Written by Tony Medici
[Additional comments by Thom are in italics and brackets, like this]
This morning we will be traveling by plane to Savuti in Chobe National Park so we can spend two days in that area. This morning’s activities include getting up late for once, eating a full breakfast and then arranging to get our luggage to the common area so that it can be transported to the landing strip before the plane arrives. Then we’re transported to the strip by boat ourselves so that we arrive prior to the plane landing. These small Cessna Caravans charge by the prop hour, so we want the plane to spend as little time as possible on the ground.
Traveling to Savuti
The flight itself is about a 45 minute straight line to the Savuti airstrip, were we meet up with our vehicles. Once there, we fish out any camera gear we want to use on the leisurely drive back to our newly set up mobile camp. I ended up with a good set of images from the drive back to camp as you can see here.
It’s rare that you see a cooperative Roan Antelope in the Okavango. I have very few images of Roan’s that fill the frame so I consider this an excellent start to the drive back to camp.
An adult Yellow-Billed Kite in flight.
A Spotted Thick-Knee walking in the brush. As you might be noticing, the different bird species we're seeing are adding up quickly. On a typical trip we'll generally identify 150 or more species, and be able to photograph most of them.
A female Leopard in the rocks. Thom complains a lot about not seeing any leopards on Leopard Rock, but this year we managed to find a female who had stashed her cub back in a quasi-cave under one of the bigger rock overhangs.
Eventually the cub woke up and became sort of visible to us. However, she picked a spot where Land Cruisers can't get good access to, so photographing the pair was exceptionally difficult. We were still on our way to camp, so we settled for a quick photo or two and will return here later to see if we can get better images.
Once we arrive at camp, we have our usual camp-prepared excellent hot lunch followed by our usual free time. Thom works with individual students reviewing images during that time, but it's also a time for recharging and reorganizing equipment, showering, or napping. Tea time at 3:30pm is followed by heading out on an afternoon drive starting at 4:00pm.
Some Big Cats
Savuti is know for its cats. So that's what we're looking for as we head out. Fortunately, the afternoon drive went just as well as the short trip from the airstrip into camp. We knew where we would likely see the Leopard again since we knew where one of her dens was so we left camp with high expectation. Those were mostly fulfilled when we came across another large pride of lions before ending the day at the den. Also, as usual, we took the time to photograph more birds along the way.
Early in the drive we came across a Brown Snake Eagle high in a tree.
A foraging Helmeted Guineafowl. The guineafowl are called the Chicken of the Sand in Botswana, and ubiquitous. They also provide an excellent early warning system for cats...
I mentioned the large pride earlier. Here's the youngest lion resting in the road and halting our ability to get to the rest of the pride momentarily.
Fortunately, young cats don't rest long and are curious. His brother soon came to see what we were doing.
After spending a great deal of time with the lions—the parents were mostly resting, so other than child play, not much was happening there—we decided to circle back to see what our leopard lady friend was doing. As is typical, she'll spend time away from, but still protecting, the actual den site, and this gave us the chance to get some excellent photographs of this magnificent animal.
