Our second camp was at the eastern end of the Moremi Game Reserve, mostly dry land but with a few remote reaches of the Okavango Delta.

Just before reaching our camp, we stopped to pick up wood, and we noticed this little freeway of ants on the ground.
The Moremi area was just loaded with lots and lots of animals. There wasn't enough water for the hippos to hide, so they were a lot easier to find.
 
Zebras are pretty cool. Impalas are pretty cool, too, even though they're hardly rare.
There were lots of waterbirds -- egrets, storks, ducks, and herons.
There were lots of birds hanging around the camp, to make sure we didn't leave any food on the ground. These are two of the most common were the red-billed francolin, and the yellow-billed hornbill. (There were also lots of red-billed hornbill, and guinea fowl).
Tawny eagle.
The guide was surprised to see this beehive hanging from a branch. Apparently they are usually more concealed.
My favorite antelope was the kudu, which has huge spiraling horns, and really nice black, white, and brown markings.
 
We came across a troop of Chacma Baboons...
...who carried their babies on their backs.
The camps weren't fenced or anything -- here's an elephant walking behind Dave writing a postcard.
There were a lot of elephants in the area -- at one point we drove through a herd of them. Our guide pointed out how important it was to keep moving to avoid being charged at.
After about three days, we packed up the trailer and headed further east toward our third camp. Here's a hut that one of the rangers in the Moremi area live in. It's typical of the older construction in Botswana.
Getting to our next camp, Savuti, was kind of tricky because of a big sand ridge -- at one point we got out and walked so that the jeep and trailer could make it up the hill.
On our way, we saw a leopard cross the road.
The Savuti area is mostly pretty open savannah grassland. There were herds of buffalo. (There were also lots of giraffes, zebras, and varieties of antelope).
There were a few large birds walking around like these secretary birds (and another kind called Kori's bustard).
There were occasional pools that animals were drawn to to drink.
One morning we followed a bunch of prints to this meadow where a pride of about 13 lions were finishing off the last bits of a wildebeest. They were mostly acting like cats, licking themselves, rolling on their backs, and just being dangerously cute.
After awhile an elephant walked up, ate a bunch of acacia pods, and the lions decided to retreat further into the bush. So we went and had breakfast.
Another spectacular bird in Botswana is the lilac-breasted roller.
There are a few varieties of mongoose -- these are dwarf mongoose.
Giraffes seem to walk in slow motion.
 
 
After three days in the Savuti, we drove on to Chobe National Park, on the bank of the Chobe river.
We enjoyed watching a bachelor herd of impalas moshing.
One morning a lioness (wearing a radio collar) walked past our jeep on the way back to the rest of her pride.
There were warthogs here and there. Ugly (but tasty, as I found out later).
We saw lots of African fish eagles.
On the river, there were lots of hippos.
 
Here's an elephant footprint, and my footprint.
There were these really cute dog-sized antelopes called steenboks.
And a few baby elephants.
We went on a boat ride on the Chobe river, and got up close to the nest of a pied kingfisher...
... and one of the prettiest of all, a malachite kingfisher.
There were carmine bee-eaters...
... one of which was eating a bee.
There were little spherical nests left by weavers.
There were crocodiles lying around in the sun.
And there was a fascinating wrestling match of monitor lizards (which ended with them mating, of course).
 
 
 
... all of which was watched by a bunch of baboons as well as us.
After three days by the river, our safari was over. Our guides drove us to Victoria Falls, and on the way we saw an almost-dead puff adder on the road.
Here we are with our camp assistant Mike, and our guide Pilatwe (Pilot), who in addition to knowing the names of every animal and most plants in the area, and being able to see things that I'd never have seen, could build a Land Rover from baling wire in the middle of the Kalahari.

This is Victoria Falls, as you've read of in books. When you actually get there you see mostly fog. There's a long, wet walk along the opposite side of the gorge, through a 20-meter wide rain forest in the middle of the desert, and you experience the whole of the falls in manageable, Niagara-sized portions. The noise is enough to drown out the sightseeing helicopters.

On to part 3...