Botswana is not as well known as a safari destination in the USA, but it is a terrific place to go on safari. They are very conservation oriented and manage to keep wildlife viewing crowding to a minimum. This is a key difference between Botswana safaris and ones you will do in the national parks in Tanzania and Kenya.
Our safari was during the rainy season – not the height of the rainy season but it was definitely somewhat wet. The nice thing about this time of year is that the parks aren’t crowded and there are many animal babies/toddlers. And it isn’t hot – sometimes we were a bit chilly but the safari lodges provide blankets and extremely warm ponchos in the jeeps, so we kept nice and warm in our open jeep.
We chose two different areas – one in the Kalahari desert and one in the Okavango Delta. As their place names suggest, one was drier and had less vegetation. The animals who live in the Kalahari Desert don’t need watering holes to get water. There are lions, leopards and cheetahs that live there along with other predators and lots of antelope, hares, foxes, etc. Mike was hoping to see more reptiles than just the two tortoises and a couple of lizards that we saw.
The Okavango Delta gets very watery as the rainy season progresses. We saw the landscape at our lodge change after an impressive overnight rainfall. It went from a small stream/pond of water in a meadow to a half flooded meadow. But there is plenty of firm ground to do fascinating game drives and see lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, hippos, antelopes, hyenas, jackals, etc. And of course there are wonderful bird sightings too! Mike helped spot birds for me and was even proudly naming some of them towards the end of the safari!
I think the highlights for me mostly occurred during the night drive we did. We saw a couple of new animals I hadn’t seen before: Aardwolf, Spring Hare, Genet.
And we saw an exciting and fast hunt/kill. A couple of hyenas (it is very rare for them to do their own hunting – they usually scavenge their food) ran after a baby wildebeest, tripped it as it was running for its life and then tore into it. Their very powerful jaws can crush bones – something we heard very clearly as they were devouring their prey. It was very intense – the hyenas ravage their kill and eat it extremely fast. It was unlike the cat predators, who typically eat some of their kill and then try to find a safe place to store it as they digest what they ate – leopards take their half-eaten meal up into a tree (we saw the legs of an impala hanging from a branch); lions usually drag theirs into thick bushes and stay nearby to make sure it doesn’t get stolen (we saw two hiding places with lions eating their meals); cheetahs also try to find cover for their kills but usually eat it faster because they can’t defend the kills from other animals.
Another highlight for me was the male leopard we saw hiding near impalas getting ready to chase them, but then being discovered by the impalas who made lots of alarm calls. The leopard just got up and sauntered through the impala area, knowing that he wouldn’t be fast enough without the element of surprise. Also seeing a Serval cat stalking an animal hiding in tall grass or in a hole, jumping very high and then pouncing. That attempt wasn’t successful, but the cat was gorgeous. And then just as were leaving to fly out on the bush plane, the guide spotted an African Wild Cat which was a new animal sighting for me.
I also loved seeing a large herd of elephants quietly walking through the meadow and woods. And we saw many lions – a couple during the night drive, and others during the daytime eating their kills from the night before.
Enjoyed every moment of our safaris – the animal/bird viewing was brilliant. The lodges were nice and we got to enjoy the company of other lodge guests from various places: Kenya, England, Brazil, Australia, South Africa.
