Poniso next pointed out a nearby tree that had been broken apart about five months ago. Two bull elephants had a fight. As part of their contest, they tore down trees to demonstrate to their combatant how strong they are. The large trees that we see in the area are called Zambezi teak.
After we entered he park, which does not allow driving off the designated paths/roads, we saw a baby impala, then hippo tracks, and a pair of fish eagles. It was a male and a female, who mate for life. We then saw an attractive egret by the river and then another buffalo wading. He has a bird perched on his back. We saw another hammerkopf; this one is building a nest, and then we stopped to admire more guinea fowl. They are attractive -- beautifully colored heads. We also saw a red lechwe and more impala, always good to look at.
The terrain here is sandy, but more of a red sand. The flora is actually a little like California in the summer, green trees and brown grass, but flatter. We don't see termite mounds here like we did in the Okavango Delta, but there were mounds, just smaller. That is because the termites here are a different variety: harvester termites.
Then there was a surprise: a type of antelope that we have not seen before called a puku. It is a threatened species who move in groups of five or six and are also aquatic. Unfortunately, this means that they are eaten by crocodiles.
We then came across a red billed hornbill eating termites and then saw a male lion's tracks, which Poniso stepped out of the vehicle to show us more clearly.
Then a real treat: a fight between two male impalas. It was mating season for impala here at Chobe (will not occur in the Okavango Delta for another two months), so the males were fighting for supremacy, and the females were ready for breeding. The fight continued for several minutes and it was quite thrilling. I got it all on video:
It would be hard to top that, but we kept going. We came across an older African buffalo, about 16 years old, and then a large group of elephants, about 12 in total. They were related females, including three babies. Chobe National Park is noted for its elephant population. We stopped to admire them.
As we drove along, we saw a plant growing that we had not seen before, so Rob asked Poniso to stop the vehicle to look at it. Of course Poniso can identify it! It is called wild daha or hemp. It is not marijuana but apparently it can be smoked to produce a similar effect.
We paused to look at a rotting elephant carcass, about five months old. Even though the carcass has been picked clean by vultures, it still as an unpleasant smell. A few of the bones have been scattered by the living elephants.
It was time for our morning break, but when we reached the designated break spot, it is overrun by elephants, which is to our good fortune! We took lots of pictures and some video, while we enjoyed our drinks and our mini-muffins. It was a little odd to be mulling about surrounded by wild elephants (they weren't too close), but they paid us no heed, and we offered no threat.
We then came across an attractive group of kudu, which made for another great video:
As we admired them, Poniso looked to the sky and saw the Botswana presidential jet coming into the Kasane airport! Later he learned that the president was in town to scout the location/resort that would be used for an upcoming meeting of SADC (Southern African Development Community). The SADC consists of about 14 countries, and all their heads of state will be here for the meeting. This is kind of a big deal.
Here is a photo without animals that might show how similar to California this area can look:
Next, we paused to admire a "business" of mongeese (mongooses?). They are cute when they frolic, but at the end of the day, they are just pesky rodents.
Exiting the park, we took a little detour to drive through the nearby town of Kasane to get an understanding of what a relatively prosperous town of 15,000 might be like. We saw churches, nice shopping centers, banks, as well as older homes. Poniso pointed out a building paid for by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to assist those infected by HIV. I tried to find a vehicle that might resemble Mma Ramotswe's little white van from the #1 Ladies Detective Agency novels, but didn't spot a good candidate.
Back at Chove Chilwero camp, we enjoyed a nice lunch of curried chickpeas in a tortilla. Then we returned to our room for a rest. It wasn't too restful as our cabin is soon overrun by baboons of every age and size. It was a little menacing as they stood on our front patio peering into our glass doors. Needless to say, an outdoor shower was out of the question.
Our evening activity is another boat ride on the Chobe River. I'm not sure what we will see tonight that will be different than yesterday, but no doubt it will be great. As soon as we set out we came across a crocodile -- that's different! He was about ten years old, not terribly old. He is of the type called Nile crocodile, which is the only type found in Botswana. They can get about five times larger than the one we were corrently looking at. He could take down an impala who might come down to the river for a drink of water. Shortly after this, we saw a much smaller crocodile. He was only about 4 to 6 years old and was maybe about four feet long. A crocodile of this size would eat birds and fish; he was not large enough to take down an impala. The crocodiles can live to be 80 years old; they have an incredible immune system and never get sick. As well as impala, the adults can eat kudu and buffalo, grabbing them with their teeth and performing the crocodile twirl.
Moving along, we saw another African buffalo, walking in the water:
Then we saw another amazing sight; a family of elephants along the water, very active, almost playing in the mud. Poniso pulled the boat in close, almost too close, and we just watched. I got an amazing video:
Turning back down the river, we spied yet another crocodile that is also out of the water. He is a male about age 20. You can identify the males because they have thicker tales. The ridges on their backs are called scoots, and they are also thicker on the males. Two more fun crocodile facts: crocodile tails are considered good eating, and crocodiles don't hunt hippos.
Of course, we saw more hippos, which we enjoyed and photographed again. However, we also had two more birds to admire on this ride: a fish eagle and a tiny bird called the African Jacana or lily trotter. He was perched on a lily and was beautiful. I couldn't get a picture of the Jacana, but did photograph the lovely lily pads and the fish eagle, too. The fish eagle is the closest relative to the American bald eagle.
Before we get back to the dock, Poniso gave us the opportunity to reach into the reeds on the north side of the Chobe River and touch Namibia -- so I did! Another beautiful sunset (with hippos):
Coincidentally (or maybe not), dinner tonight featured an appetizer of crocodile tail. Both Rob and I tried it; it tasted like pork. However, I didn't relish the thought of eating a crocodile, so I only had a few bites. The entree was the fish called kinklip -- very good!
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