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Okavango Delta, Savuti & Chobe River, Botswana - July 2022

Photo Tours to Botswana

Posted on 11th February, 2023

Stu Porter

Stu Porter photography Giraffe Savuti Botswana
A "Tower" of Southern Giraffe and Red-billed Oxpeckers on the Savuti Marsh in Botswana

The second trip to Botswana departed in July with a flight from Johannesburg to Maun and then we caught a charter flight into the Okavango Delta. Here we met our guides and vehicles and headed off to our private mobile camp deep inside the Moremi Game Reserve.

Moremi had a number of special sightings for us. The funniest one was when we drove closer to a huge dead tree to photograph two Fish Eagles perched at the top, not noticing that there was a female Leopard lying out in the open on a lower branch. Thankfully we got to follow the Leopard and she climbed high into another tree, this time a Leadwood, and posed beautifully for us.

No trip to Botswana is complete without entering the Lilac Breasted Roller challenge and Moremi provided some great opportunities to photograph this unbelievably colourful bird.

Our second location in the Delta was the Khwai community area and here we managed to photograph the Red Lechwe, an iconic antelope of the area. Sunrise light is incredible in Botswana and can only be seen to be believed. We enjoyed photographing a beautiful herd of Impala at this special time of the day.

We also photographed another female Leopard as she sat up in a tree overlooking the surrounding area.

On our drive to Savuti through the Mababe Depression, we photographed male Lions resting in the shade and a massive group of giraffes.

We were lucky enough to find the same pack of Cape Hunting Dogs at the den in Savuti, but this time with 6 of the 7 puppies that we had seen on the first trip. Apparently, one had been killed by a Lioness.
It was interesting to see how quickly the puppies develop and they were a lot more sure-footed compared to the first time we saw them.

We had another great sighting of a female Leopard, taking our tally to a Leopard at each location.

Two male cheetahs were also seen out on the Savuti Marsh.. this is perfect territory for them but they are the least seen of the three big cats, so we felt very fortunate. They did try to hunt a herd of Wildebeest that crossed through the marsh but were unsuccessful.

On our final morning, we searched the area around Harvey's Pans, a very productive area for drinking animals and excellent bird life.

A short flight from Savuti took us up to the Chobe River where we enjoyed 4 amazing boat rides out on the river.. our very first afternoon turned out to be a real photo spectacle when a massive herd of around 70 Sable Antelope suddenly appeared out of the woodland and lined up to drink from the Chobe River. Little did we know at that point that things would suddenly change when a Lioness charged in to try and grab one of the younger individuals, totally ignoring larger adults that were closer to her. She was unsuccessful, but it was a wonderful start to our Chobe River section of the tour.

Elephants, Hippos, African Jacana, African Fish Eagles, Darters, Cormorants, Pied Kingfishers, Yellow Billed Storks, Common Waterbuck, Purple Herons, Crocodiles, and a very funny Baboon kept our cameras busy during the four boat rides out on the river... the Chobe River is always a fantastic way to end the Botswana Safari.

Our safari ended with the flight from Kasane back to Johannesburg.

Thanks so much to the team at Thru-the-lens Nature Safaris, Nkosi & Offie, we really appreciated all the hard work you put in to make the trip so successful and enjoyable. The camp staff team was WONDERFUL, thank you to chef Kelly, Moruti, Mr. T, Long John, and Lobs..... the trip would not be the same without all your hard work.

Thank you, Shuur, our boat captain on the river, it's always a great pleasure to work with you ... and to the amazing staff at the Pangolin Hotel for looking after us so well.

Peter, Jody, Al, Kathy, and Wendy, it was such a pleasure to have you all on the safari to Botswana, thank you for joining us.

Here are some photos from just some of the highlights from the July 2022 Botswana Photo Safari.

Best wishes,

Stu.

Stu Porter Photography Zebra Botswana
Burchell's Zebra in the Okavango Delta, Botswana
WILD4 Photo Tours Roller Botswana
Lilac Breasted Roller in flight, Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana
WILD4 Photo Tours Reedbuck Okavango delta
Male Reedbuck in the Okavango Delta, Botswana
Stu Porter Photography Bee-eater Botswana
Little Bee-Eater in Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana
Stu Porter Photography Leopard Moremi Botswana
Female Leopard high in a Leadwood Tree, Okavango Delta, Botswana
WILD4 Photo Tours Impala Botswana
Young male Impala running, Okavango Delta, Botswana
WILD4 Photo Tours Campfire Botswana Stu Porter
Breakfast around the campfire in the Okavango Delta, Botswana
Stu Porter Photography Red Lechwe Okavango Delta
Male Red Lechwe, Okavango Delta, Botswana
WILD4 Photo Tours Starling Botswana
Meve's Starling, Okavango Delta, Botswana
WILD4 Photo Tours Tented Botswana
Mobile tented camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana
Roller, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Lilac Breasted Roller portrait, Okavango Delta, Botswana
Stu Porter Photography IMpala sunrise Botswana
Herd of Impala at sunrise, Okavango Delta, Botswana
Stu Porter Photography Leopard tree Botswana
Female Leopard surveying her territory, Okavango Delta, Botswana
Stu Porter Photography Morning coffee Botswana
Late morning coffee stop somewhere in the Okavango Delta, Botswana
WILD4 Photo Tours Male Lion Botswana
Male Lion resting in the shade in the Mababe Depression, Botswana
WILD4 African Photographic Safaris Stu Porter Giraffe eating
A "Tower of Giraffe feeding in the Mababe Depression
WILD4 African Photographic Safaris Stu Porter Wilddog
Cape Hunting dog puppy, Savuti Den, Botswana
WILD4 African Photographic Safaris Stu Porter Dog Puppies Botswana
Cape Hunting Dog puppies playing in Savuti, Botswana
WILD4 African Photographic Safaris Stu Porter Hornbill Botswana
Southern Yellow Billed Hornbill in Savuti, Botswana
WILD4 African Photographic Safaris Stu Porter Cheetah Botswana Savuti
Male Cheetah out on the open Savuti Marsh, Botswana
WILD4 African Photographic Safaris Stu Porter Campfire Botswana
Private mobile camp in Savuti, Botswana
Cheetah Savuti Marsh Botswana by Stu Porter
Cheetah and safari vehicle, Savuti Marsh, Botswana
Wilddog puppy Botswana, by Stu Porter
Cape Hunting dog puppy in Savuti, Botswana
Sunrise, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Sunrise at Rhino Pan in Savuti, Botswana
Verreuax's Owl, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Verreaux's Eagle Owl in Savuti, Botswana
Blue Wildebeest, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Blue Wildebeest running across the Savuti Marsh, Botswana
Dining tent, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Dining tent at our private mobile camp, Savuti, Botswana
Plover Blacksmith, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Blacksmith Lapwing in Savuti, Botswana
Zebra Savuti, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Herd of Burchell's Zebra in Savuti, Botswana
Bee-eater Savuti, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Swallow-tailed Bee-eater in Savuti, Botswana
Leopard, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Female Leopard on a fallen Camel Thorn Tree in Savuti, Botswana
Magpie Shrike Savuti, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Magpie Shrike in Savuti, Botswana
Steenbok, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Three Steenbok in Savuti, Botswana
Kudu, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Herd of Greater Kudu drinking at Harvey's Pans in Savuti, Botswana
Swainson's, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Swainson's Spurfowl in Savuti, Botswana
Light Aircraft Savuti Mackair, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Boarding the light aircraft for the flight from Savuti to the Chobe River
Sable herd Chobe, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Unusual sighting of a massive herd of Sable drinking from the Chobe River, Botswana
Sable antelope, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Rarely seen Sable Antelope heading back to the woodland, Chobe River, Botswana
Sable Lion running, Botswana, by Stu Porter
The Lioness that chased the Sable, her eyes fixed ahead on a younger individual, Chobe River, Botswana
Baboon, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Chacma Baboon having some parasites removed, Chobe River, Botswana
Glossy Ibis, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Glossy Ibis, Chobe River, Botswana
Waterbuck, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Female Common Waterbuck, Chobe River, Botswana
Spurwinged Goose, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Spur-winged Goose in flight, Chobe River, Botswana
Photo Boat Pangolin Chobe River, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Photographing a herd of Elephants at Elephant Bay, from the Pangolin Photo Boat, Chobe River, Botswana
Elephants river chobe, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Herd of Elephants at Elephant Bay, Chobe River, Botswana
Hippos Chobe River, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Hippos feeding, Chobe River, Botswana
Lesser Jacana Chobe, Botswana, by Stu Porter
Juvenile African Jacana, Chobe River, Botswana
Baboon, Botswana, by Stu Porter WILD4 African Photo Safaris
Chacma Baboon chilling on the beach, Chobe River, Botswana
Egret, by Stu Porter WILD4 African Photo Safaris
Western Cattle Egret, Chobe River, Botswana
Baboon Elephant, Botswana, by Stu Porter WILD4 African Photo Safaris
Elephant shooing off a Chacma Baboon, Chobe River, Botswana
Yellow Billed Stork, Botswana, by Stu Porter WILD4 African Photo Safaris
Yellow-billed Stork in flight carrying nesting material, Chobe River, Botswana
Crocodile Chobe River, Botswana, by Stu Porter WILD4 African Photo Safaris
Nile Crocodile basking, Chobe River, Botswana
Yellow Billed Stork, Botswana, by Stu Porter WILD4 African Photo Safaris
Yellow-billed Stork landing, Chobe River, Botswana
African Fish Eagle, Botswana, by Stu Porter WILD4 African Photo Safaris
Juvenile African Fish Eagle, Chobe River, Botswana
African Darter, Botswana, by Stu Porter WILD4 African Photo Safaris
African Darter, Yellow-billed Stork and a Reed Cormorant, Chobe River, Botswana
Cormorant, Botswana, by Stu Porter WILD4 African Photo Safaris
White-breasted Cormorant, Chobe River, Botswana
African Fish Eagle, Botswana, by Stu Porter WILD4 African Photo Safaris
African Fish Eagle calling while being harassed by two Long-toed Lapwings, Chobe River, Botswana
Reed Cormorant, Botswana, by Stu Porter WILD4 African Photo Safaris
Reed Cormorant, Chobe River, Botswana
Purple Heron, Botswana, by Stu Porter WILD4 African Photo Safaris
Purple Heron with a meal, Chobe River, Botswana
Fish Eagle, Botswana, by Stu Porter WILD4 African Photo Safaris
African Fish Eagle dropping its fish on take off, Chobe River, Botswana
Pied Kingfisher, Botswana, by Stu Porter WILD4 African Photo Safaris
Pied Kingfisher in flight, Chobe River, Botswana