During the night we heard an animal roaring loud and often. Next morning we saw who was responsible for that.
Kalahari lion with his black mane (Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 480mm, ISO 2000, f/5.6, 1/1000)
This beautiful lion spent the night very close to our camp. When we saw him, he was lazy, lies on the ground with no intention to move.
A jackal came closer and closer to the lion until the lion showed his dislike.
Later on we saw the same jackal resting by the water hole.
(Sony A7R3, 24-240 at 24, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/500)
We got closer and got some nice portrait shots. One can even see the reflection of our vehicle in the eyes of the jackal.
As the lion still did not show any movement, we decided to let him rest and continue our game drive. We planed to check back later during the day.
Secretarybird and Kori Bustard are two of the biggest birds found in the Kalahari Plains. They both can and do fly. Kori Bustard is the national bird of Botswana.
Kori Bustard (Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 200mm, ISO 220, f/5.6, 1/1000)
Secretarybird (Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 4500, f/5.6, 1/1000)
The biggest and tallest bird of course is the ostrich.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 180, f/5.6, 1/1000)
Ostriches and Oryx
Like yesterday apart from the big birds we saw lots of smaller ones, by far no less impressive.
Later that morning we again saw a large group of giraffes. We don’t know if it is the same group as yesterday evening.
Standing close together (Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 240mm, ISO 160, f/7.1, 1/500)
Kabo our guide stopped the vehicle below a tree and explained us about the Mopane Worm. This edible caterpillar is an important source of protein for many people. The worm feeds mostly leaves from Mopane trees.
Close up view of a Mopane Worm (Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 720, f/6.3, 1/1000)
Beautiful drive through Kalahari Plains during the evening sun
Some more pictures of animals we saw during today’s game drives
And last but not least another beautiful sunset at Kalahari Plains (Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/400)
After sunset we checked on the lion that we had seen in the morning. He was still there, moved even closer to the camp. He had stayed there the whole day and it seemed that he will stay close by for some more time. Thanks to the flashlight of our guide Kabo we could see the lion under a small bush.
Its has become too dark to photograph, but with my small video camera I could at least tape the roaring, that the lion was repeating three to four times an hour for almost the whole night. Below video has no music and there is not much to see, just listen to the lion.
Link to Day 3
Link to the website of the Kalahari Plains Camp
Overview of our trip to Botswana and Zimbabwe in 2018
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