20250127 Seabourn Sojourn Grand Africa Cruise Day 63/96 - Chobe Game Lodge, Botswana

Grand Africa Cruise Trip Day 63/96 - Day #3 at Chobe - More Drives and Rides, and Cats

It was another early morning for us with the phone ringing at 5:00 and the escort arriving at 5:20 to walk us to the lodge. By 5:30, we were on the road, such as it is, off in search of wildlife. It didn't take long.

In just a few minutes, we drove up to this big guy, sound asleep on the road

His eyes opened a bit

Something interested him - he stared for a while

Perhaps it was this stunning sunrise

Still staring

Then, he began to look around

Eventually, he got up

He took off, walking at a leisurely pace like he was the King

We pulled ahead. He walked by the trucks like we weren't even there. At one point, I could have reached down and petted him, he was that close. It's good to be King.

We continued on our drive.

Smith's bush squirrel

Zazu was looking for Mufasa

As we drove, we caught sight of what Arlona described as looking like popcorn popping. It was young impalas practicing their jumping technique.

We saw a group of elephants 

They seemed to be curious as the next video shows

The last extended truck was less than a meter from me. It was so cool.

We saw a giraffe with what appeared to be a huge tumor on its jaw.

They told us they let nature take its course and they don't interfere

We also saw two giraffes engaged in what our guide said was a fight. It wasn't overly violent and had large breaks between any action, but it was still interesting to see how giraffes fight each other.

A baboon sentinel

The group it watches over

Watching, ready to sound the alarm if danger approched

Vervet monkeys

Not impressed

On the way back to the lodge, I saw these two good-looking folks in the side mirror

We got back around 9:00 and had breakfast. We had a few minutes to take pills, brush our teeth, and such, before walking down to the jetty for an 11:00 boat ride on the Chobe River.

We found more hippos out of the water - this time, a family with a sleeping baby and an egret helper

Wake-up time

An African jacana flew in to see if the egret or blacksmith lapwing needed help

A yellow-billed oxpecker was riding on Dad

Mom moseyed to the river for a drink

Dad, Junior, and the helpers followed along

Nice look, Dad - can you get Junior to look up too?

Thanks, but I wanted both of you to look up - can you please?

Fine

Mom finished her drink and started to head in

Dad encouraged Junior to follow

In goes mom

In goes junior

Here comes Dad

The oxpecker decided to provide assistance elsewhere

This elephant stood with its trunk raised - our guide said it was smelling us as we were upwind

Time for a drink

We headed back to the lodge for lunch. After lunch, we had roughly two hours before our final game drive at 3:30. As I worked on photos from this morning, Arlona took a walk along the lodge's boardwalk.

A love lock structure - lovers engrave their names on a lock and lock it onto the structure and throw away the key to seal their love - it's a gimmick to sell over-priced locks

Tailed Net-winged Beetles, mating - in lieu of today's baboon porn

Carpenter bee

Arlona saw a big group of banded mongooses roaming the property

Once again, I planned to limit photos, just like last night, and again this morning.  It didn't go as planned, again.

Our A-Team - Garry, Miss B, Lebo, Arlona

Chobe Game Lodge only hires exclusively female guides/drivers. They undergo extensive training, including driving techniques on dry and wet trails, game recognition, game tracking, and general outdoors management. They have to pass practical tests including tracking and locating specific game. It is an impressive accomplishment to get these positions.

The goal was cats, specifically a leopard to round out the African Big 5. Spoiler alert, we failed. But...it didn't matter.

Our first find - not a cat - a buff-crested bustard

Next - a bee-eater with a moth

More swallows - still not a cat

Elephants - wow, they were close again

A yellow-billed oxpecker - still not a cat

A bunch of neat moths enjoying some moist soil

Still not a cat

An African buffalo skull - still not a cat

We saw an elephant taking a mud bath - not a cat.

A warthog pretending to be an impala

Yellow-billed storks

We got charged by a bull elephant. It swung its head and twirled its trunk around its tusk. Lebo, our guide, said that we needed to go now. She turned the vehicle around and drove away with the elephant in pursuit. She slowed to let it get closer and then executed a perfect around-the-tree evasive maneuver and the elephant lost sight of us. I started recording after the first charge. Watch for the head swing and wrapping the trunk around the tusk just before we escape around the tree. As cool as that was, it still wasn't a cat.

Right after that, Lebo got a radio call and she started driving like a Formula 1 driver. She made sure we were OK with that and we said that we were. She received a call from another guide about a special treat.

Not a leopard, but a cheetah - something Lebo said was even more elusive as it had been a year since she saw one

It headed back into the brush and we tracked it for quite a while

Yea! A cat!

It sat down well away from the trail and out of photo range. We headed off for more adventures. Down near the water, we found cat #2 - a beautiful male lion.

Some unknown photographer, capturing images

What a face

It seemed tired - this extended yawn confirmed it

Looking a little sleepy

Let me just put my head down

Half gone

And...

We're out

We asked Lebo for one last swing by the area where they knew there were cubs. We've been shut out there every time we tried. Today, our luck changed.

Awwww...

Our cat search was finally successful. Lebo kept us out as long as possible. We headed back to the lodge to meet our required 7:00 arrival, no later.

Impalas had a different idea and blocked the road to the lodge for a few minutes

We arrived and had a wonderful last dinner. The dining area is covered but open. Several lovely moths flying around so Arlona captured some images.

Shortly after we returned to the room, sounds of deep, rolling thunder filled the air outside. It passed quickly but it was still nice to hear.

We will be up and on a boat tomorrow morning at 6:00 for a sunrise boat trip on the Chobe River. We will follow that with breakfast, packing, and departing for the airport at 11:15. We will fly from Kasne to Johannesburg, South Africa, and then to Cape Town to rejoin Seabourn Sojourn tomorrow evening.