The Botswana safari was one of my favourite tours and I would not regret booking it. It is a beautiful African safari. I have learnt that one should never get too comfortable during their safari. If you feel bored, you will probably be unable to enjoy your trip to the fullest. Therefore, I recommend that you read up on all the destinations you are planning to visit on your Botswana safari.
There are several reasons why I found myself in the delta. I wanted to photograph some wild animals for my portfolio. It is the largest inland delta in Africa. The water from Lake Makgadikgadi empties into the delta. It is completely wild and very picturesque. One can observe a huge variety of wildlife in the delta including hyenas, impalas, crocodiles, hippos, giraffes, lions, etc.
Besides wildlife, there are several other attractions. There are beautiful lakes, rivers, parks, game reserves and sanctuaries here. Lake Bogoria is the widest and deepest lake in Botswana; it is also home to many crocodiles. There are numerous bird species to observe, and if you are lucky, you may even spot a black rhino.
It is not easy to connect the dots when it comes to wildlife and birds on safaris. However, I had seen a number of wild animals on previous safari trips. On this safari, I saw a number of baboons, lemurs, African Bush elephants, lions, cheetahs, wild dogs, hyenas, crocodiles, and monkeys. All were on the move looking for food and water. This gave me the idea that we can follow one particular animal onto which we can focus our attention.
Among all these creatures, hippos were by far the most interesting to follow. The hippo has evolved into a very social animal that stays by communal logbook to raise offspring. This means that the mother takes care of her young until they are old enough to take care of themselves. That is why they are commonly found in a group of up to eight hippos – all with their young children around them.
Water plays an important role in the lagoon’s ecosystem. As the water enters the lagoon, it flows into the intertidal zone and is then drained to replenish the lake. Also, the water helps to regulate the temperatures within the lagoon and prevents the evaporation of salt in the lake.
On a further walk to the southern end of the lagoon, we came across what appeared to be a grotto. It had notched rock chambers with crocodile holes inside. It also had a dirt floor that contained numerous crocodile eggs. We were told that this was the world’s largest crocodile shelter and was housing over fifty individual crocodiles.
Back in town, our tour guide showed us a number of other interesting sites including hippos, the world’s largest hippo pen, hippo farms and, at the north end of town, where you can view the largest flock of African penguins. The weather was perfect for our exciting day out and even if we got a little wet at the end, we had an excellent view of the horizon when we finished. A refreshing dip in the pool and a long walk back to our truck were the only things on our minds. A journey into the Okavango Delta is a journey into an ecosystem where we come face to face with nature in all its glory.
From the lagoon, the waters of the Okavango spread out into several smaller rivers which flow into the Botswana international airport. These rivers provide habitat for not just hippos but giraffes, impalas, antelopes and zebras too. Our tour guide had told us about the big cats that live in the river behind the hippos, as well as lions, cheetahs, hyenas, gazelles and buffaloes.
If we wanted to see the world’s largest crocodile, we would have to return to the Okavango by boat. Unfortunately, there were none around at the time of our arrival so we pushed our luck with another hippo. It was close though, only six kilometres away so we decided to take it. The hippo seemed very relaxed and we were surprised by the size of its herds. There must be at least a million hippos in the delta and they seemed to run alongside each other on the flat plain.
Just after we finished swimming the hippo started waddling and splashing its way towards the water’s edge. We watched in astonishment as it scampered across the open water towards where we had left the pontoon. It wasn’t long before it reached the edge of the river and disappeared into the lagoon. It was a great feeling to have witnessed such a creature up close and I’ll never forget the enormous feeling of pride I had when I paddled out into the open water the next day to feed the hippo.