Monday 4th March. Breakfast was to be at 8 a.m., we were told, preceded by a pre-breakfast walk round the grounds at 7 a.m.
Woodland kingfisherFascinating to see that what we have in our museum locally in the UK, as a remnant of rural transport hundreds of years ago, is still commonplace in rural Namibia. And so ecological.I was very ‘interested’ to meet this little chap. At the time we saw him, his sound was quite normal and reasonable and pretty. At 6 a.m. … well, you didn’t need to set an alarm, and it wasn’t pretty!Here he is again, a White-browed robin chat. My book says , ‘Considered by some as the best songster in Africa’. Hmm. His song perhaps, but definitely not his early-morning call!Bradfield’s HornbillAnd another. They appeared to be talking to each other.
Yes, breakfast was scheduled for 8 o’clock, but they hadn’t told us it was to be on a boat cruising along the river! What a lovely surprise!
This was the double-decker boat, and it was great to be able to go to the top deck to observe the wildlife along the way after we had finished eating.
Egyptian geeseDarterNile crocodileWater thick-knee. (Strictly, it’s the ankles which are thick, not the knees.)Hippo headMeves’s (aka long-tailed) starlingsBushbuckBuffalos, with cattle egret, and, I suspect, an oxpecker
After this, it was time to pack and move on from the Mahangu Lodge eastwards along the Caprivi Strip. We travelled on a main road which bisects the Caprivi Game Park, and saw some interesting wildlife on the way.
WaterbuckReedbuck
We stopped for lunch at a lodge overlooking the Kwandu River.
African Openbill (stork family)The first domestic cat I had seen since leaving home. Even I, felinophile, am not convinced they have their place in the middle of so much wildlife.
We resumed our journey.
Weaver birds’ nests. There are many kinds of weavers, and many kinds of weavers’ nests.Yup, another grey Go-away-birdLevaillant’s cuckooMeat-sellers, through a rather grimy lens
In due course (we did 340 kilometres that day, temperature 36°C max) we arrived at Zambezi Lodge, on the Zambezi River. Opposite was Zambia.
Saturday afternoon, 2nd March. I was delighted to see as I got up from lunch to return to my room for a siesta, that there were several Sable antelopes on the opposite bank.
Such beautiful long horns
I took a few photos of and in my room.
Camera had difficulty in the darkish room. This was not the most luxurious of our lodges. Perhaps that was why I felt very much at my ease there. More pillow embroidery
This is the lodge’s bar area.
And here is a Go-away-bird in the tree beside me as I waited there for us all to assemble for another drive in the Mahango National Park. Many had really been hoping to see a cheetah these last two days. For myself, I had seen – just – one before, but I had never seen a leopard. We had been told that still might see one of these later in the trip, but this was the last time we might see a cheetah.
I do love the mohican hairstyle.
We covered the same ground as we had in the morning but in very different light.
Oops, I failed to note the name of this bird.Common impala (i.e. not Black-faced ones)Inside of am old termite mound, giving just a hint of the amazing engineering which keeps the mound – which is mainly below ground – aerated and cool.Little bee-eaterThis morning’s three wattled cranes again – presumablyRed lechweBlue waxbill. It’s a very small bird.Red-crested korhaanTsessebeWarthogs. They must have toughened ‘knees’.More Tsessebe, in evening light. (Being so near the equator, about 18° South, sundown is early, even in summer.)Lanner falcon
Friday 1st March, late afternoon cruise on the Okavango River, upstream from Mahangu Lodge. For the most part we hugged the opposite bank, which I think formed part of the national park.
As we move off, we look over to the lodge and its double-decker boat. We’re on the single decker one.WaterbuckDisappearing bushbuckMalachite kingfisher, with preyGreat white egretThis very large elephant seemed extremely angry as he ripped up the grass. Anthropomorphism on my part, no doubt.Little egretEgyptian geeseAfrican jacanaWhat a difference in light when I swing my camera to the opposite bank.Squacco heronDarterWhite-fronted bee-eaterOn the other bank, two go-away-birdsAyre’s Hawk-eagleLittle bee-eater and White-fronted bee-eaterLittle bee-eaterAfrican jacanaStaring out at us, a juvenile Black-crowned night-heronBuffaloBushbuckAfrican Fish-eagleMalachite kingfisherPeople were very excited to see this, an ‘uncommon resident’, a White-backed Night-heron.The light was falling, and the boat hastened us back to the lodge. My camera had difficulty with the light level as I pointed it at these hippos, … … and at my colleagues as they relaxed after a fascinating couple of hours. Time to look at photos rather than take them.
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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