Nxai Pan NP - Day 4

Baines' baobabs

This is more of the Nxai Pan we were expecting. Not much happening and no sign of cats. The main waterhole was devoid of animals bar a jackal trying to grab a last morsel of meat from the 3 day old carcass. It seemed like a hyena had been there in the night as well as half the skull had been crunched through - plenty of animals had been fed thanks to this kudu.

A quiet morning

  
The lions were nowhere to be seen and there wasn’t much in terms of animals either so it was time to drive around the pan in search of the cats. But today there was no luck. The drive was fruitless with even the smaller waterhole having no luck. By 8.30 we were back at the main waterhole and watching ostriches so we decided today was the day to visit Baines’ Baobabs. 

Named after Thomas Baines, these baobabs were immortalized in one of his paintings and they still stand exactly the same as when he painted them, except for one limb that has broken off. We stopped off to get a few soft drinks from the campsite lady, to hear the stunning news that the majority party who has been in power since Independence had lost the election badly and the opposition were now the governing party. The winds of change have indeed come to Botswana. 

Unusual sky at noon

The road to the baobabs is back on the main exit road then a turn off which leads to a 12km sandy road to the pan that has the baobabs - altogether about a 90 minute drive from our campsite. Nobody told us about the flies - in the dry heat, the flies swarm around looking for any moisture - and that is your nose, mouth and eyes. They’re very irritating and we were glad that we hadn’t planned on having lunch at the baobabs as that would have been a nightmare. 

But seeing the baobab trees rising from the surrounding pan is very impressive and well worth a visit. We didn’t spend too much time there after shooting the trees and pan but we were glad we had finally gone there to see the infamous Baines Baobabs. We took a wrong turn trying to get back but thanks to Tracks4Africa we were soon on the right road and made it back to camp by lunchtime. With the cloud cover overhead it wasn’t too hot and with our added shade shelter it made for a pleasant noon break with a bit of entertainment when an elephant arrived in the empty campsite next door to have a nap. 

Lone zebra

We spent a couple of hours chilling out, while charging some batteries, then had a quick shower to cool off before heading out on our final drive for the trip. With still no sign of the lions at either waterhole, the smaller one having a few elephants and the main one having a few ostriches, we decided to drive a few areas we hadn’t looked at yet. We caught a few bat-eared foxes trying to find shade on the side of anthills but otherwise not much was moving. 

But we did discover another waterhole which was a big surprise to us. It looked pretty new so another source of water to keep an eye on in future, especially since it’s not too far away from the main one. To our detriment, we decided not to do the full loop around the pan and instead go straight back to main waterhole and spend the rest of the evening there, hoping to catch something - hopefully a cat. But this time the waterhole was as quiet as we’d ever seen it. For some reason since the lions had left it seemed all the animals had decided to do the same. 

Only the few ostriches that had been there all day were there having a sand bath. We settled in for a long wait it seemed. But of course if you are patient enough and find small things amusing, wildlife will always entertain you. This time it came in the form of a young jackal trying to get the last morsels from the carcass, a flock of terns that we hadn’t seen before coming to drink and then a small herd of elephants arrived. In the past, breeding herds were unheard of - only old bulls called Nxai Pan hime - and we’re not sure why they are now appearing in the park. The only factor that we can think of that has changed in the last decade is that the hunting concessions have been reopened and there are a few adjacent to Nxai Pan. 

Bat-eared fox

Regardless, this little herd was not happy from the time they appeared and the matriarch seemed the most nervous of all. They did a full circle around the waterhole and were unsettled about where to drink. Despite us having been there long before them, the matriarch was nervous of us when the herd passed by and then they get stuck between us and another car that arrived the same time that the elephants had. They weren’t really drinking and the big elephant seemed undecided on what she should do so we decided to make it easier for her and give her a way out by leaving for a bit.  The last thing you want to have happen is being charged by a mother elephant with a calf - a recipe for disaster.

 Leaving have us an opportunity to drive a bit and grab a beer out of the back of the bakkie and when we got to the waterhole the little herd had just left and heading back into the bush, still not happy but hopefully not as thirsty. Not long after, a giraffe emerged and come to drink. They are always entertaining to watch with their long legs and neck. And he was then joined by another four which made for some nice shots especially as the sun was starting to set. We hadn’t anticipated a nice sunset because there was so much cloud cover but the sky started to light up beautifully which gave us a few lovely giraffe silhouette shots. 

Giraffe herd at sunset

We decided to move around a bit so that we could get the giraffe in front of the water which had also lit up with the colours of the sky. More good giraffe shots ensued. Three bull elephants and arrived while we were shooting the giraffes and we were debating if we should move a bit more to see if we could get the elephants in line with the sunset, but that debate was cut short when we looked on the other side. Heading towards the waterhole with purpose was a big herd of elephants. They were emerging from the bush with the dust kicking up around them determined to got to the water as quickly as possible. 

Over 30 elephants, babies and all were bearing down on us and it was quite a sight to behold. So we stayed put and they crossed just in front of our car, paying us scant attention in the eagerness to get to the water. And for the next half an hour was a magical scene with elephants everywhere, drinking just in front of us and all moving to the other side of the waterhole where the giraffes had previously been, giving lovely sunset shots of elephants. 

Emerging elephant from the bush

It was a stunning experience that topped off our trip to Nxai Pan. Very seldom can you find a scene like that but Nxai Pan offers it and we took full advantage. Finally though it got too dark to shoot and we left the elephants there and headed back to camp, happy with our final sighting in the park. We set up camp and lit the fire and then were totally entertained by the jackals. 

For some reason the cicadas were dropping from the Mopane trees above us in their dozens. As they landed with a loud thud the jackals would immediately run towards the sound and gobble the cicada up. Sometimes the cicadas would try to fly a bit but only end up buzzing around on the ground and then the jackals would follow them like a cat with a toy before pouncing. It was a real show to watch and the jackals completely ignored us in favor of these big insects. 

Spectacular sunset with elephants

Finally there was a slow down of dropping cicadas and the jackals switched their attention to our braai, but we kept them at bay while having a good meal of steak, potatoes with sour cream and salad - a fitting meal for our last evening at Nxai Pan. It was a hot, humid and windless evening so we got to try out our little portable fan in the tent, which worked out quite well, giving us a much needed breeze in the heat to fall asleep by.