Another day...Another Game Drive.

This is day 26 of the trip and we're heading off on yet another game drive.  After 9 drives and 2 river cruises, you'd think we had our fill.  Well frankly we had, but going to Chobe was an opportunity to go to another country, Botswana.  And more, we had been told by some Aussies we ran into that Chobe was the best of the best.  They didn't exaggerate.

Our day didn't start as early as many of the other drives had but then we didn't have to cross an international border to get there before. 

Their version of Home Depot

Just like home.

The vehicle checks were a
bit disconcerting but they
weren't really checking on
buses full of old people.

We boarded our Safari vehicle at the border and headed for the park. Chobe National Park, in northern Botswana, has one of the largest concentrations of game in Africa.  It is the third largest park of the country and is the most diverse.  

Getting ready for the bumps.

Beautifully dry scenery

Our VERY bumpy drive took us through and around the now dry shore of the Zambezi River. Give it just 2 more months and this whole area will be underwater.  In all of our drives this is really the first time that we observed the 'watering hole'  Because of the dryness the animals do head to the water for their mid-day drink.  It is simply amazing to see how many different animals do commingle and come together here.

As it got to late in the morning, we came across huge herds of elephants heading to the water.  Their traverse crossed our path more than once and it was quite amazing to see the little ones, some of which were estimated to be only 3 months old. While we would have loved to sit and watch them, we were promised that we would be even more amazed on our afternoon boat ride when they were actually IN the water. 

Marabou Stork - reported to be one of
the 13 ugliest animals on the planet.

Our only hyena sighting.

Sable Antelope, an uncommon sighting.

Again, my fav.

Heading to the beach.

Just a few of the thousands of elephants here.  It is
estimated that there are over 100K here and the
preserve has definitely reached its carrying capacity.

After a scrumptious lunch that included a taste of Nile crocodile, we headed out to the water for a totally different view.  In the heat of the afternoon we saw more of the same and a few new critters as well.

Nile Crocodile

Cape Buffalo

Hippos and Spoonbill 

Monitor Lizard