Truckin’ Along Part 2 of 3 – July 2019
The second portion of our Botswana overland safari focused on the Khwai River area. The river forms part of the northern boundary of the Moremi Game Reserve, and as we travelled through the Khwai area we saw more water-loving birds and animals along the river channel and at isolated pools.
Birds – Many varieties of birds live in the Khwai region, especially large water fowl.
African openbill 
Side view of an adult African openbill 
Goliath heron 
Yellow-billed egret (left) & sacred ibis (right) 
African fish eagle 
Ground hornbills amongst impala 
Pearl spotted owlet 
Lilac breasted roller 
African darter 
Helmeted guinea fowl 
Grey heron 
Brown snake eagle 
Pied kingfisher
Leopard – Leabo, our guide, asked us at the beginning of our overland adventure what animals we wanted to see. All 8 of the tourists in our group agreed that seeing a leopard would be our #1 priority. Well, we spent a great deal of time in Moremi and Khwai looking up in trees as we drove along. On the 5th day a guide from another safari told us a leopard was just ahead and up in a large tree on the other side of the river. Success! Our leopard was dozing on a large limb with a partially eaten impala stored right behind him. During the 20 minutes we took photos this feline moved very little, only to lift his head for a look around and tuck a leg or two underneath his body.
Seeing a leopard in a tree in the distance is not easy! 
Eyes open, but still mostly asleep.
Elephants – We were delighted to see more young elephants! We watched a playful little one chase a guineafowl along the riverbank. And one feisty adolescent tried to squirt a goose with water. The goose continued to swim along the river and didn’t seem too perturbed.
Why doesn’t that guineafowl want to play with me? 
While in Khwai we enjoyed a short mokoro ride. We saw many birds on the excursion and two large, stubborn elephants who didn’t want to move out of the water so we could pass by. The polers/guides spoke loudly to the elephants, but the beasts remained in the water. However, the elephants were motivated to move along quickly when the polers/guides made coughing sounds.
Other Animals – Many of the animal types we saw in Khwai we had also spotted in Moremi. But of course we still took photos of them anyway. Four Khwai additions to our truck safari critter list included baboon, steenbok, kudu, and wild dog.
Playful wild dog 
Where’s the rest of my pack? 
Baboon sun break 
Steenbok 
Kudu on the run!
Cape buffalo 
We were surprised how serene this young waterbuck seemed right next to a very large crocodile. 
Adult male waterbuck 
Waterbuck protrait 
Troop of banded mongeese 
Airborne tsessebe 
Hippo yawn = threat behavior 
One of many baby hippos we saw