Welcome to our grand tour of Botswana and South Africa from July, 2001.

Geography & Geology: Where we went; about the Okavango Delta

Ecology & Plants: Typical landscapes and plants of the region

Mammals: Mammals we saw

Birds: Birds we saw

Things you never saw on Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom: Murder! Theft! Sex! Obesity!

Trip details: Photos of accomodations and information about the trip operators

People: Memories of the trip and miscellany

Geography & Geology

Map 1: southern Africa

Map 2: Botswana

Map 3: the Okavango Delta and Linyanti River systems

Ecology & Plants

Baobob

Umbrella thorn acacia

Protea bush and blossom

Landscapes:

Swamp
With giraffe

With palms

Vulture jamboree

With reeds

Aerial lagoon

Cliched sunset shot

Habitat destruction by elephant

At Duma Tau

Linyanti River

Savuti Channel

Cape Town: squeezed between Table Mountain and the sea

Why isn't the Okavango Delta salty, like California's Salton Sea or the Great Salt Lake?

Salt in the soil-----creates saline deserts

Mammals

Bat-eared Foxes

Gotta love 'em

Black-backed Jackal

Animals get photographed with their eyes closed too

Cape Buffalo

Portrait

Chacma Baboon

Carrying young-----At the waterhole-----Young 'uns

Cheetah (see also Theft below)

Steroid Boys-----Recumbent

Elephant

Big bull-----Water hole sequence-----One-----Two-----Three-----Four

Giraffe

We're suckers for babies -----Graceful

Hippos

These kill more people than any other African mammal-----The End

Impala

Watching lion

Kudu

In shadow

Leopard

Treed-----At rest-----One last photo

Lion (see also Murder, Sex, and Obesity below)

Cub

Rock python

Yes, it's a reptile, not a mammal, but there is no reptile section.

Side-striped Jackal

On alert

Spotted Hyena (see also Theft below)

Walking-----Baby

Stienbok

In high grass

Tree squirrel

On a camp railing

Tsessebe

Stare

Vervet

In a tree

Waterbok

Male-----with harem

Wild Dog (see also Murder below)

At rest-----On hunt

Zebra

With palms-----Rolling in the dust

Birds

African Fish Eagle

Great Eagle-Owl

Grey Lourie ("Go-Away Bird")

Ground hornbill

Helmetted Guineafowl

Jackass Penguin-----In its burrow-----Jackass Coney Island

Kori Bustard

Lilac-breasted Roller

White-backed Vultures

Yellow-billed Duck

Yellow-billed Hornbill

Things you never saw on Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom

Murder!

Wild dogs kill an impala
Three lions-----Two lions-----One lion

Icky

Theft!

These cheetahs were robbed----by this hyena

Sex!

At rest-----Foreplay-----Uh, um, ...

Obesity!

After Thanksgiving meal
Thieving hyena

Have a giraffe. Take two, they're small.

Trip details

Accomodation

Mombo camp-----Mombo tent-----Mombo interior-----Mombo porch-----At Mombo, even the outdoor toilets were exceptional.
Xigera tent

Duma Tau tent-----Duma Tau interior-----Duma Tau going away party

All three camps above are run by Wilderness Safaris, a South African firm.

Transportation

Planes-----Bush airstrips-----Bush air terminals
Cars

and Boats

Camps' Bay, Cape Town-----Kirstenbosch Greenhouse, Cape Town

People

Featuring Sandy

Okwa
(Richard), Jack, Paulina-----Heidi, Richard, Jack, Paulina

With python

At Kirstenbosch

Featuring Blair

Okwa, Kerry, Michael
Peace

At Kirstenbosch

Featuring Sandy & Blair

Spotting a marabou stork
Duma Tau-----With Lex

Featuring others

Lex and cheetahs-----Lex and python
Picnic

Okwa, Michael, Kerry-----Okwa, Kerry

Rock, Jon

Heidi, Richard, Lex, Jack-----Kerry, Richard, Lex, Heidi, Bobby, Richard-----

Lex, Paulina, Jack-----Bobby-----Heidi, Michael, Bobby-----

Featuring the group

Xigera poolside-----Xigera makoros