Don feeds the Chobe River God

On the afternoon of our second day here in Chobe (Tuesday Nov 18) Jane had scheduled a three hour river cruise rather than the land based safaris we had had so far. (Jane we love you for this!). This morning's safari was a bit short on wildlife but we did see the leopard included in my last post. However the afternoon cruise was spectacular, and I'm pretty sure the Chobe River God smiled upon us as a result of Don's sacrifice.



Now he's not praying in this photo, it's more of a 'Oh no, what have I done?' posture brought on as a result of having just seen his untethered camera launch from his sunscreen slippery fingers and over the bow and into the river. Were it not for this gift, I am sure we would not have seen the sights we did that afternoon: Hippos copulating, a crocodile defending it's eggs from an egg thieving Monitor Lizard, Maribou Storks, the ugliest of birds by the dozen and countless other birds, lizards and assorted wildlife.



There were dozens of hippos on the island and in the water and it occurred to me that these were really happy hippos living in their natural habitat. It made me wonder a bit about the hippos living at Kapama, where there was no river nearby, only muddy water holes. Were they as happy? Hmm. Do hippos have emotions? Well, it sure looked like the guy in this photo was smiling;-)


We watched this croc for a while. Here she is laying directly on top of her nest, defending it from a lizard we saw circling about. It is the Monitor Lizard that keeps the crocodile population in check by stealing the eggs from the less vigilant.


This one was 100 percent vigilance. I was startled at how quickly she could move, keeping a fellow like this at bay.


A large group of Marabou Stork, one of the creatures on the 'Ugly Five' list, were gathering at a spot on the island and we watched a dozen or more glide in for very graceful landings to join the others. They are huge, a meter or more in height, and yes, they are ugly. Those old enough to remember the Spy vs Spy series will instantly recognize the artist's inspiration for the characters; the beak, the posture and the walking gate are all lifted from this scavenger.


The Cape Buffalo are renowned as the most dangerous of the 'Big Five' and it was explained to us that, unlike all the other animals, these beasts give no warning of attack. There are no false charges and they are very adept at using their fearsome horns to deadly effect. I think a guide told us that more people die on the horns of the Cape Buffalo than any of the other animals. During our safaris we saw several herds of maybe a hundred animals, but there can be thousands on the island at other times.



Anyway, we had a delightful three hours observing all the wildlife. It was a beautiful afternoon and I think everyone enjoyed the fact that rather than bouncing along in the modified Land Cruisers, we were cruising along the river banks able to get up and walk around. There was even a bar! (I think Don was the first to take advantage of this feature. After all his hands were free for almost the entire duration of the cruise). Yes, we were all happy campers as our craft approached our hotel, the late afternoon sun casting marvellous light on the shoreline.

Location:Afloat on the Chobe River