Okavango Wildlife – July 2019
We explored the Okavango Delta during a 4-night safari which included walking and camping in the bush plus riding through the shallow waters in a fiberglass mokoro. Previously made only from a dugout tree trunk, a mokoro is a flat-bottomed, long, narrow boat that is similar to a canoe, but not as stable. Below are some of our favorite wildlife photos from the Okavango safari.
Water-loving Animals – A new experience for us was watching hippos and elephants as we sat just at water level. The animals looked so much larger! Our guide did a great job of keeping the mokoro an adequate distance away from the many hippos. As a result the large animals were not tempted or able to tip over our boat, something hippos do from time to time when feeling threatened or too close for comfort.
Is it nap time yet? 
Very attentive towards our mokoro 
Antelope
The kudu’s reddish ears make it hard to blend in with the bushes. 
Beautiful male kudu 
Reedbuck on the run, away from the water 
Reedbuck
Lechwe 
Blue wildebeest with an impala herd and a couple of baboons
Other Mammals
Baboon 
Dust up at sunset 
These warthogs are a big shy. 
This one is curious. 
Looking for supper. 
What’s on the menu? 
Pack of 5 wild dogs
Buffalo keeping a close eye on us. 
They are not even pretending to ignore us.
Beautiful Birds
African fish eagle 
African jacana 
Goliath heron 
Blue waxbil 
Bateleur 
Hammerkop 
Little bee eater
Malachite kingfisher 
Waiting for just the right size fish
The details about our bush camping logistics and our Okavango animal stories will be included in subsequent posts.
Beautiful photos Jerry! ❤️
Thank you. It was grand taking them all. But consider yourself lucky – Susan posts only a small fraction (< 1%) of the photos actually taken.
Some great pictures! I like hippos 😊
The bird pictures are beautiful. So many varieties and colors. Glad you’re seeing so many wonderful things.