A pack of three wild dogs crossed our path at Nare Pan as we concluded a fascinating nature walk this month. We admired the trio from a distance as they sniffed all the animal scents (including ours) around the waterhole. We also noticed that water monitor lizards were very active around the waterhole areas.
The general game has been excellent, with elephants often swimming in the river and mud-bathing on sunny days. We found giraffes everywhere and witnessed large numbers of zebra, wildebeest and kudu. We’ve also enjoyed big herds of Eland antelopes in the area and several sets of Southern ground hornbills hunting or moving around in search of food. The African cuckoo was still around, and the Amur falcons were seen in large flocks. A small, kestrel-like falcon, this summer visitor migrates all the way from northern and eastern Asia.
Two Brown hyenas have been active at their den site throughout the month, and we often caught them in the afternoon, moving about or digging and neatening their burrow.
Three male lions slept through the afternoon heat at Skimmer Pan, and we later found a lactating lioness hunting along the river. She started walking more inland, and we followed her, hoping to see the cubs, but the thick Mopane forest blocked the route. Fortunately, as we were finishing up the night drive, we found this lioness with her three cubs (roughly three months old) and watched them frolic for a long time before our tummies started to growl for dinner.
Unforgettable evening encounters
Night drives have been totally enthralling this month. We came across a lioness hunting and followed her through the bush. With the engine off, we heard other lions roaring, and they showed up to chase off the lioness. She had to scamper for a good kilometre. On another evening, we saw a lioness chasing the jackals through thickets.
We saw both a serval and an African wildcat hunting and found three aardwolves together. It appeared to be a single parent looking after two little ones, and their den was very close to the camp. We have also noticed another den site near Halfway Pan but haven’t set eyes on the occupants yet.
The fireflies were still around and entertained our guests on walks back to the tents after dinner before the soft beeping sounds of the reed frogs later lulled them to sleep.
(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!)