Robin's Adventures

There were many beautiful water birds in the Okavango Delta, such as the egret, the Saddle-Billed Stork, the Open-Billed Stork, and the Black Heron.

Off to the airstrip to catch another bush plane to a different location in the Okavango Delta. We were met by several giraffes at the edge of the landing strip and by a game drive vehicle that took us to Chief's Camp.

Check out this view of the Okavango Delta taken from the copilot seat of a bush plane.

The next two nights were spent in a bush pavilion at Sanctuary Chief's Camp. One of the interesting features of our room was the option to use an outdoor shower. The view of the grasslands and the marsh was wonderful.

There were two young leopards guarding their kill under a tree. While we were watching them, two large male elephants showed up. The elephants could smell the kill and became very agitated.

One of the elephants went after a leopard. The leopard ran up into a tree. The elephant began to shake the tree. The leopard went to a higher branch. The elephant reached up with his trunk and broke the branch. The leopard came down with the branch, landed on his feet, and began to skitter away from the elephant.

Moral of the story: Don't mess with a pissed off elephant.

As you watch the video watch for the leopard in the tree (upper left) and be sure to notice the leopard skitter away from the falling branch (bottom left).

In the shade of a tree near the edge of the hippo pool we found a wonderful place to park the game drive vehicle, kick back, and watch the animals.

Hippos spend a majority of the day in the water keeping cool and resting. They come out of the water at dusk and spend up to six hours on the land eating grasses, which is the staple food in their diet.

When a hippo feels threatened, it displays an opened mouth as warning to others to back off. In spite of their large size, hippos can travel at speeds up to about 20 mph on land.

Check out this video of the frolicking hippos.

There were many giraffes in the Okavango Delta. Giraffes are the tallest of all living land animals and no two have the same pattern of markings. It is also noteworthy that giraffes have the shortest sleep requirement of any mammal, sleeping anywhere between 10 minutes and two hours per day.

A herd of elephants actually showed up at Chief's Camp one afternoon and walked through the camp to get to the grassy marsh on the other side. Everyone enjoyed the show.

One afternoon while we were driving around looking for animals, we came unexpectedly upon a white rhino. We spooked the rhino so badly that he began to charge. Fortunately, our driver was able to take evasive maneuvers and the rhino ran off.

We came upon a large pride of lions that were napping quietly. We parked the game drive vehicle nearby so we could observe and take some photos. Before long, the group was awake and our vehicle was surrounded.

There were two adult males, several adult females, and four or five young cubs. Many of their behaviors were just like those of a domesticated house cat. The lions were very into grooming themselves and each other. There was lots of stretching and yawning as the cats woke from their nap.