Botswana

While much attention is rightly paid to Africa’s Big Five, we believe the continent’s smaller wildlife deserve their due, as well. Enter Africa’s Little Five. These tiny fellas often get overlooked—and not simply because of their minuscule size. Yet they play a vital role in maintaining the diverse and delicate African eco-system. So, let’s take a closer look these half pints.

Brent Stephenson is an ornithologist who spent years studying the breeding biology of Australasian gannets in New Zealand.

Before any adventure in the African bush, you have to let go of some baggage. Weight limits on light-aircraft charters vary, but 33 pounds is probably the max. Packing light for safari is the key.

Legadima, a Setswana word meaning “lightning,” is the name of a five-year-old adult female leopard that lives at Mombo in the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana. Guides and visitors have been watching her since she was a tiny little cub less than two weeks old.

For those of you who have traveled with me before, I sincerely hope that you enjoyed seeing our little bit of Africa at a very different time of year—the Mombo and DumaTau brought back some happy memories and, of course, created new ones.

Keeping with our singular experience theme, we saw thousands of zebras on the plains of the Kalahari. This is something that I personally have never seen before because our safari regularly arrives there a month earlier than the arrival of the migration. Another new experience for me was observing elephants gathering in and around camp, as well as seeing a red hartebeest.