We arrived in Savuti to find that the elephants were still choosing to congregate around the camp waterhole, despite the now flowing Savuti Channel that was giving ample water throughout the area - but this fact provided a great backdrop for lunch and our afternoon viewing. The reason the elephants continue to visit this camps man-made and pumped water hole is because the water is pumped from a great depth and has many minerals suspended within it. The elephants have apparently become fond of the taste, or more likely they benefit from the extra minerals. Whatever the reason it is always great to be able to watch these gentle giants from the comfort of the lodge - but as there are always many other exciting and interesting things to see out in the bush, we dragged ourselves away to go and explore the surrounding area. What we found were many more elephants - breeding herds, small groups of bulls and individual bull elephants everywhere! Over the next few days we spent our time watching and enjoying the habits and interactions of the elephants as well as a good number of other species, from mongooses through to steenbok, wildebeest and giraffe, and of course there was also a great variety of birdlife to see and enjoy as well.

We had spent some time with a group of bull elephants before pottering on to another area known as Wild Dog Vlei, where we watched five female kudus as they moved along feeding on the leaves of the trees, while a number of oxpeckers busied themselves combing through the fur of the kudu in search of insects to feed on. When the kudu moved away and into thicker bush we continued along the dirt track towards a low rocky outcrop that was part of a female leopard’s territory. I was not particularly looking for the leopard, but as always was just looking out in general for anything interesting, big or small, to share with the guests. The sudden movement I detected out of the corner of my eye, about 400 meters off to my right, made me stop the vehicle and excitedly point out to the guests the leopard that had just climbed up onto a scrawny stump of a tree to get a better view of the surrounding bush. After a few minutes everyone had managed to find the leopard in their binoculars or cameras, with the leopard staying nicely poised on the exposed tree branch. It was clear that the leopard was looking out intently for something to hunt, so there was no question that we would try and stay within sight of her as she went about the process, while ensuring that we stayed a good distance off so as to not interfere or influence any hunt. After a good ten minutes the leopard leapt down from the branch and set off through the tall grass and scrubby bushes in a very determined manner that I took as her having seen nothing with potential to hunt and so was moving on to scout another spot. We moved ahead along a barely visible track, stopping regularly to keep abreast of the leopard’s movements - suddenly she stopped, sat up straight and briefly looked intently ahead before lowering herself into typical cat stalking mode, while changing direction in order to get directly downwind of her intended prey. Slowly and steadily the leopard made her way through the grass while the tension grew amongst the guests. We could not see ahead to what we assumed would soon be the leopard’s meal, but I was guessing it would be a francolin or a mongoose, having previously seen this leopard hunting similar prey in surroundings such as these. I moved ahead and sure enough there, scratching in the tangle of the dry grass, was a red billed francolin. For another eternity we sat, while the leopard stalked closer and closer to the unsuspecting francolin until the two were only about 15 feet apart, yet still the francolin had not paused in its scratching about in the grass in search of seeds. Perhaps it was a slight shift in the wind or perhaps the leopard changed its mind, because it suddenly stood up in plain view of the francolin at the same time as the francolin stood up to face the leopard - both staring at each other briefly before the leopard walked on, angling slightly past the frozen francolin. The francolin held its ground briefly as the leopard walked on – then it took off, flying away while squawking loudly, but whether in fear, relief or just to give a warning to all in the area we will never know. The leopard, ignoring us, walked on passing very close to the vehicle before disappearing into the scrubby bushed beyond - another great wildlife interaction, which was far more interesting than watching one of the areas dominant male lions sleeping under a bush! - although we did also see him and his partner, walking out across the flat open grasslands on another occasion, while hundreds of wildebeest were spread out feeding beyond and off into the distance.

We saw lions on two other occasions while game driving in the Chobe River area, but without doubt the highlight of this area was the fantastic views we had of huge numbers of several different species. I have a soft spot for impalas, and so enjoy seeing the large herds fan out across the floodplains, or walk nonchalantly past the vehicle towards their next feeding spot at the same time as making low grunting noises to each other, while the youngsters still find the time and energy to kick up their heels and have a moment of fun chasing one another about. Then there were the large impressive herds of buffalo that had swum across to the large island where they could steadily munch away at the rich grasses without worrying about the pesky lions that were always trying to sneak up on them. We were also treated to seeing more than one good sized herds of sable antelope, and on this particular trip we had the opportunity to see on a number of occasions magnificent lone bull sables drinking at the river - these males would have been on the lookout for the chance to win over some of the young females that had been congregating in large numbers, now that the herds had moved in to the riverine area from the dry teak forests that stretched for miles back into the dry Kalahari sands. An interesting sight was that of a female sable who had obviously had a close encounter with a porcupine and come away with a sharp souvenir! It is the dryness of the teak forests that had brought the vast numbers of animals down to the rich grasses that were growing on the fertile floodplains, which in turn are created as the river level drops steadily as the heat rises with the onset of the dry season.

Family groups of waterbuck, kudu as well as congregations of giraffe all come out onto the floodplains to feed, but none could match the draw of the incredible number of elephants of all sizes that come down to the river to drink, splash and cool off, or to swim across to the islands for the greenest grasses. We made the most of watching the elephants, seeing them at a distance as the herds moved out across the floodplains, or parking right amongst them as they moved out of the bushes down to the rivers edge. As an added bonus we also had the equivalent of front row seats while out on a boat, watching the herds trundle down to the river for that first refreshing trunkful of liquid, followed by the playfulness of the youngsters splashing about in the water. After refreshing themselves and clearing the dust from their trunks, the matriarch elephant would lead the whole family into the water to wade across to the island, although only the largest of the females could keep their feet grounded, with all the others having to swim along using their trunks as snorkels. The problem with having been so absorbed in the atmosphere of such a magnificent scene, was that all too soon we had to move on - and so leaving the elephants, buffalo and lechwe out on the islands we drove out of the park at the end of another great safari.

Until next month....