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 12th 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 18th 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.