November 7: Central Kalahari Game Reserve

It was the first day of our guided tour to Central Kalahari Game Reserve.  We met Teenage, our guide, at 7:00 am and went for the slow, bumpy 5 hour drive from Maun to CKGR.  

For most of the journey, we didn’t see any humans or animals.  However, after passing through the gate and paying the various fees (2200 Botswana Pula = $150), we met a tour group at Deception Valley.  It was at this point that we saw a male leopard who was beginning to feast on a Kori Bustard. The Kori Bustard is the region’s largest flying bird and largest bustard.  After removing its feathers, the leopard took aim at enjoying the meat of the huge bird.  Later, we noticed that this same leopard had killed and hid a Springbok at a protect location. We have now seen 4 of the Big 5 up close.  We did see a lion in Etosha but it was at night at a great distance from us.

After a late lunch of Springbok meat, we headed back out in search of lions and cheetahs.  We saw several Oryx and Springboks but no large cats.  Before returning to our primitive camp, we stopped to see our leopard friend who was now lying close to its Springbok prey ready to protect it from predators for the evening.