Moremi National Park, Botswana

Following on from the amazing Okavango Delta, we had three days in Moremi National Park. Soon after arriving we were out on our first game drive encouraged by the knowledge from our guide that Cheetahs were around. We hadn’t seen these super fast cats on this trip (or indeed ever in the wild) so they would be a real bonus.

After a couple of hours driving around in the heat we came across these two brothers relaxing under the shade of a tree.

Later on the sun was beginning to set and there was some gorgeous golden light. This provided an opportunity to photograph some Zebra’s looking straight into the light creating the rim lighting effect. I took a close up shot of several Oxpeckers on a Zebra’s back too which provided a nice detail shot.

The final shot to close out the day was a single Elephant walking in front of the sunset.

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The next day we headed out on another game drive. Today we were keen to do some birding as well as see more game. First up was a pair of Brown Snake Eagles who seemed to be gathering material for a nest.

We continued to a pool where various water birds were present. A Three Banded Plover kept creeping around where we were parked and I got down low to take a photo showing its bold red eye-ring. Another African Jacana was showing well. But perhaps the biggest surprise was seeing birds we know well from back home a pair of Pied Avocet distinctive with their long up turned bills.

Back in the woods we came across a large Coppery-Tailed Council sat on a fence line.

Later in the day we spent about an hour with a pride of Lions, the males looking really majestic when they bared their teeth.

A fairly unusual site for our trip anyway was a couple of male Zebra’s fighting.

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Our final day in Moremi (and indeed Botswana) began with some excellent birds.

Another Pel’s Fishing Owl was around the camp, a large juvenile showing well.

Also feeding around the camp was a White Browed Robin-Chat.

Out on the drive we were delighted to see yet more Owl’s this time a Verreaux’s Eagle Owl, a really stunning bird and this would have been great final bird for Botswana.

But we were in for another treat. I had been hoping to see a wild Ostrich on this trip and had even been looking out of windows from Planes on landing and takeoff in the hope of seeing one. So we were delighted when out on a game drive we saw a single Ostrich.

We ended our trip to Botswana with 167 Bird Species and 35 Species of Mammals. All in all an amazing trip, I hope to return one day. Check out our full Africa eBird Trip Report here.