Okavango Delta

After the pula went away, we took the Cessna flight to the Okavango Delta. Here, we took this safari’s final game drives, and we encountered quite a few animals not previously spotted.

Soon after getting out of the plane, our driver pointed out a tsessebe, the world’s fastest antelope. They can exceed fifty-five miles per hour for short distances. Unfortunately, I did not get a good picture.

I did get a good photo of an owl, however.

I mentioned the cape buffalo’s unpredictable aggressiveness before. As soon as these looked up from grazing and stared at us, we skedaddled.

Not necessarily rare, but rare to spot out in the open, these bat-eared foxes remained still enough for us to observe them for a few minutes. This creature appears on the seal of the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks.

We invaded this male lion’s personal space. Had he not very recently had a meal he might have cared more. Instead, he grunted, groaned and eventually roared. After all that, he got into the position of a housecat, ready to digest his meal while napping.

A curious sight, marabou stork often sleep while perched on the upper branches of trees. They get called the “undertakers of the bush” because of their cloak of wings coupled with skinny white legs. The name marabou comes from the arabic word for hermit, murabit, also used to describe a scholar of the Quran that limits its time with the wider world. These birds also have the longest wingspan of any bird, having documented measurements exceeding twelve feet. Though, on average, the mature marabou ends up smaller than the average condor, their closest wingspan competitor. Drink milk!

One more thing about the marabou, it’s a stork, not a vulture. And, while these storks remain mostly scavengers, they do prey on small reptiles, mammals and birds.

Mokoro

The delta’s classic ride is the mokoro, the dugout canoe. To preserve as many trees as possible, many modern mokoro come from fiberglass construction. A poler stands astern and pushes the vessel. Proper for hunting and fishing, these canoes’ hulls make very little sound, even when navigating through reeds.

AJ and her poler pose for a photo, while Randy and Keith come behind from their river adventure.