Winter inched in bit by bit, as the first few days of April were foggy and misty on waking up in the morning, and the Okavango floodwaters were reported just 44km from Moremi Crossing.
With the natural waterholes drying up in the woodlands, the game moved to the nutritious floodplains in ever-climbing numbers. This month, we saw leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs, and hyenas more often on our drives.
One morning, we spotted two males in a territorial battle. We followed the two for almost three kilometres as the Black-maned lion dominated the blonder male, forcing and driving it out of its territory. The vocalisations and deafening roars between the two resonated through our bodies! We regularly saw a coalition of two smart-looking males throughout the Rra Lopang area, and park rangers of the Moremi Game Reserve confirmed our suspicions that a lioness with two cubs, accompanied by a big old male, favoured the Nxwega Island area.
Adventure camping highlights
One of our guests relished our overnight adventure camping and had some breathtaking moments. One evening, they followed a pack of 22 dogs, which later disappeared into the thickets before a leopard was reported on the radio by the camp manager at the airstrip. Guides rushed to the scene to find a relaxed cat sitting on the soft sand of the vehicle track.
We spotted a lone cheetah during an evening drive along the open floodplains five minutes away from Moremi Crossing Camp. Guests witnessed the fastest land mammal attempting a hunt, which failed as the Red lechwe escaped into the water. We also enjoyed the sight of three cheetah brothers resting in the dense shade of a Jackalberry tree.
We could not ignore the horn clashes and beastly roars of impala males. The rut season of this most abundant and prosperous antelope in Africa has begun, and it’s always amazing to see them on game drives and walking safaris because the males are so busy trying to herd as females that we barely cross their radar. Bachelor males were sparring and preparing to dethrone the dominant males. Red lechwe were also running along the channel to mate and congregated in numbers. Giraffes, wildebeest, zebras, tsessebes and breeding herds of elephants were often seen along the water channels, further proof that the woodland waters are drying up.
Harvester termites were still collecting the last dry grass to prepare for the coming dry season. We best witnessed their frenzied activities on our signature bushwalks through the Moremi Game Reserve. Small-spotted genets, Springhares, Honey badgers, Bat-eared foxes, civets and servals all crossed the flashlight on night drives. Spotted hyenas and both Side-striped and Black-backed jackals were logged almost daily.
Birding has been fantastic throughout the month. Most of the summer visitors have left, so we located our residents, such as the Saddle-billed stork, Bateleur eagle, Yellow-billed stork, African fish-eagle and some Sacred ibises to mention a few from the endless list.
(Please note: For the safety of the animals, we do not disclose the location of either rhino or pangolin sightings. Accompanying pictures are 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!)