Animals, Animals, Everywhere.
We were supposed to leave at 6:30 AM, but we decided to have breakfast because Byron was late. It was after 7:00 AM when we finally left the dock. The 2 ½ to 3 hour ride was rather cold. The temperature was in the mid 40’s but the breeze from the open boat was plenty stiff. The rosy cheeks and runny noses were quickly forgotten as the wildlife started coming into view. Starting things off with a major bang was Mr. Spots. A large male leopard was leisurely making his way down the river bank. With the first mention of leopard, our driver cut the motor and the boat silently glided to a stop and we were treated to a full 60 seconds or so of cat viewing before Mr. Spots stepped behind a tiny bush and disappeared. After the shock of seeing a leopard wore off, we took note of all the other animals. The zebra were especially plentiful – we saw literally thousands of them up and down the river bank. The elephants and impala were also quite abundant, with their numbers well into the hundreds. While not as numerous, there were giraffe, waterbuck, lechwe, warthogs, sable, crocodiles, and hippos. Rounding things out were innumerable species of birds. All one had to do was turn one’s head slightly and there was a different species in view. It was honestly a little overwhelming to experience so many different kinds of fauna in one short boat ride.
When we arrived at the hunting area, the first priority was taking care of business. It seemed that everyone had too many cups of coffee and a potty break was in order. The gentlemen’s room was the ditch on the left and the ladies’ was the ditch on the right. With the task at hand accomplished, it was a matter of only a short walk to meet the game scout and start scouting. We saw nothing. It reminded me of many fishing trips in that “you should have been here yesterday” or “they sure were biting this morning” were the phrases of the morning. There was nothing, I mean absolutely no buffalo, on the Namibian side of the river. After a few hours of this mess, we decided to have an early lunch and rethink our strategy
Our new plan was really not that different than the old one, other than we would be scouting further inland closer to some trees and scrub that could provide shade to a few dugga boys. Everyone wanted to go along including Nelson our boat pilot. Everyone except Zoe. She wanted to stay and play around the water. She gets to hike through the veld all the time, but the boat and the river were new and different and that was where she wanted to spend her time. Johann wanted Vera to come along to video in case they were successful in finding a buffalo so Janice volunteered to stay behind and watch Zoe. Well, I was not going to let her stay behind near the water with an abundance of crocs and hippos in the area. Off the water was not a good option either with plenty of lions and leopards on the prowl. I thought about leaving her with my rifle (for about 2/10ths of a second) but the obvious answer was for me to stay behind as well. At least the canopy on the boat would provide some shade.
Mr. Spots out for a morning constitutional
These guys were evidentially not afraid of Croc’s as they were right down at the waters edge.
Lots of buffalo, on the Botswana side of course.
Lots of elephant.
The hippo with the wonky tusk must have been injured at some point, or had a genetic gilflirt.
The Lechwe is a relative of the waterbuck. We evidentially got too close for comfort to this group.
Monday: Crocodiles, Little girls and fishing
