Chobe National Park: Elephants, Crocodile, Buffalo, Lizard & Baboons скачать в хорошем качестве

Chobe National Park: Elephants, Crocodile, Buffalo, Lizard & Baboons

Today’s viewing was from a boat cruising on the Chobe River which borders Botswana and Namibia. We departed from Kasane and traveled along the banks of the Chobe as we spotted many animals and birds. First was a Marabou Stork that gracefully glided to the ground for a landing near its mate. The Marabou Stork is an unusual-looking bird with a large expandable pouch under its throat. The stork expands the pouch when the weather is hot and uses it as a heat exchanger to cool itself down. Marabou Stork is on the list of the “Ugly Five”. Next, we saw an African Elephant in silhouette as it pulled grass from the turf, winnowed and filtered it with its trunk, and placed it in its mouth to eat. We also saw elephants in the distance as they traveled along the banks of the Chobe. Laying flat and unmoving on the river bank was a Nile Crocodile taking in the warmth of the sun. His very large teeth overhanging his lower jaw were evident even from a distance. When then saw many African Buffalo resting and grazing on the Chobe banks and later swimming as a group to a small island. These very large and sometimes aggressive animals don’t have many predators. When they are attacked (e.g. by a group of lions), they will come to the rescue of the attacked animal and defend it against the attackers. Several of the buffalo had Oxpecker birds that eat insects off the buffalos' backs. Next, we came across a Monitor Lizard that was moving low along the grass. It was about 4 feet long and used its tongue to sample the air and help it navigate its way along the river bank. We then had a good view of a Baboon mother with her baby firmly gripping her back as it took a ride with a view. The mother foraged for food and drank from a stream. We noted that when a large male Baboon approached the mother, the baby instinctively shifted its position from the mother’s back to instead cling to the mother’s stomach. This maneuver makes the baby less accessible and vulnerable to an attack by the male baboon. This experience was part of The Great Southern African Safari organized by G Adventures working in partnership with National Geographic Expeditions. You can read about the technical aspects of this trip in the 'Tech on Travel - The Africa Edition' blog post by Allison Sheridan at https://www.podfeet.com/blog/2024/09/...