Friday, September 23, 2016
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Chiefs Island Walking Safari
Our first evening at the mobile tented camp on
Chief’s Island, the frog calls are deafening! (raucous toad, painted reed
frogs, and others), and a bull elephant browses in the reeds towards the
setting sun. Just an awesome time before darkness falls. This is our first trip
to the Okavango Delta and we have chosen an itinerary organised by Africa
Geographic Travel comprising flights between Maun and Chief’s Island, the first
and last nights at Gunn’s Camp, and three nights at a mobile tented camp. June
was a great time for the trip as the seasonal flooding is almost at it’s peak,
but also chilly at night. The trip comprised a combination of boat trips from
Gunn’s Camp exploring the nearby delta channels, and mokoro trips and walking
from the tented camp. We did have our first lesson in piloting the mokoro ourselves
which was a lot of fun, and we stayed dry. In our opinion walking safaris are
the ultimate adventure, experiencing the environment and wildlife on foot. Our
two guides who looked after us for the six days were phenomenal and very
knowledgeable and safety aware. Several times we encountered male buffalo on
our walks without incident. We respected the distance to them, watched them for
a time, and moved on. The birding in the delta is just spectacular and
highlights for us included wattled crane, coppery-tailed coucal and a pair of
Pel’s fishing owls. Elephant sightings are frequent and a highlight of the trip
was watching a breeding herd crossing a river channel feeding as they went.
Some excitement as we navigated narrow channels passing territorial male
hippos. On this trip no predator sightings for us, but every night we did hear
lions calling.
Monday, February 1, 2016
Snow Geese !!!
The photo does not show a lot of snow geese - we saw our first ones on the lakes close to the Trans-Canada Highway in Saskatchewan. We did however head up to Quill Lakes, a designated IBA (International Bird Area). The main visitor centre was flooded and inaccessible. In our drive around the lakes bird watching, we did though see thousands and thousands of snow geese flying overhead heading south. I have never seen so many birds at once!
Plains Bison, Grasslands National Park
One of our stops on the lengthy drive back to Toronto was Grasslands National Park in southern Saskatchewan. Our primary purpose was to see burrowing owls, but we were unsuccessful in that regard, even though we scanned almost every black-tailed prairie dog burrow we came across. We did get to see some spectacular landscapes. Very little is left in North America of natural prairie grasslands. Encountered a couple of bull plains bison close up, a breeding herd much more nervous and remaining in the distance.We stayed two nights in the tiny town of Val Marie close to the western portion of the National Park. Arriving late on a Sunday afternoon our only eating option was to buy a few burgers at the local kid's rodeo that was taking place in the town ice rink. We were just in time and purchased the last ones available!
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