24 Hours in Kasane: Monkeys, Warthogs, and Elephant-Eating Dogs

2Summers | 12 January 2016
botswana wildlife

Last week Fly Airlink sent Anna-Belle from shesaid.co.za and me on a whirlwind 24-hour trip to Kasane, Botswana, as part of a campaign to promote Airlink’s flights around Southern Africa.

Chobe-River-and-tree
View of the Chobe River from Chobe Safari Lodge.

Kasane – which is approximately 90 minutes by plane from Joburg – is a tiny town whose main claim to fame is Chobe National Park. (Read my 2013 post about another whirlwind trip to Chobe.) We stayed at the Chobe Safari Lodge, which is just a few minutes outside the park on the banks of the Chobe River.

While it would have been nice to spend more time in Kasane, I did a surprising number of interesting things in the short time that I was there:

1) Took a nap in my beautiful room at the lodge, under the mosquito net.

Chobe-lodge-room
Even though my room was air-conditioned and I never saw a single mosquito at the lodge, there is something romantic about sleeping under a mosquito net.

2) Walked around the grounds of the lodge, which was a mini safari unto itself.

Monkeys-in-the-sun
Vervet monkeys frolicking on the grounds of the lodge. They’re very cute and fun to watch; just make sure you keep the door to your room closed or they will definitely come inside and help themselves to anything edible.
Mongoose-and-wall
A baby banded mongoose. There were tons of these foraging for food around the hotel.
Warthogs
A warthog family grazing in front of the lodge. I love how they get down on their front elbows to forage in the grass. I also spotted a similar warthog family hanging out in a laundry alcove directly outside my door.

3) Watched an incredible sunset.

Chone-sunset1
Sunset from Chobe Safari Lodge. Not half bad.

4) Took a dinner cruise.

River-cruise

Chobe Safari Lodge offers lovely evening dinner cruises on the river. The food was really good and the view of the stars from the top of the boat was incredible.

5) Went on a morning game drive.

Impala-and-tree
In the morning we took a game drive into the park. One of my favorite scenes of the morning was this large herd of impala grazing under a tree in the early morning light.
Elephant-and-tree
This portion of Chobe National Park is packed with hundreds, even thousands, of elephants during the afternoon. (See my 2013 Chobe post for more on that.) But we actually saw very few elephants on our morning drive. Apparently the elephants tend to stay deep in the bush in the morning, and then head toward the river as the day wears on and the temperature rises. So if you visit Chobe, be sure to schedule at least one game drive in the afternoon. Anyway, we did glimpse a few elephants that morning, including this scared youngster who seemed to have become separated from his family.

And now, for the most amazing moment of the game drive. The next photo could be disturbing for some people so take heed.

Elephant-and-dogs
This elephant died the day before our game drive, most likely due to disease. We drove past it once, early on in the drive, and the elephant was surrounded by vultures. But later on the carcass was discovered by this pack of African wild dogs and we rushed back to see. I’ve never seen African wild dogs in the wild before and the sight was truly incredible. They looked and behaved so much like domesticated dogs, except, of course, for the fact that they were ripping into the flesh of a dead elephant and spraying blood everywhere.

6) Ate a local lunch.

Fish-and-chips
After our game drive, Anna-Belle and I skipped the lodge’s breakfast buffet and went up the road to a local guesthouse/restaurant called the Old House. This was such a cute place and I would definitely recommend eating and staying there. The fish and chips were delicious and the fish came right from the river.

And then, alas, it was time to fly home. My only regret is that we didn’t have time to take a daytime river safari; I did that the last time I was in Kasane and I’ve never seen so many crocodiles and hippos. Otherwise, this was a fantastic little getaway.

Elephants-and-water
Elephants on the Chobe River.

My trip to Kasane was courtesy of Fly Airlink. Opinions expressed are my own.