Month: December 2013

Tau Pan December 2013

Published December 31, 2013 by Kwando Safaris

Late November and early December saw some unusual arrivals – elephants! Six males were seen along the cutline road, and there were also reports of them in Deception Valley. It is only a very short space of time that there is enough vegetation and water available for elephants to be in the area, so it is always a very special event to see them.

Several good cheetah sightings this month, including one very relaxed adult near Passarge waterhole, and a mating pair on Aardwolf road. This was actually the first time we have observed a pair of cheetahs mating in the area, although both individuals are regular visitors to the Tau Pan waterhole, normally separately.

The two large male lions that have established their territory as Tau Pan are continuing to successfully fight off all intruders that are passing through. They are now part of a large pride, the majority of which have grown up in and around Tau Pan – 4 males and six female lions. At the beginning of the month we saw Maswe A Banna – a completely nomadic solitary male that inhabits a very large territory that overlaps territories of other males. He’s a big and brave lion as he continually lives in an environment where he has to fight for his existence. One morning this month he approached the Tau Pan waterhole to drink and we saw that he was covered in porcupine quills – having had a tussle with one of these fiercely armed animals.

We also saw a very relaxed leopard this month, that decided to walk close to the vehicle as it was stationary, watching her. She sauntered over, and continued on her patrol, unbothered by the quickly clicking cameras.

On Deception Loop, a mother leopard was trying to hunt some springboks and her youngster was shadowing her. Her cub is about three months old, so still too young to be getting involved in the hunt, but will hopefully learn from watching her skills.

Cape fox parents were seen resting while their two pups actively played, and a little further on, two bat eared fox parents were also seen – but this time with six playful pups!

Another rare sighting this month: caracal. This medium size cat is reminiscent of the American lynx, with pointy-tufted ears, and a reddish coat. Great hunters, they are very shy around cars and people, and this one ran off as soon as it saw the car. Passing by, we saw that it had killed a steenbok, and would no doubt return to its kill as soon as we moved off.

But in Botswana, there is surely no better place to watch the storms arrive than at Tau Pan. Situated on the peak of a vegetated sand ridge, there is a sense of height, and distance to the horizon that is unmatchable. Watching the billowing thunderclouds build up, and flashes of lightning cross the pans, has got to be one of the greatest shows on earth.

Comments closed

Nxai Pan December 2013

Published December 31, 2013 by Kwando Safaris

The first day of the month started with an early morning game drive. Heading to the main waterhole, we saw a cloud of dust ahead of us, along the flat grasslands of the pan. As we approached, we saw a black breasted snake eagle with a big snake. We watched to see if the eagle will kill the snake and eat it. The bird lunged and grabbed the fat puff adder, holding the head in its beak, and then whipping the snake from side to side for about twenty minutes! Eventually, the eagle held the snake limply, and it appeared to be dead. The eagle then stretched it’s neck, and slowly started ingesting the snake. It took about five minutes till the entire reptile disappeared, and the bird began to preen.

The rains, although falling in other parts of the country, did not appear in Nxai Pan until the 12^th December, when they appeared not in buckets, but more in the style of a fire hydrant: 70mm fell in 24 hours and the pan and all roads turned into a mirrored lake. Mokoros would not have been out of place. Sadly, a few scrub hares and small mongoose could not make it to a high spot in time, and were found having drowned. Although it meant the end of life for some individuals, it was exactly what most of the animals in Nxai Pan were waiting for… a few days later, the first shoots of grass started showing, and the springbok hastily hoovered them up. Heavily pregnant, the female springbok need an abundance of fresh grass to be able to provide enough milk for their babies. And so it was on the 18^th December that the springbok lambs began arriving . almost all will be born within the same week.

Lions were found on most days we did drives this month, and all looked in prime condition. Once the rains had begun, the day time temperature cooled slightly, and this kept the lions more active than they would otherwise be. Many of the sightings were of them strolling along the roads, or toward the waterholes, looking for suitable prey to attack!

One lovely sighting of two lionesses strolling past our vehicle was followed not long after by a sighting in the late afternoon of a cheetah relaxing under a tree. Waiting patiently, in less than ten minutes, the cheetah stood up, stretched, and then moved towards our vehicle, repeating the moves of the lionesses – a great way for the guests to see such super predators up close and comfortable with the car.

Everyone woke on Christmas Day to the sounds of a young lion walking through the camp and roaring, calling out to meet up to the other members of the pride. What a lovely way to wake up! It was, however, later that day, rather tricky to attempt to refuel the cars in camp, as the lion had opted to promote energy conservation, and spent some time lounging next to the petrol pump.

With the rains, the zebras are slowly starting to move in to the area, small herds at a time. These numbers will continue to build through January, with the bulk of them being in the park in February, if all goes well! With the rains, however, elephants have that short period of absolute delight in availability of water and food anywhere in northern Botswana, and make sojourns into areas (such as the Kalahari) that they would not normally spend much time in. As a result, they are not as reliant on the two waterholes in Nxai Pan, and so it becomes harder for us to see them. Only the solitary males remain, and they silently drift past the camp at odd times of day, unusually quiet in their demeanour.

It’s always good to read through guest’s comments in the visitors book, and from feedback, to see what they have enjoyed, and what was the highlight of their stay. Usually, it’s the big predators, huge elephants, and beautiful birds that score the most remarks for most memorable experiences. One guest, however, had an experience with a slightly smaller creature that they happily then listed as their most memorable experience of their safari: “When the baboon spider ran over my foot!”. Baboon spiders are Africa’s answer to the tarantula, but are not normally as big as their South American counterparts. Now, before everyone starts cancelling their trips to our beautiful country for fear of seeing one of these critters, let me put it into perspective for you. Remember the brown hyena that had been so ardently looked for over the last 15 years, and was happily discovered to be real after all in October last year? Well, add those 15 years to the 18 years of mobile guide/researcher/camp manager experience of my other half and that adds up to 33 years of NEVER having seen a baboon spider. And that includes one month of trying to coax one out of its hole every day with a confirmed spider fanatic. Nxai Pan camp does – or at least did before the heavy rains – know the location of one hole where they had the good luck to see one out of her den – presumably to the delight of the above guest – but viewing was entirely optional. I remain blissfully unaware of the existence of such creatures, and anyone visiting Botswana (and indeed Nxai Pan) is welcome to join me in my happily ignorant state, without fear of reality jeopardising the view.

Comments closed

Lebala December 2013

Published December 31, 2013 by Kwando Safaris

General predators are diverse, with wild dogs, hyenas, leopard and cheetahs all frequently seen. Currently there are two male lions which are doing very well, moving around their territory, going from Twin Pools to Wild Dog Pan in the north. They are hunting warthog and wildebeest, in particular, and although we have not witnessed the actually hunt, we saw them feeding on this prey many times this month.

The wild dog sightings have been regular this month, including an amazing sighting seeing them hunting and following them through the open plains as they chase and kill impala. One day, we were lucky enough to see three different packs of wild dogs!

The hyena den is also active, with one female being seen often with her two young cubs.

This far north, the antelope young were already out and about in early December, with all the impala, wildebeest and tsessebe young arriving at around the same time. The breeding herds of elephants are still around this early in the month.

The heavy rainfalls at the end of the month did not deter the guests from heading out on game drives. Luckily, the rain seemed to limit itself to non-game drive hours, so only one drive had to be abandoned due to a downpour. Although the guests have a nice relatively dry home to return to, the animals have no such luck, and provided some good sightings for everyone. Two different dog packs were seen several times during the end of the month, the Lagoon pack and the smaller pack of five individuals. Both packs were seen feeding, though the cars were unable to see the actual kill. The two male lions also decided to stroll through the Lebala area, much to the delight of the guests who had only seen female lions up until this point. And a wait at the airstrip for a flight delayed due to rain was more than worth it, when a leopard was found nearby feeding on a young wildebeest he had lodged in a tree.

But of any animal at Lebala, the month of December really belongs to George. There are probably not many hippos in the world named George, but Lebala has one. George spent much of the month parked in the channel in front of the main area and pool. The hippo equivalent of a midnight snack, he would often sneak out of the water in mid-afternoon for a few bites of luscious grass and a quick look at the guests, ironically wallowing in the swimming pool. Late afternoons he could be seen wandering (submerged) along the channel, an ominous V-formation ripple spreading out along the surface of the water, ducking under the walkway, occasionally surfacing just as guests were arriving over the bridge… Afternoon tea seemed to be the time when his closest male neighbour took offence to his exclusive position, and several times launched a surprise attack on George from under the bridge. Both hippos would launch out of the water, and a quick chase around the floodplain at 40km per hour, and the discussion would be settled, with George returning to his prime position.

Comments closed

Lagoon December 2013

Published December 31, 2013 by Kwando Safaris

The so-called “Blondie” pride were located several times – resting and well fed. We also heard them calling at night. Two very shy lions were also seen early on in December, but they did not stay around for long, perhaps put off by the sounds of Blondie and co in the vicinity. By the middle of the month we realised that one female has produced a litter of cubs, and has hidden them away from sight. We could hear them calling to their mother, but she has not as yet introduced them to the rest of the pride, so they are obviously still very tiny. Another female is also heavily pregnant.

Towards the end of the month, the pride were still being seen, but being rather true to the nature of the lion, and not producing much activity but snoozing a lot!

The first week produced six leopard sightings, mostly of a female that killed an impala and hung it in a tree. The next night a male was also found with a warthog kill. We also saw the two sub-adult brother and sister leopards during the month, and had a great sighting of them on the 26^th, where the male went up a tree, being a little shyer than the female. The female spotted a young black mamba snake in a tree, and chased the snake higher and higher into the branches, until she could follow no further, due to her weight.

The Lagoon pack of wild dogs was seen several times, with still one male missing, so now only 8 dogs form the pack. Although we saw the dogs often at the beginning of the month, the density of lions later on forced them to spend more time in the Lebala region, for safety.

The festive season produced a great sighting of a female leopard in the morning followed by a pack of 20 wild dogs located along the Old Lebala Road. This is a pack that is seen only about once a year, which inhabits the far north of the concession – at the moment it comprises of 10 adults and 10 puppies. It was nice of them to visit our area, close to Lagoon, and they had just finished up a kill when we found them, but they are very shy, so they did not stay long with us.

It was not so lucky for three young buffalos however, as the two male lions managed to kill them on the 24^th, just in time for Christmas. Blondie lionesses, however, had a hungry Christmas, as the males consumed the buffalos alone.

The beginning of the month there were a few elephants are still around, with breeding herds being seen in the woodland, but not very many now out in the floodplains, now that rain has provided plenty of new growth and available water everywhere. However, by the end of the month, the elephant herds seemed to have got bored with the mopane area, and it was not uncommon to see 5 or 6 breeding herds on each drive.

With the rain arrives the plentiful bull frogs, reed frogs, toads and leopard tortoises. All enjoying the slightly humid conditions after the long dry months.

Unusual sightings this month included two serval sightings, and there appear to be a larger number of eland this year compared to last year.

Comments closed

Kwara December 2013

Published December 31, 2013 by Kwando Safaris

Lions were in abundance, with only one day of the whole month with none being found. Often, it was not just one sighting a day, but different prides and individuals being found. Cubs were also in abundance with one pride (the Solo pride) with seven of assorted ages, and a female being found with 4 cubs aged only three or four weeks. So many different lion sightings, it’s a hard to pick out just one or two to highlight, but perhaps there was an interesting contrast on the 17^th, when the Tsum Tsum pride were intent on a fresh meal and spent some time chasing zebra. Two spotted hyenas were less fussy, and feasted on a rotting impala carcass. Its important to point out though that, contrary to popular belief, hyenas are very good hunters in their own right, and lions are quite happy to scavenge and feed on a piece of meat well past it’s ‘sell by’ date.

With the lions out in force, the other cats proved a little more challenging to find, with leopards only being found 5 or 6 times this month. We did have better luck with the coalition of two cheetah brothers, that were found several times in the Splash area. One morning we saw the cheetahs attempting to hunt impalas, but they were unsuccessful while we watched. A few days later they were found relaxed and well fed, so had had better luck!

Wild dogs were seen regularly in the first half of the month – predominantly the pack of 18, but also visits by the pack of six. On one occasion, the pack of 18 wild dogs, including the seven puppies, were found at Buffalo Pan drinking, after having just killed a female kudu. A hyena approached and tried to grab some of the kill, but the dogs quickly turned on him and chased him into the centre of the Pan, where he waited in comparative safety. Another day, the pack coordinated well, and managed to kill two impalas out of the same herd. Hyenas circled around, waiting for a chance to grab a scrap of skin or bone.

The Kwara concession is home to not only to semi-aquatic antelope such as lechwe and sitatunga, but to wildlife that is more suited to drier environments. It was still quite unusual to see 2 adult ostriches – a male and female – with a grand total of 15 offspring following their parents along. The young ostriches were around 3 months old, and are likely to be the offspring of more than one female.

Christmas eve there was a great sighting of the Solo pride of lions, with six adults, and 7 cubs of assorted ages . The adults killed a zebra, and everyone was feeding on it. The five older cubs had full tummies from gorging on a bit of meat, and the two smallest cubs were running around and playing, not bothered about the meat, as they are still suckling from their mother.

On the 28^th December, we came across an elephant that appeared to have died several days before. A single lioness was feeding on the carcass, and vultures were hovering in the area, waiting for the lioness to move off so that they can also begin feeding.

A big herd of nearly 40 zebra were enjoying the fresh green grass of the floodplains when the stallions began chasing each other around, biting and kicking each other. This continued for some minutes, before settling back down to feeding, and we are not sure whether it was simply a bit of play fighting, or an attempt to show dominance over each other.

Unusual sightings this month of a very relaxed serval cat, with a frog in its mouth after a successful hunt! A water mongoose flushed from the edge of the marsh, and several sightings of sable. And a very lucky boat ride, that came upon a group of three of the rarest and shyest antelope: stitatunga!

December is also a wonderful time for birding, with summer visitors and breeding plumage. Lovely sightings this month of Brown hooded kingfisher, red breasted swallow, fan tailed widow bird, and Paradise flycatchers. All complete exhibitionists when it comes to their colour-co-ordination!

Comments closed