Chitabe……It’s Where Ya Wanna Be

We were greeted at the Chitabe airstrip by Tank…….Tank is not a small person………..Tank could play linebacker for most NFL teams, yet he is a guide here at Chitabe and our ride to camp……..scary looking dude, but would find out in minutes that he was a blast……..my nickname + his = HUGETANK………big laughs and off we go. Chitabe Camp (Chi-taah-bee) is amazing, located on a 70,000 acre reserve in the Okavango Delta, actually an island, bordered on three sides by a game reserve. Still very sandy soil as we are in the northern Kalahari Desert, but loads of vegetation everywhere, and almost immediate game sightings as we left the airstrip. Initially a small group of impala……..who would think that in 3 days we would be saying……”Impala…….nah, too many pictures of them already”……..but at this point we are game starved from the harsh conditions of the Namib Desert, and hungry to see larger groups, so we gave the impala our full attention, and snapped at least twenty pictures before moving on. A short distance down the road it was ten elephants, apparently heading down for a drink. Further on it was monkeys, then baboons……..we are in heaven.

We were greeted warmly at camp, with all the staff being very engaging and friendly. There are eight cabins/tents in Chitabe and they all face an open area backed by some tall grasses and a natural watering hole. Signs of elephants everywhere, so we hope they stop on by and say hello. The entire camp is up on stilts a good ten feet off the ground, including the walkways to the main lodge, and even with this, you are still not allowed to walk without a guide after dark. Our room is nice, but very campy compared to the mod vibe at Hoanib, with a peaked canvas roof and screened windows with roll down flaps if you need some privacy……….the outdoor shower thing seems to be very popular on safari……….must admit it does add a little something to your shower experience.

We were introduced to Gordon, who was to be our guide for the next three days, but he only lasted a day and a half with Jutta and I………kinda slow, kinda quiet, kinda boring, kinda outta here buddy……..no worries, we were changed over to Ant……..and no he did not look like an ant. Management here at camp is wonderful, with Thompson the manager being a star, ready to take care of your every need. The food is fantastic and plentiful, even when out on game drives or for sundowners……..you ask and you shall receive…….I have a bottle of Johnnie Black in the truck every evening, and have a small sip as the sun disappears on the horizon.

My favourite sundowner from Chitabe…….notice the croc just past the two birds.

Our game sightings have been amazing, and we are checking boxes like crazy, even though the low water levels in the delta have caused some herds to move north away from camp. I will let the pictures tell the story, and these are just a few of the hundreds I have saved, but will try to let you see everything we have seen.

Spotted Hyena

Wildebeest

Hippos

Cheetah……a mummy and three cubs were nestled under a bush……incredible spotting

Leopard…..two individual sightings…….first was a lazy afternoon shot, but the second was a leopardess out marking her territory……followed her for a good half hour before she vanished

If you are asking yourself, I wonder how close Hugh was, or does he have a big ass camera lens…….we were pretty close……

Lions, lions, and more lions……..best sighting was a pair of lioness, one with two one year old cubs, and the other with four 3-4 month olds…….the dads were just a 1/4 mile up the way

Daddy

The second best sighting was when we found a solitary lioness…….watched her for a while, then she rose, stretched, and started hunting….we followed her for over an hour, watching her stalk prey, but she never got close enough for an attack. We decided to let this go and get out of her way, as did the sister truck from camp. At the time, she was stalking a small herd of impala but was still too far away to make a move, but as the trucks started up and drove off, the herd separated, half of it running away from us, and half running the other way in between us……..right towards the lion.

I never thought of myself as a birder, and did giggle last year in Antarctica on the ship when the birdwatching group came to breakfast with their binoculars strapped on their chests, but I have to admit that on that trip, and this one, the birds have been fantastic. I have trouble remembering the names, but usually ring they refer in some way to the birds look or bahaviour……….the fish eagle – eats fish………the lilac breasted roller – has a lilac breast and rolls in the sky when it flies………..the dung eating big assed horned bill…….you get the picture!

A selection of my favourites