TauroDoqua Bush Camp: Namibia

 It is a long & complicated drive from Sabie Park to northern Namibia! We arrived at Delana's farm on 10th June. Covid restrictions are still in force in many countries, which means that many borders are still closed & we had to make a huge detour to cross at one which was open.

Back at the Bushcamp!

Delana

Looking towards the waterhole

Warthogs

Bush Squirrel

Common around the camp & always 

looking for food.

Slender Mongoose in the kitchen!

Laundry, the old 

fashioned way!

Just outside our storeroom!

Once again it took us a couple of days to get everything organized in camp. 

But we got a bit of a shock when we arrived, as our jockey wheel on the trailer was missing! We had to get logs to prop the front of the trailer up & then order a new jockey wheel from Windhoek, which hopefully will arrive before we leave for Etosha on 17th June.

Cold at night here.

The weather is lovely in the day time with warm temperatures & no wind. Night times are a little chilly, so a large campfire is called for! 

Adult Gabar Goshawk

A daily visitor to the small waterhole.

We have not done any proper birding yet, as Delana has been working on a proposal. However the waterhole has been quite interesting with regular Gabar Goshawk attacking the hoards of Red billed Queleas coming to drink.

Red billed Francolin.

A daily visitor to the waterhole.

Grey Go-away Bird

Adult feeding a youngster.

Emerald Spotted Wood-Dove

Adult Shikra.

Gabar Goshawk

At least three different birds hunted around

 the waterhole

Little Sparrowhawk

Nice to get this species here!

Long tailed Paradise Whydah

In non breeding plumage.

All too soon it was time to pack up & leave the bush camp, not knowing when we will return. The earliest it could be would be the latter half of 2023! Always sad to leave, but our next destination was right next door: Etosha!

A weekend at Tantebane Ranch in Botswana

Our lovely chalet on the top of a koppie, 

with Boulder Chats around us!

The view!

Boulder Chat

We have just driven through three countries in as many days & now find ourselves in Botswana close to the Zimbabwean border! We are staying in a beautiful chalet on top of a koppie at Tantebane. This is our second visit, the first time we found a Baillon's Crake here! Alas nothing as exotic this trip! 

The koppies are well wooded.

Plenty of Rock Hyraxes about.

Bush Squirrel

Golden tailed Woodpecker

Delana birding.

There was a pair of Boulder Chats around the 

chalets most of the time.

They visited the braai area quite regularly, 

looking for scraps.

Male

Female

They were quite confiding, but difficult to photograph

 because of the dappled light.

It is winter here so lovely crisp sunny days but cold nights, birdlife is sparse this time of year but the Boulder Chats are still around the chalets. 

Our chalet was on top of the hill.

The bridge across the dam, linking our 

accommodation to the restaurant.

The dam was full after the recent rains,

 so few water birds about.

White breasted Cormorant

It is a nice place to bird here, 

with a variety of habitats.

It is a large ranch but has numerous paths

 to cover the woodland areas.

It was a very nice relaxing weekend, with a bit of gentle birding & a lot of sitting around in front of the chalet, admiring the view & Boulder Chats. Not a species we see very often. There was a dearth of birds around though, the woodlands being very quiet, with virtually nothing calling. We did see 50 White backed Vultures circling around an industrial area on the edge of Francistown. Possibly an abattoir?

We now have a very long drive ahead of us to get to our next destination which is Delana's ranch in northern Namibia.