It was an early start to the day & Tom was all over it! I was a bot slow & sleepy so I forgot to take photos of the campsite, lucky Tom did!
There was a huge herd of buffalo very close to the road with young calves, males, females & a few with broken/deformed horns.
We started our morning game drive at 6.30am & the first animal sighting of the day was a buffalo.
We saw zebra in the distance which were surprisingly hard to find, you would think black & white stripes would stand out against the brown & green bush.
There was a black back jackel running between bushes. It wasn't long before we saw a large troop of baboon coming back from the river.
We saw 2 giraffe near the road & just as the sun rose into the sky we saw 5 spotted hyenas running along the road.
There was a black back jackel running between bushes. It wasn't long before we saw a large troop of baboon coming back from the river.
We saw 2 giraffe near the road & just as the sun rose into the sky we saw 5 spotted hyenas running along the road.
We could hear & see more up ahead as well as vultures circling. There was an elephant carcass lying close to the river being devoured by a large group of spotted hyena. There was approximately 30 in the area, either eating, fighting, walking around or sleeping. We saw some young ones playing & chasing each other.
There was a large amount of bird activity from a couple of different kinds of vultures & stalks, circling, eating or nesting in nearby trees. Occasionally a fight would break out between a stalk & a vulture.
The vultures were also used as target practice by the young hyenas which was somewhat comical.
There was also 1 black backed jackel skulking the perimeter of the action & patiently waiting.
The vultures were also used as target practice by the young hyenas which was somewhat comical.
There was also 1 black backed jackel skulking the perimeter of the action & patiently waiting.
We had been focused on the immediate & obvious action when we heard a roar & saw the hyenas temporarily scatter. Sitting near the carcass but hidden from our line of sight by trees was a pride of lions.
We counted 5 females & 1 adolescent male. The male was responsible for the roar & was testing out his status as the new king of the jungle. Unfortunately the force of hyenas was large & his lioness were reluctant to help in any way, instead lying under a tree & sleeping. We suspect they had already eaten.
After we moved away from the carcass, the jeep turned down towards the river so we could drive directly along the bank. We saw a flock of Guinea fowl, stalks & ducks in the distance as well as the face of a hippo on the surface of the water, before it dived down & disappeared. We saw 2 wart hogs walking along the road.
We finally saw some impala, they are so common but had been missing for the first 2 hours of our game drive. When we did see them, the males were pairing off & butting heads. It looked mostly gentle & choreographed, we assumed it was for practice until we saw a Male with large horns chasing a female & grunting at her.
We temporarily left the road by the river & saw a dark male giraffe close to the road eating from a tree who was unfazed by us. He had some scarred evidence of old wounds on his rump, probably from a lion.
There was a huge herd of buffalo very close to the road with young calves, males, females & a few with broken/deformed horns.
A pride of 4 lions, 2 adolescent males & 2 females watching a herd of buffalo near the river. We saw 3 wart hogs very close to the lions & a fish eagle sitting in a tree.
We got some brief history & found out that from 1935 - 1966 Chobe was a game park & timber farm. In 1967 It was made into Botswana's first national park & the people who lived here were moved in 1975 to the current town known as Kasane. We drove past the remains of some dwellings.
Finally we saw one of the pale blue & pink birds close enough & still enough to photograph. It's a lilac breasted roller.
Just before we left the park we came across a lone elephant who emerged from a bush that he was eating & walked around the jeep. He was so close we could have touched him but he was so calm. We got some beautiful photos of his face & eyes with amazing detail.
The signing out of the park & driving back to camp was done quickly & we were reunited with the rest of our tour group.
I felt bad for being slightly disappointed with our game drive starting later & deeper in the park away from the river, reasons I suspect were responsible for the lack of amazing animal encounters, when I heard about what happened to the other 18 people of our group, I really appreciated our game drive. Even though it broke our good spell of seeing big cats.
The other jeeps arrived 1.5 hours late & then 1 broke down just before the park entrance. A replacement from another company had to be organized which was another delay & when the driver finally arrived he was shocked to find out he was required to stay in the park overnight. He then had to ring his boss back & get clearance to stay overnight.
By the time all of this happened & they entered the park it was 6pm & getting dark. They wouldn't be able to game drive & were very angry.
The other jeeps arrived 1.5 hours late & then 1 broke down just before the park entrance. A replacement from another company had to be organized which was another delay & when the driver finally arrived he was shocked to find out he was required to stay in the park overnight. He then had to ring his boss back & get clearance to stay overnight.
By the time all of this happened & they entered the park it was 6pm & getting dark. They wouldn't be able to game drive & were very angry.
The group wanted to know about compensation for the missed game drive & had the drivers radio into the Thebes Safari company who are contracted by ATC to provide this service. They got a response back from the boss of the company who had the 2 jeeps stop in the middle of the park until the group either accepted or declined.
They were told that they would get extra time the next day with their morning game drive & they were told if they don't agree with this the jeeps would turn around & take them back out of the park. They didn't specify how long the extra time would be, even though they were owed 3 hours & there would be no money compensated.
There was no consideration to the fact the ATC cook was there in the park with dinner ready & all the tents were also in the park with the sleeping gear.
It sounded to us & I'm sure it felt like blackmail & that it wasn't a fair way to discuss compensation for the companies bad management.
The group agreed & the jeeps kept driving.
5 minutes later the boss from Thebes Safari radioed back, stopped the jeeps & said there wouldn't be any extension of the game drive tomorrow, there would be no compensation & if they didn't agree they would be driven back out of the park.
They agreed to this furiously, from lack of choice only to arrive at their camp & tell the ATC cook who contacted Jurumba, our guide, who was not in Chobe, but back at the Thebes campsite.
Jurumba with the support of the ATC head office organised a second game drive in the afternoon with much difficulty.
Of the 18 people who were involved in that incident there was a few who elected not to go on the game drive & were so put out by management, they wanted nothing further to do with the company.
The afternoon was spent by most people doing the game drive & lots of angry emails & reviews written at the bar, by the people who elected to stay behind and got no compensation, let alone an apology.
I did a HIIT workout down by the river with Sari, Simon, Leah, Jurumba & one of the new people called Bev.
Tom decided to skip exercise & instead he opened & drunk a bottle of wine and photographed some iridescent green & blue birds.
I later joined him with a platter of gherkins, olives, artichoke hearts, my own bottle of wine & a playlist of songs from the 80's & 90's.
- Alli
It sounded to us & I'm sure it felt like blackmail & that it wasn't a fair way to discuss compensation for the companies bad management.
The group agreed & the jeeps kept driving.
5 minutes later the boss from Thebes Safari radioed back, stopped the jeeps & said there wouldn't be any extension of the game drive tomorrow, there would be no compensation & if they didn't agree they would be driven back out of the park.
They agreed to this furiously, from lack of choice only to arrive at their camp & tell the ATC cook who contacted Jurumba, our guide, who was not in Chobe, but back at the Thebes campsite.
Jurumba with the support of the ATC head office organised a second game drive in the afternoon with much difficulty.
Of the 18 people who were involved in that incident there was a few who elected not to go on the game drive & were so put out by management, they wanted nothing further to do with the company.
The afternoon was spent by most people doing the game drive & lots of angry emails & reviews written at the bar, by the people who elected to stay behind and got no compensation, let alone an apology.
I did a HIIT workout down by the river with Sari, Simon, Leah, Jurumba & one of the new people called Bev.
Tom decided to skip exercise & instead he opened & drunk a bottle of wine and photographed some iridescent green & blue birds.
I later joined him with a platter of gherkins, olives, artichoke hearts, my own bottle of wine & a playlist of songs from the 80's & 90's.
- Alli
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