We arrived at the stunning “Chobe Safari Lodge” on the banks of the Chobe river. I was stunned by how big and fancy this lodge was – that there could be such 5-star places in the heart of Africa.
I had to remind myself of the safari lodge descriptions I’d read for places in Kenya and Tanzania- full five-star accommodations etc etc…and suddenly it was there in front of me (note the gorgeous painted bowls that are the sinks in the rest rooms.
The giant lodge boasted a bar, large restaurant area, and stunning pool all on a deck that looked over the Chobe river(I took pamphlets of the lodge for my parents – definitely where I would want to come back and stay a few days).
The river scene is hard to describe if you haven’t seen the pictures from National Geographic or Animal Planet etc: the river (which is at its high point right now and is a deadly, turbulent swirl) has three main channels, as well as a sort of marsh area that goes on as far as the eyes can see.
On the opposite side of where the lodge looks out is Namibia on the other side of the river/flood plain. As we descended onto the deck where people can go straight from the pool into safari boats, I could look out onto the river and see other safari boats already out with their morning tours.
The morning safari was incredible. Small birds would land on the bow of our boat just in front of where I sat to eat the ants on it. The tour seemed to perfectly progress from the smaller, less exciting animals to the bigger ones. We saw beautiful European Bee Eaters in the trees, along with the cormorants who held their wings out as if on display (in actuality they have to hold their wings out for about 15 minutes for the water to dry off before they dive under water again – they are one of the few water birds who don’t produce oil to prevent their feathers from getting wet and heavy). We also saw numerous Fish Eagles.
We then saw a number of herds of impala on the shore grazing and drinking water (you can tell they are impala and not other similar-looking deer/antelope because of the “M” the black markings on their behind make. The guide told us they call these impalas “McDonalds”, which made me laugh hysterically because I assumed it was in reference to the black streaks on their butts looking as if they had gotten a nasty case of the runs after eating at McDonalds…lol. Apparently it was simply because of the shape the streaks made – “M”.
Next we started seeing crocodiles, monitor lizards and even a hippo surfacing! Of course we scrambled for totally crappy photos of the one or two hippos as they popped their eyes and nose above water to eye us – little did we know we’d be bored of seeing hippos by the end of the safari!
We came to our first pod of hippos, relaxing in the shallows of the river. They are so huge, but it is impossible to tell when they are lying in the water or just peeking out – then suddenly one would stand up and I’d be shocked at their size. We moved on to two more large pods, the latter of which boasted nearly fifty hippos! There were lots of these massive Marabou Storks which stand about 4-5 feet tall, that would hang around. Everywhere we saw a pod of hippos, there was an eagle perched in the nearest tree. Our guide explained that this occurred because the group of hippos excreted a large amount of feces, which in turn attracted a large number of fish who would feed on it, and therefore attracted the eagles and other birds who would dine on the fish. What a great cycle! Poop really makes the animal world go ‘round.
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