Chobe National Park is one of the fabulous game parks of Africa. We spent too little time there in the absolute worst camp ground that Africa In Focus visits – and they are well aware of it. Will (the driver and boon fellow) said that, yes, it’s awful but all the other campgrounds at Chobe are the same. It was like camping in a dry, desolate grove of thorns. You definitely wanted to watch your step and not get raked. The rooms in the lovely lodge only emphasized how wretched campsite.
Val - Chobe Camp
Must say a word about some totally bizarre insects that fill the niche of hummingbirds in the western hemisphere: the humming bees. The bird expert from Norway (he was driving his pickup truck slowly from Norway to South Africa) identified them. The look much like a hummingbird and hover convincingly like the avian model but are attracted to lights in the evening like moths. Quite large, maybe 2″ long (5 cm) and they are attracted to and feed on flowers. Check the link for a really beautiful photo (I couldn’t get within 20′ of them) or look at this blurry effort: fascinating little critters.
Humming Bee Sipping Nectar - Chobe Camp
The campsite, to be fair, was located on the Kavango River, next to a very nice bar where all sorts of wildlife (including the bizarre humming-bee you can see in the pics). We took a great evening cruise on the river the first evening and went on a game drive the next morning: both great and made the suffering absolutely worth the view. Wonderful animals along the river from the side of the campsite and from the other side. Saw a nice herd of Cape Buffalo (our final animal in the big five, I believe) along the road about to wander into town.
Waterbuck Females - Chobe River
Then we were off to points east: Victoria Falls.
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- Humming Bee Sipping Nectar – Chobe Camp
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- Waterbuck Females – Chobe River
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- Val – Chobe Camp
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