Botswana Part 1: Selinda

After a lovely visit to Victoria Falls, we were off to Botswana. The journey to Botswana was a somewhat funny one, as it involved driving to the border at Kazungula, to the point of the Zambezi that joins together Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. We jumped into a tiny boat, and within a few minutes we were in Botswana!

Our first location in Botswana was the Selinda camp, in the Linyanti area. The environment was very dry, with medium height dry grasses, and some small watering holes, but the wildlife we saw there were unreal. The camp itself was beautifully situated with a small pool (ideal for the intense, almost unbearable mid-day heat) and lovely little cabins. Our guide in Selinda was Donald, and he was truly the best guide of the trip, if not of all our Safari experiences. The marker of a great guide is someone who is as excited about seeing animals are you are, who will go above and beyond for the amazing game sightings – Donald was both of these things. Some of the highlights, most of which  are pictured here…

  • 2 different prides of lions who we saw daily, including lion cubs
  • A cheetah resting under a bush
  • A leopard with her cub – incredibly rare (and cute)
  • A family of wild dogs with a giant litter of pups that played under our cars
  • 12 lions which slept under the shade of our car (see it on video here, and in photos below).
  • A fight between 2 kudu antelopes with curved antlers who got their antlers locked with each other. For kudu this could mean the end, but luckily they managed to “unlock”.
  • Honey badgers at night!
  • Driving through a large watering hole full of elephants drinking water, parting the elephants with our car, them trumpeting the entire time – amazing and terrifying! Wish I had a video of this, but I was just too scared!
  • Following the 12 lions in the dark of the night on the hunt. Thanks to Donald’s incredible hearing, we found the lions right as they dove in for dinner. Video here (not for the faint of heart).

6 Comments

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  1. Amazing! Gorgeous photos

  2. Florence de Lombardon November 11, 2017 — 1:19 am

    Extraordinary! I sometimes wonder where you were when taking the pictures of the lions under the car… in another jeep I hope! Thank you so much for taking the to write and share. Je t’embrasse Flo

  3. Florence de Lombardon November 11, 2017 — 1:20 am

    Taking the time

  4. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING PHOTOS !!!

    I need to be adopted by your family.

  5. Michelle the pride of lions are unbelievable. And the Hyenas….can’t believe you got to see all that

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