We continued our African adventure at Camp Moremi. The camp is located within the Moremi game reserve - which is a separate reserve from Savute in the Chobe National park, but still within the larger Okavango Delta. We spent 3 days here, exploring a very different ecosystem which was much more wet and lush than Savute.
8/6/2024
Our drive from the airport to Camp Moremi was relatively uneventful, we got stopped twice by elephants in the road and then by Bush Buck - which is a new type of antelope that spends most of it’s time in the water. They are also very fluffy and cute…
From the start we could tell the difference between Savute and here. It was a lot more lush and wet and, because of that, there was a lot more elephants just out and around instead of clustered at a watering hole. Camp was also right on the lagoon instead of surrounding a watering hole - which had a very different vibe (and a lot more bugs!).
|
|
We arrived at camp at noon and took off on our first game drive right away. About 10 minutes out of the gate, we found a lion pride with 3 females and 8 cubs - 4 from each of two mothers. They were still napping (it was early afternoon at this point), but you could tell they were starting to stir and wake up. Once they got going, they were quite the rambunctious little crew - crawling all over their mommas and creating quite a bit of havoc. It’s apparently quite uncommon to have this many cubs in one place - 4 is sort of the maximum that one female can have at a time and having two females giving birth and nearly the same time is also a rarity.
After that incredible sight, we headed over to the lagoon. Apparently, the hippos like to come out of the water at mid-day for an hour or so. I wasn’t clear why, their skin is very sensitive to the sun which is why they spend so much time in the water. Coming out of the water at the hottest part of the day seemed counter-intuitive.
We continued to drive around and, unlike our last drier camp, we were driving through the creeks and using the periscope intake that all of these vehicles have. Going back to my last post, these vehicles are pretty cool. For the most part, the guides were able to tell how deep the water is and not get our feet wet - but that ended up being not universally true.
Diane spotted a fish eagle - this bird is about the same size and coloring as a bald eagle, but it looks a little sleeker - bald eagles look scruffy by comparison. It also sounded like their diet and behaviors were very similar to the bald eagle - big nest, eats mostly fish, long-term mating pair. I got some pretty good pictures of one of them flying.
We found a lone male lion - he was just laying down for the nap. The light was perfect, and I got a few great pictures before he fell asleep. The progression in the pictures is really cool I think, from alert to napping.
We found this very interesting goose called the Egyptian Goose. They have a very interesting color scheme - they almost look like they are a painted that way.
And this is why you have to be careful going swimming… near one of the deeper pools, we found this massive croc - easily 7 feet long. The little ones look kinda cute, but this big boy looks nasty. We did end up going swimming later in the trip, but not in this pond!
We spotted some monkeys across the pond from us and went over to visit for a while. They are very active - running and scampering all over the place. There was always at least one monkey posted up on a high point - termite mound or tree - to watch out. Often there was more than one and they were usually the most still for pictures. Apparently there is a saying that monkeys never lie - if you hear them going crazy making all kinds of noise, then there is a predator nearby. No such luck today.
We saw Baboons a bit later, but I didn’t get any good photos. Thankfully got a much better viewing later in the trip. Unlike Savute, we had been seeing Zebra all over the place. We got a good photo opp with them all lined up for us to take photos…
We finished up our trip with our traditional sundowners drink - this time at a spot where the lagoon had not quite filled - so we were surrounded by water and we could hear the hippos bellowing and a bunch of birds flying by. As the sun was setting, Derek tried his hand at being hand model - pun intended.
We got back to camp just before the 6:30p cutoff - perfect timing.
|
|
|
Our camp was very different from the one at Savute. Both were built up high to make it slightly less appealing for animals to rummage through the tents and buildings, but we were right on the lagoon this time and the views were much more constricted. We did see Bush Bucks, Warthogs, and other non-predators in camp at various time during our stay. Right after we arrived I was convinced I was seeing a new type of bird, turns out it was a metal lawn ornament… There was even a toilet at the end of the boardwalk overlooking the lagoon - best toilet in the game reserve probably!
Good night Camp Moremi!
8/7/2024
We kicked off the day with another game drive, but with the promise of something different in the afternoon - taking the boats out on the lagoon. Our guide talked to us about Lechwe, which is a type of antelope with a really powerful set of back legs that help them push through (and jump through) the water. They spend the majority of their time in the water, so this is a big help. My favorite thing about these little antelope is that when they look right at you, it looks like they are smiling… Their back legs are so long and powerful that they look almost funny compared to their front legs, which are much shorter.
We probably spent 45 minutes driving around before our guide got a call and floored it. We called this Safari Ferrari - It’s not super fast, but you can really feel any speed on these roads throwing you up, down, left, and right. Apparently there was something to see somewhere else - the guides we always very cryptic about what was coming, probably because you just never know if whatever is happening is still happening when you get there… Turn out, a pack of wild dogs had just taken down an Impala - it was an amazing but also a bit of a grotesque sight. The amazing part was how they ate - which was very quickly. The dogs can be pushed off a kill very easily by lots of other predators, so they need to eat the entire thing in just a few minutes and then they are off running again. We didn’t see the takedown, but we have heard that the dogs will actually start eating their prey while they are still running. This is nature…
Our guide spotted a Hyena nearby the kill. He was alone and clearly hoping to scare these dogs off of the kill. Unfortunately for him, he was by himself and there were ~8 dogs on the kill. He seemed to recognize this, so he just watched from a distance. Maybe he was hoping that a couple of the dogs would run off early or another Hyena would show up and they could push the dogs off the kill. Hyenas are the opposite of Lechwe - they have really powerful front legs and weaker back ones. I’m not totally sure why that is, but it does give them a very particular look when they are running. Apparently they are quite powerful and they can run for miles and miles. It’s also a myth that they are primarily scavengers, a pack of Hyenas are hunters and can take down some big prey. But any predator here (or most places in the world) will always take advantage of a recently deceased animal, even if they weren’t the one that killed it. If you look closely, you could seem him salivating a little bit, he really wanted to eat that thing. :)
We continued driving and ran across another very sad sight, a trunk-less baby elephant. Apparently some of them are born that way, but it also could have been a lion that took the trunk off. This baby can live for a while in the wild, but his chances of long-term survival are pretty low.
Another very interesting critter was the Southern Ground Hornbill. These birds look nothing like the hornbills we have seen to date and they were big and prehistoric looking - dinosaur birds we called them. They are about the size of a turkey and they can fly, but the puffy feathers and large beak make them look a lot bigger than even the Kori Bustard - which is the largest flighted bird in the world.
We stopped off at another one of these recently flooded sites - this one was called Paradise pool. Some of the trees in the flood plane were still alive, but they weren’t in good shape and wouldn’t last much longer. The flooding kills the trees. I got some fun pictures of the trees reflected in the water - it was an other worldly sight. We walked around a little bit and it was kinda cool to see the footprints in the mud near the water - we did an ok job identifying the different critters, but there is so much variety it’s really hard to do! We had our usual coffee/tea stop here and enjoyed the view for a bit before we headed back to camp.
Very successful morning - wild dogs on a kill, our first Hyena, dinosaur birds. Lots to see - but the two a day drives were getting to be pretty tough to handle, we were excited for the boat trip in the afternoon.
|
|
|
After a delicious lunch, we headed out on an afternoon boat trip. The boat trip was on a flat-bottomed skiff, much like our dinghy. The layout was actually pretty similar to the trucks with stadium seating, but our guide was driving from the back instead of the front. We were warned by Derek and Diane that their would not be as much wildlife on the water and they were right, but I still richly enjoyed it. I got some of the best pictures of elephants that I have gotten yet - the light in the evening combined with the reflection in the water made for some very rich colors.
The deeper water in the big lagoons is frequented by the older elephants - an elephant retirement home of sorts. Elephants only get 6 sets of molars in their life, each set being used until it gets worn down by chewing. When they get older and they are down to their last set, older elephants come here to eat. The soft grasses allow them to do less damage to their teeth, but they don’t have the same nutrients that they get from the trees so they only come here as a last resort. Once the last set of molars is worn down, they can no longer eat - so making that last set last as long as possible is a priority for them.
The African Jacana is a very small and somewhat funny looking bird that has huge feet that allow it to walk on top of lilly pads and other water vegitation. We saw a lot of these little guys around - they have a very notable coloring with the red, white, and black.
Despite the lack of the quantity of wildlife, the light and colors were amazing. I ended up with some really cool shots of the trees and plant-life reflecting in the water. I thought the papyrus was especially cool with the little fans reflecting in the water.
We had our sundowners drinks on the boat this time and Diane spotted an angolan reed frog - they are tiny and I have no idea how she noticed it, but there it was. They are quite vocal at night, we heard them later that night - although they are not in the same quantities that Derek and Diane were familiar with from prior trips to Africa. Regardless of the vocalizations, they are quite cute.
In sort of standard form, we raced back to camp to be back inside before the 6:30p cutoff. I will say, the boat is much more comfortable on Safari Ferrari mode than the trucks are…
|
|
|
We ended up having dinner on the lawn after we got back - while not too much different from the prior night, we had a fun evening by lantern light with some dancing (prompted by the staff).
And after a bit of hanging out by the fire, we were headed off to sleep…
8/8/2024
Every morning, we have one of the staff come pick us up from our huts. We generally wake up and head into breakfast before the sun rises and they like to have someone with us while we are walking around at night. This particular morning, we saw hippo tracks on the path leading from our tent to breakfast - apparently this is a regular thing to have this one hippo (I think they named him Oscar) walking along the paths between the tents at night. Crazy, and kind cool.
We went off in search of Cheetahs this morning - spoiler alert, no dice. We did, however see a whole different ecosystem - one that was sort of in-between Savute and the much wetter area right around Moremi camp. We had a long way to go though, so brace yourself for some Safari Ferrari… Our first step getting past a set of bridges that took us out of the lagoon area. They were not exactly high speed interstate bridges - I’m not totally sure how they held us other than the bridge itself was probably sitting on the mud. Here’s an example.
On of the first things we spotted was another lone Hyena. This is very uncommon - both for them to be alone and moving around during the daytime. Despite seeing lone Hyenas during the daytime for the last two days. This one was a bit in the distance and very skittish, but I still got a couple of pictures.
We had a long drive after the Hyena. There was some wildlife to be found - Warthogs, Giraffe, Kudo, and a herd of wildebeests - the biggest we had seen yet, but probably no more than 100 total.
At this point, I thought it would be valuable to show what we looked like while driving around - where there isn’t water here, it’s very dry and dusty so we had to cover our faces and eyes to keep from getting caked in it (and often we would still get caked though the coverings).
One highlight of the long trip was seeing two lions - one of which looked very injured, so much so that he might not make it. It looked like he had deep bite marks on his back and our guide thought he might have been fighting with another lion - sad.
We discovered a new antelope called a water buck. These guys have a coating on their fur that keeps them relatively dry in the water - we heard that it smells terrible, but we never got close enough to verify that. They looked very fluffy and they had this pattern on their butts that looked kinda like a target.
We also found a couple of bee eaters - a very pretty green bird who, shocker, are fast enough to eat bees (among other things).
We got back exhausted - It was over 40 miles of hardcore off-roading that required you to brace your body for every turn and bump.
|
|
|
We spent the afternoon in east side of the park on a much shorter game drive. It was a good opportunity to learn a bit more about the termite mounds we have been seeing. There are over 1000 species of termites, but three types of Termites - wood eaters, harvesters, and fungus/mound building termites. The mound building termites collect up dried leaves and grass and bring them into these huge mounds that they create. The fungus grows on the leaves and they eat the simple sugars that the fungus produces. The mound is produced by combing the sand with their saliva which dries hard as a rock - they may look like piled of dirt, but they would actually do some real damage to a jeep if you ran into one. They are also water tight - for when it floods - and they can be vacated when a queen dies and then reoccupied by a different queen later on, so mounds can be hundreds or thousands of years old. We learned a lot more about these little guys later in the trip, so… stay tuned.
I got some more good pictures of elephants - this time babies with mommas. When we approached, both the mommas and the babies would flare out their ears and stomp - show of strength. You just approach them slowly and they always back down - they are bullies, but it’s generally all bark and no bite. That being said, I’m not sure I would be so brave walking outside the jeep.
I don’t know how he did it, but our guide spotted a sleeping Eagle-Owl. They have very noteworthy pink eyes and they really blend right in with the trees.
On our way back to the camp, we found another Leopard - this one was only a couple of hundred feet from our camp. He was stalking some bush buck who had wandered into our camp. We watched him for a bit, and then he crossed under the fence and started heading towards the tent we were staying in. Our guide drove us around and then drove in between our tent and the leopard. True to form, the leopard didn’t care about the truck, but the moment we put our feet on the ground - he was off like a light!
Since we were basically dropped off at our tent, we didn’t have far to go. We got changed and headed in for dinner.
|
|
|
We had a private dinner this evening to celebrate Angela’s birthday (the reason for the trip). It just so happened that this was the night where they served local cuisine - Ox tail with mashed vegetables of various kinds. It was a really fun dinner, but I think we actually preferred the group seating - it was fun to sit with some of the guides and ask questions/etc.
I was going through my photos for the day and found a few that I didn’t know how to place - just beautiful shots of the african bush…
As we were walked back to our tent after dinner, our minder was talking about how sometimes the leopards will make a kill and drag it under the tents. He also had an interesting hypothesis about leopards which, in his mind, made them one of the more dangerous animals in Africa. “Leopards like to try new cuisine” - most animals like to eat the same thing they are used to, a pride of lions will favor one animal more than others (eg the lions of Savute would mostly eat elephants), but leopards like to hunt new animals and do so regularly. I have no idea if this is scientifically backed, not even sure how I would go about verifying it, but it was the thought that send me off to sleep. :)
8/9/2024
Our last day in Moremi - we had the option of sleeping in or going on a morning game drive, so we chose the morning game drive. The first thing we saw was a pair of bush buck right outside the gate, so they must have survived the night!
We saw some baboons on the first day, but today about 30 of them ran in front of our jeep. They have a pair of lookouts that run ahead and setup at the next grazing area (the advanced party). They will hoot back and let the others know it’s clear and that’s when the main group will move. The pair of lookouts from the last spot will come last - making sure they aren’t being followed. Really, quite smart creatures.
We ran into a slightly larger group of Zebra. Zebra family groups consist of one adult male and 7-8 females along with their young. The females are pregnant for 11 months before giving birth, at which point they get pregnant within 2 weeks to start the process over again. Imagine spending 96% of your life pregnant… crazy.
I got some good pictures of a pair of giraffes.
And as we were just thinking things were wrapping up for the day, another wild dogs kill. We raced to the scene, but got there right as they had finished gorging themselves and were running away from the kill. 5 dogs this time, one of them appeared to have a tracking color on. They can really run even when they are carrying probably 10 pounds of meat in their stomachs. Quite impressive animals.
We ran into a small pride of lions - juvenile/adolescent males and some females.
Since it was our last drive in Moremi, we did a tour of all of the spots we had been to over the last 3 days and I managed to grab some scenery shots in the morning light. Goodbye Moremi camp!
Almost 30 miles for our last drive of the camp. Not bad, not bad.
|
|
|
We got back to camp around noon and finished packing everything up. No nap today, but we did lounge on the couches for a while before the guide from our next camp came to pick us up. Goodbye Moremi Camp for real!
