Page 42 - Discover Botswana 2022 ONLINE

CHOBE NATIONAL PARK
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Above: A curious leopard exploring
the area from a high vantage point before the arrival of a big storm in December. Photograph taken from a game viewer in the Chobe National Park.
The few remaining waterholes in Savuti are in great demand and the intense competition for water will provide you with exciting scenarios if you are patient, and willing to sit and wait. This time of the year it becomes very noticeable that elephants can be real bullies as they monopolise the waterholes and mud baths. If an elephant wants to drink, even a lion hasn’t much chance!
Come November, the iconic call of the woodland kingfisher announces summertime and the coming rains. His song heralds relief for all the grazers and browsers that have battled through the harsh dry season. The clear blue skies slowly give over to magnificent cloud castles, the impala antelopes start dropping their babies in huge numbers and tiny little warthog piglets run all over the floodplain. Wildlife is still concentrated at the river because food and water has not yet been replenished, the skies are dramatic, and the predators very active in going after newborn babies, so photographic opportunities are abundant! An added benefit at this time is a little relief from the scorching heat when the rainstorms do finally come.
It would be impossible to say which is my favourite season here. I love this part of the world so much for so many reasons... its changing environment, evolving scenery over the seasons, and the fascinating animal behaviour that we observe every single day.
JANINE KRAYER
Originally from Germany and has been with Pangolin Photo Safaris in Botswana from 2013 having left the world of high finance for a life of adventure and beautiful imagery in Botswana. Janine’s passion for photography is evident in her teaching style which takes her clients on a creative journey finding the perfect shooting methods that suits their technical and creative attributes.