Xakanaxa Lagoon – Part 1
Botswana – Okavango | Anno 2022
From Maun the unsealed B334 heads northeast to Kasane on the Chobe River, providing access to popular stopping places such as Xakanaxa, Khwai and Savuti for 4WD vehicles
Once outside Maun, houses are usually built from traditional materials
Even outside the park, the delta lives up to its fame – a tangle of canals, lagoons, oxbow lakes, islands, floodplains and marshes
Elephants are plentiful. There are probably 120,000 of them in Botswana
Botswana's bush elephants are considered among the largest living elephants, but their tusks are short and brittle, probably due to a lack of calcium in the soil
The greater kudu is found in southern and eastern Africa
Only the male has impressive spiral horns and long fringed hairs on the neck
African buffalo, or Cape buffalo, are found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Although they are herbivores, they are dangerous and sometimes even fatal to humans if they feel threatened
Buffaloes tolerate yellow-billed oxpeckers on their backs, because the birds pick all kinds of irritating parasites such as ticks and larvae from their fur
But these yellow-billed oxpeckers have a different agenda. They deliberately keep the wound on the buffalo's withers open so they can constantly drink from its blood
This francolin prefers to forage for grasses and seeds on the ground, but now it's on its guard. At the slightest alarm, it will fly away
The plump double-banded sandgrouse also likes to stay on the ground. The male is distinguished by a striking black and white band on his forehead
As if sitting on a ladder, oxpeckers cling to the long necks of Angolan giraffes
Despite its long neck, the giraffe, like humans, has only seven cervical vertebrae |
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The Angolan giraffe's spot pattern does not extend to the upper part of its face |
With its bright colours, the lilac-breasted roller is a photographer's favourite
Its food consists mainly of grasshoppers, crickets and flying beetles
The carmine bee-eater can also be proud of its colours
From its lookout post, the carmine bee-eater keeps an eye on its surroundings
Chacma baboons are the largest of all baboons. They forage throughout the day, both in trees…
…and on the ground. They eat almost anything – from seeds and fruits, insects and lizards, to lion cubs and young impalas
The vervet monkey always lives in groups
Despite its name, the tree squirrel spends much of its time on the ground, searching for food. If disturbed, it quickly flees up a tree
The plains zebra is undoubtedly the most familiar inhabitant of the steppe
To get rid of pests, zebras like to wallow in the dust. They don't like muddy ground
Burchell’s starling is the largest of the starlings
Typical for starlings is the metallically shiny, iridescent plumage
The red-billed hornbill is usually found on the ground, where it jumps to chase its prey – a beetle or a grasshopper
The blacksmith plover owes its name to the characteristic sound it makes – as if a blacksmith is striking an anvil
The chacma baboon's main natural enemy is the leopard
Chacma baboons therefore seek out the most inaccessible places in a tree to sleep
The very youngest are especially at risk
Of all the antelope species in Africa, the impala is one of the most common
The yellow-billed kite is characterised by its striking yellow beak. It is a scavenger, but small reptiles, fish, and birds are also on its menu
Plains zebras typically live in groups. Each individual has a unique stripe pattern
Zebras are active all day long. They are true grazers that adapt effortlessly to any grass type or height
Zebras have excellent eyesight and hearing, but a poor sense of smell
The African darter resembles a cormorant, but is distinguished by its long, heron-like neck and sharp, thin beak. It uses this beak to impale its prey
The spur-winged goose is Africa's largest waterfowl. Its diet includes poisonous beetles. The poison accumulates in its tissues, making it unsuitable for human consumption. Ten milligrams of the poison is fatal to humans
Marshy grasslands are the preferred habitat of lechwes
Their hind legs are longer than their front legs, allowing them to move quickly through swamps and marshy areas by jumping. Their hooves are also adapted to this environment
Only the male bears the typical lyre-shaped horns
The saddle-billed stork is found throughout Africa. It doesn't migrate, usually remaining in the same area for its entire life
It's a striking bird, with its heavy, red bill, black band, and yellow saddle. The bare, red patch on its chest darkens and becomes more prominent during the breeding season
Bridge over the Khwai River
This magpie shrike owes its name to its striking black and white plumage, resembling that of a magpie. Its tail is longer than its body
The little bee-eater stands out with its beautiful colours – ochre-yellow breast, green back, yellow throat, dark throat band, black eye stripe
A giraffe spends its entire day eating. An adult giraffe easily devours 65 kg of leaves daily. Half an hour of short, deep sleep each night is enough for this giant
Cape buffalo are a subspecies of the African buffalo found from Kenya to South Africa. Their eyesight is quite poor, their hearing is moderate, but their sense of smell is exceptionally strong
The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world. Speeds of up to 98 km per hour have been recorded, but a cheetah can only maintain that speed for ten to twenty seconds
Everything about this feline is geared towards speed – a lean, flexible and muscular body, light bones, very long legs and a long tail that keeps it balanced during quick changes of direction
This focus on speed comes at the expense of strength. In the pecking order of felines, the cheetah is at the very bottom
A cheetah's favourite prey are small and medium-sized antelopes such as impalas and gazelles
All cheetahs are genetically very closely related. The species likely nearly became extinct about ten thousand years ago, and all modern cheetahs are descended from the few that survived this genetic bottleneck
Jaak Palmans
© 2025 | Version 2025-08-29 14:00