For Steve and Jeanie Gadol this was their second visit to Africa, having visited Kenya with us in 2003. This time they opted for a safari in Southern Africa, to include the Victoria Falls in Zambia, the Linyanti Area in northern Botswana, and the legendary Okavango Delta further south. We love to do these trips and it gives Tim a chance to spend some time out of East Africa, and to see how animals and their behaviour vary in differents areas and different habitats.

Both Steve and Jeanie are excellent photographers, spending a good deal of their year travelling to different wildlife areas, and it was both a treat and a learning experience for me to have them on safari for a second time.

Out on the Zambezi River - a gray headed kingfisher and a young Nile crocodile, both perched on (different) branches overhanging the river.

The view from the top of the Victoria Falls - Zambia	And the moon just before dawn over the Zambezi river

More residents of the Zambezi River - a pod of hippos, and a colony of white fronted bee-eaters nesting in the rivers steep banks

An African bee hovering over a wild morning glory flower (ipomea)	A coalition of male lions drink from the Linyani swamp - Northern Botswana

A bull elephant saunters through the dry bush that abuts the Linyani Swamps. Water is so scarce away from the swamps that this artificial water source, a borehole powered by a solar panel, has no chance of filling the water hole that surrounds it; the elephants virtually suck the water out of the pipe.

Kudu bull in the Linyanti bush - Northern Botswana	A leopard peering through foliage from high up a tree- Linyanti, Northern Botswana

Sunset over the Selinda Spillway - Linyanti, Northern Botswana	Male kudu sparring - Linyanti, Northern Botswana

As water is such a luxury in this area, elephants spend a great deal of time in or around the swamps.

Swimming seems to give elephant bulls in particular a great deal of pleasure, and the weightlessness they expereince must be a wonderful relief.

An African Jacana or lilly trotter walks accross the the Linyanti	Chacma baboons also stay close to water in the Linyanti.

A lion cub at dusk - endless fun with a stick - Linyanti, Northern Botswana	A saddle billed stork strides past another common species in the Linyanti swamps, the semi-aquatic red lechwe antelope

Large cheetah cubs playing on the edge of the Linyanti swamps, Northern Botswana. Play is a very imporant learning tool for these cats.

This female saddle billed stork is dancing for her male, just out of shot - Linyanti, Northern Botswana	Jeanie & Steve explore the Okavango Delta by mokoro, the traditional transport for this waterworld - the largest inland delta in the world.

The spectacular painted reed frog, one of the Deltas most common residents - more often heard than seen.	Only the biggest bull elephants with the best technique can shake the fruits off the real fan palms in the Okavango Delta.

Another spectacular and unusual resident of the Okavango Delta, the wattled cranes.	Male red lechwe in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Little egret, its identity given away by its yellow feet	Stopping for a sundowner in the Delta, while exploring the waterways in a "Mokoro" or dugout canoe.

The semi-aquatic red lechwe, happier in water and soft mud than on hard ground - the Okavango Delta, Botswana	One of literally hundreds of African darters that were nesting in a tree literally growing out of the water.

Elephants cross a waterway in the Vumbra Concession, Okavango Delta, Botswana	This male leopard looks in discomfort as he is trying to eat a porcupine - a delicate proceedure!

Male leopard contemplating climbing a tree - Okavango Delta, Botswana	The unusual and beautiful sable antelope - Okavango Delta, Botswana

Malachite kingfisher with his catch - Okavango Delta, Botswana	Burchells zebra - Okavango Delta, Botswana

Male lion - Okavango Delta, Botswana	This young bull elephant is one of three that comprise the Stanleys Elephant Experience in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Steve and Jeanie Gadol are introduced to the elephants, with whom we spent the morning, walked, and finally had lunch. An incredible end to an incredible safari.