AMONG ELEPHANTS IN BOTSWANA AND ZIMBABWE, Guest Post by Owen Floody

African elephants, Zimbabwe.

With many thanks to Owen Floody, a frequent contributor to The Intrepid Tourist. In 1971, Owen and my husband Art participated in a field course in animal behavior in Uganda. The descriptions of the animals in Owen's post below bring back many memories of that first trip to Africa.

A few months ago, I traveled in search of one charismatic mammal, the mountain gorilla.  What better complement than a September 2025, trip focusing on a second large, highly intelligent and charismatic, mammal, the African elephant?

The Great Elephant Migration Safari was run by Wilderness Travel and expertly led by Vusa Ncube.  It began in Botswana but quickly shifted to Zimbabwe, where it covered a lot of ground, in part by replacing two long drives with charter flights.  Most of our time was spent in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park.  At first glance, this seemed too dry and overgrazed to support large elephant herds.  

Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.

But appearances can be deceiving, as the elephants certainly were there.  One factor contributing to this abundance must be the large number of human-maintained waterholes that dot this part of Hwange.

Vultures, Chobe National Park, Botswana.

My first few days were spent in Botswana's Chobe NationalPark.  An elephant carcass provided an early focus, as it was scoured, first by lions, later by a flock of fractious vultures.  

Elephants in Chobe River.

But the live elephants were even better, socializing near or frolicking in the Chobe River.

Ringside view of nighttime visit of elephants to waterhole at Nehimba Lodge, Zimbabwe.

Our first stop in Zimbabwe was Nehimba, a lovely small lodge perched on the edge of a waterhole calculated to attract animals in the day and night.  

Napping lions.

Lions again proved very entertaining, as they worked over an old carcass and then recovered from their labors as only cats can.

Rhinos at rest at Camel Thorn Lodge, Zimbabwe.

From Nehimba, we traveled by train (The Elephant Express) to Camel Thorn Lodge, in the shade of a Camelthorn tree. Here, we had to be cautious moving on or near the grounds.  The surrounding community is creating a preserve for endangered white rhinos and the area's first two residents seem to love napping at the lodge.  It's not everywhere that animals as rare and formidable as these can be approached (carefully) on foot!

Elephants at waterhole near Camel Thorn Lodge.

A waterhole near Camel Thorn provided my favorite elephant-viewing opportunity.  This was memorable partly due to the large number of elephants that showed up.  But even more compelling was the obvious glee exhibited by the young elephants as they frolicked in this waterpark of their own creation.

Young elephant and herd at waterhole near lodge at Jozibanini.

Our last and most isolated stop was the tiny lodge at Jozibanini.  This provided a variety of entertainments, most focused on the lodge's waterhole.  By far the most thrilling of these was the opportunity to view elephants from a ground-level blind adjacent to a favorite water source.  This provided a dramatic perspective along with the opportunity to view huge and highly charismatic animals at a range of inches.  Our trip couldn't possibly have concluded in any more dramatic and satisfying fashion!

WET BOTSWANA, Guest Post by Owen Floody

Botswana, Africa. Half-collared Kingfisher

Our friend Owen Floody, who recently retired from a career of teaching and research at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, has had the good fortune of being able to travel frequently.  These trips have been divided between treks and safaris, reflecting his interests in seeing (and photographing) interesting landscapes and wildlife.  In 2017, for example, he completed three treks and two safaris, a personal record. (Note his previous posts on The Intrepid Tourist.) This post will describe the first of his 2017 safaris, a 14-day trip to Botswana with Wilderness Travel .

The trip to Botswana appealed to me for two major reasons.  First, it ran at an unusual time of the year.  Whereas one usually goes on safari in the local dry season (for reasons that will become apparent), this trip was aimed to coincide with the end of a wet season and I was curious to see how the African landscapes would look then.  Second, in comparison to many other commercial safaris, this had an unusually diverse and interesting itinerary.  Rather than visiting just one or two areas, this included 4-5 distinct (sometimes very distinct) habitats.  These included the Okavango Delta, Moremi Game Reserve, Savuti Channel and Chobe River.  But perhaps most notably, it included the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, which I was particularly anxious to see and which essentially can only be visited in the wet season.

Including myself, there were seven guests on this trip and at least twice that number of support staff.  In that and other respects, the trip might be described as a luxury camping tour.  For the most part, we lived comfortably (e.g., hot showers on demand, amazing food from an extremely simple “kitchen”) in a tented camp, but one that moved from area to area with us.  The only exception to this was our stop in the Okavango Delta, where we got in and out by small plane and/or boat, and so could not bring with us the truck that gave our mobile camp its mobility.

Wild dogs, Kalahari

In turn, my decisions to follow this itinerary in the wet season had both positive and negative consequences.  Let’s get the latter out of the way first.

Lioness

The first negative consequence was completely predictable and so can’t really be seen as a weakness of the itinerary.  Because of the lush vegetation and widely distributed water, animals simply are harder to find and view in the wet season.  For instance, (1) Why is the lioness walking in the road? (2) How visible would she have been if displaced a few feet to the left?  Second, even though I initially thought that the mid-April timing of this trip might be too late, we ran into a surprising amount of water, enough to flood roads and potential camps, requiring adjustments in our plans. All safaris are at the mercy of unpredictable weather and our guides were able to make very effective adjustments on the fly, reflecting a big advantage of travel with a very reputable company.  Last, I thought that the amount and variety of wildlife near our Okavango lodge was a bit disappointing.  But I don’t know if this says something about the choice of lodge, the season or my expectations.

Kalahari

Offsetting these limitations were a like number of pluses.  First, we were able to visit the Kalahari and it was an eye-opener—much more lush and productive than I expected it to be in even this relatively fertile time of the year.  Second, largely due to the efforts of our two expert guides, we managed to see many wonderful mammals and birds.  This was a little less true in the Okavango than elsewhere. 

Hippo, Okuvango

But even in the Okavango, we had a terrific encounter with a pod of hippos and also a very pleasant morning on a Delta island, tracking elephants on foot.  Third, I think it’s worth emphasizing that the variety of sites that were included on the itinerary exposed us to a greater variety of wildlife than we otherwise would have seen.  Last, the wet season really was different.  It was lush and highly attractive as a result.  And the late rains even made the skies attractive and dramatic, especially early and late in the day.

Gazelles

So, do I recommend this trip?  That depends completely on the person I’m advising and what they’re after.  Remember that any safari is in part a game of chance.  And, despite the greater ease of avoidance and concealment enjoyed by animals in the wet season, we did very well.  Therefore, I found the trip to be very productive and enjoyable, though I might research the Okavango site to be used a little more searchingly before signing on again.

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.