MY FIRST AFRICAN PHOTO SAFARI EXPERIENCE WAS 2 HOURS IN Chobe National Park
My flight from Melbourne to Johannesburg the day prior meant I woke up at City Lodge at OR Tambo airport. An ideal hotel to stopover if you don’t want to leave the airport - I recommend it especially if you are a solo traveller. Theres also the more upmarket Intercontinental which is just outside the airport in Johannesburg which I stayed at the night I returned from Botswana while waiting for my flight to Namibia if you want a bit more luxury.
On my South African Airlines flight from Johannesburg to Kasane rows 4-7 had limited cabin locker space so they are not ideal if you have a big camera bag and want to keep it close (on my flight Airlink AVRO RJ85).
“Welcome to the freedom of the African skies” I’ll never forget the first time I heard that on a plane.
The flight from Johannesburg to Kasane was good with some great views below.
The flight was running late, so when I arrived at Kasane airport I met Sabine from Pangolin Photo Safaris who was patiently waiting for me. An unfamiliar and unusual sign was displayed at the Immigration queue…” A CORRUPT COUNTRY IS LIKE A COW WITH LUNG DISEASE. THEY HAVE NO FUTURE”!! lol! 😂
Due to the late plane I was dropped off at my hotel and had 10 minutes to check in, re-pack my camera bag and meet the boat at the jetty! Even running I was a few minutes late, but having one of the rooms furthest away from reception didn’t help! I stayed at the Cresta Mowana-Safari Resort, however now Pangolin Photo Safaris have their own unique hotel in Chobe!
Big Boab tree is the centre of the Mowana Resort/Hotel, Kasane, Botswana
There were only two other people booked on the boat trip on the Chobe River that afternoon who were both travel magazine editors. They said they’ve never seen so many elephants at Chobe at one time…so it sounds like I was very lucky. However, I saw the same huge amount of elephants everyday too!
Onboard the awesome boat designed especially for photographers!
Being so close and at such a low view point to so much amazing African wildlife was absolutely breathtaking. I really felt like I was living in my dreams.
some highlights of my first africa photo safari experience on the photography boat on the Chobe River
-Incredible variety of Birdlife I’m not usually someone that loves taking photos of birds, but over the days on my safari photo trip I came to love spotting different birds and capturing them all!
One of the Fish Eagles with it’s catch of the day!
-BABY ELEPHANTS were seen with their herds. Sabine told me that if they fit under their mums tummy they are under 1. I was so thrilled to see many baby elephants with different herds! When I first saw the elephants my heart was beating so super fast…I was so excited and could not believe this was real and not a dream! It was just absolutely awesome and I am so grateful I booked this African photography adventure!
So entertaining watching this baby elephant interact with the herd.
-CAPE BUFFALO certainly didn’t look dangerous, although they are reported to kill aprox 200 people a year in Africa…similar to hippos and crocodiles! They reminded me of super fat cows!
-HIPPOS were certainly not welcoming and when their eyes stared at you and they surrounded the boat I did get a bit unsure. Although as the days went on I realised that the guides knew the hippos and their behaviour. Although I admit that they were the only thing I was a little scared of in Botswana! They definitely demand respect.
Unforgettable feeling when the angry hippos stare at you and then disappear under the water!
-GIRAFFES were spotted and looked so graceful when moving, but so clumsy when trying to drink. This is were your telephoto lens comes in handy when on an African Safari as the giraffes are quite shy.
-CROCODILES and baby crocodiles…although they didn’t seem that big compared to our Aussie crocs! Although the American tourists seemed to think they were massive. We also saw lizards.
-LIONS coming for a drink at the river was our last sighting as the sun ☀️ was setting and an UNBELIEVABLE way to finish off my first African photography safari on the boat!!
We saw three lions as the day was ending…incredible sightings for the first day!!
Of course there were many other animals, but these are the ones that stood out to me when I was having dinner thinking about my amazing experience! The guide and Sabine kept saying how lucky I had been with my first day on the boat…and I had 7 more trips with Pangolin Photo Safaris!!
I was too tired to download my photos from the afternoon, but I took just over 1000 photos from my first 2 hour boat trip!!
A Dream come true…and it is only the start of the adventure!!
Here’s a highlight slideshow with a few of my photos from this amazing time in Chobe National Park, Botswana.
