12 Night Journey
12 Night Journey Trough Botswana
Guides, Frank, Peter
Staff, Joe, Jerry, Shakka, Anton
12 nights Journey through Botswana starting in Chobe, Savute, Moremi, Delta, Maun and Nxai Pan back to Maun.
It is always exciting when you take a trip with a group of Professors; expectations are high on each side. Taking PhD’s into a natural science lesson is probably the best yet challenging things that I have ever done. The trip started in Chobe; we had some great sightings of lion, and a boat cruise over the famous Chobe River. We had some great sightings of herds of elephant and buffalo. We also had great sightings of cheeky hippos, which were great to watch.
The group were more interested in birds than anything else, this allowed me a chance to enjoy and show off all of the different birds that Botswana has to offer. It always amazes me how many different birds that there are here, the water areas around Chobe and the Delta always yield large amount of sightings. The group were also very interested in carnivores and during September they usually are a bit easier to see.
The group also really enjoyed the Savuti area; this area is famous for its large numbers of Predators. One client said “It is great to be in the true wilderness”, it is a comment that makes me proud to be the one that can share this experience with other people.
We had an amazing sighting of a pack of 20 strong Painted dogs in Nxakananxa which the clients enjoyed. They were excited as these animals are on the endangered list and are not always easy to see.
One thing that we did see near Mboma Island was two male lion, one of the males was in a tree approximately 6 metres high. They had just been feeding on old Elephant carcass. This is very unusual behaviour for here in Botswana, and it generated a bit of a debate and a heap of excitement.
The Boats and Mokoro trips in the Delta were very much enjoyed and appreciated by everyone. We also had an opportunity to have a walk on one of the islands which was an unexpected bonus for the guests. An exciting yet hair rising experience for some who were expecting a guide to be carrying a high caliber weapon on a walk instead of a stick. Walks on the islands allow the clients to see little things on the islands such as spoor and insects that are a bit more difficult to see from a vehicle.
Nxai Pan National Park was quite a drive from Moremi, a minor breakdown robbed us of the precious time and we arrived at the gate just before it was closed. Nxai Pan is a desert environment, dry, very hot and vast areas of open land. There was lots of Springbok and Gemsbok which are always nice to see. We were lucky enough to see two Bat Eared Foxes here, everyone of the group were very pleased. The interesting thing about the Bat Eared Fox is that they have large ears that they use to listen out for their food under ground. When they hear something they start digging to get to the food. Their diet mainly consists of insects, but they also eat rodents, birds, eggs and sometimes they can eat fruit.
We had a visit to Baines Baobabs which was very nice as well as historical.
The seven giant trees dominate a small island on the edge of the open grassless Kudiakam Pan. The Famous Artist come explorer, Thomas Baines visited the area and decided to paint this group of Baobabs in the 1800’s. This historical yet magical sight signalled the end of our trip and we were off to Maun for the groups Air Botswana trip to Joburg.
It was a great trip and it was a pleasure to meet the entire group. I wish you all the very best and hope to see you in this part of the world to explore a lot more of Botswana and surrounding countries.
Written by Frank Chikosi