Nxai Pan NP - Day 5

One of the baobabs in Nxai Pan

With a long 11 hour drive ahead of us we didn’t want to waste any time, so it was up at the usual 5am and we were out of the campsite just after 5.30am. Not checking out the waterholes - just straight out. The 35 km drive to the main A3 road was largely uneventful although we did see a few gemsbok which we hadn’t caught in the park. And there were more giraffe as well, probably due to there being some nice green acacia trees for them to feed on. 

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.

Nxai Pan NP - Day 3

Time to eat

We didn’t think that the lions would be at the waterhole by morning so we were stunned to drive up and find out that not only were they still there but they had been joined by 3 other lionesses!

Nxai Pan NP - Day 2

Lion at sunset

Despite our early start, we were the last of the 3 campers to be out the campsite and off on the morning drive. There was no question where anyone was going - straight to the waterhole. And we were not disappointed - the 2 lionesses were still at their kudu kill but they were having it for breakfast. We quickly positioned ourselves and started shooting. The lions gave us plenty to photograph, from gnawing at the carcass to pulling it over to get better access.

Nxai Pan NP - Day 1

Arriving at South Gate

Up at 5am and gone by 6am, it would be a long drive to Nxai Pan from Gaborone; about 11 hours according to Google.

Considering many people would have taken Friday off to make it a 5 day long weekend, the road between Gaborone and Palapye - easily Botswana’s busiest road - was surprisingly quiet.

Elections in Nxai Pan

Ready for Nxai Pan

Botswana announced that their elections would be held on 30 October, which would be a public holiday with the following day also being declared a holiday. These holidays would fall on a Wednesday and Thursday so it was a no-brainer for us to take Friday off to have a 5 day long weekend. 

South Luangwa NP, Zambia - Day 4

A big bull enters the river for a morning drink.

Buoyed by the fantastic dog sightings we’d had the day before, we were off at 5.30 am from our campsite to get to the gate just before 6am as usual.  Our plan was to go back to the same area that the dogs had been just in case for some reason they were still there.  It was a long shot, but it was also where we’d seen the leopard cub so it seemed like as good a place as any.

South Luangwa NP, Zambia - Day 3

Wild dogs on the Luangwa river

An early morning start saw us at the gate again just before 6am where we were waved through.  Again, we decided to head into the Luangwa Wafwa on the eastern side of the park in the hopes of potentially catching a leopard again.  

South Luangwa NP, Zambia - Day 1

Vultures and marabou storks fight over a buffalo carcass

We knew that the park opens at 6 a.m. so we were up at 5 to get sorted in time to be at the gate by opening time. It is about a 20-minute drive from the camp to the park gate and we were there at about quarter to 6. We were surprised to find that the park officials were already there and working and that the gate was open but surprisingly no vehicles were around. We had expected that they'd be a queue of cars waiting to get in but maybe a combination of the pandemic and relaxed attitude to gate times meant that we didn't need to stand in a queue.