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Par ShumbAfrica le 11 October 2014 à 22:02
If I say Moremi, you'll think "water", and water there is. Many road are dry year road, but as the dry season progresses, large areas become accessible. River crossing can be hazardous at times but the rule is "if you can see the bottom of the water where it's clear then it's fine". Don't go in dark areas as they are deep. Most of time there is just a short depression in the centre on the water crossing and the rest is quite shallow. But it's not uncommon to have water flowing over your bonnet! Because most of the soil is kalahari sand, it stays quite firm and hard under the wheels so you have little risk to get stuck there, appart in the mud, but that's another story.
River crossing at Khwai.
This truck spent the night there as no one could get it out, even with another truck. They left the engine running all night long to keep the water out.Pool in Khwai area
Hippo pool
Moremi is well known for its four bridges that allow visitors to cross the deep channels. They are all made of wood and all the crossings are dry except for the famous Third bridge where you first get in the water then cross the bridge over a deep area then finish the crossing in the water.
Fourth bridge crossing
Third bridge crossing
Paradise pool
Paradise pool is located very close to Xakanaxa in the North of the delta. It is a very scenic area with lots of dead trees and shallow water. The leopards sightings there are fairly common.Hippo on the Bodumatau road
The Bodumatau loop is joining Fourth Bridge to the main road almost at South Gate. In my opinion this is by far the most beautiful road of Moremi. First it was in a veery good condition. Second it takes you to absolutely amazing areas from shallow water banks, to dry grasslands with large ponds via reflowing river crossings. Bird live is plentiful as is game.Sunrise on Paradise pool
Sausage tree fruit and flower
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Par ShumbAfrica le 8 October 2014 à 22:40
Now comes Savuti!!! This name is so full of legends and promises that I couldn't wait to get there. Unfortunately, I had to wait... Coming down from Chobe, I expected the road to be quite good as it's the main way to get to Savuti. I couldn't have been more wrong. As soon as the tar stops (that is at Kachiko), we reached a deep sand and bumpy road that goes all the way to the Ghoha North Gate of Savuti. Saying the road is bad doesn't quite describes it!!! I even thought we were lost at some stage... Anyway, we eventually got to Savuti and managed to find a free space at the campsite run by SKL (thus very expensive, $50/pers/night!!).
The channel is now running again in Savuti and there are lots of birds on its bank as well as elephants. We also saw several herds of Tsessebes.
Savuti channel
Tsessebes
Pied kingfisher with prey
Little bee-eater
Green-backed heron
Kori Bustard
Black-shouldered kite
Of predators, we saw very few, but the sightings were great! First we had a visit of a leopard in camp while we were cooking dinner. I was a bit uncomfortable when spotting 2 bright eyes in the light of my head torch. I initially thought "Damn here comes a lion, but then how many are they around us??" then I realized it was "only" a leopard, and a felt relieved for a second as I surely don't trust these to be friendly!! Any way, this one was actually quite friendly and just stood 20m from us watching, then went on its way without looking back...
And the next day on our way out via the marsh road (that was completely dry), we bumped into 3 male lions resting by the side of the road. They were very relaxed, barely taking note of us and we spent a good hour with them, just enjoying!!
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Par ShumbAfrica le 8 October 2014 à 22:10
Chobe River Front refers to the National Park along the Chobe River being the border between Botswana and Zambia. The road basically follows the river where we saw loads of elephants and buffaloes, as well as lechwes, zebras and wildebeest and numerous birds. The light was not ideal when we passed by so I took only a few pictures.
Reed cormorant
Yellow-bellied greenbul
I was somewhat disappointed by Chobe River Front. I was expecting something with more marshes and wetlands but it's just along the river. Don't get me wrong, it's still a fine park, but something is missing...
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