#SafariSoulmates – Episode 03 – Two Leopards and a tiny plane in Botwsana

Our the 3rd day of our Botswana Explorer Expedition with &Beyond and Southern Destinations, myself and Carlinn awoke to the sounds of hippos sloshing around in the delta about 25 meters away from our tent. We got our stuff together and packed our bags because it was time to move to the next camp in Moremi.

After an awesome full English Breakfast made over the fire, we said our goodbyes to the amazing staff that looked after us during our 2 days in the Okavango Delta and we headed off to the staff camp where a pack of Wild Dogs were jut finishing off a bush buck they had taken down 15 minutes before arriving there. I got some awesome photos of the Yellow Billed Kites that were on the scene before the vultures and of the Wild Dogs themselves.

After we were done taking photos of the dogs, we headed off to the Nxabega Air Strip again where we got on another Mack Air flight to Moremi. The two pilots for our flight, Andreas and Adam, were really awesome and agreed to be part of my #365PortraitsofStrangers project, so we did some photos before we took flight to the Kwaai River Air Strip in Moremi and yes, it was Kwaai ;)

It wasn’t event 10 minutes after landing when we came across a young leopard that had been in the wars because of the scars and scabs on its face. We followed it around for a while and then we got a radio call saying that there was another leopard about 20 minutes from where we were that had just killed an impala and dragged it up a tree. When we got there though, it was already done eating and was lounging in the shade from the 37 degree heat!

The rest of the day was spent on a game drive back to where we would be spending our next few nights in the Moremi National Park.

Watch our third vlog, “Two Leopards and a TINY plane” to see what we got up to!

Here are a couple of my shots from the day that I’ve already posted on Instagram:

“The Blowing Buffalo” | Here’s a shot I got of @superficialgirl while in Botswana with her edit on it in B&W and it is my first submission for the B&W 5 Day Challenge by @capturingafrica. I don’t normally upload black and white shots, but since I have so many shots I took specifically for B&W prints from our recent @andbeyondsafari adventure in Botswana, I thought why the hell not. #safarisoulmates #blackandwhite #botswana #chobenationalpark #andbeyondsafari

A photo posted by Mike Eloff (@thelawry) on Oct 10, 2014 at 2:05am PDT

  “Yellow Billed Kite” | Here are just 2 of about 15 that were circling a Wild Dog kill that we came across while in the Okavango Delta on our 3rd day in Botswana for the @andbeyondsafari #safarisoulmates safari we were on. These are beautiful birds and they are all over Botswana! #andbeyondsafari #botswana #exploretheglobe #yellowbilledkite #Okavango #Okavangodelta   A photo posted by Mike Eloff (@thelawry) on Oct 10, 2014 at 4:54am PDT

365 Portraits of Strangers Day 299 – “The Bush Air Pilots” Say hello to Andreas (@AndyMan612) and Adam. I met these cool cats on our third day in Botswana when they came to pick us up at the Ntabega airstrip in the Okavango Delta. They flew us from there to Moremi in the light aircraft you see behind them, also known as an Air Caravan. They both work for Mack Air and now live in Botswana, but are both originally from South Africa. Good to meet you gents and thanks for getting us to Moremi safe and sound! #365PortraitsofStrangers

A photo posted by Mike Eloff (@thelawry) on Nov 11, 2014 at 3:29am PST

  “Scar face” | This was the very first Leopard we came across on our @andbeyondsafari Botswana trip and it was on Day 3 just an hour after landing in Moremi. This poor guy has clearly been in the wars with those scars and scabs on his face which are more than likely due to a territorial dispute. This was the smallest Leopard we saw on the expedition too. #andbeyondsafari #botswana #leopard #safarisoulmates #wildlife #moremi #predator   A photo posted by Mike Eloff (@thelawry) on Nov 11, 2014 at 1:33pm PST

“Delta Estuaries” | Here is a shot I got with my phone while flying over the Okavango Delta when we were flying from Ntabega to Moremi. This does the delta absolutely no justice whatsoever because it is just mind bogglingly huge!! This same area is soon to be flooded, as will most of the delta when the rain comes. #Okavangodelta #Okavango #mackair #botswana #SafariSoulmates #andbeyondsafari

A photo posted by Mike Eloff (@thelawry) on Nov 11, 2014 at 6:25am PST

“Cooling off” | Here’s my favorite hyena shot from our @andbeyondsafari in Botswana! I got it as we arrived in Moremi when we found two hyena’s cooling off in the mid-afternoon heat! Just after this we were alerted that there was a leopard about 150m away, so we rushed off to him and left the hyenas to enjoy themselves with being pestered by humans. #Moremi #botswana #andbeyondsafari #SafariSoulmates #hyena #gamedrive   A photo posted by Mike Eloff (@thelawry) on Oct 10, 2014 at 11:12pm PDT