A pack of four wild dogs, alpha male, female and two puppies, were located resting near the camp lagoon. Not too far away was the resident pride of sixteen lions. We saw this big pride very regularly, including with their two males. Once we came across them as they were feeding on a wildebeest.
Breeding herds of buffalo were grazing and resting on the flood plain, about five minutes from camp. We also saw them feeding in the water at Marula Island. In a lucky sighting, we were able to see a pair of giraffes mating.
Crocodiles could be seen basking on the sand banks. We observed how they opened their mouths to regulate their body temperature.
Leopard sightings were good; one group of guests seeing three different leopards in three different spots during their two-night stay. A leopard was seen up a tree at Zeppa Island and came down as we watched. We also came across a mating pair of leopards. One afternoon we were lucky enough to come across a leopard cub resting on a tree.
Elephants were feeding along the channels and we enjoyed watching some bulls crossing the Xudum river. There were plenty of hippos in the water.
Two tsessebe bulls were fighting a territorial battle. We watched for about fifteen minutes until one ran away. Red lechwe could be seen splashing through the water as they ran from island to island.
Both black-backed and side-striped jackals were identified; one jackal was curiously approaching the camp fire at night, summoning up courage to get close, and then nervously darting away again. This was fun to watch. The resident clan of seven spotted hyenas were still often near the airstrip. A lone hyena was also seen walking across Shine Bridge. On night drive we found genet, wild cat and civet.
On walking safari we were able to observe wildebeest, zebra and giraffe grazing on the flood plain.
One day lucky guests were able to see a fish eagle catching his fish and eating it. Other notable bird sightings included wattled cranes, saddle-billed storks, yellow-billed storks and African jacana.
(Note: Accompanying picture is from our Kwando Photo Library which consists of all your great photo submissions over the years, it may not be the most up to date, but we felt it was worthy of a feature alongside this month’s Sightings Report!)
