Our guide at Chobe was Kenneth, who was outstanding, and 
very, very funny. On one of the days we drove to the town of Kasane and got in a boat for a cruise on the Chobe river. The river was gorgeous. There were big islands on the river full of lush green grasses. In the coming month the river will go down and it will be shallow enough for the elephants to feast on the grasses.
We saw lots of buffalo in the river chewing on the grasses.
We saw lots of hippos, including baby hippos.
There were plenty of crocodiles along the river. There was a juvenile sitting on the bank sunning himself, with his mouth open. Kenneth landed the nose of our boat on the shore next to the croc, and we spent time watching and photographing. He was small, about six feet, and I don’t think Kenneth would have landed next to a full size adult.
Crocodiles are reptiles, and thus cold-blooded. They come on shore to bask in the sunlight and thus warm up. We thought he was interested in impressing us with his fine teeth. But no, Kenneth said he must have been a little overheated, and he had his mouth open so as to cool off a little.
You can see how close we were.
Here is Kenneth taking a picture of the dental work.
A little later we saw a big croc by the river, probably 12-15 feet in length. Kenneth was not going to bring the boat close in to this one!
Kenneth saw something and said “He is getting ready to move,” and I switched the camera into video mode.
We saw lots of birds from the river. An African Fish Eagle, and you can figure out what it eats…
African Skimmers
Great Blue Herons
African Jacana
The next two pictures are either a Great Cormorant or an African Darter. Unlike most waterbirds, the feathers of these birds do not contain any oil and are therefore not waterproof. After diving for fish, the feathers can become waterlogged, and so the bird is of often seen sitting along the waterside spreading its wings and drying its feathers.
Yellow Billed Stork
Great Egret
Spur Winged Goose, or Geese
A Water Dikkop
And saving the best for last, a Carmine Bee Eater, and a shot of it in flight.
A really beautiful bird. The Chobe river is the border between Zimbabwe and Namibia. These pictures were taken with the nose of the boat ashore in Namibia, and thus we really have been in Namibia.
Google gets all blame for mis-identification of birds.
David and Susan