We spent three nights in the Chobe National Park camping at Ihaha on the Chobe River. From our campsite, we watched crocodiles, heard the hippos around the corner and sat in awe as herds of animals wandered along the river’s edge to graze each morning or afternoon. We had giraffes browsing the trees just behind us, and a hard working troupe of about fifty baboons that lived in the tree next to us.
The baboons were particular fun. Every morning they came down the big tree at the side of our camp, one after another. One, two, three…. fifty in all, if you include all the babies. The baboons seemed a hard working bunch. They always got an early start, about 7am. You could imagine their lunchboxes in hand as they lumbered off to work or baboon nursery school. At about 6pm, they all came back, one after the other, up the tree. One, two… until they were all invisible in the big tree’s branches. You’d never know they were there, except for the one guy who snored all night.
The baboons didn’t bother us, though one of the larger males checked out garbage bin each day before going on his way. They grazed the grass at the river’s edge and periodically sounded their alarm call when a crocodile was too close. The babies romped and swung and chased each other. They wrestled in the dirty track just in front of the grassy river bank. The females groomed the little guys and seemed to have quite a time getting them to hold still long enough to pick off the ticks and fleas. Midday, the baboons would completely disappear, maybe foraging elsewhere or napping. They always came back, though, just like clockwork. One, two… back up the tree. I loved watching them.
Initially I was a bit scared to have so many baboons at our campsite, wandering through and sitting nearby. I tried to shoo them off, but they just looked at me like I was kind of nutty and then went on with their foraging or playing. We’re used to baboons that are more aggressive, the ones at campsites where you have to steer clear of them. Not these guys. They didn’t seem to mind us or give us much thought. When one of the larger males came into the campground, crossing or the morning check of the garbage bin, I usually got into the camper, just to be safe, but they really didn’t bother us at all. It’s a good sign that no one is feeding them.
We not only had the baboon entertainment everyday, but we had the herds of animals come along the river. The buffalo were the most stunning. It took hours for the whole herd to move through. There were certainly a couple thousand of them.
We initially heard some bits of splashing and faint grazing noises in the early morning. Richard woke up before I did to have a look. The buffalo were right there. They were crossing the river and then grazing along the edge right in front of us. Some of the buffalo wandered over to the small trees and bushes next to us to eat. You could smell them and hear them tear and chew the grasses. They were mostly quiet though.
There was some drama with the buffalo. As we watched the opposite shore where the buffalo had come from, we saw a few small groups of buffalo that hadn’t crossed the water. Then we heard the heartrending sound of a little calf crying out. It had come toward the edge of the water and seemed to have lost its mom. As it cried (I was almost crying, too), it jumped into the water to swim to the other side where most of the buffalo were. I was horrified. The crocodile was now gliding in the direction of the splashing and cries. I thought, oh know, I can’t watch. This is horrible. We watched and I kept saying aloud, “get out of the water!” It ended well. The little calf turned around and got out. It then wandered over to a small group with females and a few other babies. It stopped crying and joined up with them. I want to imagine it was safe at that point. They all walked off into the distance together and didn’t cross the water.
More buffalo drama (keep in mind this was several hours of buffalo passing). Richard needed to head up to the bathroom and the buffalo were still lingering. I wasn’t happy about this, especially because there was one buffalo still eating the bush by our rig. Richard got out, grabbed his walking stick and the tp and headed off carefully. I was under strict instructions not to get out under any circumstances. I did open the door though to stand on my toes and watch the buffalo at the bush. Apparently there were a couple of other buffalo around and the baboons. Richard navigated an obstacle course and made it back.
We also had a herd of impala grazing at the water’s edge. Hundreds of them one afternoon.
The elephants were around, but they seemed to like an area just to the east of us on some rocky slopes to the water. We went on some drives to see them. There were a lot! I’m always worried about getting into the middle of a herd, but Richard is good at strategy and also made sure we had a quick escape in a different direction if there was a problem. We ran into a couple of bulls that were out of temper, but we kept our distance and drove the long way around one of them. It was beautiful to see the elephants on the river plain and in the river splashing to keep cool.
There are so many more experiences (read Richard’s prologue if you haven’t!), but I’ll stop there. I’ll post video when I have wifi again.
