Okavango and Tsodilo Hills

We made a trip by air to the Okavango Delta and Tsodilo Hills shortly before we left Botswana.

Okavango from above.

In some parts, grass fires burnt off all vegetation.

We went to one of the few lodges open then. The planes are parked at the airstrip.
The area had been sprayed against tsetse-flies, but the spraying had only covered part of the runway.
There was a very distinct border between where there were and were not flies – and they bite very hard!

Getting from the airstrip to the lodge.

This is our “suite”. The operators of the lodge warned us that sometimes lions walked around.

Inside the “suite”.

Our good friends Vera and Gordon Leech at breakfast.

It was possible to walk around the lodge and see wildlife.

We got around on the water in canoes like these.

Bob and John in a canoe.

Water lilies are very common.

One day we flew to Tsodilo Hills and met a group of San, usually known as Bushmen.

Our guide at Tsodilo Hills.

Tsodilo Hills is known for old rock paintings like these.

Trish and Gordon at Tsodilo Hills.

We were served lunch at the hills. It was delivered by a four hour car drive and included a waiter fully dressed in white!

Back at the lodge, we swam in the delta, although one person was on watch for crocodiles.

We took an evening water ride to look for animals.

It was easy to film kingfishers, because they remain still at night, even with a bright light on them, and you can get very close.

A special activity of the lodge operator was to catch and record crocodiles at night. He judged the size
of the crocodile by the distance between the eyes since the eyes reflect light from a torch. The hard part
was not catching them, but releasing them, as they are very fast. A croc can easily catch flies in its mouth.