Category Archives: Botswana

Our 2024 in Pictures

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Join us as we reminisce about the places DeWetsWild visited while exploring Southern Africa’s wild places in 2024!

May 2025 be a year to remember for all the best reasons. Happy New Year, everyone!

Chalet 4 at Boschkop, on the shores of the Vaal Dam, January 2024

Skukuza Rest Camp, Kruger National Park, January 2024

Skukuza Bungalow #210, Kruger National Park, January 2024

Skukuza Safari Tent #316, Kruger National Park, January 2024

Cliffhanger Lodge

Leopard Rock Lodge

Recce Lodge

Sunrise at Rietvlei

Camping at Elephant Sands

Elephants drinking from the waterhole in Elephant Sands Lodge

Camping at Domtshetshu Pan

Camping under the stars on Sua Pan

On the horizon lies our campsite on Sua Pan, surrounded by emptiness

Elephant Sands’ Eco Lodge

Campsite #19 at Senyati Safari Camp

Elephants at the waterhole seen from the deck above Senyati’s restaurant

Game-viewing by boat on the Chobe River

Elephants making their way to the Chobe River

Victoria Falls

Lilydale Unit#1, Mokala National Park, June 2024

Sunset Kudu at Mokala

Buffelshoek Safari Camp, Manyeleti Nature Reserve, June 2024

Two of the Kambula Lions at Manyeleti

Simon’s Town Quayside Hotel, Boardwalk Shopping Centre and Bertha’s Restaurant

View from my room at the Simon’s Town Quayside Hotel

African Penguin

Ostriches on the beach at the Cape of Good Hope

Kirstenbosch Spring Annuals Display

Table Mountain cableway

Big old elephant bull between Satara and Olifants in the Kruger National Park

Jamie Mulhovo Guest House, Skukuza, October 2024

Sunset scenery around Skukuza

Research Camp Chalet 5, Skukuza, October 2024

Buffalo at sunset

Research Camp Guest House, Shingwedzi, October 2024

Elephant cow walking past Shingwedzi Camp’s entrance

Gariep N1 Chalets in the Great Karoo

Camping at Karoo National Park, December 2024

Karoo Scenery

Camping at Aloe Canyons

Aloe Canyons

Entrance to Bontebok National Park

Bontebok National Park scenery

De Hoop Vlei

Agulhas Lighthouse

African Penguins on the boardwalk at Betty’s Bay

Camping at Ebb-and-Flow Rest Camp in the Wilderness section of the Garden Route National Park

Wilderness

Camping at Storms River Mouth

Rough seas at the Tsitsikamma coast

Bradfield’s Hornbill

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Today is Birding Big Day in South Africa, so in a clever twist of irony we’re showcasing a bird that none of the participants in the event is at all likely to encounter! 😀

Lophoceros (Tockus) bradfieldi

Bradfield’s Hornbill is found in only five Southern African countries: Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe. According to the IUCN it is not in any imminent danger of extinction though it does note that the population is probably in decline due to habitat loss as a result of logging operations. They occur in savanna-woodland and feed mainly on invertebrates, small vertebrates, seeds and berries. They’re usually seen in pairs or small flocks.

Typical of most hornbills, Bradfield’s Hornbill also breeds in holes in trees in which the female is plastered inside with the (usually) three eggs for the 4 week incubation period while the male feeds her through a slit. She leaves the nest a few days after the chicks hatched to help the male feed them until they’re ready to leave the nest at almost 2 months old. The parents take care of the chicks for another month of so thereafter.

Bradfield’s Hornbill

DeWetsWild’s Portfolio grows again!

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DeWetsWild’s portfolio of destinations for which we render a reservation service has expanded again to 307 points on the map, with the following 24 new properties in South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and Zambia now included:

In South Africa:

26º South Hotel in Muldersdrift.
African Rock Hotel & Spa in Kempton Park, Gauteng – conveniently close to the OR Tambo (Johannesburg) International Airport.
Beacon House, Knysna.
Impodimo Game Lodge in the Madikwe Game Reserve.
Kapama River Lodge, Kapama Buffalo Camp, Kapama Southern Camp, Kapama Karula and Kruger Homestead, all in the Kapama Private Game Reserve.
Khaya Ndlovu Safari Manor, in the Rietspruit Game Reserve near Hoedspruit.
Kubu Bush Lodge & Kubu Safari Lodge, near Hoedspruit in the Lowveld.
Kruger Untamed Tshokwane River Camp in the Kruger National Park.
Kruger Untamed Satara Plains Camp in the Kruger National Park.
Mjejane River Lodge in Mjejane Game Reserve.
Tangala Safari Camp in the Thornybush Game Reserve.

In Botswana:

Chobe Marina Lodge in Kasane
Elephant Sands Lodge near Nata
Elephant Valley Lodge near Kasane
Kadizora Camp in the Okavango Delta
Saguni Safari Lodge in the Okavango Delta
Senyati Safari Camp near Kasane

In Mozambique:

Villa Robal at Machangulo Point on Maputo Bay

In Zambia:

The David Livingstone Safari Lodge and Spa at the Victoria Falls

Come along on a boat ride on the Chobe River

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During our tour of Botswana in June we set off on an afternoon boat ride from the launch site in Kasane, following the Chobe River upstream into the Chobe National Park and later returning along the main channel – the border between Botswana and Namibia – around Sedudu Island by sunset. Game-viewing and photographic opportunities from the boat was excellent as we floated low to the water to almost within touching distance of Nile Crocodiles, Hippos, Buffaloes, Elephants and a wide array of other animals and birds which were all surprisingly unworried by our proximity. Certainly an experience to savour and never be forgotten!

The Chobe River at Kasane

Schalow’s Turaco

Guinea-fowl Butterfly

Spur-winged Goose

Big Red Lechwe ram

African Darter

Nile Crocodile

Nile Monitor

Nile Crocodile

Pied Kingfisher

White-crowned Lapwing

Banded Mongooses

Banded Mongoose

Nile Crocodile

Pied Wagtail

Game-viewing by boat on the Chobe River

Cape Buffalo

Serenity on the Chobe River

African Darter

African Fish Eagle

Cape Buffalo

Baboon of subspecies Papio ursinus griseipes

Baby Baboon of subspecies Papio ursinus griseipes

Baboon of subspecies Papio ursinus griseipes searching for seeds in elephant dung

Baby elephant

Elephant youngster

Hippos

Cape Buffalo

Cape Buffalo and cattle egret

African Spoonbills

Yellow-billed Storks

Red Lechwes

Great Egret

Black heron “canopy feeding” on shoals of small fish disturbed by the moving buffalo

Game-viewing by boat on the Chobe River

Resting hippos

Spur-winged Goose

Red Lechwes

Marabou Stork

Waterbuck family

Marabou Stork

Pink-backed Pelican

Water Thick-knee

Goliath Heron

Namibian fisherman in a traditional mokoro

Red Lechwes

Large flock of Black-winged Pratincoles settling down on an island for the night

Sunset over the Chobe River

Come along on a game drive through Botswana’s Chobe National Park

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We made an early departure from Senyati in order to be at the entrance gate into Chobe National Park by the time it opened at 6am. One of the first animals we saw was a leopard stalking a herd of impala, a good indication as to the quality of the game-viewing we enjoyed for the morning we spent exploring the park.

Leopard seen early morning in the Sedudu Valley

Sunrise over the Chobe River

Lechwes on the bank of the Chobe River

Red-billed Spurfowl

White-crowned Lapwing

Buffalo feeding in the Chobe River

Meyer’s parrot

Baboon of subspecies Papio ursinus griseipes

Puku

Red-billed Spurfowl

African Hawk-Eagle

Swamp Boubou

Tropical Boubou

Baboon of subspecies Papio ursinus griseipes

Impala

Bradfield’s Hornbill

Little Bee-eater

Neddicky

Warthog

Vervet Monkey of the race C. p. ngamiensis photographed in the Chobe National Park

Serene scene on the Chobe River

Plains Zebras

Plains Zebra

Giraffe

Puku

Nile Crocodile

Great Egret

Elephants making their way to the Chobe River

Nile Crocodile

Hippo

Elephants on the banks of the Chobe River

Elephants making their way to the Chobe River

Elephants drinking from the Chobe River

Squacco Heron

Kudu cows

Kudu cow

Impalas congregating next to the Chobe River

The highlight of the day was finding three lions strolling across the Puku Flats. At one point they flushed a roan antelope from a patch of long grass, but it made a safe retreat. Eventually the lions found a shady spot in which to rest and we moved along.

Lioness

Young lion male

Lioness

Roan Antelope

Young lion male

Lioness

Young lion male

Lioness

Young lion male

We made it as far west as the Kabulabula Peninsula before we had to turn around and head for the gate again, as we had another exciting excursion booked for the afternoon. More about that in the next post!

Senyati Safari Camp

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Following our amazing Gospel on Safari experience, colleague and friend Hannes Rossouw and I extended our stay in Botswana a little by heading further north to explore the Chobe National Park and surrounds, basing ourselves at Senyati Safari Camp. Senyati is located in the Lesoma Valley, just 15km from Kasane, gateway into Chobe, and offers accommodation, camping, a restaurant and a fabulous sunken hide from which you can get some terrific images of the animals and birds that come to drink at the camp’s waterhole day and night.

Sable Antelope just outside Senyati’s camping area

White-backed Vulture soaring over Senyati

Blue Wildebees walking away from Senyati’s waterhole

Egyptian Goose at Senyati’s waterhole

Three-banded Plover at Senyati’s waterhole

Red-billed Spurfowl

Arrow-marked babbler

Giraffe making its way around Senyati

Giraffes making their way around Senyati

Cape Turtle Dove

Warthog approaching Senyati’s waterhole

Campsite #19 at Senyati Safari Camp

Senyati’s sunken hide

Elephants at the waterhole seen from the deck above Senyati’s restaurant

Elephant from Senyati’s underground hide

Elephants from Senyati’s underground hide

Chobe Dwarf Gecko

Bradfield’s Hornbill

In upcoming posts I’ll share some more pictures taken on a drive through Chobe National Park, a boat ride on the Chobe River, and at Victoria Falls in neighbouring Zimbabwe.

Finally seeing a Pangolin in the wild!

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Last month, while travelling between Elephant Sands Lodge and the Sua Pan in Botswana during Gospel on Safari, a life-long dream of mine was realised when I finally had the chance to see a Pangolin in the wild!

Ground Pangolin

Ground Pangolin scales

Ground Pangolin rolling into a protective ball

Smutsia temminckii – The Ground Pangolin

Sadly, the Ground Pangolin is being threatened with extinction and is currently listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. Like other kinds of pangolin their populations are being driven downward by illegal trade for mainly superstitious medicinal uses and as a high-end delicacy. Farming practices, electric fences and road deaths are further threats to these enigmatic animals. In South Africa today they’re found mainly in the Northern Cape, North West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and northern KZN, with populations in the Eastern Cape and Free State now feared extinct, while their natural distribution stretches beyond our borders as far north as Chad and Sudan.

Fully grown Ground Pangolins measure between 70 and 110cm in length, stand about 30cm high on all fours and weigh between 5 and 18kg, with males being considerably bigger than females. They feed on ants and termites, breaking open their nests with the powerful claws on their front feet and lapping the insects up with a tongue that is longer than the Pangolin’s body! They inhabit any habitat that has an ample supply of their favoured food items, being found from semi-deserts to the edge of forests. They do not need to drink.

As their name suggests, Ground Pangolins are strictly earthbound. They rest in tunnels that they dig themselves or take over from other animals. They plug the entrance to the tunnel from inside when using it. If caught outside they will roll up into a tight ball, their hard, sharp scales serving as excellent protection. Pangolins have wonderful senses of hearing and smell, but poor eyesight, and are solitary animals except when mating or when a mother is with her offspring. Females give birth to a single baby at a time, which she carries around with her on her tail for much of the first months of its life. They live to about 12 years of age in the wild.

Gospel on Safari: Sua Pan

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Early in June I had the enormous privilege of spending 9 days at and around Elephant Sands Lodge, located near Nata in north-eastern Botswana, participating in Gospel on Safari where I and eleven other believers spent time with our Creator and His Word in the most amazingly unspoiled natural surroundings. Without a question it was one of the most impactful experiences of my life and I am immensely grateful for and humbled by all that was revealed to us, both physically and spiritually.

One of our nights was spent sleeping out in the open under the stars on the enormously empty expanse of Sua (sometimes spelt Sowa) Pan. The next day we explored more of the pan and its surroundings, making it as far as Kubu Island, a rocky outcrop covered by baobab trees and surrounded by a sea of salty emptiness.

Camping under the stars on Sua Pan

On the horizon lies our campsite on Sua Pan, surrounded by emptiness

A little island of stingy grass and a lone thorn tree on the enormous expanse of Sua Pan

Baobab on the way to Kubu Island

Kubu Island

Herd of Red Hartbeest on the edge of Sua Pan

One of the biggest highlights of the trip was an encounter with an enigmatic animal that I’ve longed to see my whole life. More about that soon!

Watching Black Mambas at Domtshetshu Pan in Botswana

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While camping near Domtshetshu Pan in Botswana recently, as part of Gospel on Safari, I took a stroll towards a muddy part of the waterhole, where I found two Black Mambas – one of the deadliest species of snake on the planet – wallowing in the mud, drinking from little pools and being very coy with each other. The snakes paid me no notice at all, making me think that they probably have never seen a human before – what an amazing thought! Later, one of my fellow campers joined me at the sighting and still the snakes acted as if we weren’t even there.

Black Mamba

Black Mamba trail

Gospel on Safari: Domtshetshu Pan

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For three nights, with special permission granted by Botswana’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks, our group camped out in the wild at a waterhole called Domtshetshu Pan. The sense of freedom, space and wonderment was amazing!