Africa - Day 18 - 05-18-2025

It was really sad to wake up to the last day of the trip and realize that it was over and I would soon be flying back home. We did have one last game drive this morning which turned out to be a great send off from camp.  We were less than a mile up the road from camp when we came across two lionesses, with two yearlings and 4 very young cubs with them, all wandering down the road.  The cubs were chasing each other and pouncing on each other, while the adults seemed to be trying to teach the yearlings a lesson.  It almost seemed like they were trying to chase them off, but they just weren’t ready to go out on their own, so they followed from a distance as the moms and cubs kept on moving.
The light wasn’t great, but we did stop and got some photos…

We also saw some Giraffe again and some Secretary birds, which have been kind of elusive so far, but this morning they seemed to not mind us following them for a bit.

The drivers wanted to treat us to one last stop before taking us to the airport.  They took us out to a big marshland near the airport, which was full of birds and other wildlife. We stopped there for a mid-morning snack and just took in the peace and quiet of the area. I think a lot of us were just trying to absorb the last moments in this beautiful country and reflecting on our time with the great people that live there.  This trip is one I will never forget, and one I’m already hoping I can repeat again one day.

It's time to wrap things up, head to the airport and make the 3 flights home. 

Africa - Day 17 - 05-17-2025

 

This morning started off with another crazy encounter.  No sooner had we left camp, than we came across a Male Lion walking down the road in the early morning light.  He eventually veered off the road so we got up ahead of him and them pulled off the road to wait for him and photograph him some more.  No sooner did we do that, than our guide heard another lion up the road calling out and he broke into a fast trot right away.  Our guide said he also heard a few Hyenas calling out to each other, and realized the Lions must have had a kill and the Hyenas found it, and he was running to chase them off and protect his kill.  We raced off up in the direction of the calls, hoping to beat him there, which we did… only to see at least a dozen Hyenas gathered together, one carrying what looked like a blanket at first, until I realized it was the skin of an animal.  The Hyenas all took off before we could get any good photos of them.  We turned around to see where the Lion went and we couldn’t see him anymore.  Our guide said the kill must be nearby and we started to try to find it.
We drove back and forth a little bit not seeing anything, when the guide decided to turn off the jeep, and listen.  His face lit up and he turned to tell us that he could hear the lions eating and that the kill was very nearly, and he wasn’t kidding.  He pulled forward about 30 feet over the crest of a small hill, and there it was, with the Lioness and one of her cubs eating away.  Two other cubs were hiding a little back in the scrub and we weren’t sure if they had eaten their share already, or were hiding because they weren’t used to seeing the jeeps yet.

We parked and watched from about 30 feet away, and stayed very still and quiet.  The two cubs that had been hiding, came out after a few minutes, but neither went to eat so chances are it was just that they were already full.  The male lion was just on the other side of us, watching for any other predators that might try to come steal their meal. 

We noticed 3 Jackals that were hanging around, looking for any chance to steal a bite.. and the Lioness and her cubs did eventually move away from the carcass to go to the river for a drink.  As soon as they were out of site, one of the braver Jackals slowly worked up the nerve to take a quick bite of food, and tore a piece off and made a run for it, only to be jumped by another Jackal that stole that from him.

The Lion seemed to have enough of everyone knowing where his food was, and decided to get up and drag the carcass off to a better location that he could protect easier.

We decided to move away after all of the action slowed down, and went to look for the Hyena den.  Turns out it wasn’t that far away after all, and we sat and watched the opening for a bit, and saw a young’un come out and survey the area to see what all the noise was.

That was the crazy action of the morning.  We continued to drive around after that to just see what we could see.  We saw lots of Zebra, Giraffe, Elephants, etc.  The morning ended with a very fun encounter with elephants, where we just sat and watched them as they slowly worked their way past us.  There were a couple of young babies and yearlings in the group.

Africa - Day 16 - 05-16-2025

 Today was a relatively quiet day for once.  I mean, we still saw a male and female lion laying in the sun on the riverbed, we saw jackals, a lot of elephants that we spent time with and had very close encounters with, saw more Giraffe and still somehow it felt “slow”. 

If this had been day one, I would have been ecstatic about what I saw.  How strange to think that I’ve gotten so used to seeing so many beautiful animals in a day, that this felt slow and relaxing.

I think I’ll keep today’s entry short, as I’m tired after not sleeping well last night, and I can’t stop thinking about the end of the trip being so close now. I’m not ready for it to end, so maybe if I stop writing about that, it can’t be over.  😊

Africa - Day 15 - 05-15-2025

The game drive this morning started off slow. We went to check on the Leopards and they weren’t in their usual locations, so we searched around the surrounding areas, running across a band of baboons in a fruit tree, enjoying themselves.  We then continued our search, going into a very cool forest type area we hadn’t seen before.  We eventually did find a leopard in the forest area after lots of ducking tree branches as we went in and out and all around those trees.

After the game drive and lunch, we headed to the new camp, which was very cool and felt more like an oasis in the desert than a safari camp. The cabin is really nice, and big.  I don’t know how anyone couldn’t really enjoy this place.

We went on an afternoon game drive, but things were kind of quiet here… other than the typical, elephants, giraffe, zebras, etc. All in all it was a nice first game drive just to get used to the new terrain. I’m extra tired tonight, so after dinner, it was off to bed to do it all again tomorrow morning at 5:00am.

We are going to search for Cheetahs that have been spotted in the area. I’m excited to see if we can find and photograph them. 😊

Africa - Day 14 - 05-14-2025

 This morning might have been the craziest start to a day so far. We started the day heading over to check on the leopards, and found the mother and the two cubs, enjoying the morning sun just soaking it in up in the trees (for the 2 cubs) and on the ground for the mother.  She then spotted another leopard and her cub up on a hill not too far away and started running over there. I wasn’t sure what to expect but thought they might fight so I set my camera up really quick for action, and in the blink of an eye the two females snarled, swiped at each other, rolled around really quick and then both took off running back down the hill. I am still kicking myself for not recording video instead of thinking I was going to get a shot of action, and ended up missing it all with the camera, but am still happy I was looking at them when it happened. It happened so fast.  The guide said those two were sisters and that sometimes they would fight over territory with each other, but neither seemed the worst for wear after that tussle.

We were taking more photos of the leopards and enjoying the great light on them, when I noticed the adult was once again looking at something in the distance with a lot of intensity.  At first, I thought her sister was coming back so looked over my shoulder to see what she was looking at and was surprised to see a very large female lion heading our way in the valley.

This seemed to make this leopard very nervous, and she headed back down the hill towards her cubs at a pretty quick pace and our guide started up the jeep to follow.  We found a good place to watch what from, and parked up.  The leopard had taken up a vantage point on a small hill and was watching in the direction of the lioness. She was on high alert.  Next thing I saw was the lion come around the corner on the road, maybe 100 yards away and she suddenly spotted the leopard and started to run right at her!

The leopard wanted nothing to do with a fight and went running and scrambled up into the nearest tree… she kept going until she was almost to the very top of the tree faster than I would have imagined possible, and then they lion was there… throwing herself against the tree trunk and looking up at the leopard.  It was crazy to witness that, but it was over fast and the lion seemed pleased to have scared the leopard into the tree, because she then just slowly walked away and down toward the riverbed.

It was exciting to watch and encounter like that and we learned that those two cats will in fact fight, and lions will kill leopards if they catch them. Not for food, but to eliminate them so there is less competition for food in the area.

We all took a deep breath after all that action and decided to go check out a Bee Eater colony down on the riverbank, where we sat and photographed them for a while, enjoying the beautiful weather.

A huge male lion wandered by at one point and we photographed him for a bit, before calling it a morning and heading back to camp for lunch. It’s hard to believe how much better each morning has been than the last. 😊

Today seems to be all about Leopards. We went back out after lunch and came across a few other leopards during the afternoon.  We also got to watch a very large family of elephants as they moved across the landscape in a single file. They were just quietly on a march to somewhere and it was amazing how quietly they moved when you saw just how big they are.  At one point they even disappeared into some trees, so we went to the other side to wait for them to reappear.  It was almost like magic, watching these huge animals just suddenly appear out of the trees, ripping off huge bundles of leaves as they went, to eat along the way.  I can’t even begin to describe how awesome that was to watch.

The light this afternoon was so good!  I sure hope I managed to get some great shots today.  On the way back to camp, we also took time to just sit and enjoy the beautiful sunset.  We had some Giraffe wander by while we watched it and I attempted to get some good silhouette photos of them in front of the sun, so we’ll see how that went.

Today wore me out, between all the excitement and just the beauty out there. I’m sure I’m going to sleep well, but already looking forward to seeing what tomorrow may bring!

Africa - Day 13 - 05-13-2025

This morning started off bright and early again, wake-up knock was at 5:30.  Had a quick hot chocolate for breakfast at 5:45 and we hit the trails at 6:00am.  We decided to check up on the Leopard, but on the way, there found a female lion on the road, soaking up the rising sun.  She was listening to something off in the distance, and still looked half-asleep, so we shot photos of her at first with backlight, before moving around to get some photos from the front.

Then we continued the search for the Leopard, but on the way, ran across a bunch of Elephants drinking down at the river.  We stopped to photograph them, and after a few minutes, I realized there was a baby under her mama, nursing. She came out and played in the water a little, slapping at it with her trunk, like she wasn’t too sure what to do.  Then she went back to nursing for a bit.  When she was done, she took a break for it along the riverbank.  I think I might have gotten some good video of that.  She seemed to want to go say hello to a large elephant that was up on the top of the riverbanks, but before she could get all the way up the hill, mama and the aunts went after her and rounded her up and brought her back to the river. LOL

A second group of elephants then came down to the river, with a few older babies. and the first group slowly made its way back up the hill and wandered off.  We watched the second group for a bit before leaving again to look for the Leopard.

Once again, we got side-tracked when we ran across a large male lion making all kind of noise and we stopped to photograph him. He made his way back across the river, so we did the same, getting ahead of him and waiting for him to come to us.  I got some videos of him calling out a few times, and some good photos of that as well.  He slowly made his way over to a tree and laid down, eventually taking a nap which is when we left him.

Our driver accidentally got the jeep stuck on a stream crossing and we were jammed in there pretty good.  While waiting for another jeep to come pull us out, we stretched out legs.  Our other jeep showed up, and two of us jumped on with them as they had just seen a group of Warthogs, which I hadn’t photographed yet, so they took us to them.  We were supposed to head back after that, but since our jeep was still stuck…. That driver decided to take us with them, and we went looking for the leopard again. 

We ran across a tree with a bunch of white monkeys in it… and stopped to photograph that.  After a short stop there, we got word that the jeep was out the ditch and moving again so we were headed to meet up with them, when we ran across the leopard!

We tracked it as it moved through the trees and then it went down to the riverbank … we headed down there, photographing it as we went.  Once it went back up the hill, the two of us ran over to our jeep and rejoined our group and off we went to photograph the leopard some more.  It was a great morning.

After our mid-day break, we had Tea and then went to the hide in place of the evening drive.  We knew that it had been very rainy recently and that there were plenty of sources of water around, so the odds of anything showing up were slim.  Nothing did show up, but we all had a great time in the hide joking around and making the poor guy that worked there laugh harder than he had on the job before, according to him.  It was fun, but we all decided to skip the hide tomorrow and do another game drive instead. 

We came back to camp, had another wonderful dinner and now it’s time to call it a night.  Wake-up call is 5:30 again tomorrow morning. 

Africa - Day 12 - 05-12-2025

 After a nice relaxing evening back in Johannesburg, we all met for breakfast at 8:00 which also meant I got to sleep in for the first time since getting here. It was nice to sleep until 7:15!

After breakfast, we packed up the last of our stuff and checked out of the hotel.  A shuttle service picked us up for the 45-minute drive across the city to another smaller airfield, where we were met by a handler that walked us through baggage check, customs, and introduced us to the pilots.  The pilots were great and greeted us before heading out to the plane to prepare for the trip.

We boarded what was a great little bush plane and headed up Mashatu.  The flight was about 90 minutes, crossing South Africa before once again crossing into Botswana.  Once we landed, we went to customs, at what was a very tiny airport, and we were the only ones there. We filled out the same paperwork we have had to do a few times now, and then our bags were put into a small walled off room where the “customs agents” came in and randomly picked 4 bags to search.  The search consisted of looking inside each bag for about 1 minute, just moving a couple of things around and we were then released to get into the jeeps that would take us to camp.

The drive was about 45 minutes from the airstrip to the camp and along the way we saw a huge number of vultures, sitting near a Impala kill that was being finished up by a few Jackals.  The carcass was mostly just the skeleton, and once the Jackals leave it, the vultures will clean it up so it will be nothing but bones laying out there.

We got to camp, were shown our cabins, and then met for a late lunch, before boarding our first game drive here.  On the drive, we were told about a leopard that was in the area and her 10 month old cub, and so we went looking to see if we could find either or both of them.  It took a while, but the guides were good and eventually we found the cub, sitting way up high on some rocks, a little too far to get a good shot of it, especially since night was closing in fast.  The cub did come down a lot closer to us as we all sat there and watched it, but then eventually climbed up high into a tree close by, trying to catch a bird or something.  Once it didn’t have any success, it went to sleep up there, and we headed back to camp since it was now very dark outside.  It was a long, but fun first day here.

Africa - Day 11 - 05-11-2025

 

This morning, I finished packing my bags after my shower and left them in the room while we went to do one last ride on the Chobe River.  We decided not to go too far since it was a short morning and we had a flight to catch in the afternoon, so we re-visited the Bee Eaters area on the river after looking for an elusive Malaki Kingfisher to start the morning.  We did spot it a few times, but each time the boat driver was just too aggressive when positioning the boat and scared it off before we could really get any good shots.  The one good thing that happened this morning though, was we finally saw and got to quickly photograph a Giant Kingfisher. Those things are huge compared to their cousins and it was great to get to see one up close, even if it was only for a few minutes.

We enjoyed photographing the bee eaters for a while and watched them cuddling up and trying to warm up in the morning sun. They were very cute, the way they did that. I think I might have even managed to get a few nice shots of it, and a few of them catching dragonflies.

We ended the morning on a high note and then headed back to get our bags, have some lunch and then headed to the airport for the flight back to Johannesburg. This plane was smaller than the one on the flight up, and thankfully we were all at the front of the line getting on, as overhead space was very limited. We barely managed to get all of our bags stored in the overhead compartments.  After that, it was smooth sailing back to where we all started.

We went through customs and immigration again, got our bags, and walked across the street to the hotel.  We had dinner reservations for 6:30 and all met downstairs to eat, before calling it a night pretty early. 

I’m a lot more tired than I expected to be, and think I’ll sleep great tonight. 😊

Africa - Days 8-10 - 05-08-2025 to 05-10-2025

 I haven’t written much the last few days as they have mostly been the same each day so I thought I would just combine them into one entry here.  Each day started early, with a 5:00am wake up, 5:30 breakfast and then we would head down to the boat and get all loaded up for the morning river cruise. I was worried it would be colder on the water early in the morning, but I found it not to be too bad at all.  A windbreaker and my knit cap did the trick in keeping me warm as we cruised up and down the river.

Since we were limited to staying inside the boat the last few days, everything we saw had to be on the river’s edge or in the water itself. We saw families of elephants come to the river to drink and bathe, and even watch one elephant take a mud bath, feet from the front of the boat, spraying our fearless leader with mud while doing so. He was covered, but not nearly as bad as his camera gear was. Thankfully, no damage was done and we all just got a great laugh out of it.

We saw hippos and crocodiles in the water, saw Cape Buffalo crossing between two crocodiles, and narrowly escape being attacked, only to come back the next day to find a cape buffalo dead in the water, with two crocodiles feasting on the body and moving closer to shore to make it easier to eat. We couldn’t be sure if this was one of the same buffalo we saw the day before, but it did appear that it might have been the young one from that group, as it was about the right size.

We saw a colony of King Fishers and their nests, saw monitor lizards, Impala (yep, even at the river!), Baboons, Eagles, Bee eaters and all numbers of cool birds among the reeds and along the river.  We even managed to get chased by two different Hippos on the river. It was amazing to see how fast those big animals can move in the water!

The days were nice and the ride so much smoother than what we’d been experiencing so far.  The only complaint I might have is that our boat driver wasn’t the most skilled when it came to placing the boat in a good spot for photos, and more than not, would race into the shore or into bushes with the front of the boat, and scare away what we were hoping to photograph.  It got to be a little frustrating at times, but overall, it was still a good experience, and I think we actually got to photograph most everything we wanted.  Sometimes it just took multiple attempts before he would get it right. 😊

We would head back to the lodge each afternoon for lunch and a break before heading back to the boat and the river each afternoon, to repeat the morning sessions. 

Dinner every night was nice, and we would eat outside under the stars. The chef would come out, welcome everyone, announce what the meal would be, and then serve it.  It was a great way to relax and wind down each night, before returning to our rooms for a good night’s sleep.

Tonight is our last night here, so I packed my bags before bed. Tomorrow, we take our second domestic flight and head back to Johannesburg for a rest day.

Africa - Day 7 - 05-07-2025

This morning as we loaded up in the jeeps, the guides told us there had been sightings of some African painted dogs, hunting in the area and since they were an animal we hadn’t seen yet, we all agreed that we should go and try to find them. We were pretty excited to hear they were in our area, as we’d been told they are really hard to find most days.

Our drivers all split up and we began the search, and it wasn’t too long before one of the drivers spotted them and said they were on the run. This is where the guides experience really comes in handy as they knew where to head and what to listen for, and they got us into the right area in no time.  We were able to spot them moving fast through the woods, but it was so hard to get any kind of photo of them.  We eventually got to a spot in front of them, and could see them coming up fast behind us, but I still don’t know if any of my photos will turn out as we never seemed to come to a complete stop anywhere.

At one point we did stop and listen to where they had gone, and next thing I knew, a Steenbock flew across the road in front of us, followed by a painted dog in full sprint. They were gone as fast as they appeared! I’m still amazed by how fast both were moving… it was amazing.  That was the last I saw of the painted dogs, and even though it was very brief, it was so cool to witness.

The guide told us there was also a report of a pride of lions that had gotten a kill the night before, and she said he had an idea of where they were, so off we went to look. It took a little while to find them, but we did and then got to spend an hour watching the pride rest, eat, rest some more and even have a bit of a squabble with each other when someone got too greedy with the meal.

There were a few times when we would watch a cub take a piece of meat or bone and kind of waddle away with it to their own little spot. Is it wrong to say it was kind of cute to watch?

After a crazy morning, we headed back to camp for lunch and to finish packing our stuff as it was time to move on to the next location this afternoon.

The flight was a smooth and easy one, and we got checked into the next location before afternoon tea.

The next few days are going to be spent on the river and will likely be a nice break from bouncing around in the jeeps, if tonight’s river cruise is a good sign of things to come.

We had our first trip out on the boat after tea, and mostly just got used to the setup on there. The boats are configured perfectly for photography. You sit in a seat in the middle of boat that spins in 360 degrees and has a great camera mount that allows you to spin your camera in any direction you like.  I think this will be fun.  We got a hint tonight, so looking forward to the next 3 days.

It's late now and time to get to bed so we can start bright and early.

Africa - Day 6 - 05-06-2025

Today started off the same as all the other days so I’ll just skip writing about that every day. Wake-up was at 5:30, the morning game drive started at 6:00. We talked with the guide about going to see if we could find the Leopard again this morning, while it was likely going to be active, so we headed out to look, and on the way we came upon a lioness that was hunting. She was crouched in some tall grass, holding very still, and locked on a male impala that was about 200 feet away. As we sat there, we realized there was a second female lion a little deeper in the bushes on the other side of us, also locked in on the impala. We sat very still and stayed quiet and waited to see what might happen. I shot a number of photos, just waiting to see if she took off after him. He knew danger was near though and was holding just as still as they were, like he wasn’t sure what to do. At one point he turned and slowly walked in the opposite direction, but it was like he was afraid to turn his back on them, and he would turn around again to make sure they weren’t coming.

This stand-off seemed to last a long time, but it was maybe only 10 minutes or so I bet, and then the lions seemed to relax and started to look around, like she decided she wasn’t hungry enough to try to chase him down when he suddenly took off running. She called out to her partner and then they both got up and started to head in the other direction.

Our driver decided instead of following them, we should head out and find the leopard and let the two lions get back to hunting somewhere else.

It didn’t take long before we found the leopard and spent some time photographing her. She was on the move so there was a lot of us moving to get ahead of her, and waiting for her to walk towards us. It was amazing how the guides seemed to know exactly where she would go as a few times we seemed to drive in the wrong direction, only to stop and wait and she would reappear.  They really do know these animals and their habits, after years of watching them.  At one point he drove us way down the road and up this steep hill, and then came to a stop and was just listening for her, when suddenly she hopped up on a tree stump in front of us and seemed to pose there for a while. It was amazing and the light was perfect, and if I didn’t know better, I’d bet he had trained her to do that. LOL

I can’t wait to look at these photos and hope I didn’t mess them up. They will probably be the best shots of the trip! The whole encounter had everyone excited, and it took a while to get over what we just saw.  We took some deep breaths and went on to see what else we could find, as the leopard wandered off into an area where we wanted to just let her be now.

We went into a new area and came across a young Eagle that was feeling adventurous and witnessed it trying to take down a Steenbock. The Steenbock was way too fast for it and looked too big to me for it to manage, but another guide said they can and do manage to do that from time to time. We watched a couple of attempts, but this Eagle just didn’t have the skills yet.

It was time to head back to camp for lunch and along the way we saw a number of birds and pretty good group of wildebeest.

There was an elephant at the watering hole during lunch which was fun to sit and watch as we ate. It just feels so strange that these animals just come and go as they please, and it’s normal everyday stuff for the people that live here. I can’t imagine what that would be like to see every day, but I don’t think it would ever get old.  

 The afternoon game drive was filled with more Giraffe, Zebra, Birds, and then a report of 3 male lions that were brothers, that had wandered back into the area. We went off to find them and when we came across them, the three were laying in the shade, resting.  It was getting late and cooling off, so our guide said we should wait because they would be getting active soon. Turns out he was right again. Shortly after he said that all three seemed to wake up at the same time, and then greeted each other by nuzzling each other and almost making it look like they were in a football huddle and calling the next play. One of them suddenly didn’t like what was going on and let out a small road and swept at his siblings, and then the three split up again and laid down a few feet apart from each other.  They didn’t go all the way back to sleep, but didn’t stay all that active and since it was getting to be too dark to photograph them any longer, we headed back to camp for dinner.

I find myself thinking we won’t beat what we saw the day before, but yet, every new day seems to just get better. It was a long, exciting day today, and time to call it a night.

Africa - Day 5 - 05-05-25

The wake-up knock came early today.  I made sure I was up and ready to go which means I was up at 5:15. What happened to sleeping in on vacation right?

There was a nice spread for breakfast today, so I grabbed a little bit to eat while waiting for everyone to show up.  We loaded up in the jeep after that and hit the trails at 6:00am.  The sunrise was so pretty this morning. We found a Giraffe at a watering hole to start the day off and shot some really nice reflection photos of it as it drank. We then went off in search of anything we could find, and as we drove along, admiring this great rock face and how pretty it was in the morning light, we heard a lion calling out from the trees at the base of the rocks.  It was a low call, and I wasn’t even sure that’s what I heard the first time, but with the second call, the guide heard it as well and we turned off the road and headed into the bush, finding a lone lioness sitting in the morning sun, calling out to her cubs. The guide told us she had two cubs and there was another female that would hang out with them. He thought maybe they got separated during a hunt, or that this female woke up to find the other three were gone and possibly hunting right at that moment.  She called out for a while, before moving off and listening for a response. At one point she just walked out to the road and walked down the road calling out to them.  That’s when I learned it was very common for Lions and other animals to use the jeep trails and roads for getting around as well.

We stayed with her for a while until we all decided we should really leave her be and look for something else to photograph. I was just excited that I had finally seen my first lion in the wild!

We found some more cool birds, Impala (yet again!), Giraffe families, and then got a call over the radio of another lion pride further north of us, that were all hanging out and sleeping near a watering hole.  The guide asked if we would like to go, and didn’t have to ask twice, and off we went.  We covered some distance to get here, and were happy to find the lions were still there, but they were all still sleeping and being lazy. It was fun to watch them, and even see them roll around, lay on their backs with paws in the air, and doing things cats do.  We kept waiting for them to wake up but gave up after 20 minutes and thought we could always come back if they started to hunt.

Our next fun encounter was with a large family of Elephants all cooling off in a small pool. They were just drinking when we got there and almost done … and soon walked out of the water and back out into the grasslands to eat. We didn’t follow them, but it was great to get the first view of some young elephants.  It was time for a morning coffee break, so the drivers all met up under a tree not too far from the lions and we got out of the vehicles and stretched our legs, having a morning snack and drinks.  It felt a little strange to be walking around with lions a couple of hundred yards away.  There were also Zebra close by, and we figured they would keep an eye on the lions for us and would alert to them, if they happened to get up and started moving around.

After our break we went back to check on the lions one more time, before heading back to camp for lunch. It was a long drive back so we just kept our eyes open for anything we might see along the way.  The light was harsh now, so no good for photos…. So, we just told the driver to keep going even though we saw a lot of animals along the way back.

After lunch, it was time for a nice nap with the windows open…  so I set my alarm and took advantage of the cool breeze and great bed.

At 3:00 we had afternoon tea and then hit the trails again.  One of the other jeeps had seen an owl early that morning and their driver shared the location with mine.  I told him I really like owls, so we went to try to find it and it had moved when we got there.  We figured it might not have gone too far, and as we drove around, I spotted it sitting up in a tree, a short way from the original spot.  The guide heard the owl call out at one point, and heard a reply from across the small riverbed, so we moved on from this one to find the other owl, which turned out to be much easier to spot.

A little later, we got a report of a leopard, and our guide took off to go and try to find it for us. This day was turning out to be a great one with both Lion and Leopard sightings on the same day!

When we finally got to where the leopard was, our guide pointed out that it was up in a tree all sprawled out and resting. He also spotted that there was a young cub under the tree with a kill, and that it was eating at the time.  The other jeeps that were there never noticed it.  He tried to get us into a good position to take photos, but it was really tough with where everything was under the tree. I think I might have still managed a couple of environmental type shots though.

We stayed and watched the both for a while and then it started to get dark and it was time to head back.  It was a great day today!

Africa - Day 4 - 05-04-25

The day started off with another wake-up knock at 6:00am and I was already mostly ready for the day.  I walked to breakfast with the guide and left my packed bags by the door where they said they would pick them up for us before taking us to the airfield.

We did the morning drive and I finally got to see the lake where the Hippos were all hanging out.  I could hear them all morning long, making their deep grunting noises that almost sounded like Jabba the Hut from Star Wars, laughing away.  They sounded so close to my cabin, but the sound must have just travelled really well.  There were at least a dozen hippos in the lake, just kind of soaking there, and they would pop up from time to time and look at us, before closing their eyes or slowing sliding back under the water again.  What a life that must be.  We watched them from a number of angles for a long while… and it was just relaxing. The morning was nice and cool and felt great after the heat of yesterday afternoon.

We left the hippos alone and sent to check on the Lions and see if they might be drinking at the watering hole near the kill, but we weren’t that lucky, and they were back in the brush where we really couldn’t see them.  Guess my wait for Lions is still on.  The vultures were all still up in the trees, so we knew the Lions had to be there.

The game drive was short this morning as our flight was leaving around 10:30am, so we headed to the lodge, made sure our bags had all been gathered up, had brunch and then headed to the air strip to wait for our bush plane to arrive.  We didn’t have to wait long before it came in, unloaded some people and we loaded up, and took off for our next camp.  This flight’s pilot looked at least 5 years older than the last one, so we knew we were in good hands. LOL

The flight was only 30 minutes and a straight shot from air strip to air strip.  We all enjoyed looking out the window and seeing what we could spot along the way.

We were picked up by our new guides at the airstrip and they told us we would do a short game drive on the way to the camp, since they wouldn’t be ready for us for a while yet.  No sooner did we leave the airstrip area than I could tell this would be a different kind of experience from the last camp. The landscape here was more open, and we hadn’t gone a mile before seeing the first Giraffes of the trip, more Zebra, a pair of Jackals napping next to a small water hole, etc.  It was so cool to see the Jackals while they were resting as it gave us time to photograph them without them running away or being too far from us.  We also ran into more Impala which as I I said in an earlier post, was going to be the theme of this trip. They are literally everywhere.

We got to the camp and were warmly welcomed by everyone there. They gave us a tour of the main areas and then told us which cabins were ours and we were taken there and given a quick rundown on how everything worked.  This camp has a cool watering hole just off the main eating area, and when I got to my cabin, I was very surprised to learn that I also had a great view of it from my deck.  The cabin also had both an indoor and outdoor shower which I knew for sure I would have to try out one night so that I could shower under the stars.  I already love this cabin more than the last and have been very impressed with how nice everything is.

We had time for a break until 3, so I sat on my deck and relaxed, watching animals come down to drink.  There were a bunch of impalas there to start with, but after less than 15 minutes, I saw three Giraffe come out of the trees and wander down too. I took some photos from my deck, but there was a lot of heat haze at the time, so not sure how sharp any of those photos will be. I’ll have to look at them closer when I get back home.

The afternoon game drive was nice, perfect weather even if a bit on the hot side.  We saw more Jackals, some Wildebeest, more Impalas (see!), and then found a Giraffe at a watering hole as the sun was setting.  I was surprised how close to the Giraffe we were able to get and sit there and watch it.

It’s been a long day, and it was nice to get back to the camp and enjoy a nice dinner before heading to the cabin for a good night’s sleep.  Tomorrow is going to be an early start.  With how nice out it is right now, and how clear the skies are, it’s time to try that outdoor shower and head to bed.

Africa - Day 3 - 05-03-25

The guides came by this morning at 6:00am to wake me up and get the day started. After I got ready, I walked up to breakfast which was a continental kind of breakfast and grabbed a couple of things to eat before we all headed out to the vehicles and loaded up.  Today I rode with Nathaniel, and we headed out with our guide to see what we could see.  Things were slow this morning, but it was nice seeing the land, some watering holes and some animals here and there as the morning went on.  We saw a lot of Impala (which would be a common theme on the trip), Zebra, a big Baboon family, and maybe the coolest find of the morning was a pair of African Fish Eagles sitting in a great perch that allowed us to get close and shoot them for a good 20 minutes. We saw a few different kinds of birds, including a Kingfisher which was very cool for me. I’m fascinated with those birds and know they have at least 4 or 5 species of them here.  I hope to get to see them all before the trip is over.  I also got to see my first Elephant in the wild as we came around a blind corner and next thing I knew, this big Bull Elephant was maybe 40 feet away from us.  He wasn’t too happy as I think we startled him a bit, and he turned to us with his ears out… a sign of aggression I think, and we backed up a bit and then decided to give him his space and moved on.  The guide said it was mating season, and this male was alone, and maybe a bit frustrated.  LOL

After the morning drive, we headed back to camp for lunch at 12, and then we had a nice break until 3:00pm when we would meet up for Tea and head out for our afternoon drive. I was still fighting a little bit of jet lag and ended up taking an hour-long nap during the break.  That was so nice.

After a nice lunch, we headed back out. The afternoon was hot and many of the animals seemed to be in hiding during the first hour.  We did find a second kind of Kingfisher sitting on a great perch and decided to sit there and patiently watch it, waiting for it to hunt. It didn’t do anything for a good 20 minutes but then got busy flying down to the ground and back up to its perch, until we finally saw it catch a cricket.  I got some decent shots of it with the cricket in its mouth and we watched it slowly spin the thing around until it could swallow it.  Patience paid off, and we were happy with the shots we got so moved on to see what else we could find. 

As we came up on this nice forest area, we could see the trees shaking like crazy and discovered a whole family of monkeys climbing through the branches and playing in the grass. We pulled over and photographed them for the next 30-45 minutes. It was fun watching the little ones chase each other back and forth, some jumping from tree to tree, two little ones hanging from a branch and then dropping to the ground, only to run back up and do it all again.

There was a baby nursing from its mom, high up in a tree near us, and at one point he must have bitten down too hard because the mom smacked him on the head to make him stop.  She then groomed him for a bit before he went back to nursing, and I couldn’t help but laugh a little about how much they reminded me of small human kids in how they played and behaved.

We moved on from the monkeys after getting a call that there was a pride of Lions nearby with a kill and we went to look for them.  We got to the location where the kill was located, but it was off the road and deep in some brush, and all we saw there were dozens of Vultures in the trees around there… all patiently waiting for the Lions to finish up so they could clean up anything left over.  We could barely make out one Lion on the ground through the bushes, but it was sleeping and there was no good shot of it.  I guess I’ll have to wait to get my first real look at a Lion in the wild.

It was getting late, and the sun was going down so we stared to work our way back to camp.  We saw a few more Zebra and some other birds including a Hornbill, which were much prettier in person than I realized.  I got a photo of one and when looking at it on the back of my camera, realized it almost looked more like a painting than a real bird.  I need to keep my eyes open and try to get an even better shot of one if I can.

We got to camp and had another nice dinner.  After dinner it was time to pack as we were moving on to our next location after tomorrow morning’s game drive.

Africa - Day 2 - 05-02-25

Went down to meet up with the group for Breakfast before our first group flight of the trip. We met up a little early because service had been very slow the day before, but this morning things came out fast, so it was nice to be able to take our time and not have to rush over to the airport.  After breakfast we all packed and checked out and some in the group stored some luggage with the hotel so that they won’t have to take it with them to the different camps.

We headed over to the airport and got checked in quick, made it through security, and slowly made our way to the gate for our flight to Maun.  This was the first of two domestic flights on the trip, and I was little worried about us all getting our bags onto the plane.  It was a little bit of a tight fit, but everyone seemed to manage to get their bags on without issues.  The flight was a short 90 minutes and went by fast.

Once we landed, we had to clear customs and were all handed a customs form that we would see more than a few more times on this trip.  It took a while to get through passport control and then customs, but we finally made it and then were met by a handler that walked us through the airport and helped get us loaded up on our next flight, which was a in a small bush plane.  The pilot of the plane looked like he wasn’t old enough to drive, much less fly us anywhere, but the flight was a very good one. It was cool to fly low enough to see animals at watering holes as we flew over them.

We landed on an old dirt runway after a 45-minute flight, and were met by guides from the lodge that helped load up our luggage and then took us on a short game drive on the way to get us checked in.  We saw several animals along the way and it really helped me realize I was finally in Africa.

The lodge was really nice, and we were all assigned cabins and shown where everything was.  They walked us through the rules, which included not walking to or from the cabin after dark, and then we had a little downtime before meeting back up for Tea and our first official game drive.

Tonight’s game drive was just a small taste of what’s to come and helped me get settled into what it would be like to shoot from the vehicles, what the roads or lack there of were like, and made me realize, animals truly were everywhere.  The only fence I saw was one that was built to keep Elephants out of camp, but anything and everything else around, had free reign.

After the game drive, we all freshened up and then met for dinner.  The dinner was good and was a three-course meal.  This would turn out to be a foreshadowing of how good the food was going to be, and how much we were going to be fed on this trip. 

After dinner and a long day of travel, we all headed to bed early.  It was wild lying in bed and hearing Hippos nearby making noises throughout the night. The bed was so comfortable, I passed out in no time.

Africa - Day 1 - 05-01-25

Finally arrived in Johannesburg, after almost a full day of flying.  I left Seattle at 9:30am on 04-29-2025 and flew into Atlanta on a flight that was about 5 hours long.  After getting off the plane, I was able to stretch my legs and find a bite to eat since I had a 4.5-hour layover.  I then boarded my direct flight to Johannesburg and found out the flight was 14.5 hours and not the 11.5 hours I thought I’d read somewhere.  It was a full flight, but everyone and everything was really nice onboard, so I settled in and read for a while, watched a couple of TV shows on the in-flight entertainment system, and even managed to nap for about 30 minutes on and off.   Once getting off the plane in South Africa, I made my way to customs and immigration and was very pleasantly surprised to find a very short line waiting for me.  I was through customs in about 10 minutes and then just waited on my bag, before making the short walk across the street to the hotel.

A few members from the group were already there and meeting for dinner so after I checked in and showered, I went downstairs to meet them and say hello.  It was a very long day, so none of us stayed up late, and I headed to bed for much-needed sleep.