The river keeps a rhythm. We bend to its beat. Each day at sunrise we head out on our adapted photo boat – a bundled row of excited photographers; senses sharpened by the chill crispness and muted palette of a misty morning on the water. We return several hours later sated, yet hungry, raring to refuel. In the afternoon we do it again, returning home only when the sun has drained away; staining the sky burnt orange and flaming the ripples in our wake.  It’s a pattern that soothes.

The daily rhythm on our Chobe river trips may be as reliable and welcome as breathing, but the unpredictable sightings and photographic opportunities give each day a distinctive, thrilling pulse. Even after many visits you can never say just what’s going to produce that magical picture or memory.

Who would have thought that a diminutive bird, measuring just 13 centimetres and weighing about the same in grammes, would headline our time on the houseboat; arguably trumping the elephant crossings and signature sunset silhouettes.

A tiny Malachite kingfisher.

Malachites are plentiful on the Chobe, hidden among the papyrus reeds they’re initially hard to spot until you get your eye in. But what they lack in size they make up for in brilliant colour – those intense blues and oranges, you would swear they were man-made.

But we’re not talking your everyday malachite kingfisher, if there could ever be such a thing, this was an A-lister and then some. The bird’s unusual habit of fishing from waterlily flowers was as joyful to watch as it was picturesque. So busy flitting about fishing along a tranquil and scenic back channel of the Zambezi, it appeared completely at ease in the presence of our boat. In fact it seemed at times this busy bird was obliging us by perching on the most photogenic blooms and striking a pose, before whizzing off to the next attractive perch. Everyone was so delighted with the experience and their shots – one guest even managed to get a shot of the kingfisher with a  silvery, little fish – we agreed we’d revisit the spot for second helpings.

Our star performer did not disappoint when we did. There were more shots of the malachite plus bonus images of hard-to-spot species such as lesser jacana, pygmy geese, Allen’s gallinule and little bittern. To name a few.

There were other surprises in store. The chance to get shots of an elusive spotted-necked otter, out of the water, playing on the rocks was another special highlight. This was only the second time we’ve had these slinky, secretive mammals out of the water. Usually they pop up, if you can spot them, and then are gone. The patience of our group and skill of our guide was rewarded when, having seen a couple, we decided to wait quietly as they splashed about in the water, letting them settle to our presence. Playing the long game turned out to be a good plan, especially when, in addition to our photographs we also got to witness the mother otter feeding her suckling cub. A first for everyone that once again could not have been scripted.

One of the themes of this trip turned out to be catching shots of subjects catching fish. The waterbird photography on the river is always enjoyed by guests, especially when there’s action involved. On this trip, however, we seemed to specialise in finding birds in the process of catching, and digesting their prey. Yellow-billed storks, fish eagles, darters, kingfishers and even a pink-backed pelican provided bountiful photography at close quarters as they feasted on freshly-caught bream and leopard squeakers. We also had an African openbill cracking open mussels and snails with his adapted bill (it was fascinating to watch how the bird carried any empty shells up onto the shore, perhaps in the hope they wouldn’t make its life more difficult in future by washing back into the river?) And when the fish suppers proved too much we got the stuff that scavenged on the leftovers – in particular a couple of hungry water monitors that fed like miniature dinosaurs on a catfish that had been left by a fish eagle.

The waterbird action made up for the fact that this year there were hardly any skimmers to photograph. We saw only two on the whole trip, which was a shame after last year’s bonanza. Then, on the other hand, we did get shots of a huge martial eagle feeding on a guinea fowl – another first for our Chobe trips.

Our Chobe tours are not just for the birds, however. There were many rewarding mammal encounters, from baboons to buffalo, through puku and kudu and even a tantalising glimpse of a rare sable. The big baboon troops along the river provided plenty of action and anthropomorphism, whether frontlit or against the light, while the hippos, sluggish to yawn, brought some good backlit action and chances for eye to lens low-level portraits.

Of course the one mammal everyone hopes to photograph on any Africa trip is a lion. On the river it’s always something that’s possible (we’ve had considerable luck with them over the years) but not guaranteed, so you can imagine our guests’ delight when we found ourselves among a large pride of lions with assorted sized cubs, not once but twice, in good light and out on the shoreline where the terrain is open. On the first occasion we found the youngsters playfighting as the sun went down. It was hard to tear ourselves away, especially given the fact the adult females seemed keen on hunting. Luckily we were first to get to them again next morning, in almost the same spot, the cubs once more at play. We soon realised they had a kill concealed in the tree-line so would be staying put for a bit, allowing us some early morning photography while the light was still warm.

And then there were the ellies. Always a highlight of our Chobe trips – especially if we are lucky enough to get them crossing. If we started strongly, but small, with our awesome kingfisher friend, we certainly finished on a heavyweight high with tons of wonderful elephant photography. We wanted crossings and we got them, whether big bulls in twos or threes or bigger breeding groups carefully herding their little ones as they navigated the river. The sight of little trunks raised above the water and waving around is one of the most heartwarming on the Chobe. To experience this behaviour never ceases to amaze, as they all haul out right by our small photo boat and begin dusting to dry off on the banks above us. And as always, we had plenty of chances to practise and perfect our silhouette shots.

It’s over all too quickly of course. But the river’s beat goes on. And we always have tomorrow…

In addition to star subjects on this trip we also had star guides, Laskey and NJ, who steered us skillfully towards the best subjects at all times with great expertise and pzazz. And then there was the galaxy of star guests, such a great team. So thank you ex laundry-bag thief Dapper DJ and your erstwhile safari ‘wife’, ‘princess’ PR. Thanks to ‘quiet please, maestro at work’ assistant director JL and SL ‘please J get out of my way there’s another malachite with a fish that’s got my name on it’, thanks also to You Tube celebrity MS, mentor to all budding videographers, and to early bird BM – are you sure you’ve got your water bottle? We loved riding the waves with you all.

Oh and we just couldn’t leave out a mention for our lucky mascot, Gwendoline, the hairy baboon.