as there skin is sensitive to UV rays. We encountered this mother and new born calf during our cruise.


I'll continue with the Chobe River cruise in the next installment. Hope you enjoy. Bob

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