Safari Animals spotted! Today I’m going to share the photos I took while we went on a safari drive through the Chobe National Park in Botswana, Africa. This was a whole new experience compared to the African Safari River Cruise we went on, and I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to see all of these amazing safari animals!
Lets start off with the vehicle! Who doesn’t dream of going on safari in one of these trucks. It’s a classic signature of a safari drive. Innocent (our guide) navigated the park with ease, and we even found ourselves parked on a rock outcrop that frankly had me investigating if I had a fear of heights.
Something you’ll see a lot of in Chobe National Park are antelope. The locals call any “deer” like animal and antelope, but they have many different types. Springbok were plentiful. We even came upon one group who started calling a warning cry. This guy on the bottom right above was on the lookout, trying to find the cause of worry. Our guide stopped and started looking for a predator — we were all sure we would spot a lion or leopard. However, turned out it was just a baboon in a tree that was “misread” by a springbok.
Giraffe – wow! We came across a group of giraffes, that must have had at least 15 members. It seems like they should be so obvious, but they actually blended in quite well with the surroundings. Of course, when they walk right across the road in front of your vehicle, they kind of stand out.
Again, more safari animals. This large picture above actually has 3 animals in it, can you spot all three? We also spotted more birds, again a plus of the rainy season. The one in the upper right had the most beautiful colors, the bottom left shows a group of marabou storks, they’re also called “undertaker birds”. You can also see a crocodile, and a leopard tortoise.
Ah, the elephants. As if we didn’t get enough on the river cruise, we came across this herd of about 20 or so members. I was amazed at how silently they moved. Crashing through the trees was not their method, their large feet moved gracefully along the way. It still stands out to me, even a month later, how gently they moved. Beautiful beasts indeed! We also spied some elephants playing along the river when we were parked on a rock outcropping way above.
We found this hippo a bit inland from the river. His puddle wasn’t quite deep enough for his massiveness. Poor guy. Blending of the safari animals in their habitat was a delight for me, as you can see the hippo in the foreground and the antelope in the distance. Another animal in plenty were baboons, here one’s taking a sip just a few feet away from a croc (not in photo). More water buffalo were seen, and even a group of warthogs, which we had seen on our previous Gaborone Safari Game Park Drive. Unfortunately we did not see any predators such as lions or leopards, but we did spot some lion paw prints.
Wrapping up with a few more pictures of the safari animals we spotted. On one pullout we were given this amazing panoramic view of the Chobe River and we even spotted some of the plentiful hippos. Loved seeing these baboons grooming each other, and this baby was only a few days old according to our guide. Lastly, another of those amazing habitat blends of safari animals, zebras, springbok, and warthog (not in photo) all sharing the same space in their little part of the world in Chobe National Park, Botswana, Africa.
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The closest I’ve ever been to these animals is the safari ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom! What an amazing experience to see them up close and in the wild!
We’re heading to WDW in May, so I’ll have to see how it compares. :) Seeing the animals in their natural, uncontrolled environment was such a wonderful experience!
That looks like so much fun! Great photos too!
It was amazing, Annette. Thanks for stopping by!
Looks like an amazing adventure! I wanna go!
I highly recommend it Nancy! It was a very unique and enjoyable way to spend two weeks of my life. :)
Again, great photos. What lens did you use to capture these? How close did you get to them?
We were fairly close — the lens I used was the Canon EFS 55-250. I was definitely at max zoom on some, but others not. Some of the animals were less than 10 feet away, like the baboons, springbok, and warthog.
We just got home from safari too! We were in Tanzania in Serengeti, Tarangire, and Ngorongoro Crater. It’s amazing how close you can get to the animals. We were less than 10 feet from lions on multiple occasions.
That sounds wonderful Jennifer! Were you on a guided tour? Hopping over to check out your posts. We only saw lions at a game farm and they were “caged”, but it was still amazing. The other couple who was at our lodge while we were had just seen lions in Etosha.
Yes, we were all an all-inclusive safari to two national parks and a reserve. All the animals we saw were 100% wild and free.
A game farm sounds interesting. It is more like a zoo?
Awesome photos from your safari..I love all the animals, very cool sighting.. Thanks for sharing your trip! Have a happy weekend!
It certainly looks like this safari provided abundant wildlife viewing. I love the monkey photos and the hippo in the mud.
These are amazing photos!
Thank you Andrea!
Stunning does not even begin to do your photos justice- I can only imagine being there in person!
Thank you so much Elena — it was such an awe-inspiring experience!
I think seeing giraffes walking free in their own homeland would be like seeing the whales in the Pacific Ocean. I actually wept. I think giraffes would have the same effect.
Hello April, thanks for stopping by! It was amazing having them walking around in their natural environment. At one point on our river cruise we had just looked off at some giraffe running up a hill into the brush and up ahead were some hippos, elephants, a crocodile, and an antelope herd. They were all living together in their wild habitat and it was a beautiful thing! I’ve seen grey whales in the Puget Sound and I have to say I loved the Africa safari even more! Don’t tell the whales. :) You’ll have to take a trip to Africa sometime!