Safari: Kwara Day 2
Today was our only full day at Kwara. I didn’t mention, but Kwara is part of the Okavango Delta – a large inland delta formed by the Okavango River. The River ends at the Delta. This serves as a great water source for many of the animals in the surrounding areas. It’s a perfect place to visit during the dry season, because the animals congregate in this wetland.
As usual, we grabbed breakfast around the campfire – I tried the oatmeal-like hot cereal, and it was pretty good. Then we hopped in the safari truck and took off.
Our truck scared a group of birds as we took off down one of the roads.
We also spied a group of waterbucks – their camouflage was actually quite good!
Then we came across this group of zebra. They look like a band or something.
And I love how the cattle egrets follow them around. I know its a symbiotic relationship, but they look like besties.
We also came across a few babies on the way – a baby wildebeest …
… and a baby tsessebe.
Before long we got a call from the other truck – their guide and tracker had found a cheetah in the area. We made our way over and saw this beauty. I took this picture to show how close our trucks came to the animals.
But here are the beauty shots.
And then he rolled over.
And then posed for the camera.
Then we moved on and found the pack of dogs just lounging.
The dogs were mostly lounging, so we moved on after snapping a few pictures. Then magically, we found a pride of lions – a couple of adult females and a few young ones.
What are these two cubs doing??
Oh, the one is using a warthog head as a chew toy…
… and the other is using the tree branches as a pillow, of course.
And one of the grown-ups was looking majestic, even with some dried leaves on her face.
Then we moved on and found a spot for our morning coffee.
After that, we returned to the camp for lunch and our afternoon siesta time. I was too hot to nap, so I hung out near the lagoon in a loft, watching the elephant graze across the lagoon. I read and journaled. We also shopped a little in the curio store, finding a few things to give as gifts when we got home.
Our evening “drive” was actually to a dock in the Moremi Game Reserve. We were to take a boat ride to an island where thousands of birds are known to nest.
A tiny frog jumped on Andrew. We tried to return him to the water, but he hung on to the boat for a good long way before jumping off himself.
And when we rounded a bend in the river, we spied this guy.
This bachelor elephant didn’t really like us in his corner of the river.
He came over, stared us down, and swished his trunk angrily through the water.
Then he eventually decided we weren’t a threat – or at least not an immediate threat – because he returned to the side of the river where he foraged for a while longer. Though he continued to keep at least one eye on our boats.
Then we moved on to the island with the birds.
When the sun started setting, we had to hurry back to the dock, since the reserve closes at midnight.
After a customary dinner with the rest of the camp and staff, we returned to the tent and to bed.
