We spent four incredible days and five wonderful nights on the Zambezi Queen. It was so far beyond what I expected that I can’t even begin to tell you. Our first day offered three possible game cruises. When I say “game cruises,” it means we got into a smaller boat that held 7-10 people plus the driver and set out to explore the river and its tributaries close up. Unlike the rest of the time, when the Zambezi Queen herself would float up and down the Chobe River. You will be amazed at what we could see just looking out the window of our stateroom.
Early Morning Bird Watching…and MORE!
The first game cruise offered on the first day was a 6:30 AM bird watching cruise with my (now) good buddy, Gibson, at the helm. About six of the 28-person group showed up, and off we went. I am not much of a bird watcher. But this turned into so much more. Not everyone was willing to get up and go that early, but I had resolved to take every single small boat trip they would offer me in the four days we were there. And was I ever glad we did. I am going to shut up now and let you see the photos from this early-morning bird watching expedition. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
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- Every single sunrise we saw in Africa was this color.
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- It was truly amazing.
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- Suns up. Time to find more birds and wildlife to shoot.
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- This is an African Fish Eagle (distant relative of the American Bald Eagle) being dive bombed by a pied kingfisher to keep her away from her nest.
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- It was almost funny. The eagle finally flew away.
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- Google says this is a Black Stork
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- This one too.
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- Another Pied Kingfisher
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- A yellow-billed stork
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- More of the same.
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- Our first hippo
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- They are about as big as a car.
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- Heron, I am pretty sure.
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- And another yellow-billed stork.
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- Living side by side with one of the most dangerous animals.
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- Even helping to get the bugs off the hippo.
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- Truly Amazing!
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- Northern Lapwings
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- They nest in the ground to protect their eggs and young.
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- They are beautiful when they fly
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- And when you see them all spread out above their nests like this.
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- A Black Skimmer
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- Still skimming
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- And here too.
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- He is skimming all over the place.
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- And my camera was following him.
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- Everywhere he went.
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- Cape Buffalo–the most dangerous animal out on the Chobe.
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- The guides hate them because they can be very erratic.
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- This is a group of photographers traveling with a company called Pangolin. Check out those lenses. There’s probably $100K of glass on that little boat.
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- Another African Fish Eagle posing for us.
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- Baboons!
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- We have baboons. These guys were eating the remains of something dead.
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- Two Egyptian geese.
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- So many baboons, so little time.
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- These are called Helmeted Guinea Fowl by Google but Chobe Chickens by everyone who lives there. You can eat them, even though the look like armadillos.
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- The Egyptian Goose that got away.
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- The African Sea Eagle he got away from.
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- An African Darter in the midst of some geese and cormorants.
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- Elephants…in a line
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- On their way someplace.
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- Who knows where.
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- Time for breakfast on the Zambezi Queen.
10:00 AM Game Cruise
After breakfast, pretty much everyone piled into one of the three small tour boats and took off up or down the Chobe River alongside Chobe National Park in Botswana and the shores of Namibia. We were not allowed to get too close to the park itself, but we could stop the boats just off the park for photos. And I took a BUNCH! And here we go again.
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- These are Impalas
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- But the locals call them McDonalds
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- Because they are speedy but at the bottom of the food chain.
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- I want to say we saw more than 20K, in our four days there.
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- I later learned that if you look at their butts as they are running away from you, you can see the Golden Aches in brown fur.
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- Perfect symmetry with two wire-tailed swallows
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- The biggest, gruffest Cape Buffalo of the day.
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- Looking over his herd.
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- Lots of birds
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- And more hippos
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- Still more.
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- And an Impala in full running mode.
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- And full drinking mode. They are very skittish when near the water as crocodiles may pull them in.
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- So many of them.
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- Speak of BIG crocodiles.
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- They are on every bank.
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- Along with hippos
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- By the score
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- More wire-tailed swallows.
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- They are very photogenic.
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- And BIG crocodiles.
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- Really big crocks.
Afternoon Game Cruise
The 10:00 game cruise took about three hours, so we were back on board at 1:00, had lunch and rested or just watched the river go by. Because it was the dry season, a whole bunch of animals had come down to the river. But that didn’t stop me from joining Gibson on the 3:00 PM game cruise. Kathleen decided to stay on board and watch out the window of our stateroom (she saw hippos, elephants and Cape Buffalo). I just got closer to them than she did. Here’s my pics from the afternoon game cruise. By now you know the drill.
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- As soon as we left the Queen we saw this guy.
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- Rolling around in the mud…
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- …on the island between Namibia and Botswana.
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- He looked like he was having such a good time.
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- I just had to keep shooting.
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- It was worth it.
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- Along comes a big one.
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- And an elephant parade.
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- These two greeted each other like long, lost lovers,
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- See how close they are to the boat we are in.
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- The just kept moving on.
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- While we had stopped to watch those elephants, the Zambezi Queen had caught up to us so Kathleen could see these same guys outside our stateroom window..
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- We moved on and found some other elephants, this time with babies.
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- Who were adorable
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- We had been by this spot on the river three times that day. The first time no elephants…
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- Just baboons.
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- The second time no elephants, just Impalas.
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- The third time, Elephant Bay (what this area is called) was full of elephants.
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- This guy was so cute.
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- He covered himself with dust to get bugs off of his back.
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- Moms were very protective
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- No other animals were around.
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- Just this big bunch of elephants.
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- An adult giving himself a dust bath.
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- It’s cool to photograph.
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- Or a family portrant
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- Or these two kids…
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- Who were having the time of their lives.
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- Time to see some birds.
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- This is a malachite kingfisher and is maybe the most beautiful bird I have ever seen.
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- A water-thick knee. At least that’s what Google says.
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- And our first giraffe.
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- Did you know this was how they drank?
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- I didn’t.
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- It’s an interesting way.
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- Two trees on the veldt.
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- This is what our safari boats looked like. There were three of them on the Zambezi Queen.
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- Another hungry and huge croc.
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- A very big elephant headed our way.
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- And I still have not seen and African sunrise or sunset I haven’t been thrilled with.
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- See what I mean.
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- Those three shot are all within about 5 minutes. When the sun comes or or goes down, it happens fast.
God bless Africa, Guard her people, Guide her leaders, And give her peace. —Trevor Huddleston
This is incredible! Not sure i want to go but sure do enjoy your journal and photos!
Like you, I got much more of an appreciation for birds on our African trip. Keep enjoying and keep shooting.
Well you certainly got to see wildlife. That’s what you went for. Great photos. I notice the light seems to be quite a bit different than out NW/SW area. Is it noticeable to the naked eye. ?
It really is. Especially at dawn and dusk. There is a lot of dust in the air and the sun is brighter. I think it is the lack of trees, hills or mountains. This place was really flat.
By the way, my eye is never naked. That’s just disgusting. ?
Naked is as naked does
Hi Jim and Kathleen,
Your pictures are incredible.
I feel like we are travelling along with you as you write.
What an awesome experience you are having.
Thank you for sharing.
Love it ????
Hi Jim,
Following your post avidly. We will be going on this trip in Aug 2027. So excited.
You mentioned that you could not get close to Chobe NP. Your photos are great. A few questions if you get a moment to respond.
How far were you from them?
What device did you use to capture these images?
What zoom strength?
Trying to decide if we need a new camera or just use our phones which have a great zoom, Samsung Galaxy 23 Ultra which was the last version with the upgraded camera.
Thanks again, looking forward to your next post
Hi Jo,
You are going to love it. You can get very close in some places, usually on the islands in the middle of the river. I shoot a Nikon Z7II mirrorless camera with a 28-400mm zoom. It is a professional camera. Many of my shots are from more than 100 yards, but others on the trip got decent photos (but ones they can’t blow up very large) from their phones. If you are only saving memories, that should work. Since photography is my hobby, I want more but it means carrying a 5lb camera around with me. If you are going in August, I certainly would NOT recommend my camera. There is no way you would be able to learn how to use it like I do in that amount of time. If you look at my portfolio (up in the menu bar) I have been shooting this kind of camera for years. You will have a great time.
Kathleen told me to go back and look at your post and note the date. Somehow I got it in my head that you were going this August not in 2027. Please disregard my note about getting a camera. Go get one now and practice a bunch. You won’t be sorry. I am providing my photos to all our new friends because there are so man y things I can do with a DSLR or Mirrorless camera…not just the closeups. For instance, my birds in flight shots are almost impossible with a phone.