Sunday, May 12, 2024

Monday, May 13, 2024

Stanley’s Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana

Botswana is about the size of Madagascar or France, 224,607 sq.mi. Over 70% of the country is covered by the Kalahari Desert. With 130,000 elephants, Botswana has the largest concentration of the largest land animal on Earth. We’re learning a lot about these creatures, the males continue to grow throughout their lives and can weigh as much as 7 1/2 tons! You can tell the right handed or left-handed by the length of the tusks. WoW! Around every bend, there could be a huge male elephant, or a couple, sometimes a herd. I marvel at this size, power and strength.

Our days start early, 6 am wake-up, breakfast and into the Landrover with our guide by 7 am for a three to four hour game viewing drive to see what nature will reveal. There’s a coffee break in the wild and back to camp in time for lunch and a siesta. At 4 pm we depart for another game view expedition leading to a sundowner cocktail before ending up in the dark at camp in time for dinner!

On Mother’s Day, we watched a pride of lions and a male/female mating pair of lions. 13 lionesses and a very handsome male who sought some privacy. Incredible. Today’s exciting viewing was two leopards, Stan and Tsebe, both with full bellies, climbed into separate trees for a nap! Couldn’t believe we got to see them in action! A huge herd of zebras and antelope were our sight at coffee break today.

We went on a helicopter flight over the river — saw lots of hippos and crocs from the air. A stop for champagne and back to a game drive.

Another spectacle was a visit to the river to view some hippos! They only come out of the water in the evening as their skin cannot take the hot direct sun. As we drove back to the damp in darkness, Zero uses a powerful flashlight and we were wowed by giraffes bedding down for the night. Hard to grasp how they can bend their long bodies. So many fascinating sights in a day, we’re overwhelmed with our photos. The i-phone camera is truly incredible.