Moremi Game Reserve

We were awakened at 5:45 am with a hot cup of coffee delivered to our tent to get us going as we ate a oatmeal breakfast and got in the jeeps at 6:30 for an exciting morning of game watching. As we ate breakfast we compared notes on the sounds we heard during the night. The included elephant, hyenas, lions roar, and a hippopotamus.

John and I split up this morning so he saw animals I did not see and vise versa. John’s exciting morning began with running with a wild spotted dog pack. These wild dogs are an endangered species with only about 700 left in the world and only 300 in Botswana. This pack had 17 dogs.

My morning started with watching a herd of 6 giraffes and one male giraffe off to one side. They are amazing creatures. There was a small herd of zebra nearby too.

Black Smith Plover - a beautiful black and white bird
Bennetts red head woodpecker
Reb Billed Franklin - a quail like bird only bigger
Coppery tailed coucal - a snake eater bird
Sausage Tree - this tree produces a sausage shaped fruit with seeds that birds, monkeys and other animals thrive on.
Black eyed bulbul - bird
Gray Laurie bird sometimes called “Go Away” bird because of the sound it makes. He also warns other birds and animals of danger calling “Go Away, Go Away!”
Cape Buffalo!! - one of the Big Five!

John’s Jeep found this next one and we rushed to join them - a Black Leopard! He was stalking an injured Lechwe. We watched it run across the grass then hide behind a tall termite hill. Stanley suspects he had to give up the hunt as the Lechwe moved into a wet marsh and leopards don’t like the water.

African Fish Eagle
Warthogs - two ran near some Impala. Mr. Fish says they never walk but always run.
Woodhoopoh or Giggling Lady Bird - red bird that giggles
Great White Egret
Snake Bird - eats fish but neck looks like a snake when it swims.
Three Hippopotomus
Spur-winged Goose - has a red beak and looks like a vulture
Water Buck, Vervet Monkey, hippos
Kudus
Hammerkop bird - keeps snakes in it nest to protect eggs
Pied Kingfisher
Kudu skull with horns
Bee eaters and Blue wax bill

Cape Buffalo - a whole herd as viewed from our campsite!

And that was just in the morning!