Today’s afternoon activity is a motorized boat ride through the Moremi Game Reserve. Unlike most of the landscape, at this time of year it is very green along the waterway. The sleek motorboat has an upper viewing area, much better for observing the birds, but only accommodates two. Normally with four guests on board we would have to take turns but Beckie and Aiden have no interest in the upper deck.
The trip starts as a pretty boat ride into the sun through the grassland’s narrow waterways that open on to a large lagoon or river confluence. I can’t tell which. The wildlife activity starts slow. The boat scares off the birds before you can get very close. I’m only using the 70-200 lens as the boat isn’t stable enough to use the 400.
Rookery
About an hour plus in we reach a rookery where various species are nesting this time of year. Now this is my kind of bird watching!
The light is getting low but it is still easy to blow out the shot with so much white in the birds. It’s difficult to capture the scale of these massive birds.
Heading back we watch the birds fly with the boat.
Along the channel we stopped for sundowners. Gorgeous sunset over the water.
As soon as the sun was gone we pack up and Wagu speeds off along the channel.
This is part of the public reserve so you’re not allowed to be on the water after dark. Beautiful light behind us and a face full of midges facing front. It’s best to have a scarf or midge net, or just face backwards.
The beautiful light continues into the night drive on the way back to camp. Not much activity other than a serval cat at a distance.
August 24, 2016
For links to all the posts in this series see the Botswana/Zimbabwe page.