We’ve been in Botswana near Chobe National Park for the last two days. It’s been interesting day the least. We’ve had 3 game drives in the park so far and one boat cruise in the Chobe River.
We’ve seen hundreds of four-legged creatures and birds. Elephant, hippos, giraffe, Buffalo, Impala, Kudu, Honey Badger, Jackal, baboons, red lechwe, monitor and crocodile. Birds we’ve
seems include
The lion made a brief appearance by crossing the road but we only saw them from a distance. I could only see legs and body. Two of them. No sign of the leopard.
It’s just been a fun two days. It’s amazing how beautiful the animals are and how they behave in their natural habitat. I can watch them again and again and not get bored. They have such unique personalities and their behaviors are not that much different to that of humans.
Yesterday we came across a herd of elephants and there were many young ones. One in particular was very restless. I think it got tired after a while and laid on the mud. Probably to rest but soon after wanted to get up. But that was a struggle. It just didn’t know how to and of course like all of us was learning. I think the effort he exerted was so much that he sent out a loud fart 😂 everyone gathered to watch them burst out laughing but the little one didn’t know and went about his efforts to get up from the mud.
Hippos are lazy. They lie in pods. A number of them together is called a pod of hippos. Some of them were loser males, which means they have lost their right to mate against another stronger bull. Now they are eating grass in the marsh trying to get bigger so they can have another go at winning a mate.
Baboons are hilarious but at the same time a real menace. They are everywhere in abundance and are out and moving all the time. There were lots of little babies to be seen being carried by their moms or piggg backing on them.
I really like the Kudus. A type of an antelope but like an elk is big and majestic and has spiraling antlers. I think they look beautiful. Impalas are like deer but with antlers that won’t grow if they break them. There were many of them. A single male has about 30 females. Those males who aren’t successful having a harem form a bachelor club 😜 too funny much like the men. Then they have to fight themselves or a leader in order to secure their right to mate with 30 or so females.
Today morning was predominantly spent chasing after lions. They are elusive creatures and therefore hard to spot. Everyone flicks in their 4x4s to see them. The commotion would make anyone hide. So we only saw parts of two lions from a far. I don’t blame them. The funny thing is that they command so much respect and fear that all animals send warning signs. So the trackers can know that there are lions around. But finding them is a different story altogether. I felt bad for the guides. Also for some people who really wanted to see them. I did too but you know what they are cats and big ones at that. They like us have preferences, moods. So I get that they don’t want to sit by the roadside making a spectacle of themselves.
The buffalos are nasty looking. But Ranil and I wondered why they were part of the big 5. After all they are just buffalos right? Before we get to that let’s talk or the big 5.
Many many years and decades ago men who would hunt named the big 5. They are the most difficult to hunt by food, as per guides. If you hunt them you must make sure you kill them the very first instance. If you miss or injure them they will hunt you down. No mercy. Apparently if two people went to shoot elephants and only one off them pulled a trigger to kill a member of the herd, the other will remember you for 20 years and if the two were to encounter any member of herd they will kill the one who pulled the trigger 😲
So why the buffalo. Apparently out of the 5 they are the meanest for no reason other than they just happen to not like you at the time. One of the guides said that with all the others in the big 5, you can gauge when they get angry. Their moods are visible so you have time to get out of the way. But with the buffalo there isn’t such a mood gauge. One minute they look passive and docile and the next minute they are charging you. So the unpredictability or it makes them hard to kill and to make matters worse they travel in large herds.
Oh there are the big 5: lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and buffalo. We won’t be seeing any rhinos because most have been poached and the rest have been transferred to safe places.
It’s very interesting to learn about each of the animals and their behaviors and also see them in their natural habitat. I’ve really enjoyed the 3 game drives we’ve had.
I couldn’t go for the 4th one because I got a bit of a stomach flu and felt ill and pukish and feverish. So Ranil went on his own and I stayed to get some rest.
Tomorrow we are off to SavutI. Another part of the Chobe park where there more dry land with low bushes, making it ideal for spotting wildlife. We are taking a charter flight from Kasane to Savuti tomorrow morning. Hopefully I’d feel a lot better than today.
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