20250125 Seabourn Sojourn Grand Africa Cruise Day 61/96 - Zimbabwe to Botswana

Grand Africa Cruise Trip Day 61/96 - Early morning game drive and then drive to Botswana for our 100th country!

And Botswana makes 100!

We were up at 5:00 and on the road shortly after 5:30 for our final game drive in the Victoria Falls Private Game Preserve.

We encounter a ton of baboons playing in the trees

We sat and watched them for several minutes - it was wonderful

We continued our drive, taking in the sights.

Our outstanding driver and guide, Michael

Anti-poacher patrol - note the long guns - they are trained to shoot poachers on sight

We drove past this downed tree with a slew of baboons playing

Making more baboons

Impalas walked by

These two were playing

Quite the mohawk of a mane

Southern red-billed hornbill

We drove through an area covered in tiny yellow flowers

We rounded a corner and found black rhinos again.

They say this female is nearly 40 years old

They haven't removed her horn to prevent poaching as she likely wouldn't survive the procedure

Magnificent

She had a friend nearby

We spotted more of the elusive kudu

Another stunning baobab tree

This one was ripe with fruit

And a vulture's nest

With that, we returned to the lodge for breakfast and to pack and get ready to leave.

It was almost like staying in a butterfly house

One last glance of an eland before we departed

After a short drive, we hit the Zimbabwe/Botswana border

We had to get an exit stamp from Zimbabwe and then walk across the border. We couldn't be driven. Then, we had to wash our shoe bottoms - all our shoes, not just the ones we were wearing. It is a mitigation step to prevent hoof and mouth disease.

We were driven to a point and then had to walk

We went through immigration and were officially in our 100th country

We transferred to another safari-style vehicle for the ride from the border to Chobe Game Lodge inside Chobe National Park.

We were almost immediately greeted by impalas

The African elephant greeting party was just a short distance ahead

Impalas were everywhere

After check-in formalities, we all enjoyed lunch.

When in Botswana...

I drink local beer

As we were eating, a family of warthogs wandered through

The only barriers at the lodge are for the large animals - giraffes and elephants. When it is dark, we have to call for an escort to lead us as there might be animals around, like lions.

Our room - no TV - it's not that kind of place

A large wardrobe for storage

Rooms on the upper level enter from the other side - we're on the lower level

Shortly after lunch, we met the group and departed on a three-hour boat ride on the Chobe River.

Our ride - a solar electric pontoon boat

As we were pushing off, the warthog family strolled by the jetty

We immediately found elephants

This baby was nursing

Pied Kingfisher

It dives and stabs fish with its beak

More kudu

Crocodile

Another croc

More elephants

Splashing water behind its ears to help cool itself

White-fronted bee-eaters

But they weren't eating bees - they were catching dragonflies 

An elephant party

They were all running to the water

There was drinking, splashing, playing, and a lot of peeing and pooping

These two were playing and having the best time

Tell me they aren't having fun

Hugs for my buddy

Playtime was over so it was time to go do something elephant-y

More crocs

White-fronted bee-eater

A little better lighting here

A stately fish eagle

Spur-winged goose

African jacana

Ring-necked doves

An egret

Lots of hippos

Blacksmith lapwing

Our guide called these Puku but Google says they are lechwe

Another spur-winged goose

Chobe River - Botswana on one side, Namibia on the other

More hippos near shore

We thought this one was going to climb out of the water but it didn't

We were heading back to the dock when we suddenly saw this.

A lioness!

Incoming yawn

Not her best look

Elephants were in the area too - this guy was climbing the hill

Watching...

This young elephant tried to walk by her

She didn't like it

She lunged and it ran away, spooked

Back to normal

What does she see?

Just keep walking, mister

Big Daddy didn't like the situation and ran over

Everything was calm again

Another lioness joined in

Another elephant was coming

They started to react

Big Daddy didn't like that at all. He rushed the lionesses and chased them away, trumpeting quite loudly. It all happened so fast, I didn't get a photo but it was awesome!

After returning to the lodge, we ate a quick dinner and returned to the room. Arlona is already out cold and it is approaching 11:00 as I type this. It was a long day and there is another one coming, starting at 5:30 tomorrow morning with a game drive. Still, it was a great day, and a fitting one for our 100th country.