Botswana Photo Tour - Our second day in this amazing country

It was our second day in Botswana and I had already fallen in love with this country. I have been to Tanzania numerous times over the last 3 years and had a special connection with that country, but now I had a second favorite place in Africa. The wildlife in Botswana is plentiful and I love the idea of floating along the river and seeing wildlife from the water side. The boat ride is smoother than any drive on this continent and we are able to cruise right up near the animals.

We were moving slowly along the river bank in the Okavango Delta area and saw a group of baboons up on tree branches above us. It was early in the morning and the sunlight was backlighting the animals. I instructed our guests to increase the exposure composition of their cameras to help the animal from becoming a complete silhouette.

Our guide saw this Fish Eagle resting on a branch and brought the boat as close as he could to this majestic bird. It wasn't long after we got close that the eagle took off from it's perch. I already had my Canon 100-400mm lens trained on the bird and fired off numerous shots with my Canon 1D X Mark II camera as it took flight.

Unlike Tanzania where we see hippos only in certain pools, these animals are plentiful in this region when the water is high.

We even got to see families of elephant along the shoreline. And yes, we all love the babies.

I saw this giraffe at the water's edge and was hoping that it would stop for a drink. Slowly, the giraffe splayed it's legs and got down low for water. Knowing that the sunlight was behind the animal, I suspected that we might be able to get the water trail as it lifted it's head. I had seen other photos like this and was hoping that we could capture this as well. And, as if on command, the giraffe lifted it's head quickly and created this perfect arc of water spray.

Botswana is home to the largest population of elephant in the world. We watched as this large female ate grass on a dry spot in the middle of the delta.

We saw this crocodile lounging on the edge of the shoreline. Once again, I got down low on the boat to get eye level with this beast. As I was taking the photos, I noticed the tooth sticking out of his snout. For the life of me, I can not figure out how this happened. Even our guide had no explanation for this.

In the afternoon, we switched from the boat to a 4-wheel drive land vehicle and did another game drive. For the first time ever, I photographed wild dogs. They are a rare sighting in Africa, as the populations have diminished over that last 100 years.

Before heading back to our lodge for some rest and dinner, we spotted this male lion hanging out in the grass.

As lions do most often, he just laid there and watched us as we photographed him. Based on this last photo, I think he was checking out the camera equipment or my ugly mug.

....and the best photos from Botswana are yet to come. Stay tuned for my favorite images of elephants at sunrise, lion cubs and so much more.

__________________________________________________________________________
Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!
__________________________________________________________________________
If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.
__________________________________________________________________________
Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa, Costa Rica, Europe, Asia, India and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours.
__________________________________________________________________________