One highlight of retreat was the final “free” day where each person/family could choose what to do. Some sat by the pool and read, some when hiking in the gorge etched in the rock by Victoria Falls, some went bungee jumping (ok, just one did) and some went on safari in Botswana! Although all these activities (well, except the bungee jumping) would be wonderful, we were able to go on safari at Chobe National Park, thanks to some generous friends! If you know our son and daughter much, you know that they LOVE animals and nature, so this was a highlight!
With an early start to our day, we were driven to the border of Zambia to cross into Botswana. Next we boarded a small boat to cross the Zambezi river. The boat stopped in the middle of the river as the guide pointed out that we were in four countries at once: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia.
Pretty neat, eh?!
Boat Safari
First, we viewed a lot of neat birds on the boat safari.
From the large African fish eagle…
…to the small pied king fisher…
…to the spoonbill.
Don’t miss the insects, though – here are some red dragonflies!
What’s a boat safari without crocodiles? We saw plenty, big and small, resting and active (eek!).
Baby hippo supported among the adult hippos – doesn’t it look like he’s smiling? 🙂
A wide range of antelope are always a part of African safari! Here are a male impalla and a male greater kudu.
The highlight of the boat safari was when this fellow swam across the river in front of us and started picking grasses to munch on. He ripped them out of the ground with his trunk, then washed them off by swishing them back and forth in the water. I could have watched this all day!
Snorkeling across the river — first time watching an elephant swim!
Land Safari
The afternoon was a driving safari along the river and inland a bit. Chobe National Park is known for its elephant population numbering at least 50,000! It could be the highest concentration of elephants in Africa (according to Wikipedia).
Getting a drink. Elephants drink around 50 gallons of water a day…how much does your bathtub hold?
For those hard to reach areas in the pantry…because elephants can eat between 200-600 pounds of food a day!
Cape Buffalo with a red billed ox pecker on its back who helps keep him clean!
One of my favorites – the guinea fowl.
One highlight of the land safari was being able to spot a leopard resting in a tree. This was the first chance we’ve had to spot a leopard in the wild! It was sort of far away, so even with a big zoom lens, it was hard to get a good photo!
We ended with a giraffe spotting! There were roughly 6-8 in all.
It was a full and satisfying day!