Kasane: Wildlife Paradise of Northeast Botswana

The next two posts are going to be about our recent trip through Botswana. Most of the better photos and memories are of this country are of the very first town we came to – Kasane. The town itself was remarkably unremarkable. The biggest interest of Kasane was not the buildings or streets but the animals that made the streets their home. When we first came to town we were told not to go out at night.

“Why? Muggers?”
“No, the elephants come down from the hills and come to town.”

Below: African Fish Eagle, Terathopius ecaudatus. We saw this magnificent bird towards the end of our stay in Kasane, but I thought it would be a good photo to start with. I was so glad I was looking in the right direction to get this shot.

We were slowly working our way through first Namibia and then Botswana. I still plan to write about those earlier trips. This is the border entrance to both Botswana and Chobe National Park. The Baobab tree is host to a Weaver “village” and also some Green Woodhoopoes (next photo).

Green Woodhoopoe, Phoeniculus purpureus. Almost every time I saw these birds they were a threesome. Noisy and very active.

The first unusual wildlife we saw was this rare Southern Ground Hornbill, Bucorvus leadbeateri, walking down the road.

And the, a minute or two later, I got my first good look – and shot – at an African Elephant. As it turns out this was the only good look we had at one. Later on we had more encounters, but not this close. More on that below.

Above and Below: Chacma Baboons

These Chacmas were on the shopping center roof. Food (garbage) is plentiful. When the litter did not suffice they do what I saw an enterprising male do. He came down to the open air food court, crouching on the rim of the trash can, picked out what he wanted, throwing over his shoulder what he didn’t.

Kasane. The town is not much to look at.

General store near our guest house. We opted to walk the extra distance to the Pic-n-Pay in the center.

Another noisy trio, the well-named Arrow-marked Babbler, Turdoides jardineii.

Southern Cordonbleu, Uraeginthus angolensis

Pearl-spotted Owlet, Glaucidium perlatum

The Hamerkop, Scopus umbretta, flying can easily be mistaken for a bird of prey.

Beautiful Carmine Bee-eaters, Merops nubicoides, snarfing up dragonflies and other insects in the parking lot of the grocery store. Very tame too.

I love these majestic baobabs. Kasane, Botswana. Several times we came across these knobby giants,

Every morning we went for a nature walk, striking out in different directions. We didn’t know it but on some of those days we were within the Chobe National Park. Elephant scat on our path – a path they probably made themselves! Also we spooked a crocodile from the bank before I could get a good picture of him sunning.

One of our favorite places is this riverside area just a mile or so out of town. Chobe River. Namibia is just across the river. We saw the Fish Eagle from this deck. And we also saw – first heard! – the Hippopotamus (below).

We finally saw a hippo in the wild! I heard him first with his high-pressure air blast as he came up from the river. Photo was taken from the relative safety of the wooden walkway in the previous photo.

The wooden walkway, dilapidated in places, kept us at a safe distance from any hippos and crocs. But as we followed the boardwalk I looked ahead at this group, several dozen Macaques (also called Baboons but that would ruin my alliteration). I was more concerned about the morose movement of those guys watching us from the roof of an abandoned (closed supposedly for renovation) Wildlife Exhibit. We decided to backtrack.

There are several churches like this in the forest.

Trucking down the Chobe River.

Going to school.

Marabou Storks, Leptoptilos crumenifer, and Impalas (We counted about 90 of them near an old quarry). We saw these as we took a dirt path back to the highway. We saw no one on the path. Perhaps it was unwise for us to go on this rarely used path. The animals certainly seemed surprised to see us.

The path not taken. Why not? We heard loud elephant trumeting. We took the other path (where we saw the Impalas).

Waiting for the bus. This is the main highway through town.

Warthogs are all through the town, emerging from muddy culverts, tearing up gardens. But they are pretty docile to humans, sort of like squirrels in America. Grunting, tail-swishing, free-roaming squirrels.

The Waterbuck stops here. Good thing too, giving me time for a quick shot.

Banded Mongoose. More dumpster divers.

YAREMCHE: UKRAINE’S WILD WEST

Exactly a year ago today, on July 31, 2020, we were in a part of Ukraine that reminded me very much of my childhood in Germany. Beautiful forests surrounding a picturesque village. Just a touch touristy in places, not too much. It is Ukraine’s own Wild West. “Wild” as in Nature and wildlife. I even heard the ringing grunt of a wild boar.

The boar would not show himself but there were some other memorable encounters and scenes. Take a look at some of these pictures.

This nest of White Storks was right on main street. The village, like many in neighbouring countries erect a platform for these storks to use as a foundation for their nests.

My Dad told me that there was also a stork nest in my hometown, Bensheim, Germany. Every year the storks would return to the same nest – until one day a drunk American GI used them for target practice.

Storks throughout parts of Europe face similar problems. For example, storks, as well as other migrating birds, had a hard time when they arrived in Albania from Africa. They were weary from flying over the Mediterranean yet could not land for fear of all the firing from hunters from Italy. It used to be that Italians would come over to Albania and pay money to hunt on Albanian lands, a country that had more wildlife (so I read) than in their own country.

But now, as of a year or two ago, hunting in Albania is severely restricted, if not outlawed altogether.

Left: Buds! Center: A very friendly horse. Right: The main church in town. Far right: Cemetery

I first noticed laser-etched gravestones when we were in the country of Georgia. Who knows? It may also be done in the US now. I have not been to the US for over a year or been to a US cemetery in many years.

The cemetery in Chisinau, Moldova is especially interesting in that regard. On those gravestones I saw etched the deceased holding, variously, a guitar, a cigarette, vodka, or a Kalishnikov! That cemetery in Chisinau, by the way, is said to be the largest in Europe.

Left: Eurasian Sparrowhawk being harried by a mob of swifts.

Center: Eurasian Goldfinch sings as pretty as he looks.

Right: The Green Woodpecker is often overlooked in orchards and other semi-open woodlands. Overlooked until he opens his mouth. His loud “yuk-yuk-yuk” sounds like he just got the joke that he heard earlier.

This fellow and the similar Grey-headed Woodpecker are not nearly as common as other woodpeckers, so it is always neat to see them.

Saint John’s Wort, Hypericum perforatum. The flowering top makes for a good traditional tea. We try to gather some every time we see this plant. There are several of these herbs that go under the general name of St. John’s Wort, Hypericum sp., but they all have varying amounts of hypericin and hyperforin. If you crush the yellow blossoms between your fingers you might be surprised to see a red stain, hypericin. It is used for treating a variety of ailments: depression, anxiety, wounds, etc. It has also been touted as useful against immune deficiency illnesses and rhinovirus, including Covid. But I am no doctor. Be sure and check out the whole story.

However we personally have been using it for years and have had no problems.

The woods are especially enjoyable, although it usually takes some climbing to get up to more secluded forests. But it is there where we enjoy our “Waldeinsamkeit”, a German word that roughly translates to “forest aloneness” – tranquility and solitude. Medicine for the soul best taken sitting down, or laying back in soft comfortable cool feathery-green moss. All you hear are birds and – on one occasion – loud snorts from a wild boar. But no dogs, no cars.

I love these old workhorse trucks!

A contrast in styles, traditional and modern. This village is slowly modernizing as it becomes more aware of touristic possibilities. I hope they do not forget their roots.

Took the wrong road, but the view is right.