Photo Essay: A Tour in Photos of Chobe National Park in Botswana, Africa

It was just a month ago this week that I was in the bush of Africa at Botswana's Chobe National Park. Never in my life have I had such a short trip that affected me the way that those five days in Botswana did. Today I was flooded with memories as I edited photos, from the all-female staff of guides I met at Chobe Game Lodge to watching a herd of Cape buffalo cross the Chobe River to watching lions stalk their prey to the locals I met, such as Albert, a 30-year veteran of Chobe Game Lodge who has championed it as one of the top eco-friendly hotels in Africa.

I've been struggling trying to come up with the words to really best describe what I experienced in Botswana, Africa. But there's one word that keeps coming to mind: Harmony. Botswana had this harmony about it that I hadn't experienced anywhere else in the world. You may walk by warthogs or baboons like you would walk by someone on the street, but it's all in respect and reverence, and neither of you bats an eye (or feeds) at the other. That's not something you can just do in any country.

And that theme ran throughout my photos, as one moment would have large groups of giraffes or elephants eating together, while others would see baboons and antelopes mingling. When I didn't feel like I was in the middle of a National Geographic documentary, then I felt like I was in a scene from the Lion King. The only thing that was missing was a baboon lifting a lion cub up for all of us to see.

If you still aren't sold, however, I'll let these photos from Chobe Game Lodge (my host for this portion of my Botswana trip through Tourism That Cares) and Chobe National Park do the talking.