Botswana 2022

10 day trip in the Okavango Delta with stops in Chobe, Savute, Xakanaka, and Xugana Island in June, 2022

Shown Above: African Wild Cat, the smallest of the wild cat species

Lions

Cheetahs

Leopards

We toured the Okavango Delta in open Toyota Land Cruisers. There was nothing between us and the wildlife. Our guide told us that as long as we stayed within the confines of the vehicle, the animals would not harm to us. To a Leopard (according to the guides), A Land Cruiser is a boulder that moves. As this pair of Leopards approached us, one of them stared straight at me (second photo), and I could see through the 400 mm lens that it was definitely sniffing at me - from a distance 10 to 15 feet. It then walked under our vehicle and laid down for a nap.

Elephants

Botswana has one of the largest elephant populations in Africa. Approximately 10,000 live in the Okavango Delta. They appear docile, but we met two locals who had lost relatives to elephants attacks. Our guides showed no fear of lions, leopards, and cheetahs, but were extremely vigilant when near elephants.

African Wild Dogs

African Wild Dogs are endangered and the alpha males are tagged for tracking. This pack had fed on a recent kill and was bring a meal back to the female.