After a short stopover in Maun (Tobias was our co-pilot from Kalahari to Maun) we boarded a small airplane to bring us to Little Kwara in the Okavango Delta. It was not a direct flight, we made two stops on the way. The first leg was a little longer, but the other two legs were very short, only a few minutes. So we flew in low altitude such that we could see some animals. But the very first thing we saw was the big smoke created by men made bush fires not too far off Stanley’s camp.
The drive from the airstrip to the camp, even though it was not far, turned out to be like our first game drive. In a field of high grass we saw this impressive Elephant.
Arriving at the camp we were offered a late, light lunch. For the fraction of a second we did not pay attention to the table and there was a small monkey just waiting for such an opportunity. He jumped on the table, took what he liked the most and what he had for sure planned to take and off he went up the next tree.
Then we were introduced to our guide Tom and his spotter Matt. They formed the perfect team and thanks to them the game drives in Little Kwara were among the best we had throughout our whole trip.
The first Hippo we saw during the Game drive (Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 240mm, ISO 1800, f/5.6, 1/1000)
We left the camp back to the airstrip and further in the same direction. We crossed a bridge and in the water we saw two Hippos moving in the river bed.
But the Hippos were not alone in the water
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 390mm, ISO 720, f/5.6, 1/1000)
We continued our drive and could observe many interesting scenes
Zebra, Wildebeest, Impala and Kudu
Ostrich
But when the Ostrich saw us, he could not close his mouth anymore. He never saw Swiss before !
Wow - he meant (Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 410mm, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/1000)
Tom and Matt lead us to a place where they had observed since a few weeks a small wolf
The wolf just looked out of his hole (Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 3600, f/5.6, 1/1000)
A wolf of approximately the same size like a fox
Jackals nearby (Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 500, f/5.6, 1/1000)
There are so many beautiful and interesting birds other than the Ostrich, that I put those images in a separate photo grid.
The owl we saw late after sunset. The photo was taken at 16000 ISO and a slow shutter speed. Fortunately the owl did not move.
Beautiful landscape near the Little Kwara Camp (Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/200)
And in the evening of the first day in Little Kwara a magnificent sunset
(Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 320, f/2, 1/125)
A panorama photo stitched together of five individual images (Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 320, f/2, 1/100)
On the way through the night back to the camp
(Video)
With the perfect light of the rising sun we started into the new day. We were first greeted by this little Kingfisher.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/1000)
Early morning landscapes
We crossed again the bridge near the airstrip
Stopping on the bridge to get this view (Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 25mm, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/500)
A Roller welcomed us on the other side of the bridge
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 280, f/5.6, 1/1000)
Soon after we saw in the distance a group of Giraffes
(Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 112mm, ISO 200, f/9, 1/500)
Impressive to see the difference in size between an adult and a quit young giraffe
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 210mm, ISO 140, f/5.6, 1/1000)
And this one liked to pose for some portrait images
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 160, f/5.6, 1/1000)
In the meantime Tom got via radio the information of a sighting not too far away. So we headed in that direction and saw our first leopard.
A female leopard on a tree where she has hidden a killed impala (Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 163mm, ISO 640, f/11, 1/500)
Then leopard looked at us but after some time returned to his kill and started feeding again
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 1250, f/5.6, 1/1000)
Soon after a hyena showed up, determined to get her part of the kill. The hyena screened the scene and identified the best place to patiently wait for an opportunity.
Spotted Hyena (Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 250, f/5.6, 1/1000)
For some time the leopard continued feeding
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 6400, f/5.6, 1/1000)
After some time the leopard had enough and relaxed on the tree, the hyena still waiting on the ground for an opportunity
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 4000, f/5.6, 1/1000)
The leopard decided to come down from the tree
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 210mm, ISO 110, f/5.6, 1/1000)
and was immediately chased away by the hyena
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 210mm, ISO 900, f/5.6, 1/1000)
The hyena tried all she could do to get the kill, but no luck, she was 20 cm too short
looking u(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 210mm, ISO 560, f/5.6, 1/1000)p to the kill
jumping up t(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 210mm, ISO 320, f/5.6, 1/1000)o the kill
The leopard moved to a water hole not far away where we could see him drinking
(Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 106mm, ISO 2500, f/22, 1/500)
From there the leopard moved on to locations we could not follow
We continued our game drive and could observe many different species of birds
Saddle-billed storch (Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 110, f/5.6, 1/1000)
On the way back to the camp we saw the owl from yesterday evening again, sitting on the same tree, relaxing.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 440mm, ISO 320, f/5.6, 1/1000)
Our afternoon game drive started with the sighting of the same leopard. We saw this predator roaming on the road close to the airstrip.
(Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 230mm, ISO 2500, f/25, 1/500)
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 250mm, ISO 180, f/5.6, 1/1000)
Leopard roaming on the road near the airstrip
Next we saw a big group of springboks crossing some water and perform according to their name some impressive jumps
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 240mm, ISO 320, f/5.6, 1/1000)
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 220mm, ISO 280, f/5.6, 1/1000)
and some more action
To get closer to the springboks we also had to cross some water
Group of Springboks (Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 65mm, ISO 100, f/5, 1/1250)
Continuing our drive we saw a warthog
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 440mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/1000)
Impalas and Zebras
This group of five zebras lined up perfectly
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 340mm, ISO 220, f/5.6, 1/1000)
Always beautiful too see the various birds, any size, any color
We continued until we stopped near a beautiful pond, perfectly located to enjoy the warm sunlight during sunset. Here we planned to have our sun downer.
Only that the pond was not uninhabited (Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 80mm, ISO 640, f/5.6, 1/500)
A hippo was closely observing every move we made
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 1100, f/5.6, 1/1000)
and laughs at us at the end
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 340mm, ISO 2200, f/5.6, 1/1000)
The sun went down and we could enjoy a fantastic sunset
(Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 120mm, ISO 100, f/6.3, 1/1000)
(Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/80)
The hippo was not the only animal living in this pond
Crocodile swimming in the pond (Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/1000)
The sunlight faded away very quickly and when we drove back to the camp it was pitch dark. Matt had a spotlight and thanks to this light source we could see some night activity.
Serval (Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 16000, f/5.6, 1/250)
To see this serval was a magical experience. It’s such an elegant animal
Back at the camp I tried to make a photo of the starry night. It shows the view from the balcony in front of our tent.
(Sony A7R3, 16-35mm f/4 at 16mm, ISO 2500, f/4, 25sec)
Back to the overview of our trip to Botswana and Zimbabwe 2018
Overview of all trips covered here on desktop-images.com
