— A journey into the wilds and waterways of northern Botswana and Victoria Falls —
Images below with captions
Our mini-expedition started from Maun with a short hop across to the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park before proceeding on to the Moremi in the Eastern Okavango; from there we headed northeast up to the game-rich Chobe National Park, a tributary of the Zambezi River, before connecting with the Victoria Falls in flood!
I hosted this safari for the directors, board members and philanthropists of Phoenix Zoo on behalf of Classic Escapes (New York), and we travelled with Desert & Delta Safaris, a fully owned and run Botswana company.
Our safari delivered outstanding sightings with an impressive 220+ birds (click here for the full bird list) and the mammal list below:
— Sunset magic on the Boteti —
After years of little to no water, this lifeline of a river once again connects the Okavango to the Makgadikgadi, flowing again in all its glory and providing fresh water to the thousands of zebras, elephants and a host of other wildlife that depend on the water in this area.
Coffee break at Baine’s Baobabs. If you have completed this trip, you will remember how long and bumpy the road is, but the reward is more than worth it. One of the spectacular natural wonders of Botswana, these baobabs, nestled on the edge of a salt pan, seem out of place in this desolate landscape. Give it time and its secrets reveal themselves…
Like this beat-eared fox! We were thrilled to see about a dozen of these usually crepuscular species, which, with the cool winter nights around, were instead out and about in the middle of day, using their large ears to locate grubs and other prey beneath the grassy surface of Nxai Pan.
I always like to carry maps when possible - it allows us to understand the complex network of waterways and geological history of the area.
Our arrival in the Okavango started with a bang! After working hard for cats in the Makgadikgadi (but to no avail), we were rewarded with views of this lioness who had climbed a tree to keep an eye out for a potential meal. This Ebony forest around Jesse’s Pools, like so much of the rest of the Okavango, has been inundated with water this year, making for challenging viewing conditions, and in this case leading to some adaptive behaviour!
This lioness is quite well known and prefers to hang around on her own. She gave us the runaround in March, but this time we got her, and she went back to nurse her 4 cubs, providing us with some brief but incredible views. She has done great up to this point. We first saw her cubs back in November 2025, and they must have been about 3 months old then, so they are fast approaching a year in age.
This is not the greatest quality image, but the subject material is more important - this is a spotted-necked otter, one of the shyer species of the Okavango. In my years of living in the area, I only saw them on occasion. But this day was to be different. First, we had a brief interaction with one, followed by two other pairs in another area. They looked like they may have been interacting with one another, and there was even audio of what I suspect were some pups in the area! 15 minutes of pure otter magic watching these carnivores in action!
This is a female reedbuck - one of about a dozen antelope species we saw on this trip
- The Paradise Female Leopard in a tree -
After days of working hard to find a leopard, many of us started to lose hope until, one late afternoon, we headed to an area to follow up on some leopard tracks that had been spotted in the morning. We suspected it to be one of the local territorial females. With the unusually thick vegetation for the time of year, we were struggling… that was until we picked up a single track crossing the road that led us to a block of land with some large trees. We scanned the area and eventually found her up a Jackalberry - always fun to be rewarded for persistence.
Guides TS & Donald enjoying a drinks break with John Bellinger.
Sunset over the endless expanse of wilderness - there is no place like the Okavango.
This is Chobe in the dry season and is a place called Kalwezi. Without exaggerating, it is probably the best elephant viewing location in the world. Thousands of these pachyderms use this area and provide wonderful viewing from both land and water. Watching from the calm of an electric boat allows the elephants to carry on drinking as if we were not there. For this privilege, there is no greater company than Chobe Game Lodge - perfectly situated within the park and with the best access - photo with guest Hilary Tucker.
Throughout the dry Kalahari and savannas of central Southern Africa, one sometimes gets glimpses of African Wild Cats - but this was one of those rare moments that one hung around long enough in decent light!
The bigger cats were not to be out done by their shyer cousins and we spent much time with this pride of 15 lions close to Kabulabula - they entertained us all three mornings with their antics, this time introducing the newest generation to the main pride. They were getting a lot of attention!
“A Chobe Goodbye!” - Image from guest Bernadette Lansberry
But one last sunrise in Botswana. Why not? For those of us who wanted to try our luck just one more time!
It was time to say good bye to our guides - Lebo & Anna. We enjoyed their expertise and good sense of humour! They are two of my favourite guides in Chobe Game lodge, an operation with female only guides.
Elephant Camp and Wild Horizons were there to expertly host our group in Victoria Falls, with the distinguished natural-history and bird guide, Stanley.
She is beautiful from all angles but from the bridge is probably my favourite!
Why not walk into Zambia? With the Tuckers and Bill & Bernadette. Great idea, until our return resulted in us being cut off by an elephant for a good 45 minutes!
Cheers to Jake who did the bungee jump like an absolute champion, over coming fears and breaking new grounds! You deserved that Mosi.
One of the well over 200 species of birds we recorded on the trip - this a little Bronze Mannikin
To round things off we got this beauty of a female black rhino - look at that hooked lip! Perfect for its browsing behaviour, selectively picking leaves off branches.
Sikhulu is one of my favourite guides - what a great man, and preparing a sundowner to celebrate an exceptional day out.
Celebrating our rhino sighting! - Image: Thanks to Bernadette Lansberry. Happy guests and a very puzzled expression guide!!
When in Victoria Falls we almost always manage a visit followed with donations to the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust - please support their incredible work. They make a huge difference with the wildlife and communities in the area, helping to protect both.
How about a bit of Rolex shopping?? Safaris often take an unexpected turn. Before this journey began and before we connected on our flight to Maun, we spent a couple of days in Johannesburg. Bert, Paul and John come to me on the first morning and asked if I could join them for the day. I said sure, wondering what the plan was. Little did I realize we would be searching all corners of the City of Gold for some of the finest time pieces known to mankind. I have one request though for next time please: warn me so I know to rent an armoured vehicle instead ?! :)
