Zimbabwe – Hwange

There are several challenges to keeping up with blog posts in Africa. The first is probably the more obvious: a serious lack of decent internet connections. The second, is less obvious, unless you have been to Africa: you take so many bleeping photos that it takes forever to sort through them. Both of these are the biggest reasons for my now being weeks behind in posts.

One of the most special things we saw here were the Painted Dogs (AKA the African Wild Dog). They are very rare and very endangered.

Hwange is a national park a few hours south of Victoria Falls. It is a lovely park with great animal viewing and wonderful birds. The elephants are particularly abundant and seem to have great fun.

Lions live here as well. This majestic male was far away but so exciting to see.

I am always happy to see giraffes. They are so wonderful to watch. The way they move and the their goofy faces. What is a group of giraffes called?

And of course, more Impalas. Africa Fast Food.

Zebras also abound. The stripes serve to confuse predators. When they run, the cats can’t tell where on zebra ends and the other begins. When you see a group of them, you get it. Do you know what a group of zebras is called?

Continuing with our collective noun trivia, a group of baboons is called a parliament of baboons. I think this relates to the British House of Commons’ reputation for disruptive and reckless behavior during debates, but I have no evidence of this.

In addition to the wonderful mammalian sights, there are wonderful birds. I never get tired of seeing birds. I am getting close to being a geek who never leaves the house without binoculars.

Then there are the birds whose names I have forgotten. Sorry birds. I still love you.

After a couple of days at the park in Zimbabwe it was time to head to our next destination, Botswana. We boarded a bush plane for the brief flight over the Okavango Delta to our next lodge. MackAir Botswana has a sense of humor.

Obviously, an adventure was avoided on this flight.