African Safari Page #3

never finds the sea,

the Okavango spills billions

of liters of water daily

in the Kalahari desert,

creating one of the most pristine...

untouched wildlife refuges in the world.

Most of the delta

is totally inaccessible by car,

so the best way

to appreciate this piece of Eden

is from the air.

The trick for Dany will be

to find a place to land,

but we'll worry about that later.

The biggest threat to the Okavango

does not come from the encroachment

of the local population,

but rather from Botswana's neighbors

to the north:

Namibia and Angola

where the river has its source.

The population of Angola has doubled

since 1990.

The pressure to extract water

for agriculture irrigation

and to build hydro-electrical dams

might just prove impossible

to withstand in years to come.

Such human interference

with the seasonal cycles of the delta

would have catastrophic consequences

for this unique ecosystem.

The Okavango is the largest inland delta

on earth,

but it is very shallow in most parts.

A significant change

in the natural water flow

would set in motion a domino effect

that would be hard to stop.

Large parts of the delta would dry up

and most of the wildlife would vanish.

The upper part of the delta

known as the panhandle

is a shallow valley.

15 km wide, it is flooded with one

to ten meters of water

depending on the time of the year.

The entire valley is covered

with a thick layer of papyrus

floating on top of the waterbed.

In the deepest part of the valley

where the current is the strongest,

the water flow opens up wide channels

that meander downstream

like giant snakes.

Further south,

the delta fans out like

a hand spreading its fingers.

Small islands pop up everywhere,

offering a sanctuary to a great variety

of big game animals.

On our way to recover the balloon

on a remote island

with the help of the local crew,

we have two very close encounters

with elephants.

Elephants in the delta

are a sight to behold.

If you happen to cross their path,

a face-to-face encounter always leaves

a big impression.

Although the Chobe river

is less than 300 km from the Okavango,

there are no roads crossing the delta,

so we have to drive around

the Southern part of the flood plains.

It will take us two days to get there.

In the 1960's, the

government of Botswana

embarked on an ambitious project

to protect the country's wilderness.

Ironically, the program

has been so successful

that the authorities now have to

cope with increasing elephant numbers.

Their population has increased

from 40,000 in the 1980s

to 130,000 today.

The large herds

that concentrate along the river

have destroyed most

of the trees in the area

and human-elephant

conflict is on the rise.

There is no easy solution

to this problem.

The Botswana government

is against culling

and translocating mass

numbers of elephants

to other parts of Africa

where their numbers are dwindling.

It is expensive and impractical.

If nature is left to take its course,

a severe drought

could wipe out thousands of elephants

with starvation.

But the future of the elephant is

in the balance.

With heavy poaching for ivory

in the rest of Africa,

I believe it is only a matter of time

before this population too is affected.

It's getting late,

we should look for a place to camp.

Not too close to the water though,

there are huge crocodiles in the Chobe.

Let's check out the sunset first.

Yeah, look at that.

A picture perfect scene,

with elephants in the foreground.

Stunning man, stunning.

The next day, we drive along the bank

of the Chobe,

hoping to observe large

herds of elephants.

I have been around wild elephants

since I was a child,

but this is my first visit to Chobe.

It is not unusual here

to see scores of elephant families

numbering in the hundreds

gather along the river.

These impalas are unusually relaxed.

Yeah, in most places they just bolt off

in front of an approaching vehicle.

It is a bit early in the day

for the elephants to come to the river,

but there is always something

to see along the Chobe.

Over there, hippos...

What are they doing out of the water

at this time of the day?

- Oh Kevin, look what's coming.

- What?

In the distance... fantastic!

Beautiful, what a scene!

What a sighting.

The two largest African mammals

are rarely seen together.

Hippos mostly venture out

of the water at night.

During the day,

they chill out in the river

and are seldom seen on the bank.

Elephants on the other hand, mostly

head to the river in the afternoon

to escape the heat of the day.

This is such a fun scene.

In a few minutes we witness

the entire ritual of the elephants'

daily trip to the river,

drinking, mud splashing, dusting

and socializing!

It's back to the water

for that battle scarred old male.

It looks like the beach

is getting too crowded for him.

A one-month-old baby in the hole.

I am wondering if he is going

to make it out on his own.

Later in the day,

we got exactly what we were looking for.

A close encounter with a large herd

of elephants...

very exciting

and at the same time,

quite intimidating.

That mother with her calf

is not too sure about us.

Yeah, I don't think she is happy with us

blocking her path.

I think she's OK.

She really does not look aggressive.

We should stay absolutely quiet

and I think she'll move.

The next morning,

we hooked up with Ishmail, a local guide

who took us on game viewing expedition

on the river,

a great opportunity to observe

the wildlife from

a unique vantage point.

It's amazing how calm they are.

They let us come very close.

Yeah, maybe a bit too close...

That female is not happy.

She's giving us a warning sign.

Ishmail, I think we should

get out of here.

In the wild, there is always a thin line

between an exciting game

viewing experience

and a dangerous encounter.

Ishmail knows that better than anyone

as he paddles slowly to a safe distance.

Minutes later,

we become privy

to another exciting scene

as the herd decided

to swim across the river

to feed on a patch of tall grass

in the middle of the Chobe.

A few kilometers downstream

the Chobe river

merges with the mighty Zambezi

and lead us to one

of the seven wonders of nature,

Victoria Falls

on the border between

Zambia and Zimbabwe.

David Livingston was

the first European explorer

to lay his eyes on them in 1855.

Located right in the middle

of Southern Africa,

the falls mark the halfway point

of our journey.

Climate changes and human intervention

is of great concern

for this world heritage site.

Right now,

in the middle of the dry season

the water flow over the falls

is about 70% lower than

during the wet season.

It will drop ever further

in the weeks ahead.

If some of the irrigation scheme

on the drawing board

were to materialize,

the falls could be totally dry part

of the year.

Once a year when

the water flow is just right

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