The Okavango Delta of Botswana is one of the wonders of the natural world. The Okavango River flows out of Angola into the Kalahari Desert creating a vast inland Eden. Botswana is doing a commendable job of protecting this bounty while providing jobs and income to the local population through the ecotourism industry. I was fortunate to visit there last May. I have recently been going back though by RAW images and processing some things that I passed over in previous edits. I hope you enjoy this little visit to southern Africa and that it serves as a reminder that we share this small planet with some incredible creatures. Without our protection some of them could disappear from the wild in this century.
We will start with some of our feathered friends, our only remaining dinosaurs....
Southern Yellow-Billed Hornbill
Malachite Kingfisher
Malachite Kingfisher
Pearl Spotted Owlet. Note the false eyes on the back of its head in the photo on the right. Ain't nature something?
Pearl Spotted Owlet
Little Bee Eaters
Little Bee Eater
African Jacana, note the incredibly huge feet that it uses to walk on lily pads.
Moving on the mammals...
Some elephant details.
The Zebra
The Spotted Hyena leaves a subadult back at the den to look after the little gremlins.
The little gremlins are already highly contentious.
African Wild Dog, conservationist Greg Rasmussen has proposed calling them Painted Dogs to cut down on the rampant predator prejudice against this highly endangered canine.
Painted Dog finishing a yawn. They do have some teeth!
Cheetah on a termite mound
Cheetah
A resting leopard.
...and we will finish with the really big pooties.
When they walk by the open vehicle and look straight into your eyes it definitely puts a charge up your spine.
Two young males siblings who had just been ejected from their pride the previous night by the older males. We heard the roaring and snarling all night and the next day these two along with two other young males were on their own.
The Brothers
I hope you have enjoyed this little nature walk. Please feel free to post your photos, and please be good humans.
Aloha