Friday 1st March. Just before sunrise over the Okavango River from my ‘garden’ at the Kaisosi River Lodge.
A little while later, a fisherman was working from his dugout canoe opposite my room.
And just before we set off after breakfast, an African Pygmy-goose appeared.
We had been at the north of the Caprivi Strip, (that ‘handle’ at the north east of Namibia) and this morning were moving well towards the south of it but not much further east yet.
En route, we (they) couldn’t resist visiting the previous evening’s sewage works again. But before getting there we saw (among other things – it’s always among many, many other things, especially birds) ..
I’ve spent over half an hour searching for what this pretty bird might be, to no avail. Thank goodness that after this I started making a note of the name of every bird of which I took a photo! Much later: I’m beginning to suspect that my first thought, which I rejected initially because of the beak, was right. A Carmine bee-eater, its beak very much foreshortened in the photo.Upper wire: giant kingfisher with prey. Lower wire – pied kingfishers.
At the sewage works.
Painted snipe. Seeing this caused some excitement.Black-winged stiltIf the ground is too low for the telescope to be of use, you use whatever else is to hand, here the luggage trailer. RuffEuropean Bee-eater
We were due to go on a river cruise later in the afternoon.Almost as soon as we arrived, I was thrilled to see this Sable Antelope on the far bank. I had been doing my homework and knew that there was a possibility. Beautiful creature!Chobe dwarf gecko on the side of one of the roomsAnd this is the view from my own lime-green-painted room, which was to be home for three nights.There was a small ‘normal’ swimming pool at the lodge, but this one had been carved (not sure that’s the right word) out of the river. One of our number tried it and said it was quite impossible to swim there. He was just swept to the far (in this photo, near) side of the pool by the current.Way upstream these buffaloes came down to graze on the opposite side of the river.But directly opposite were many, many elephants. They entered right and left left, for over an hour. I stayed and watched them while most of the others went off for a bird-wander before our cruise.The white mounds are salt, put there by the proprietors of the lodge to attract creatures needing it, here elephants and, behind, kudu.Glimpse of a hippo
Thursday, 28th February. Before sunrise, all the others went off, after a coffee, for a bird-watching walk around the grounds of the Lodge. Being rather birded out, I allowed myself a few more minutes in bed, though still had had my breakfast pretty early, well before the others got back to have theirs. I filled in time by wandering round the grounds on my own in non-birdwatching mode, and then visiting the ‘Reptile Walk’ of the lodge, which had sadly seen better days.
The bar, where we had had our lunch on the two days we were there.Trees often grow through termite mounds, apparently because of the greater fertility of the soil, and possibly their greater water contentI didn’t go looking for birds, but sometimes you just can’t avoid them. Red-billed hornbill, in still poor, early morning light.Anchieta’s dwarf python. Quite big. actuallyBlack mamba. Not very big, but I’m glad there’s glass between me and it.Later, as I went to join the vehicles to leave, this family of striped mongooses, very much at home in the grounds of the lodge, were taking advantage of the hose water.
We covered a lot of ground this day, 430 km/267 miles. It was pretty hot (35 degrees C max) , and thunderstorms threatened, never amounting to much though.
Weaver birds’ nests. Even a refuelling stop is the opportunity for birdwatching.Ooh, and here we are at a sewage works.Fortunately, the problem with Jakes’s vehicle (a tyre I think) arose in a town, Tsumeb. Jakes explains it, Neil listens, and the mechanic mops his brow.Namibia is rich in minerals.
Our lunch was taken at a Roy’s Rest Camp, whose proprietors have a wacky sense of humour!
Looks fairly normal to begin with, just a little run-down. (It gets good reviews though).Just two examples among many of eccentricity.The dining area seems normal, until you start noticing little curios. No pictures because I was eating…… and then keen to get back to chat with this man. A Scot, who had lived in Australia for the last 40 years (though you’d think he’d never left Renfrewshire from his accent) who is travelling the world with just a 150 cc bike, (there in front of our right-hand vehicle), a mobile phone, and virtually no plans. Is nearly at the end of his years-long odyssey. Amazing fellow. I got this photo, with his permission, but didn’t like to ask his name.
Once we got going again, there was little time to stop for wildlife photographs, and I snatched such pictures of Namibian rural life as I could through the windows of the vehicle.
When we were nearly at our next destination, near Rundu, a dust storm arose as we went through the town. “Windows closed please!”
Shortly afterwards, we arrived at Kaisosi River Lodge on the Okavango River, with Angola on the other side.
Four rooms in this building. Mine was downstairs, in the nearer half, the river beyond.From the riverside, No 3.Just so peaceful after a long day’s journeying. View from the ‘French’ window.View from the verandah by the dining room.
But the dining room was not – yet – for us. After settling in, we went out to visit ….. a sewage works.
Homeward bound in the shower with firewood.Black-crowned Night-heronsRed bishop. The first we had seen, but we were to see more.Embroidery on my pillowcase. Pied kingfisher.
As I walked back to my room at Mokuti Lodge for a rest after lunch, I felt uncomfortable, not for the last time, to see lawn-watering going on for the pleasure of tourists, in a country so afflicted by drought.
In due course, we went out for our late afternoon drive.
Blacksmith lapwings, impala, and the only elephant who visited this watering hole while we were there.… Though more elephants were hanging around at a distance when we arrived, facing in both directions, and took some time to move off. It was as if they couldn’t decide whether to come closer. (I refrain from making current political analogies.)Marabou stork and White-backed vultureThe vulture (which is tagged) does not seem bothered by the giraffe passing behind it.A grey heron lords it over the blacksmith lapwingsI don’t think you can have too much of giraffes.Pied avocets. (It’s not for nothing that in French the avocet is ‘Avocette élégante.)Grey-headed gulls
We moved on – as I recollect to a sewage works.
The Marsh terrapin hangs his legs out to air the rest of his body, as I see it.
As we drove back to the lodge, I tried to capture some of the termite mounds which were to be seen almost everywhere.
KuduThese korhaans started a lekking display but moved off into the privacy (?) of the bushes so we were unable to observe it. Pity!A kudu in our wayBurchell’s sandgrouseDouble-banded courserThe weather threatened…… and came to nothing. Tawny eagle.But still kept threatening. Pale chanting goshawk.
We spent our second night at Mokuti Lodge, to move on the next day.
After as early a breakfast as the hours of Mokuti Lodge would allow, we set off for the morning’s drive.
Very near the roadside and indignant at being disturbed.Lilac-breasted roller. I seem to have taken a lot of photos of this species. They seem to be quite co-operative. And pretty.??Risking the slight irritation of my birdy companions, I asked if we could stop for a photo of these palms, which we had seen the day before without stopping. My companions were in fact quite pleased, in the event, since …… they spotted in one of them what we would note at the of the day as a white-backed vulture. ?Northern black korhaan. If I were to go by my bird book I would say it might be a White-quilled bustard but that is not on our checklist, and it has a different Latin name.Blue craneBlack-winged stilt and very blurry ‘duck’. ?Teal?We came across a lot of ostriches.Many, many ostriches.A male (black) and a female (brown)To me they seem rather sinister when you can only see necks and legsStrutting their stuffShowing their irritation I think. We had hung around for a while.
We stopped for unexpected mid-morning hot drinks, prepared and served by our leaders.
Any stop provides an opportunity for looking out for birds.
African red-eyed bulbul
Someone said, rather patronisingly, that this bird was far too far off for me to be able to take with my small camera. Well, ya boo shucks! Pearl-spotted owl(et). Book says ‘appears dumpy, large-headed and short-tailed’. Yup!Laughing dove. Soooo pretty!
And we continued on our way.
European bee-eater
How leader Neil managed as he was driving along to spot this motionless creature by the side of the road, so well camouflaged against its background, I couldn’t say. ‘Experience’, they said.
Etosha Agama (lizard)HoopoePale chanting goshawk
We arrived at a waterhole, where we were to observe wildlife drama. Wildebeest and zebra were standing around, preparing to drink, but then along came an elephant troop.
A hyena sloped off.
Indeed, two elephant troops arrived – and merged.
To take over the pool entirely. I love the way giraffe’s heads show up against a treeline.After drinking, mud baths are in orderA gemsbok/oryx arrived, but did not yet go near the pool.Wildebeest hold backAs do giraffe. The bolder zebra were soon ‘discouraged’.Two of which took it out on each other.In due course the elephants did move off…And the first to drink in the, by now very disturbed, waters were a black-backed jackal and a blacksmith lapwing.
It was time to return to the lodge for lunch and a siesta.
Tuesday 26th February. Today we were leaving Halali Camp and moving on to Mokuti Lodge at the eastern end of Etosha National Park in time for lunch, and to stay two nights. While we were waiting for our vehicles to collect us, some of us were amused to see a honey badger arrive at the row of bins opposite us, (all closed at that stage), sniff at each, and, clearly much practised, neatly flip open the lid of the end one – holding it open with its back leg to prevent it falling shut – go inside and take out this packet of meat, then calmly tear it open and eat the contents, slice by slice. It then proceeded to do exactly the same with a packet of cheese slices. Not the way you really want to observe wildlife, but a clear illustration of adaptation to human presence. They were there first!
We set off through the national park, taking our time, stopping at the roadside and waterholes, making for our new lodge.
Lilac-breasted roller?ImpalaKori bustard (BL)
I was in Jakes’s vehicle this day, and he was particularly excited to see this rhino. It is a White rhino, quite rare (and, as I discovered later, a reintroduction). ‘White’ is a corruption of, I believe, Dutch ‘wijd’, referring to its wide mouth. The White rhino also has a prominent neck hump. It is noticeably larger than the Black rhino. The Black rhino is also called the Browse rhino.
Hooded vulture (BL)Spotted hyenaAt the roadsideEuropean bee-eatersOryx. Answers also to the name GemsbokIt’s not only giraffes who have to splay their legs to drink. So do impalaWhen we saw elephant approaching from our right, we not only stopped, we backed up a little. We were clearly in the path they were going to take.
This is how near they were, even as they were going away.
When we were only a few miles from or next lodge, we stopped at Namutoni Camp, a former German colonial fort, now another government-run lodge.
There was a small museum there, and a family of striped mongooses.
But our next lodge was privately run, and a distinct notch or four up on those we had already stayed at. After a leisurely lunch, and a siesta, we were due to go out, though this was put slightly in doubt by rain, the first of only two occasions when we wondered whether our plans might be affected in this way. But the storm was brief, nothing like enough to help do anything about the drought, and we went out at the planned time.
Southern red-billed hornbillLeopard tortoiseRed-necked falcons Signs of the recent rain soon disappearedOur first ostriches. We were to get better views in later daysSwallow-tailed bee-eaterNorthern black korhaan (aka White-quilled bustard)Adult warthogBut it was nowhere near these three little hoglets we saw later, running out of a culvert, no parent in sightPale chanting goshawkBlack-backed jackalWildebeest and cattle egretsAll of life is here! Impala (as far as I can tell), zebra, giraffe, grey heron, and just two Greater flamingos. But for the drought, there would have been huge flocks of flamingo we were told. As it was, we were very lucky to see any.Although it was very warm, we had little sun all afternoon, and rain threatened much of the time, though never fulfilling its threats. Such rain as there was anywhere was very localised. This part rainbow accompanied us for a good while as we made our way back to the lodge in the late afternoon. I wondered whether its curious shape was because the sun was so high, but this theory was well disproved nine days later.
Monday afternoon and evening, 25th February. After a siesta we went out for another drive, aiming for another waterhole. On the way:
Kori bustard – a very big bird which ‘flies reluctantly’These may resemble our collared doves, but they are African (aka Cape) turtle doves. I rather mind the name, given that our own turtle doves are now such a rarity.
Once at the waterhole we were royally entertained.
Springbok trying to keep cool. It was particular hot this afternoon.Adult and juvenile Bateleurs. ‘Bateleur’ is French for an acrobat, and the bird is so-named for its sideways rocking flight. like the rocking of the high-wire artist’s pole.Black-faced impalaJuvenile baleteurZebra with a springbokA scattering of giraffesI thought I was taking the juvenile Bateleur cooling itself. But, as I take photos on burst setting, I found I had also taken a sequence of a bee-eater coming in, hoping to catch a fish. Sadly the sequence did not include the entry to the pool, but here it is emerging – with no fish.? I’m tempted to suggest a juvenile African fish-eagle, but our records say we did not see one that day.A lioness appeared some way off, and joined another.Springbok
During our return to Halali Camp for our second night there:
A slender mongoosesome striped mongooses,and another black rhino! Most unexpected to see so many and so soon:
After an early dinner we returned to the morning’s waterhole, by now floodlit, in the vehicles this time even though it was only a short walk away.
As we arrived, a hippo was leaving, and there was the twittering of hundreds of sandgrouse (?) arriving and drinking their fill for quite a while until they left.A mother hippo and youngster arrived.Another (the first?) arrived. Mother was very protective, though the youngster seemed curious about the newcomer.
But sadly, having stayed an hour we had to leave before we could see the outcome of the confrontation.
Monday, morning, 25th February. Here is a map of Etosha National Park. “>http://a href=”https://www.etoshanationalpark.org”><img src=”https://www.etoshanationalpark.org/media/Etosha-Map2.jpg” alt=”Etosha National Park Map” title=”Etosha National Park Map”/></a>
It’s huge. Etosha Pan itself is 75 miles/120 kilometres long. This is a dried up lake, the salt from which affects the land to its south. We had entered the NP by Anderson Gate, in the middle of the Park, and Halali Camp is a little over a third of the way along the Pan to the northwest of the Gate. The map shows the many waterholes.
After a very early breakfast, we went out for a ‘game’ drive. It was not quite as light as my camera made out to begin with.
Black-backed jackal
Our first lion, a female with a nasty but healing wound. She seems to have the remains of a kill.
Springbok and Striped MongoosesSecretary bird, the last we were to seeOur first elephant, much further off than it appears from this maximum zoom photoThe Pan in the middle groundRock kestrel?. No, a lesser kestrel according to BL.And then we heard a lion was on its way. Our leaders positioned the vehicles near the pool it was thought to be heading for.What a handsome beast!He roared for his females. It was loud! Nothing like the gentle huffing in the following video taken from a new spot we had moved to
He stopped, examined us …… and then moved off. We did not see his females.We continued on our way, and I’m starting to recognise a blacksmith lapwing.What’s that venturing its head out of a (dried up of course) culvert?…… A spotted hyenaAnother black rhino – or rather two!
When we got back to Halali Camp, it was still relatively early, and we had a couple of hours off. The Camp had no free wifi, but our vehicles did, and I spent some time in one of them (as it was being driven to get fuel and then parked somewhere in the camp) catching up with vital home political news. (For those interested in such things, I learned that THAT vote, due already for the nth time on 27th February, was being put off again for two weeks.)
Before lunch, the group walked five minutes to the waterhole a few had visited the previous evening. En route we saw in the camp grounds, among other things, …
a Cape glossy starling (we were to see many varieties of beautiful starling in the two weeks),and an African Scops owl, trying to sleep, a bit fed up with the attention. To quote from my bird book, ‘ … its cryptic colouring makes detection difficult. This camouflage is further enhanced by its habit of depressing its fathers to appear long and thin, raising its ear tufts and half-closing its eyes, creating the illusion of a tree stump.’
Once at the waterhole, where we were comfortably seated, we saw plenty of life.
Kudu and Marabou storkRed-billed tealKuduLaughing dove and Long-tailed paradise whydahs (?)I think this is the male of a species of Paradise whydah in transition to breeding plumage, but I’m not sureImpalas practising. Elephant dung gets everywhere.Marabou storkLong-tailed Paradise-Whydahs, male and femaleThe pool was not empty for longRed hartebeestAnd this I how the pool was when we left for our lunch.
Sunday 24th February, afternoon. This trip was timed to be the end of the ‘green season’, i.e. after the rains. Everything should have been lush, in fact making ground-living creatures more difficult to see, thus the particular interest of birders in this trip. But as were told right at the outset, the region had now suffered from seven years of drought, and areas that should have been marshy, and even flooded, were not. This was not only having an adverse effect on wildlife, but farmers were losing cattle, and entering into penury. For us however, shrinking waterholes were ideal for observing wildlife, not just birds. So after leaving our lunch spot…
… we visited a couple of waterholes, though many of the following pictures were taken from the roadside on the way to our first lodge within Etosha National Park.
African Paradise flycatcher, a small bird with (in the male) a very long tail.Red-crested Korhaan (id. PM and BL)Sociable Weaver nest. It’s huge, being the nest, as its name suggests, of many birds.Pied crowCommon Wildebeest, aka Brindled GnuBlue cranes, in front of SpringbokSecretary bird, about the size of a (skinny) turkey – with long legs in breechesCrowned lapwingI was thrilled and surprised to see a black rhino (its name has nothing to do with its colour), given that I had only ever seen one before, and that at a great distance.Spotted thick-knee, right by the side of the road, hoping its camouflage would protect itRed (Leiwei) hartebeestSecretary birdNeil spotted this at the side of the road as we were driving along, and backed up for us to have a closer look. Another creature hoping its camouflage will protect it – a Scrub hare. It didn’t move for the five minutes we were beside it. Reminds me so much of Dürer’s 1502 painting.A troop of Springbok crossed the road in front of us.This Flap-neck Chamaeleon is green in the pictures you see in internet searches. But here it is crossing the road, so… It had a strange rocking movement, designed to put predators off. We were worried that it might be crushed on the road, but since vehicles were few and far between, this was unlikely.Springbok almost as far as the eye can see.Black-backed jackalOur first giraffe, the Southern sub-species
After a long and tiring couple of days, we were very pleased to reached the Halali Restcamp, dine, and go to bed. Except that a few of them didn’t immediately, but walked to the nearby waterhole and saw lots of elephants. And apparently missed a leopard drinking there an hour later.
Saturday night and Sunday morning. (23rd/24th February 2019). We’ll gloss over the sheer panic I had felt for two hours on the Friday afternoon when a trespasser on the railway at my local railway station made me miss my long-haul flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, and I saw my two-week safari in three countries melting away before my eyes. I’ll just thank Naturetrek for speedily booking me onto a flight 3 hours later, and for having arranged the timing of the whole journey such that I was still able to take the intended onward flight to Windhoek, Namibia, (formerly South West Africa) at the same time as my prospective 14 companions.
At Windhoek, we were met by Neil, the proprietor of Safariwise, and the other leader/guide, Jakes, both Afrikaans-origin Namibian nationals. They drove us in two vehicles to the Waterberg Plateau, halfway to Etosha, where we would spend the night. From my leaving home to arrival at our lodge there, it had been some 27 hours.
The scenery changed during the four hoursApproaching the Waterberg Plateau. Termite mounds were everywhere throughout the trip.Pale Chanting Goshawk, a bird we were to see many times in the two weeks. Even I came to recognise it.
Here is a map to explain our itinerary.
From Waterberg we were to go onward to central Etosha for two nights, eastern Etosha for another two, and onward to the north-east border of Namibia to stay for one night in a lodge in Kavangoland, on the Okavango River, with Angola on the other bank. We would then move for three nights to a lodge at the western point of the Caprivi Strip. From there we would make a day visit into Botswana (formerly Bechuanaland), after which we would move on further east within the Caprivi strip for a night in a lodge on the banks of the Zambezi River, and then spend two nights in Botswana itself in Chobe National Park. Our last two nights would be spent just over the border in Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia) and we would fly back home, via Johannesburg, from Livingstone, near Victoria Falls.
The following, Sunday, morning, we started as we went on most days – getting up very, very early, with a pre-breakfast walk. This makes sense because it is around dawn and dusk that wildlife is most active. Like us, the creatures do not like to move around in the middle of a hot day. (Daytime maxima during the fortnight varied from 33°C to 38°C, night-time minima from 18° to 22°.) We followed a track near to our accommodation, which was considerably higher than the surrounding plain, but still with the plateau looming over us.
Verreaux’s eagle
The sun was not yet up.
But arrived during our walk
Purple roller
A word on captions. I only started systematically noting the names of the birds I photographed about halfway through the trip, so certainty about the names is not always guaranteed, depending both on whether I was able to check them out after the event, and also on whether I noted them correctly (the latter going for the second half of the trip also). Anyone with better information than I is very welcome to make corrective notes in the comments!
Grey Go-away-bird. These were common, its name deriving from its call.Violet wood Hoopoes
I found their movements quite amusing (3 secs)These sweet little Damara dikdik were all around the rooms – this one was feet away from mine after breakfast – and were quite unafraid of humans.Fork-tailed drongo eating African monarch butterfly, which we saw it catch while we were waiting to leave
After breakfast we set off for our next destination, Etosha National Park. This is one of the two vehicles we travelled in. Everyone had a window seat, most also having the chance for a better view if they stood when the roof was up.
As we travelled our guides kept their eyes skinned for anything of wildlife interest and stopped for us to look and take photos as appropriate. The rule seemed to be that the longer we were taking to get anywhere, risking our next meal, the more significant the creature had to be for us to stop! I was just amazed at what Neil and Jakes noticed and immediately identified as they drove along.
Even before we left the lodge’s grounds we stopped to look at colourful butterflies, and more particularly a Rüppell’s parrot of which I did not get a good photoThe African monarch butterfly, quite unlike the one seen in N America and MadeiraMonarch butterflies on a plant which is highly poisonous to other creatures, including us, which make the butterfly in turn toxic
We diverted to a sewage works – not for the last time in the fortnight! I was the only traveller not principally and passionately interested in (and knowledgeable about) birds, my interest in wildlife, and the countries visited, being more general. And I was to learn that sewage works are fantastic for birdwatching, as they are made up of a series of ponds which attract waders and other birds.
Wood sandpiperEgyptian geese, little grebes and (BL) garganeys and black-winged stiltsBlacksmith lapwings and … ?The beautifully elegant black-winged stilt
Neil and Jakes also removed some illegal traps set to catch birds at the sewage works.
We had lunch at a safari lodge en route. We did not starve in the 14 days!
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