Deception Valley

This huge area is very flat and, although it's hard to believe looking at this photo, in the dry season there is not a hint of green anywhere....just a massive dry sandy flat pan. Deception Valley got its name from the mirage that the sun creates on it during that time of year, making it look like a lake of water instead of the dry sand it truly is.

We saw only a half dozen other people in our 3 days in the Central Kalahari Reserve in the middle of Botswana. One older couple had been there since early December. He told us when they arrived there was not a single blade of green grass. We arrived 6 weeks later to this...incredible transformation!

The herds of animals, like these springboks, go where the food is...

...and the predators, like the black-backed jackals, follow their food sources too.

So at the time we were there, Deception Valley was teeming with all sorts of wildlife!

Bat-eared foxes....

Ostriches and a rare sighting of a heron in a desert!

One of my favorite antelopes, the hartebeest...

Roads of sand like this criss-cross the reserve. The entire country of Botswana has a deep top layer of sand...

...which Brooks used to our advantage for tracking lions and leopards and such. Animals often move along the roads because it's easier traveling than through the bush.

Secretary birds are huge!

Baby wildebeest...

Lots of gorgeous birds! Some sort of kingfisher...

Once in awhile, you do see a giraffe lying down...

Look at his tail feathers!

A very unusual bird species perched in the top of this tree, a perfect snack...

...for a guy like this!

Did someone say snack? Our mid-morning break...coffee and cookies served safari-style!

My favorite African bird...the lilac-breasted roller.

I especially love the way Brooks says it...he rolls his "r"s in an exaggerated way that makes me smile.

Masked weaver bird weaving a nest for his girlfriend...

I was mesmerized by the huge flocks of red-billed queleas. Noisy, twitchy little things, they flew in syncronized groups of hundreds, forming beautiful moving masses in the sky.

And quickly flying down for a sip of water and splash around in a waterhole. There was usually a predator bird close by, swooping in to snag one here and there.