Babes of Botsawna

African Safari in Botswana... As we traveled through the Okavango Delta and north to Chobe the shear abundance of life was staggering. It is difficult to remember that we were in the Kalahari Desert with such areas of lush greenery and tropical jungle. But in the Delta there is a blessing of water that reaches into the desert like fingers. A healthy ecosystem is very evident by the huge number of young wildlife. From baboons to zebra new life was stretching its young legs around the delta. The country of Botswana has set aside enormous tracts of land for wildlife preserves with the hope of attracting ecotourist.

These baby lions were but a few of the many that we saw. At camp one night we were surrounded by lions as they called to members of there prides. As long as we could here them we were safe.

Young Vervet monkeys were as curious about us as we were of them.

This young pride of lions were just waiting for us, or so it seemed. The two males were just beginning to grow their mane.

Mom, big sister and little brother Kudu.

Baby baboon in tow using mom's tail as a rudder.

This baboon was only a couple of weeks old.

We were told that hippos usually are not out of the water during the mid day sun since they can get sun burn, but this family seemed to be enjoying the rays.

Botswana is home to over 30,000 African Elephants and you can see the devastation such large herds do to the jungle. It is like putting 30,000 bulldozers on cruise control and letting them go. Plus there is all that elephant dung.

Kudu buck with baby vying for his attention.









A female elephant can be very dangerous and unpredictable when she has a calf.

Huge herds of elephants gather at the edge of the Zambezi River in northern Chobe Reserve.

This is as close to a wild lion cub as you could ever hope for.

RICK-DA-SCALE

Here I will give my humble uneducated opinion of the places I have been. On a scale from 1-10 where 10 is nirvana and 1 is equal to having your right eye stuck with a hot poker while the left eye is forced to watch book reviews on C-Span.

Location_____________Rating____________________Comment

Botswana_____________9_______________________unbelievable wildlife

Safari Camp___________8_______________________tents can be cold at night

Food________________8_______________________ 5 course meals every day