Braving the cold in Nxai Pan - day 4

White Headed Vulture is an uncommon sighting. 

A warmer night by about 5 degrees thanks to the cloud that had developed overnight. We were up and gone by 6 am to try and catch the aardwolf again, hoping he'd be at the nearby waterhole. Nothing at the water we made a quick stop at the main waterhole just in case before heading south to where we thought he may be denning.

The lions showed up on the last morning

But there was nothing to be seen and after a couple of hours not seeing much we were debating when we should leave the park and head to Makgadikgadi as it would be quite a time-consuming drive. We decided to stop at the main waterhole for coffee and then plan to head out. That all went out the window when we got to the waterhole though. Because there sitting at the water were 2 lionesses. We'd driven all around the park looking for lions, and they had come to the waterhole while we weren't there.

The Wildebeest had no idea there were two lions in plain sight in the open 

The lions were awake and seemed to be looking to hunt. They had postponed themselves in a small dip and with their pouring blending into the surrounding sand it would be extremely hard for any prey to actually see them. And so for the next few hours we watched these lions plan their hunt. They lay flat on the ground watching an ostrich approach the waterhole.

Still no idea lions were watching their game 

The ostrich looked nervous like he knew something was up - maybe because there were about 8 cars at the waterhole seemingly watching nothing. He must have sensed or smelt lion because he didn't hang around, choosing rather to drink another day.

No trip in to the bush is complete without a lion sighting 

That was okay because the big show was coming in the form of a large herd of wildebeest on their way to drink. They had no clue there were lions at the waterhole judging by the running around and cavorting done by the youngsters. This looked like the opportunity for the lions and they seemed to think that as well.

Keeping an eye on the prize, Springbok would be a hard catch for Lions 

Flat down to the ground, they watched intently as the wildebeest started drinking at the opposite end of the waterhole and then slowly started heading towards the lions. They passed the hidden lions and while some seemed to stop and stare towards the cats most just passed by just over 30 meters away to go feed on the grass. We were sure something was going to happen, the lions seemed all but ready to pounce especially when a couple of young males wildebeest started fighting almost under their noses. But nothing.

On the prowl

It's like the lions didn't know what to do with the wildebeest so close and not running. Eventually the wildebeest all filed back past the lions again and went to drink for the second time but still the lionesses didn't move. It was all very anticlimactic to say the least. Eventually the wildebeest all wandered off away from the waterhole and the lions relaxed their stance, no doubt a bit confused and somewhat defeated.

The crawl

Then a lone springbok came to drink leading a herd that was still quite far away in the veld. Again the antelope started heading towards the lions and again they went down to make sure they were out of sight. This time the younger of the 2 lions made a charge, if you could call it that. It was a half hearted attempts at best and the springbok spotted her immediately and jumped out the way.

New target located, family of Kudu. 

Surprisingly the springbok didn't alarm call to warn the rest of the herd, he just sort of moved away out of harm's reach while the lioness lay down where she had stopped - a totally unconvincing hunt. The springbok started to filter in to go for drinking on the opposite end of the waterhole seemingly still unaware of the lions.

Ready to strike, just waiting for the prey to make a mistake. 

But then we spotted a herd of buffalo at the edge of the bush that seemed to also be heading to the waterhole, this time on the same side that the lions were seated. We didn't think that these 2 lions would be able to take on a buffalo herd, but more encouraging was that there was a herd of kudu females and youngsters just ahead of the buffalo - they'd basically be heading straight to the waiting lions.

The chase is on

In her chase of the springbok, the younger lioness had been separated from the older one and we didn't think any of the animals were aware that the second older lioness was still hiding in the dip. The female kudu slowly crossed the road and was probably within 10 meters of the older lioness when she charged. The lions was quick but the kudu was quicker and though the lion was close she gave up the chase pretty quickly as the kudu bolted and with her the rest of her herd and the buffalo herd behind.

Both in full flight, Kudu for its life, the Lioness for breakfast. 

The kudu alarm call had alerted everyone to the lions sp the game was up. No need to hide anymore, the lions both sat there unbothered, knowing that it would be a whole before they got another chance. By now it was about 11am and we needed to start heading out the park. 

A quick stop at the campsite to have an early lunch of pesto pasta salad and rearrange our car and we were on the road back to the tar. 35km and just over an hour later and we were checking out of the nxai pan gate and pumping up the tyres to get back on the main road.

The Kudu did enough this time to get away. 

There were 2 options for us to get to Boteti River Camp, our accommodation for the night. Either we go through the Phuduhudu gate and drive through the Makgadikgadi national park to get to the Boteti river or we go around on a tar road and enter through the Khumaga gate on the opposite side. 

We estimated the drive would take about the same time but the drive through the park was much shorter, just a terrible road. Because we were staying outside the park near the khumaga gate we decided to rather do the tar road, check in at the camp and then go into the park.

The Elephant dung catwalk

An hour and a half later and we rolled up to the boteti river camp gate. We did a quick check in and then went to see the view of their deck. While it has a nice view of the riverbed, unfortunately it is on the side of the village so the only grazing animals right in front of the lodge are cows but you can see wild animals further up separated by a fence. The campsites are nice and big with a braai spot, power and water with shared ablutions nearby.

Boteti River Lodge campsite, decent spot

We decided to head straight into the park instead of hanging at the deck and were soon going through the khumaga gate and to the boteti river. And we finally found the zebra migration. There were hundreds of zebra and wildebeest grazing in the seasonal pools and pumped waterholes. We spent the afternoon driving along the river enjoying the numbers of animals and birds, including nesting vultures and even a martial eagle.

The Boteti was still dry in 2025. 

Finally it was time to start heading back to get out the park before closing time but were glad we had tagged on Makgadikgadi to our Nxai pan trip. Even having only the one drive along the boteti but seeing the plentiful zebra was worth it.

The pumped waterholes on the Boteti keeps the herds going in the dry season. 

Back at the camp we set up the roof tent and lit the fire for our final braai of the trip. Showers done and we headed to bed, happy with our trip but knowing that we still had a long drive back in the morning. We set the alarm for 6am, quickly packed up, had our muffins and coffee and then started the long trip back home just after 7am.

The old pontoon lies outplace on the dry Boteti that hasn't flowed for years!

Having stayed at boteti for the night cut almost 3 hours off our trip and we even had time to stop off at the Mahalapye wimpy for lunch. Luckily the road was much quieter than expected and we cruised into Gabs by 4pm giving us time to unpack, have a beer, check our photos and enjoy recapping about our great trip with some special sightings.

Ele's heading to one of the pumped waterholes on the Boteti.