The Daily Dozen: Twelve photos from a day exploring the Khwai River in Botswana, Africa. Photos include elephants, giraffes, zebras, hippos, and more.

In our longest day trip yet, we visit Deception Valley in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

It was Saturday. The phone rang. It was someone I had met only a couple of days earlier while visiting our neighbor. “Would you like to go flying over the Delta?” he asked.

Armed with information on how to get past the puddle-lake in the road, we have a second go at the North Gate road.

After exploring outside Moremi Game Reserve, we decided it was time to explore inside. The day did not deliver all that we hoped, but what it did deliver was more than enough.

Finally, we made a reservation and actually went into a park: Nxai Pan National Park. Given how much we’ve seen outside the parks and game reserves, is it possible that going in can be that much better?