Chobe River & Back to Gaborone

The Elusive Snake of the Chobe Safari Lodge

Check out the African bird slideshow here

On this day, we met Chapman by the Lodge’s dock and then boarded a small pontoon boat for a private wildlife excursion down the Chobe River. We spent the entire morning on the river and Chapman patiently and expertly guided the boat into the shallows near the shore to give us the opportunity to see birds and wildlife at close range and at the best possible viewing angle. I got some spectacular bird photographs on this excursion and much of the credit goes to Chapman for placing me in the right spot in relation to the bird and the sun. You can view these photographs, as well as other bird pictures in a slide show here.

After the boat excursion, it was time to check out of the Chobe Safari Lodge. This was the end of the safari portion of our trip. Ironically and significantly, the second of my two camera batteries went dead right after the boat excursion. So while we would have to rely on Kathy’s little camera for the rest of the trip, at least the batteries had held out for the length of the safari.

We had about an hour to kill before it was time to leave for the airport, so we settled into some chairs near the activities office and read our books. At some point, I noticed that there was a little green snake under the end table next to the chair where I was sitting. I was not surprised that there would be a snake since the “building” I was sitting in had a thatched roof and no exterior walls. I suggested to Kathy that the snake would be an interesting subject for a photograph. She gamely crouched down under the table with her camera and the snake, not liking this intrusion, took off cross-country to the next table. Kathy followed along and did get a couple nice pictures. Then Chapman came walking along, and we pointed out the snake to him. He seemed to feel that both the snake and the other guests would be happier if the snake were relocated. He left and came back with a stick and a shopping bag. The trick, he explained to us, was to put the bag next to the snake and then prod him with the stick. In order to hide from the prodding stick, he would slither into the bag, at which point he just needed to carry the bag somewhere far away and let the snake out. What is good in theory does not always work in practice, and this instance was one of those cases. When prodded with the stick, the snake would crawl under the bag. Remove bag, reposition, repeat process. Eventually the snake managed to slither into a tiny crevice where a pole supporting the roof met the floor. At that point, Chapman decided to stop bothering the snake and the snake stayed in his crevice and didn’t bother anybody. Then we got in the hotel van and rode to the airport.

We flew uneventfully to Gaborone, taxied to the Lolwapa Lodge and checked in again. The staff was as friendly and helpful as before, and the roaches were overjoyed to have us back. After unpacking, we walked to Madeline’s dorm at the University and caught a cab from there to a pizza place where we were joined by Avery and Jordan, two other students in the ACM program with Madeline, and Todd, a professor in the ACM program, along with his wife Deb, and their kids.

After dinner, Madeline taxied back to the Lolwapa, and we called Mike to sing happy birthday. Considering the cost of trans-Atlantic phone calls, we didn’t talk much beyond the song, but I think we caught Mike by surprise, anyway.