BOTSWANA BIRDS, Guest Post by Ann Whitford Paul

Lilac breasted roller, Botswana, Africa

My friend and fellow children's book writer Ann Whitford Paul and her husband Ron recently returned from a trip to Africa, which included a trip to Botswana. Here is her report and some fantastic photos of the many birds they saw. You can find out about Ann's books at www.annwhitfordpaul.net. Her newest book, If Animals Said I  Love You, will be published in the fall.

A tree full of vultures hoping for a fresh-kill feast.

One of the joys of traveling is the opening of your eyes to new cultures, new landscapes, new experiences, and this trip to Botswana introduced me to a world, I’d never paid much attention to before—birds, including the colorful lilac-breasted rollers seen above that perch high in trees or other high vantage places so they can spot insects, lizards, and rodents..  A young Englishman named John, who as a child had learned birding from his uncle, was an expert at sighting the tiniest birds. Here are some of my best bird photos:

The grey go-away bird gets its name from its loud and nasal "go-away" calls.

African fish eagles are found near large bodies of open water, which were abundant, thanks to the unusually heavy rains in Botswana this year.

Wattled cranes love to eat the tubers of water lilies, so they forage close to streams and ponds.

Guinea fowl are sometimes called speckled hens, and you can see why.

The hammerkop is a wading bird named for its unique head shape.

The blacksmith lapwing is a commonly seen bird throughout Botswana, but I was thrilled to get this picture with the reflection in the water.

The tiny swallow-tailed bee-eater could easily be missed sitting here in the greenery.

The colorful woodland kingfisher, noted for its loud trilling sound.

This ground hornbill grasps a stolen egg from another bird's nest and is looking forward to a delicious meal.
As with my last posting on this blog about the animals of Botswana (May 1, 2017), I was grateful for my fabulous Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000k camera, which features a Leica lens and a view angle from 25 mm wide-angle to 16X optical zoom.
We stayed at Tubu Tree Camp in the Okavango Delta floodplains and Zarafa Camp located in the Selinda Reserve.  Our trip was arranged by LIVINGSTONE SAFARIS.

BOTSWANA, AFRICA, ANIMAL SAFARI, Guest Post by Ann Paul

Leopard, Botswana

My friend and fellow children's book writer Ann Paul and her husband Ron recently returned from a trip to Africa which included a trip to Botswana. Here is her report and some fantastic photos of the wildlife they saw. You can find out about Ann's books at www.annwhitfordpaul.net. Her newest book, If Animals Said I  Love You, will be published in the fall.

Botswana, a sparsely populated country of little more than two million people is mostly desert, savannah and grassy plains, but features some of the best animal viewing in Africa. Although our spring (Botswana’s fall) trip was off season (which meant lodges and safari camps were at their most reasonable) and we were warned wildlife might not be out in abundance, we were more than pleasantly surprised. Perhaps we were fortunate that the country had endured an especially rainy season, for we were greeted with some great sightings, including our first ever of a leopard out for a stroll.

And, a less than one-week-old hippo calf hitching a ride on her mother’s back....

a parade of over one hundred elephants that never seemed to end....

and a pack of wild dogs on the prowl. Here is just one of them. I love its perky ears.

Warthogs are usually a common sight. What is uncommon is to come upon two near their den and that they stayed still long enough for a decent picture.

A male lion making sure no other male suitor came after his females

These two male giraffes posed perfectly.

Then they put on a demonstration of their sparring technique, using their heads to lift up the other’s leg.

I’m particularly proud of this photo of a baboon high up in a palm tree taken with my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000k camera which features a Leica lens and a view angle from 25 mm wide-angle to 16X optical zoom. (thanks to the suggestion of a dear friend.)

The camera allowed me to get some lovely bird photos which I’ll share in an upcoming post. For now, I leave you with this advice. If you’re planning a trip to Botswana, consider going off-season. The prices are cheaper. The lodges are less crowded, which means you’re not crammed into a vehicle for animal sightings and you get more personal attention.
On previous trips, I’ve traveled with a simple camera.
Never again.
If you’re going to the trouble of a long flight (22 hours air time from Los Angeles, not counting layovers in airports) make sure you can take quality pictures.

We stayed at Tubu Tree Camp in the Okavango Delta floodplains and Zarafa Camp located in the Selinda Reserve.  Our trip was arranged by LIVINGSTONE SAFARIS.

WILDLIFE VIEWING IN UGANDA AND TANZANIA, Part 3, Guest Post by Ann Paul

Zebras and Wildebeests in Tanzania

My friend and fellow children's book writer Ann Whitford Paul recently went with her husband Ron on a trip to Africa, where they did some amazing wildlife viewing in Uganda and Tanzania. Her pictures bring back memories of my own trip to those countries in 1971. Although much has changed since then, the wonder of seeing animals at home in their natural habitat is still the same. Here is a photo tour of some of the highlights of Ann and Ron's trip.

After our gorilla trek in Uganda it was time to go to Tanzania for a more leisurely safari sitting in a jeep and taking in the great migration.  Nothing prepares you for the sight of one and a half million wildebeests and zebras as far as you can see.
Wildebeests are the ugly ducklings of the African plain, but how I loved zebras, especially Mom nursing her young one.

Other highlights in Tanzania included these vultures fighting over a place at the carrion table—Noisy!  Aggressive!  Hungry!

This lion could have used a fly swatter. 

Couldn’t believe this family photo wasn’t posed.  Maybe lions send holiday cards too.  This mother and four cubs need their aunt to help with the child care and protect from predators.

Cheetahs sometimes hunt in pairs (usually brothers) and then take turns—one eats while the other watches out for danger (usually in the form of a hyena.)  When they’re all done, they lick each other clean.  No need for napkins!

This ostrich looks much more majestic in the wild than any I’ve ever seen in a zoo.    

In fact all wild animals are sleeker, more alert and healthier than you can imagine.  Probably because the weak and infirm eventually become meal for their predators.  I believe in zoos and their work breeding endangered species and bringing a distant part of the word to us.  That said, I much prefer seeing creatures in their natural habitat and hope these pictures might inspire readers to put Africa on their bucket list.  It will be a never-forgotten trip.  And lucky for us, we have a granddaughter to call us back to this amazing continent.

You can read about Ann's trip to Uganda in her posts on 5/30/16 and 6/6/16.
You can find out more about Ann Whitford Paul and her books at www.annwhitfordpaul.com .