Safari in Chobe National Park, Botswana

One of 120,000 elephants in Chobe National Park

We saw giraffes, elephants, hippos, mongoose (think Timon from the Lion King), puku, Nile crocodiles, African fish eagles, impalas, storks, African Jacana (aka: "Jesus bird"), vultures, lions (sleeping behind bushes), baboons, African water buffalo (one of the Big Five), termite hills, dung beetles, and wart hogs. It was AWESOME.

 

With a good guide, a safari can be a very educational experience.  Here is a sample of what we learned while taking a safari:

The puku, or  red leeche as they are also called, is the African water antelope.  It has stripes on it’s hind side to blend in with the trees.  They are unique to this area, and their meat is tastey which is why they were almost hunted into extinction.

The Nile Crocodile suns on the bank with its mouth open to regulate its body temperature.  In their 60 year life span, they can grow up to 6 meters long with 66 teeth which are replaced as needed.  The crocs are different from alligators in that their teeth stick out when the jaw is closed and they have webbed rear feet.  A croc can make babies by age 15, and the eggs take 3 months to hatch.

Hippos graze on grass for 5-6 hours each day.  They relax in the water in groups (called pods or rafts) of up to 20 hippos.  They use each other as pillows and fight for a good position in the pod.  They submit and show respect to the main bull or they’ll get kicked out of the pile.

Chobe doesn’t have any rhinos, but a nearby park has 4 of them.  One recently gave birth, so they are very well protected and monitored at this time.

The African Jacana is knicknamed the “Jesus bird” because it has very long, skinny legs which makes it look like it is walking on water.  The males incubate the eggs, and the females are polygamists.

The day previous to our safari in Chobe, a female lion killed a buffalo while a male was trying to mate her.  She did this to feed her cub.  The following day, storks, vultures, and crocs were taking their turn feeding.

Baboons (think Rafaki in Lion King) travel in troops.  They have a symbiotic relationship with the antelope.

Banded mongoose (think Timon in Lion King) are collectively referred to as a business of mongoose.  They eat snakes.

The Big Five (what everyone wants to see when they go on safari, ie: water buffalo, elephants, lions, cheetahs, rhino) were chosen because of their aggressive nature when hunted.  They ambush when shot at.

Elephants roll in mud to keep an air-conditioned coat.  The elephants in Africa are much taller than other elephants around the world.

Giraffes have a 30-35 year life expectancy.  They are born a pale yellow and their skin and spots become bolder as they mature.

Dung beetles roll poop for eating and breeding.  Their eggs are placed inside of the roll and buried where the eggs will later hatch and eat the dung.

Chobe National Park covers 12,000 square kilometers.  There are no fences.  There are 120,000 elephants in the park.  500 were given to Angola after their Civil war.   There are 70,000 lions in the park.  Cats are best seen on night safaris.