Getting off to a roaring start is always a win. And this was certainly up there. Just an hour or two after landing in Botswana we were pointing our cameras at a pride of 11 lions feeding on a buffalo they’d just brought down on the banks of the river Chobe. The light was getting better and better, we could get the photo boat right in close, and, from the water, had prime position for the ensuing action.

As if that were not enough a couple of hefty crocs, all slime green scales and stealth, began sneaking up on the scene. Each time a crocodile tried to steal a morsel from the carcass one of the lions charged into the water, erupting through the shallows with an explosion of splashes and much snarling.

It was a high-octane opening alright. The chance to get dynamic action shots from the off settled us in perfectly. But would our subsequent photo boat sessions also deliver?

Next morning the lions were still providing us with pictures; the gnawed rib cage of their kill perfectly reflected in macabre fashion in the still waters. Vultures, plus a trio of jackals, were waiting impatiently in the wings for cameo appearances when cued.

A visit upstream from the houseboat the following day to photograph African skimmers, a Chobe special, got pulses racing again. Accessing the spot where the skimmers were last seen involved navigating a narrow, rocky section of river occupied by a skittish pod of hippos who appeared to be enjoying the roiling white water as much as we were. This was immediately followed by the amazing spectacle of several hundred more hippos further upriver. It seemed as if all their eyes were fixed on us from the water when we arrived at the skimmers’ sandbank. And the adrenalin rush was further prolonged when a group of some considerable tonnage panicked and suddenly started scattering at speed with yet more explosive and thunderous splashing.

This was not a stretch of river regularly accessed by boats (we were only able to visit because the river level was higher than usual) so the sudden rendezvous was unnerving for us all. It was pretty  epic to experience so many animals outside an Attenborough documentary, but eventually it calmed down enough for us to enjoy a good morning of skimmer and waterbird photography in the area followed by a tranquil coffee stop on this less frequently explored bit of the river.

The abundant birdlife on the Chobe is always a highlight of our river safaris. Without really trying we notched up at least 100 different species (and there were many more we neglected to write down). One notable sighting involved some 300 plus carmine bee-eaters filling the skies with pink as though someone had suddenly tossed baskets of rose petals in the air.  Winter is not the time you’d expect to see them in these numbers on the Chobe, but they’d been attracted to a popular feeding area along a quiet backwater of the Zambezi our guide knew about. Such backwaters often prove beautiful spots for bird photography on our trips and we were fortunate to find lots of African jacana fossicking among picturesque water-lilies that same morning.

Baboon troops, and large ones at that, can be found all along the Chobe and can always be relied on for arresting behaviour and action shots between big game photography or predator action. On this trip they were star turns; delighting guests with their energetic wrestling bouts, playful gymnastics and the endless, anthromorphic interactions between generations. Perhaps our most compelling baboon encounter, however, was late one evening when one troop waged outright war with a male leopard they’d found resting in a tree they normally roosted in. The troop screamed and shook the branches ferociously forcing the cat into the very top branches where the bravest baboons held it at bay by barking extremely loudly and aggressively.  The racket was ear-splitting. It felt as if the tree-line all along the river was shaking and it proved impossible not to feel sorry for the leopard when we had to leave the conflict long after sunset – still raging and unresolved.

We photographed lions again; one time on a morning game drive into the Chobe national park when some females began stalking a large buffalo herd. It looked like the hunt might be on when one lioness, looking very keen and alert, broke cover and made a run, but the buffaloes must have got wind of her and it was not to be. Another afternoon we photographed more females from the boat. They were right by us on the bank – grooming, yawning and getting ready for their nightly patrol. We also bumped into our pride of 11 again one morning in the national park. Not pumped up and fearsome as they’d been on their kill that first time, but flat-out and snoozing  – all sprawled across a large termite mound like rugs stretched out to dry.

We photographed so much more. The river is rich with potential subjects. But we can’t close without mentioning Chobe’s elephants. The single bull who’d looked like he was waving a trunk at us in welcome as he crossed the river when we first arrived on the houseboat certainly proved the good omen we all agreed he might be.

In addition to the engaging breeding herds with youngsters we customarily met on the river we crossed paths with quite a number of photogenic bulls including one impressive group marching in single file along the bank above us. With expert control from our boatman/guide we were able to get ultra-close for some dynamic wide-angle shots of them when they waded into the water right by our boat. Meanwhile the opportunities we had to drift with individual bulls feeding and moving casually  through the shallower water at dusk gave us all the chance for some classic silhouette images as well as memorable moments experiencing the impossibly-intense colours of the famous Chobe sunset.

It just remains to thank our two photo-boat guides, Laskey and Shuur, who put us precisely where the best pictures were to be had. Next, it’s thanks to the Pangolin Voyager houseboat crew and Beate for ensuring everything was ‘shipshape’ on the river and to Dan and the team at Pangolin Hotel for making everything ‘so lovely’ at HQ and for energetically waving us off and welcoming us back before and after every photo session. We rode that positive vibe!

Thanks finally to each of our brilliant photographer ‘crew’ who survived the rigours of Steve’s seat rotation plan with smiles intact and minimal mental scarring: that’s M(three ice cubes)R; LS – ‘mine’s another mimosa’ , DJ – ‘owner’ of the world’s most-travelled laundry-bag (voiced with a wonderful, mildly irritated smile); and MC (snr), awarded for research on white-bellied sunbirds and carpenter bees. Thanks to JS for producing such a wonderful memoir of our trip so swiftly and finally to MC (jnr) for the boundless enthusiasm. Orange will always be the new black for you when it comes to colour balance! Thanks again to all for your fun, friendship and contribution to the trip’s success.