Hwange cheetahs

[madaboutcheetah]

@Bush dog - You've got me curious about Hwange ....... Is the Linkwasha concession same as the Makololo one? or different?  .......  Are these private concessions like in Botswana, where other private concessions don't have access in there? Are your images mostly from the vehicle or also did you do some walks?  Do they have accessible dog dens in Hwange like in Botswana?

 

There seem to be several top of the line private concessions in Hwange from the little I've read about - Somalisa, the WS options etc etc., so too Camp Hwange that you speak highly about! 

 

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

[Bush dog]

@madaboutcheetah

 

Hi Hari,

 

The Linkwasha concession is contractually a different concession as the Makalolo one but as they are adjacent and granted to the same operator, it actually makes it one and only vast expanse.  Linkwasha cars go when necessary to Makalolo and vice versa.  Like in Botswana, only the owners of a concession have access to their own one.  But they also often go to public areas (national park).  This is especially true for African Bush Camps (Somalisa), Imvelo (Nehimba, Camelthorn,…..) and Camp Hwange because their concessions are small.  Camp Hwange is about fifty square kilometers.  Wilderness cars, when they get out of their concession, mainly go to Ngamo or Ngweshla.  Even on their concessions, they are not allowed to go off road.  For the others, I do not know.  It seems that at Camp Hwange, they are allowed to.  I noticed however that on the western part of the park, where Nehimba, Camp Hwange and Hwange Bush Camp are located, they are more tolerant. 

 

As your priorities are quite different from mine, I would advise you, if you plan to go there, to go in September or October, combining Linkwasha and Camp Hwange, when all the animals have gone back north and concentrated around the artificial water holes and also all the areas are accessible and dry.  I am thinking in particular of the area around Little and Big Tom Pans, not easily reachable in green season because of the black cotton soil and where a pride of lions specialized in hunting elephants.

 

All my pictures were taken from the vehicle but if you want to walk, then Camp Hwange or Hwange Bush Camp are the places to go.  I also found that there the level of guiding is top, better than at Linkwasha, where nevertheless like in many places in Zimbabwe, the level is excellent.

 

To my knowledge, there are no accessible dog dens.  The estimated dog population in Hwange is about 250 for a territory of around 14.000 square kilometers.  So with dogs it is more to be at the right place at the right time than anything else.

 

If you need more explanations, please ask.

[Bush dog]

@marg

 

Personnally, I saw cheetahs on my first trip, two at Linkwasha and one close to Ngweshla.  Thanks a lot for following this report.

[Bush dog]

@Africalover

 

Thanks for your comments!

[Bush dog]

Some pictures made not far from the camp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Southern pochards.

 

 

Two pictures taken from my room during a thunder storm.

 

 

[madaboutcheetah]

Great info, Mike - Thank You!

[Game Warden]

4 hours ago, Bush dog said:

 

 

I know a topic this photo would be perfect for Mike...   

[pomkiwi]

@Bush dog Beautiful photos (as always) and very useful information - thank-you.

[Bush dog]

@Game Warden

 

Your wish is my command.  Done!

[Bush dog]

@pomkiwi

 

Thank you for following this report.

[Bush dog]

To close the Linkwasha chapter, some pictures taken on the way back to Main Camp.

 

Hippos at Little Samavundhla.

 

 

Little Samavundhla’s forced resident, the broken wing pelican, has now been there for about five years, still alive and kicking as the little story that follows is the perfect demonstration.  I had a hard time believing it just like Edison when it was told to him by one of his colleagues.  But he confirmed his words by showing him the pictures of the facts.

The pelican does not often venture out of the water but it happens to it from time to time without however moving away from it.  It had therefore left the safety of the pond without being far from it when it was suddenly surrounded by some wild dogs.  Did they want to eat it or just play with it?  No one knows or will know it.  The fact remains that the pelican decided not to offer itself as a willing victim and to resist.  Making a lot of noise, it began to jump on the spot, turning on itself like a dervish, while beating the air of its two wings to keep them at a distance, which it managed to do.  After a while, disgusted, the dogs abandoned the game and withdrew.  They probably were not very hungry?  The pelican hastened to find the safety of its pond.  Believe it or not, but I told you this story as it was told to me.

 

 

Crowned crane.

 

 

Some sables and a giraffe between Kennedy and Main Camp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Main Camp, Washington was waiting for me to drive me to Camp Hwange.

[madaboutcheetah]

Wow - superb sable even in the green season!!!

[Bush dog]

@madaboutcheetah

 

Hari, to my knowledge, Hwange is the best place to see sables, even in the green season.

[Bush dog]

CAMP HWANGE

 

Let's get straight to the point, the first encounter with the cheetah.  This solitary male can be qualified as semi-resident.  Indeed one week it’s present, one week it moves elsewhere, generally until Masuma, about fifteen kilometers, where it’s more difficult to locate.  But as soon as it’s on the concession, it’s easier to see it.  So far, during my previous visits, I had only seen it twice, on the concession and near Masuma.  Was it easier to see it this time because the lions were totally absent of the concession during my stay?  Perhaps?  I do not really know.

 

That morning, it was on a tree,  close to the main road, a few hundred meters from Shumba Pan.  That tree is obviously one of its many marking spots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it went down to get on a fallen tree right next, another marking spot.

 

 

 

 

[TonyQ]

@Bush dog Beautiful photos! What dates were you there on this trip?

[Bush dog]

@TonyQ

 

Thanks!  I was there in the last third of March.

[Bush dog]

Rest of the pictures of the cheetah first sighting at Camp Hwange.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After, it went down from the fallen tree it went under a thick bush to rest.  We came back in the afternoon but it was gone.

[Game Warden]

Fantastic studies @Bush dog. I'm sure they'll make @madaboutcheetah keen to visit Hwange

[Bush dog]

@Game Warden

 

Thank you!  Some more still to come.

[Bush dog]

At each visit, I notice that there are a number of bird species that are found in large quantities each time different from those seen during the previous visit. This time, there were a lot of secretary birds (even six together), black-headed storks, African jacanas, Namaqua doves, saddle-billed storks, Kori bustards and crowned cranes (even nine together).

 

 

 

 

 

Only four minutes passed between the first and the fourth of the previous photos.  This is to say that the light is changing so fast at this time of the year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[madaboutcheetah]

Interesting that there are Crowned Cranes in Hwange and not in the Delta (I don't think I've seen them in Bots) - although, they are very common in the Mara.

 

Lovely Jacana! 

[Bush dog]

@madaboutcheetah

 

Thanks, Hari!  Crowned cranes have a wide range that goes from Uganda to South Africa all along the eastern part of Africa.  I think that the most westerly points, where they can be found, are Kafue and northern east Botswana (Chobe).

[Bush dog]

Here is a series of pictures of a juvenile saddle-billed stork looking for food at Cobra Pan, the aptly named because the day before I had actually seen a cobra.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

beautiful portraits of the saddle-billed. and how great to see the cheetah up on a tree - it's so iconic to see a spotted cat (leopard or cheetah) in a tree.

 

the sables are doing well, 

and glad to hear the wily pelican continues to survive. 

[Bush dog]

@Kitsafari

 

Thank you for your comments!  More cheetah on a tree to come.