Moremi Game Reserve - Third Birdge.

Botswana. Central Kalahari, Moremi and Khwai. August - September 2021.

3b. Moremi - Third Bridge.

Third Bridge Campsite

We were booked in at site 6 at Third Bridge but when we arrived were asked to go to site 2 instead as there was a bull elephant that was at site 6 and causing some damage. We later learned that he had been around the camp for several days and nights and damaged a couple of cars but we didn't see anything of him during the 3 days that we were there.

Our shady site under a large tree.

Our campsite - another nice shady tree.

Kevin making a stick to help him walk.

Kevin was having problems walking with his sore foot so he made himself a walking stick.

One morning I got up early and wandered around our camp taking a few photos of another beautiful Botswana sunrise.

Sunrise with our van in the foreground.

The sun just peeping over the bushes.

Drives from Third Bridge.

We were limited as to where we could drive because we were not able to drive across Third Bridge - there are loads of tracks on the other side of the river. Mostly we drove back towards Second Bridge and some loops in that vicinity. Near the entrance to the campsite there were several pans with water and most times we drove past there were animals there.

A bright orange sunrise over a small pan with the sun reflected in the water

We made an early start one morning and sat and watched the sun come up over one of the pans just outside the camp entrance.

Zebra standing and wildebeest lying down next to a pan.

Zebra and wildebeest on another of the nearby pans.

As we had noticed at South Gate and Black Pools there were areas that were very wet and others, further from the water, that were very dry and where we saw very few animals.

A hippo with its head out of the water looking straight at us.

A hippo keeping an eye on us.

2 giraffe looing at us .

These 2 giraffe were also checking us out.

A wooden bridge with some of the poles missing.

We stopped to have a look at Second Bridge. It had not been repaired since it was damaged earlier in the year but it looked as if some vehicles had got across it.

A Pan with water and reeds and some animals in the distance.

On a couple of drives we stopped for some time at this area of water as there were always plenty of birds and animals around.

7 yellow-billed storks standing on the grass.

A group of yellow-billed storks.

A marabou stork and a pelican in the water.

A marabou stork and a pelican.

A male red lechwe lying down.

A red lechwe. They are only found near water.

A black-winged stilt wading through the shallow water.

A great white egret standing near the top of a dead tree.

A great whilte egret.

2 crocodiles lying in the grass next to some water.

A couple of crocodiles.

A warthog on its knees eating grass

This warthog wasn't bothered by our presence.

4 red hartebeest standing in an open area.

Red hartebeest.

Boat Trip

We booked an early morning boat trip along the Moremi channel. It was quite narrow and there were lots of side channnels but our driver/guide knew exactly which one to follow. It was quite windy so I found it difficult to take photos with my zoom lens as, even when we were stopped, the boat was moving all the time!

The jetty and 3 boats at THIRD BRIDGE.

The boat station at Third Bridge.

The front of our boat nosing through the channel with high reeds on either side.

Odten the channel was quite narrow.

Looking to one side of the channel with waterlilies in the water and the reeds being bent by the wind.

Water lilies and reeds bending in the wind.

A pied kingfisher sitting on a reed.

A pied kingfisher.

The top of an elephant which was well hidden by the reeds!

An elephant well hidden by the reeds!

A coucal sitting amongst the reeds.

A coucal.

A malachite kingfisher sitting on a reed.

A malachite kingfisher.

The sun shining on a wider channel as we approached a lagoon.

We reached a large lagoon - sadly nothing there - and then returned by the same route.

Third Bridge to Khwai.

We had quite a long drive as we had to go via South Gate and then up to North Gate as we couldn't go across Third Bridge.

4 zebra standing next to some water. 2 are grooming each other.

Zebra at one of the pans.

2 ostriches in the road with some others in the bush.

Several ostriches ahead of us.

After an hour or so of seeing no animals we turned a corner and ahead of us on the track was a group of wild dogs! Amazing. We sat and watched them for over half and hour. There were lots of youngsters who would get up and play for a short while and then flop back down on the ground. One of the adults had a collar on. I took lots of photosmainly with my zoom lens - it wasn't until I looked at the photos later that I realised that I had the camera ob the wrong setting so they were all a bit out of focus.

The previous day we'd spoken to a couple who were looking for the wild dogs, they had a tracking device but weren't close enough for them to pick up a signal. I used our GPS to get an accurate location for them and left a message at the South Gate entrance for them.

About 12 wild dogs on the track, most of them lying down.

The same group of wild dogs with several of the younger ones sitting or moving around.

Crossing a wooden bridge over the Khwai RIver.

Crossing the Khwai River after we'd exited from Moremi at North Gate.

A narrow river channel with lots of wet grassland on either side.

The Khwai River channel from the bridge.

Last updated: December 2021