Variety at Vumbura Plains

Posted on February 28, 2015 by soldstone

Here is what I wrote while at Vumbura:

“Chitabe was lovely, but Vumbura Plains is a step up in luxury and comfort. Our room is huge, with a large deck, plunge pool, indoor and outdoor showers, as well as lounge areas. It’s all done in a somewhat rustic but tasteful manner, with tall screen doors and sweeping views of the waterways.

The view from our deck.

You definitely feel you are out in the middle of it all as the hippos and elephants graze just outside your room at night. There are LOTS of bush sounds and a constant chorus of birds chirping, or frogs croaking, or insects etc. You often hear the elephants calling to one another or the hippos making their grunting noises right from your room. Warthogs parade through camp and the mongoose are everywhere. Chitabe had very concentrated game and Vumbura is a bit less so, but there have been some pretty dramatic sightings–lots of lions, leopard, cheetahs, large herds of buffalo, many hippos, and plenty of antelope, zebra, giraffe and elephant. The roads are a bit smoother, which is nice as it means less bouncing around in the Land Rover. Lovely trees abound and there is more water here but strangely, we’ve seen fewer birds, or perhaps fewer at one time. I think it’s a matter of concentration. This feels more spread out than Chitabe was.

The food at Vumbura Plains is terrific. The service is excellent and they go out of their way to make you feel pampered. It is truly amazing to be this far out in the wilderness and have this level of luxury. Camping this is not, although you do feel cut off from the rest of the world.

This frog is real. He was perched atop a bottle stopper and I had to look closely to see if he was breathing!

Our guide here is Ben. He is a lovely, gentle giant who has done a nice job of showing us the area. We’ve had various companions including Germans, Brits, and Americans who live in Botswana. I have to say we’ve seen far more Americans in Botswana than we ever did in South Africa. I’m not sure how I feel about that as I didn’t really come all the way to Africa to spend my time with Americans. We’ve really enjoyed meeting people from other countries.

One interesting adventure here at Vumbura involved going out in a mokoro on the water instead of doing the usual game drive. A mokoro is a type of dugout canoe. Traditionally they were made of wood from the local trees, but Wilderness Safaris uses fiberglass ones because it’s more sustainable. They are quite narrow and propelled by a poler. So Michael and I both sat in the mokoro while Johannes stood at the back and used a pole to push us around through shallow waterways filled with reeds and lily pads. It was lovely to have everything so quiet– no engine noise. We enjoyed seeing a herd of elephants crossing the water in the distance ahead of us.

The view from our mokoro

Tiny frogs at eye level on the reeds. Look closely!

A tiny frog at eye level on the reeds. Look closely!

Little green frog

The view at sundowners that evening.

We also were treated to some entertainment before having a traditional dinner in the Boma one night. The entertainment consisted of singing and dancing and drumming performed by the staff and it was really fun. They are such good singers with nice harmonies. The staff at Vumbura are delightful, friendly, and welcoming. Our first evening here happened to be Michael’s birthday and they brought out a cake to him and sang for him which was all a surprise.

Another fascinating adventure was a walking safari. We were taken out into the bush by a guide to walk around on foot instead of riding in a Land Rover. This allows you to see the small things you don’t see from the vehicle and learn more about the plants, and ecosystem. Lazarus was our guide. He is very experienced and knowledgeable and usually does private guiding for Wilderness Safaris. In between those trips, he fills in at various camps where he is needed. At thirty-two, he is the youngest to qualify for this level of experience and knowledge. Since he works at many different camps around Botswana, he must know the labyrinthine road systems at all of those places, which in itself seems a huge feat. But he also knows all the nuances of the various habitats and the animals that share them. We had a wonderful 3 hour walk in the bush, enjoyed the quiet, and learned a tremendous amount. And we even saw some animals too, such as zebra, impala, giraffe, tsessebe, wildebeest, kudu and water buck. It was a totally different perspective to be on the ground. The animals in this area are mostly accustomed to the shape and sound of the Land Rover and know it is not a threat. However, humans are a different story. They are quite skittish of anyone on foot, so it was gratifying to have the opportunity to quietly observe some of them on their own terms, so to speak.

Heading out with Lazarus leading the way.

The weather in Botswana has not been nearly as hot as we expected. We had a bit of sun and heat at Chitabe and beautiful sunsets, but also some rain. And here at Vumbura, it’s been cloudy most of the time with a few showers and good breezes. It’s been cool and easy, not sweltering as we expected. The high cloud cover makes all the difference in the temperature, but it also makes the lighting a bit tough for photography.”

One of the first things we encountered on our first game drive at Vumbura was a pride of lions. We discovered a male lion looking very full and panting with a bloody muzzle. Clearly he had eaten very recently.

Look at that fat belly!

While we were looking at him, we heard a loud growl from somewhere in the bushes nearby. When we went to investigate, we discovered the rest of the pride just the other side of some bushes. They were just tucking into a cape buffalo that must have been killed very recently.

There were four lionesses and some young cubs. It was a bit gruesome, but fascinating to watch them beginning the process of devouring the buffalo. Everyone got in on the act, including the cubs. Over the course of the next four days, we were to see the various stages of destruction of the carcass and get a chance to see the pride resting and playing between feedings.

These lions became a familiar sight. They didn’t move far from the carcass the entire time we were at Vumbura, so it was easy to find them. The cubs, in particular, were adorable and fun to watch. There were six of them from two litters and they nursed at the two lactating females indiscriminately. That’s how it works in lion society. The large male was not their father, but rather more like an uncle. The dominant male of the pride was not with them at that time.

Sorry if this seems gruesome.

nap time for everyone!

Another thing we enjoyed seeing at Vumbura were the baboons. We had not seen as many before and found them fascinating. There was a troop of baboons near the camp that we saw several times, including their baby. Here are some photos of the baboon family.

With four days and abundant wildlife to view, I have many more photos to share from our time at Vumbura Plains, as you can imagine. Next time I’ll chronicle some of the more memorable sightings and share some more photos.

Until then, thanks for reading!

Chitabe Lions and Onwards

Posted on February 22, 2015 by soldstone

The weather was a mixed bag while we were at Chitabe Camp in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. We had expected it to be very hot but it really wasn’t so bad. In fact, while we were there, the rains started, so we had a few game drives where we pulled out the raincoats and ponchos. This cooled things down considerably so we never really felt scorched at any time. One morning after following the wild dogs for a while, we went off amidst drizzle and found lions. There was a male and two females who had eaten recently and were lazing about resting with full bellies. They were a bit muddy but otherwise didn’t seem too disturbed by the rain. The male had found himself a very small tree to act as a sort of umbrella for his head.

Waking up with a yawn

Cleaning time

Muddy girl

After we left these lions, the drizzle let up and not very far down the track we came across some more male lions, also lazing about.

There were other fun sights on our rainy game drive as well as the usual stop for tea. We even drove past a baby impala that had been “parked” by it’s mother in the remains of a dead tree. This is the preferred method of safe-keeping when they are too small to keep up with the adults. If baby stays very still, predators won’t see it.

A tsessebe

Gordon making tea

I think these might be pink-backed pelicans

Mom is probably in the background with the herd.

So cute! And he never moved.

After the game drive and breakfast on our last day at Chitabe, we were driven to the airstrip to meet a small plane that would fly us north to our next camp – Vumbura Plains. The plane was small but the weather was fine. Our pilot suggested he take the scenic route and fly up the river. It was fantastic! We had the best view of lots and lots of hippos, some with young, and elephants and other animals as we flew over the landscape. It was a smooth flight and when we landed at the Vumbura Plains airstrip, we were met, as per usual, by a cheerful staff member in a land rover.

Our plane coming in to pick us up.

Vumbura Plains is another Wilderness Safaris camp located in the northern part of the Okavango Delta in an area where both land and water based activities are available. There is more water than at Chitabe and the landscape was subtly different. Vumbura Plains was a step up from Chitabe in luxury which seems incredible, but there you have it. As at Chitabe, there was no WiFi or internet so I wrote a bit about our experience without posting. In my next installment I’ll post that passage and more pictures of this amazing place!

Chitabe In Pictures

Posted on February 15, 2015 by soldstone

At Chitabe camp in the Okavango Delta of Botswana we saw so much wonderful wildlife it’s hard to pick only a few photographs to post. There was a huge diversity of animals and birds and it seemed that new and exciting things were around every corner. One morning we came to a water hole where quite a few marabou storks had gathered along with egrets, white pelicans, herons, and other water loving fowl. There was a hippopotamus carcass nearby which probably accounted for the storks as they are scavengers. We also saw many living hippos at the water holes.

Marabou stork

It was the beginning of baby season in the bush and we saw beautiful wee creatures wobbling around after their mamas. In fact, we happened upon a wildebeest with her newborn calf mere seconds after she had given birth. We watched for about ten minutes as the baby struggled to stand up and take its first steps. That’s all the time it took before they were making their way back to the herd.

Piglets!

The whiskers on this young warthog are to fool predators into thinking he has big tusks!

Tsessebes with youngsters

Giraffes get darker as they age. This young one is quite light colored.

On the way back to camp one morning we heard a ruckus in the bushes next to the road. When we went to investigate it turned out there was a python moving about under a tree. A very brave dove was keeping an eye on things! When there is a snake nearby, birds and squirrels will make a lot of noise to let the others (and the snake) know it’s been spotted.

Another morning we spent some time trying to find some lions that had been spotted in a certain area. Having been unsuccessful in finding them and having nearly gotten stuck in the mud in the process, we were headed back to camp for breakfast when we just happened upon two leopards lying in the shade on a termite mound by the side of the road. How convenient! It was a mother and her son. They were panting from the heat and posed very obligingly for us.

We also saw more wild dogs at Chitabe. On the first occasion they were relaxing in the evening before rousing themselves and setting off on a hunt.

Play time

Setting off into the bush

The second time we saw them they had just gone for a cooling dunk in the mud at a waterhole and were settling in for a late morning nap. They looked very strange with the mud plastered over parts of their bodies!

There were many beautiful birds and we were able to see many of them enough times to start to learn their names.

Lilac breasted roller

One of my favorite birds. So colorful!

Ground hornbills

Grey louries, also called the go away bird because it makes a sound like someone saying "Go Away!"

Grey Go-Away-Birds so called because they make a sound like someone saying “Go Away!”

Crested barbet

Hammerkop

African fish eagle

Here are some pictures of our first Baobab tree. They are enormous, but not immune to the damage that elephants can do.

We also saw more leopards including a female lounging in a tree who decided to come down, and a young male cub also in a tree who was hanging out waiting for his family to come back.

When I first spotted this young guy he was watching us from the crook of a tree.

There were plenty of cape buffalo as well as elephants to provide us with exciting encounters.

I will leave you here with the spectacular sunrise we saw one morning. Next up will be lions and traveling to our next camp.

The Teaming Wildlife of Chitabe

Posted on February 1, 2015 by soldstone

As I mentioned before, there was no WiFi or internet access at Chitabe. However I did take some time to write about our experience in the moment. Here is what I wrote along with more photographs.

“Our time at Chitabe has been quite peaceful. We have fallen into the rhythm of safari again and appreciate the slight changes in the schedule that Wilderness Safaris uses as opposed to the lodges in South Africa. Wake up is 5am again, with gathering at 5:30. Then we have some coffee and a bite to eat before going out at 6am. Brunch is at 11am and so far we have not come back from morning game drive much before that. We like having brunch and not both breakfast and lunch as you really can’t comfortably eat that often anyway. I have found I have been looking forward to some food or a snack at every opportunity instead of feeling always full. Tea is at 4pm which leaves a nice chunk of time after brunch in which to relax, nap, shower, or do whatever appeals. We depart at 4:30pm for evening game drive, are back around 7:30 or 7:45pm, and dinner is at 8pm. Meals are taken communally at one big table with the other guests. The tradition of morning coffee and evening sundowners while out on game drive continues. The food has been fresh and good and the quantities sufficient without being overwhelming. All this is quite a feat as we are out in the middle of the bush with only weekly and monthly food deliveries.”

Here are some photos of Chitabe camp. All the buildings are raised up off the ground and connected by wooden walkways.

The communal lounge area.

Firepit gathering place

Michael at the gorgeous wooden bar.

“Our tented room is certainly bush luxury– two sinks in the bathroom, indoor and outdoor showers, a huge mosquito netted bed, wood floors with rugs, and nice artsy touches. We latch the doors to keep the baboons from ransacking our room while we’re out and there is no AC, only a fan. We do have a view of the savanna woodland in front of our lodge and pretty good privacy. All in all it’s a treat.

The view from our deck.

Our guide is Gordon. At Wilderness Safaris you have a guide only, no tracker. Gordon is Batswana, meaning he is from Botswana, the country. He has been doing this for twenty-five years and seems relaxed and patient. He knows a lot and has a good sense of humor. Since we arrived later than expected we were driven out to join the game drive already in progress on our first afternoon. Our companions are an American couple from Baltimore, Robert and Arlynn.

The game here is plentiful, more abundant than we’ve seen anywhere else, and very concentrated. The landscape is much more open than South Africa was, with sweeping views of the palm studded grassy floodplains, marshy areas, acacia woodland and lovely trees. You can look out and see giraffe, zebra, and impala all at the same time, dotting the landscape. I especially like the trees. We’ve seen Marula, African Ebony or Jackelberry, Baobab, and the aptly named Sausage tree, which has large fibrous pods hanging from it that look, for all the world, like great big whole salamis!

We’ve seen a laundry list of game, birds, and predators, including a cheetah. Since we hadn’t seen a cheetah yet, I really wanted to tick that off. There are lots of hippos, large herds of buffalo, and elephants. The birding has been extraordinary with storks and cranes and other water birds adding to the raptors, seed eaters, and bug eaters. I’ve been learning to identify many of them and it’s great fun. Another fun thing is that it’s baby season. The rains are just starting and the impala have begun giving birth. Baby impala are adorably cute as are the warthog piglets. We even saw a newborn wildebeest take its first steps. I will tell a few of the game drive stories as I add the pictures.”

A very muddy bull elephant.

Impala

One thing that amazed me about our time on safari in both South Africa and Botswana was the ability of the guides to deliver what we wanted. Perhaps we were just lucky or maybe we have good karma. At any rate, we saw a tremendous amount of wildlife with many spectacular and dramatic sightings. When we got to Chitabe Gordon asked what we wanted to see. I mentioned a cheetah as I hadn’t seen one in South Africa. Cheetah can be a hit or miss proposition but Gordon pulled it off. In fact, in Botswana we saw several over the course of our time there. The lightest of the big cats, they are long and lean and build for speed. They are the only ones whose claws do not retract in order to give them better traction while maneuvering in the chase. Here are some photos of our first encounter.