Landscapes and Wildlife of Southern Africa

We took two day trips from Victoria Falls: one to look for rhinos and one to Botswana's Chobe National Park.

At first we didn't see any rhinos but we saw LOTS of impala and other hoofed stock.

The relatively dense brush made it a little more challenging to spot wildlife.

But when we found them, they were not shy.

These are black rhinos (even though they are gray), so they eat leaves rather than grass.

We also saw lots of giraffes, which made Chuck very happy.

A family of baboons.

A red-billed hornbill.

Our visit to Botswana entailed a border crossing, disinfecting shoes (to prevent hoof-and-mouth), and changing vehicles.

One of our safari vehicles for Botswana.

A kudu, with a magnificent set of horns.

More impala.

Lilac-breasted roller - one of the prettiest birds.

Egyptian geese. We saw lots of them even though we were about as far as you can get in Africa from Egypt.

Little bee-eater - which is green but not to be confused with the little green bee-eater of Asia!

Hippos, just hauling out of the water for the night.

Kudus by the river.

It took us a little while to see elephants (which Chobe is famous for) but it was worth the wait.

Baby really just wants to rest for a while.

When the matriarch says go, you go.

But there is always time for a little sparring.

Jacanas.

Crocodiles looking innocent on the shore.

A sacred ibis.

Arfican buffalo (formerly Cape buffalo).

Not only was he mean looking, but he brought his wingman.

A waterbuck - so-called because it likes to hang out near water.