Northern Botswana Safari

Our itinerary for this trip began with two nights at the River Club in Zambia.  A cultural visit to Simongwe village and a walk around the Victoria Falls kept us busy there.  We also did a sunset cruise on the Zambezi river.

The next day was our transfer day to Botswana.  Along the way we spent the midday on the Chobe River, taking in some wonderful viewing of hippo, crocodiles, buffalo and many water birds.  A herd of young male elephants also put on a show for us by playing in the river in front of us.

A female leopard guards her impala kill. Leopards do not always carry their kills up trees immediately but will often feed extensively first in order to lighten the load. This leopard was photographed along the woodland fringing the Linyanti River in northern Botswana.

A female leopard rests under the shelter of a fallen tree in woodland fringing the Linyanti River in northern Botswana.

We flew into Linyanti Discoverer camp for the next 3 nights and our best leopard sighting came before we even reached camp.  A female leopard was feeding on an impala she had killed and we had a good, long sighting of her feeding and resting.

Hyena resting in water.

We also encountered three lions which were feeding on a giraffe and we visited these lions several times during our stay.  Five hyaenas and many vultures took over when the lions walked away and they reduced the carcass to just bones very rapidly.

This ten-week old lion cub was photographed close to Savuti camp in northern Botswana. There were three cubs in the litter, and the mother was close by.

Savuti Camp was our next camp and the first summer rains began falling during our stay here.  On our first afternoon, just minutes after the rain had stopped, we found a lioness with 3 young cubs.  We watched them till dark.

A pair of dwarf mongooses peer from the refuge of a fallen tree stump. These social mongooses are active during the day and live in highly social groups. This image was taken at Savuti camp in northern Botswana.

Still at Savuti, we had a sighting of a pack of 12 African wild dogs. Adding to our excitement at seeing these endangered animals, the resting dogs were chased off by 3 lionesses while we watched.  Luckily the wild dogs were alert and they managed to escape without any incident, other than getting a nasty scare.  We also had a nice time watching some dwarf mongooses as they went about their business on a fallen tree.

A lilac-breasted roller in flight. These brilliantly coloured birds are active hunters of insects and small reptiles. They nest in cavities in dead trees, and are resident over most of Botswana. This individual was photographed at Savuti.

This bull elephant was walking through permanent water near Jacana camp in the Okavango Delta. He was feeding on emergent vegetation on the edges of the islands. Deep water in the delta presents no barrier to these elephants.

After two nights at Savuti, we flew to Jacana Camp, deep in the Okavango Delta. While there, we enjoyed some boating along the pristine channels and water birds in great numbers and variety.  We also enjoyed some interesting mekoro (dugout canoe) trips to some of the nearby islands.

An African fish-eagle perched in a fig tree. The bulging crop indicates that the bird had fed recently. Fish-eagles are common in many parts of the Okavango Delta.

A game drive on the Jao flats produced still more waterbirds, as well as herds of red lechwe antelope and a sighting of the local lion pride one morning.

An adult male baboon shows his curiosity as he gazes at the camera. This baboon was part of a troop of over 40 animals and was photographed near Tubu Tree camp in Botswana's Okavango Delta.

We spent two nights at Jacana and then boated to our next destination – Tubu Tree Camp.  The water levels in this region rise and fall through the course of a season, and ours was the last boat transfer to take place.  The water is just now becoming too low for boating.  Any transfers between now and April next year will be by aircraft or by vehicle.

Wattled Cranes flying overhead.

Tubu is a dry Delta area, with game drives being the main activity.  There were herds of zebra, wildebeest, giraffe and impala.  We saw a leopard in a sausage tree and another highlight was a flock of 54 wattled cranes flying to roost in a floodplain.  These are highly endangered birds and Botswana’s Okavango Delta is one of very few strongholds they still have.  We also saw big troops of chacma baboons, as well as very good birding to end off another successful safari.

Grant Atkinson
Specialist Guide – Botswana
For more of Grant’s photography, check out his website.