After the Kalahari and Nxai Pan, with a little stop to resupply and pay friends a visit, I left for the Okavango Delta. One of the most pretty places on earth. Khwai, next to Moremi Game Reserve is one of the few places in the Delta where you can still drive around in your own car. Besides that it’s truly filled with wildlife. I must say also more and more cars, which is a pity, but well…
It’s not unusual to see lions (lionesses in this case) in this area, but it is a bit more unusual to actually see them in full action. Since lions are mostly pretty lazy, for sure during the day.
If you want to see leopards you definitely should head straight to Khwai. There are always leopards around. Mmatsebe is one of the famous ones (her name means ‘chipped ears’ in Setswana). A female leopard already at age and you see her walking right in front of me on the road. Her youngest cub already got quite big and is doing pretty good. It’s always such a privilege to be able to see them grow.
As a photographer people tell me often I’m so lucky to be able to be in the bush and see all these amazing animals. The other side of it which people don’t get to see is that I’m also sweating my ass off in my tiny office in the bush to get the pictures secured on a hard drive on a regular base. Just one example. Not that I’m complaining, I wouldn’t want it any other way… 😉
And it’s not only the big cannons (cats and wild dogs for instance), but also the birds making their nests, the blinking cameleon and the majestic strolling elephant in the beautiful settings of Khwai…
In the early morning light simple things like dead trees, spiderwebs and impala who are all around become pieces of art…
And of course the same happens at night. My friend and colleague in crime, wildlife photographer Shaun Malan, is a big fan of the night and night photography. And so every now and then, both of us sneak out after dinner and track those leopards or lions.
Back in Maun, I mostly need to download and safe a lot more so I’m prepared for the next stage of the trip. This time it will be something entirely new. I’ll be driving down direction of Gaborone to meet a friend somewhere halfway and we’ll be exploring Zutshwa…
