ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK, NAMIBIA: Okaukuejo Waterhole, Guest Post by Sara Kras

Okaukuejo Waterhole, Etosha National Park, Namibia

My friend and fellow children’s book writer Sara Kras spent much of the past year living in Namibia. Here she shares a recent visit to Etosha National Park. Sara loves to travel and has contributed numerous articles to The Intrepid Tourist. Sara's most recent book, Baby Boomer Reboot, is a fascinating account of the challenges she faced going back to college in her fifties.  

 
Etosha National Park lies in northern Namibia. This large park is 8600 square miles and is surrounded by a fence.  To ensure the animals within its borders have water, many manmade waterholes have been constructed throughout the park. The most famous one is Okaukuejo. One of the park entrances is there, along with a large camp comprised of villas and cottages. There is even a large dirt parking lot where visitors can pitch their own tents and camp.

Entrance to Okaukuejo waterhole, with its characteristic stone tower.

High-end international travelers rarely stay on site at Okaukuejo because of the condition of the buildings. The main advantage of staying on site is to be at the waterhole after sunset, when there can be lots of activity.  If you stay outside the park, you must leave by sunset. We stayed in one of the most expensive rooms (about $180 including dinner and breakfast) called a Premier Waterhole Villa.  Our room #33 had a direct view of the waterhole. We could sit on the balcony or even in our bed and watch the animals come and go any time of day or night.  But, for this wonderful feature we had to put up with very noisy and leaky air conditioners, stained curtains, and an upstairs toilet with no toilet seat.  This was definitely not a luxury situation and most western travelers would find it intolerable. But it did have strong hot water pressure in the shower and the bed was comfortable--two of my main criteria since I am not a camper.

What did I get for putting up with this discomfort?  If you’re into African animals as I am, you get a lot.

After sunset, floodlights illuminate the waterhole. This is the best time and place to see the endangered black rhino.

On Day 1, we saw a large herd of zebra, many giraffe, springbok and gemsbok.  After the sun went down, a male lion began roaring and huffing. This continued most the night, though he never made an appearance at the waterhole. However, twenty black rhinos showed up, staggering their appearance to keep us all entertained, and two lionesses trotted down to the waterhole for their nightly drink.

During the night there was an intense thunder and lightning storm. Buckets of rain poured from the sky, much to our dismay, as rain disperses the animals because they can find abundant water elsewhere.

The waterhole was pretty quiet on Day 2. I felt sorry for the visitors that came to Okaukuejo for just one night (never a good idea). There were lots of long, sad faces sitting around the waterhole willing animals to appear. They never did except for three giraffes and three black rhinos.

Elephant herd

Because of the heat, a lot of water evaporated from the rain, so animals began making their trek back to the waterhole on Day 3 in the afternoon. There was a group of about one hundred wildebeest, along with zebra, gemsbok, and springbok. Several herds of elephants showed up, totaling about thirty. Many babies were part of the group. Later in the evening, five different black rhino made their lumbering appearance.

A visit to Okaukuejo is one of the most unusual safaris my husband and I have experienced. The reason is that the animals come to you. There’s no need to drive anywhere to search for them. In addition, there’s lots of opportunity to see the critically endangered black rhino. The best months to go to Okaukuejo are June through October when the park is the driest. 

 

THE GREAT WILDEBEEST MIGRATION, TANZANIA by Owen Floody at The Intrepid Tourist

52 Places to Go: Week 11

Migrating wildebeest crossing the Mara River, Tanzania, Africa

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. His trips have been divided between treks and safaris, reflecting his interests in seeing (and photographing) interesting landscapes and wildlife. Here is his report on his safari to Tanzania in late July and early August of 2017.  

Grey-crowned crane

Though I have visited Africa many times, I never had focused on, or adequately seen, the Great Migration of more than a million wildebeest, zebra and other animals that is concentrated in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.

Wildebeest launching themselves into the Mara River to begin their crossing

In one sense the Great Migration is difficult to miss: Rather than being confined to a fraction of the year, its clockwise circulation of animals continues nearly year-round.  Still, there are parts of the migration that are more dramatic than others and one of the most dramatic of all seems to be that at which the animals are forced to cross the Mara River, near Serengeti’s northern border.  It is at this point that the wildebeest probably are at greatest risk of death due to drowning or predation by crocodiles.  It is estimated that about 6,500 wildebeest drown in the Mara each year, injecting tons of nutrients into the river ecosystem in the process (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114, 7647, 2017).

Wildebeest entering the Mara River

My desire to see a river crossing led me to work with Warrior Trails, my favorite Tanzanian tour operator, to plan a trip to the northern Serengeti in late July and early August, when crossing seemed likely.  Our plan committed us to five nights at a tented camp within striking distance of the Mara. It seemed most prudent to give ourselves several opportunities to catch crossings, assuming that we had guessed right on the time of year.

Wildebeest emerging from the river at the end of the crossing

So, did we see our crossing?  Yes, we did, and on the second day of our time in the north.  As crossings go, this seemed extremely benign: The river was low and slow, and the crocodiles must still have been digesting their meals from prior days as none of them made an appearance.  Nevertheless, the crossing was one of the most exciting spectacles I have seen.  And I did not feel cheated in the least by the uniform success of the animals we saw crossing: There was adequate evidence of past (and likely future) failures, and I did not really need to directly observe these.

Lion

This focus made for a relatively simple itinerary.  We flew into Kilimanjaro Airport, near Arusha, and essentially made a beeline for the northern Serengeti, a transfer that involved many hours of often dusty driving.  Upon the completion of our time there, we returned to Arusha almost as directly.  What terrible hardships we endured!  Lest you feel too sorry for us, bear in mind that we made several stops en route, at Lake Manyara National Park and in the central Serengeti on the way north, in central Serengeti again and at the Ngorongoro Crater on the return.  Also, bear in mind that Serengeti is varied and wonderful, possibly my favorite place in earth.  What a privilege to be “forced” to spend a couple of weeks there.

Female Leopard

Our early success freed us for a succession of game drives exploring different nearby parts of the Serengeti.  It exposed us to some of the variety of habitats that the park incorporates and helped to put the Great Migration in context by contrasting areas that the migrating animals were vacating versus occupying.  In addition, it provided us with the time we needed to find, view and enjoy some of the other wildlife (and scenery) for which the Serengeti is so famous.  

Grey-headed Kingfisher

In preparing for an African safari, I think it generally best to not become too invested in particular sightings: The chance element is too strong and there are too many wonderful things to be seen, any subset of which is likely to be thrilling. Altogether, our trip could not have been much more successful or pleasant.
Note: A wildebeest is a large dark antelope with a long head, a beard and mane, and a sloping back. It is also called a gnu. 

 

All text and photos copyright Caroline Arnold at The Intrepid Tourist
www.theintrepidtourist.blogspot.com

THE GREAT WILDEBEEST MIGRATION, Tanzania, Africa, Guest Post by Owen Floody

Migrating wildebeest crossing the Mara River, Tanzania, Africa

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. His trips have been divided between treks and safaris, reflecting his interests in seeing (and photographing) interesting landscapes and wildlife. Here is his report on his most recent safari, to Tanzania in late July and early August of 2017.  

Grey-crowned crane

Though I have visited Africa many times, I never had focused on, or adequately seen, the Great Migration of more than a million wildebeest, zebra and other animals that is concentrated in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.

Wildebeest launching themselves into the Mara River to begin their crossing

In one sense the Great Migration is difficult to miss: Rather than being confined to a fraction of the year, its clockwise circulation of animals continues nearly year-round.  Still, there are parts of the migration that are more dramatic than others and one of the most dramatic of all seems to be that at which the animals are forced to cross the Mara River, near Serengeti’s northern border.  It is at this point that the wildebeest probably are at greatest risk of death due to drowning or predation by crocodiles.  It is estimated that about 6,500 wildebeest drown in the Mara each year, injecting tons of nutrients into the river ecosystem in the process (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114, 7647, 2017).

Wildebeest entering the Mara River

My desire to see a river crossing led me to work with Warrior Trails, my favorite Tanzanian tour operator, to plan a trip to the northern Serengeti in late July and early August, when crossing seemed likely.  Our plan committed us to five nights at a tented camp within striking distance of the Mara. It seemed most prudent to give ourselves several opportunities to catch crossings, assuming that we had guessed right on the time of year.

Wildebeest emerging from the river at the end of the crossing

So, did we see our crossing?  Yes, we did, and on the second day of our time in the north.  As crossings go, this seemed extremely benign: The river was low and slow, and the crocodiles must still have been digesting their meals from prior days as none of them made an appearance.  Nevertheless, the crossing was one of the most exciting spectacles I have seen.  And I did not feel cheated in the least by the uniform success of the animals we saw crossing: There was adequate evidence of past (and likely future) failures, and I did not really need to directly observe these.

Lion

This focus made for a relatively simple itinerary.  We flew into Kilimanjaro Airport, near Arusha, and essentially made a beeline for the northern Serengeti, a transfer that involved many hours of often dusty driving.  Upon the completion of our time there, we returned to Arusha almost as directly.  What terrible hardships we endured!  Lest you feel too sorry for us, bear in mind that we made several stops en route, at Lake Manyara National Park and in the central Serengeti on the way north, in central Serengeti again and at the Ngorongoro Crater on the return.  Also, bear in mind that Serengeti is varied and wonderful, possibly my favorite place in earth.  What a privilege to be “forced” to spend a couple of weeks there.

Female Leopard

Our early success freed us for a succession of game drives exploring different nearby parts of the Serengeti.  It exposed us to some of the variety of habitats that the park incorporates and helped to put the Great Migration in context by contrasting areas that the migrating animals were vacating versus occupying.  In addition, it provided us with the time we needed to find, view and enjoy some of the other wildlife (and scenery) for which the Serengeti is so famous.  

Grey-headed Kingfisher

In preparing for an African safari, I think it generally best to not become too invested in particular sightings: The chance element is too strong and there are too many wonderful things to be seen, any subset of which is likely to be thrilling. Altogether, our trip could not have been much more successful or pleasant.
Note: A wildebeest is a large dark antelope with a long head, a beard and mane, and a sloping back. It is also called a gnu.

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, 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 .