Monday, 4 May 1987: Hunting Chobe’s Wildlife

12:30 PM, Serondela Campground, Chobe National Park, Northern Botswana

It’s a pleasant autumn day (sunny, breezy, and about 80°F), a good day for doing nothing more productive than sitting on one’s arse.  I’m here with my friend Hugh, from the photographic society, and his six-year-old son, Jonathan.  After leaving Gaborone at 6:45 AM on Friday, we arrived here that evening.  

Most of Saturday and Sunday were spent driving around the park looking for game to shoot (with our cameras that is).  We quickly developed a useful photographic technique.  Hugh’s Toyota Hiace van has a sunroof.  So one of us drives while the other stands up right behind the front seats with one’s head sticking out of the sunroof, providing a moving, 360° view of photo opportunities.      

We have seen dozens of elephants so far including a herd of at least 25 of the big, grey guys and gals that hang out not far from here.  In the afternoon, they make their way down to the Chobe River to tank up.  We’ve also seen hundreds of buck including impalas which are smaller than American deer, as well as waterbuck and kudu which are closer to elk-size.  Baboons, vervet monkeys, warthogs, and mongooses seem to be everywhere.  And the birds, what a terrific variety.  Yesterday, we must have photographed at least a dozen species with our telephotos.  I have a 200mm; Hugh has a 100-300mm zoom.  The feathered friends are fairly cooperative with photographers especially if the wind is right.  At times, we’ve resorted to yelling and clapping to get the fish eagles, vultures, and storks to take off giving us a chance to get shots of their spread wings.

A group of elephants near the Serondela Campground in Chobe National Park.  An elephant herd is also called a “parade” or a “crash”.

Yesterday afternoon, we took a three-hour ride on a double-decker, open-sided house boat up the Chobe River which forms the border between Botswana and the Caprivi Strip of Namibia, still occupied by South Africa.  The highlight of the boat trip was a herd of a dozen or so hippos which yawned and gurgled for us.  The guide told us we were not to photograph any Botswana or South African military units along the border, but we didn’t see any. 

A herd of hippopotami enjoying themselves in the Chobe River.  A group of hippos is also called a “bloat”, a “raft”, or a “pool”. 

 

Baboons and vervet monkeys have become a huge nuisance in the campground.  They casually lie in wait for unsuspecting campers to leave their food unattended, then rush up and snatch it.  During our first day here, one of the blighters got into Hugh’s van and stole a package of grapes.  The yesterday morning, when we were out viewing game, one of them tore open a seam in Hugh’s tent even though there was no food in it.  The park hasn’t come up with a way to monkey-proof garbage disposal, so the number of scavengers has become an issue.  

Unfortunately, we’ve seen no lions, leopards, cheetahs or other predators.  We heard there was a kill close by the other night, but the lions haven’t paid us a call.  They are very elusive.  Apparently, you get lucky once in a while.  Otherwise, you could spend months here and never see a lion or a leopard although they are certainly around.

We didn’t want to get too close to this water buffalo.  Had we pissed him off, he could have smashed the Hiace van to smithereens. 

 

It was a bit freaky sleeping out in my one-man tent the first night here.  I could hear warthogs grunting in the bush close by and the occasional trumpeting elephant or roaring lion in the distance.  After three nights, I’ve gotten more used to sleeping in my tent surrounded by animal sounds.  Nevertheless, it was a bit disconcerting last night when I heard what sounded like a dog panting in my dream, then waking up with the impression that it was a hyena a few feet away which quickly disappeared.  I’m fairly sure there were hyenas in the neighborhood as I heard some barking and howling intermittently until I fell asleep again.

Rooting around in Chobe National Park. Despite what you might think about her appearance, her little warthog offspring think she is a beautiful mommy!

A couple evenings ago, Hugh was walking down the river bank next to our campsite at dusk and came across a big snake.  He described it as being charcoal grey, four meters long and several inches in diameter.  He feels it was a black mamba, the deadliest snake in Africa, but anything that big could only be a python unless he was telling “fish stories”.  Whatever it was, I’d rather not meet up with it, but since it’s autumn, the cool nights discourage cold-blooded critters from moving around very much after dark. 

Actually, I don’t mind camping.  It is nice to hear all the wild sounds in the middle of the night as long as one is relatively sure nothing out there is interested in a humanburger.  There are some lodges close by which range from very expensive to moderate in price.  They do save the visitor of the hassle of preparing meals over the fire and cleaning up afterwards while trying to avoid the miserable mozzies and other exotic and annoying bugs.  My major complaint has been the lack of cold beer and other cold drinks – a high priority for an American used to ubiquitous refrigeration and easy availability of ice.  Being a [white] African, Hugh is used to getting along without such conveniences.

The roads, campground, and other park facilities are much more primitive than those found in the South African game parks like Kruger.  But, there are far fewer people here than in Kruger.  There is more of a natural feel to Chobe and, in my personal experiences, the variety and abundance of the wildlife are every bit as good as what I saw a year ago in Kruger National Park, if not better.