Going to the Dogs in Laikipia

[urologysteve]

What a great trip report SG. I know how much you love the dogs and this sounded like a great trip for you. I can't wait to see pictures.

 

This sounds like a great set-up for dogs. I'm jealous of your trip!

[Atravelynn]

I'm impressed wtih your speediness of getting some posts out. Also impressed with your pricing. Looking forward to photos.

[Safari Cal]

 

Great trip report, we might have to change our plans for our next African safari, Laikipia sounds like the place to visit.

 

@@kittykat23uk 

Actually... there are flamingoes at Naivasha. At the back end of Naivasha on Moi South Lake Road you come to a little soda lake at Oserian called Lake Oleidon where there are quite a few Flamingoes, and boat trips are permitted, which is a bonus

Edited December 16, 2018 by wilddog

[kittykat23uk]

I have been to naivasha and we did see flamingos but yes I mean i would want to see the sea of pink!

[stokeygirl]

Awesome- I think that will be a much better time for dogs, especially for puppies.

An ex colleague of mine just sent me a link to her pics from Kicheche Laikipia in Jan this year- she's got the dogs at that super cute puppy stage.

 

If the $100 conservancy fees are only for Mpala, I can see why it might make sense to pay on site if necessary. We didn't go in every day, I'm sure. Definitely we were in on at least 3 or 4 days- but there isn't any boundary so it was hard to tell if we were in or out!

 

Based on my experience of LWC, I don't think you could get any better for dogs- every time we went looking we found them, except on the last morning when both packs were in Mpala and we weren't allowed in as they were having a trustees meeting so were closed to guests. So we just went for a walk instead. Steve reckoned the 106 pack would be back near the camp the next day.

[madaboutcheetah]

@@stokeygirl - the vulturine guinea fowl is very high on my list - good sightings at LWC of them, i hope?

[africapurohit]

@@stokeygirl have those photos been transferred to your hard drive yet?

[stokeygirl]

@@stokeygirl - the vulturine guinea fowl is very high on my list - good sightings at LWC of them, i hope?

@madaboutcheetah Oh yes- you can't miss them. They're as common as regular guinea fowl in Botswana.

[stokeygirl]

@@stokeygirl have those photos been transferred to your hard drive yet?

 

Yes, but they need to be uploaded to the interwebs somewhere and then linked.

Hopefully I will have some time this weekend.

[madaboutcheetah]

 

@@stokeygirl - the vulturine guinea fowl is very high on my list - good sightings at LWC of them, i hope?

@madaboutcheetah Oh yes- you can't miss them. They're as common as regular guinea fowl in Botswana.

 

 

Oh WOW ...... never seen one yet!

[stokeygirl]

Testing-

 

[stokeygirl]

That's the only one I have here at the orifice.

It takes a while to do it that way- hope it's not taking up too much space on the ST server?

[madaboutcheetah]

Is it my imagination, or they look a little different in comparison to the Southern African dogs? (frame perhaps?)

[stokeygirl]

No- they do look a bit different. Darker, with less white and blonde. Also, I think their hair is shorter- the southern African dogs are fluffier.

 

Someone (safaridude?) posted an interesting selection of wild dog pics on the "show us your wild dog pics" thread where you could really see the difference.

[stokeygirl]

See post #112-

http://safaritalk.net/topic/4322-lets-see-your-wild-dogs-pics-and-video/page-6?

 

A couple of those from East Africa are really dark and with very short hair, compared to the ones from Zambia/Bots.

 

Even in Selous I think the dogs have quite short hair.

[madaboutcheetah]

Thanks .......

[Sangeeta]

Nice photo, SG! Love the out of focus yawner

 

Lots and lots of vulturines await you, Hari!

[urologysteve]

Great picture SG! Beautiful dogs.

 

 

 

That's the only one I have here at the orifice.

 

Which orifice is that?

[stokeygirl]

sorry, that didn't work

Edited June 22, 2013 by stokeygirl

[stokeygirl]

nor that

Edited June 22, 2013 by stokeygirl

[SafariChick]

I think that in a just a couple years, this place is going to rival other famous 'leopard' places for some amazing sightings.

 

@@Sangeeta I'm curious about what makes you say this - is it that LWC is fairly new and the leopards that are there are less habituated to people than in other areas, but as more and more people visit there and the leopards get used to them, they'll allow themselves to be seen more?

[Atravelynn]

There is a difference. Less fluffy. That's it. I couldn't put my finger on it. Nice low angle.

[kittykat23uk]

Hmm... From what I have read here I am getting the impression that I could probably do without visiting this area for dogs (lack of access to the pups at the den, comments about the dogs not being as pretty as those further south, being two factors). For those who have been, how did you find the experience compared to e.g. Mana? Is there more or less diversity of other wildlife? How is the scenery & general vibe of the area?

[stokeygirl]

@@kittykat23uk

Sorry, my report has been a bit dog focussed, so here are some of the other interesting things about the area-

There are some specific sub-species that I haven't seen before- reticulated giraffe and Grevys zebra. I find other sub species of these animals all look a bit similar, but the reticulated giraffe and the Grevys zebra are really quite distinctive. The reticulated giraffe has very bold, defined patterning and I think is much prettier than other types of giraffe. The Grevys zebra is noticeably larger, with very fine stripes. Strikingly different from the common zebra you also see in the area.

 

I thought there was quite a diversity of antelopes, and an interesting "mix" of antelopes - oryx (I've not seen these outside a desert environment before),eland, grant's gazelle, greater kudu, hartebeest. These were all fairly skittish which is partly why I don't have any decent photographs.

 

We also saw plenty of elephants, including a couple of interesting elephant-dog encounters- the eles don't like the dogs and a couple of times we were able to locate the dogs by the trumpeting of the elephants as they ran into each other. We also saw quite a large herd of buffalo.

 

The area is supposed to be good for striped hyena and aardwolf but I was unlucky with both.

 

I'm not much of a birder, but I noticed we did see quite a few raptors- pale chanting Goshawks, Long Crested Eagles, Auger Buzzards (including one melanistic one) and Tawny Eagles, and probably some others I've forgotten about. We also saw quite a few whydahs all in breeding plumage- paradise, straw tailed and steel-blue.

 

Scenery wise the area is very beautiful- what I would call "rift valley scenery"- with hills, granite kopjes and plateaus. The rivers all run in boulder strewn beds with little mini waterfalls. On the walks and drives, there were plenty of opportunites to stop at viewpoints, or walk to viewpoints.

 

As far as the general vibe of the area goes- you can't forget that at the end of the day it is ranchland. We did come across bomas and herds of domestic animals- cattle and sheep, and their herders. But in terms of other game viewing traffic there was none. We saw occasional vehicles- trucks or tractors or people in 4X4s going somewhere but no one else who was interested in looking at the wildlife, so there were no shared sightings, we were always the only people with the dogs.

 

For sure, the area doesn't have the diversity of predators that some might be looking for on safari- there are lions but these are hard to see, and there are no cheetahs (except the two that Annabelle saw, obviously, but that was a first for them!). So as a stand alone destination, it's not going to be the best but unless you're a regular safari goer (who therefore isn't fussed about not seeing a lion) with a wild dog fixation and just a week of holiday to spare like me, then it's not somewhere you would go on its own.

 

I think a combination of Laikipia with the Mara (preferably one of the conservancies) would be a fantastic all round safari. In the Mara you can tick off all the big predators (but probably not dogs unless very lucky) and the large congregations of game. Then Laikipia offers awesome wild dog sightings, a few other speciality species (or sub species) the freedom to get out of the vehicle whenever you want, and walking in stunning scenery.

[stokeygirl]

Hmm... From what I have read here I am getting the impression that I could probably do without visiting this area for dogs (lack of access to the pups at the den, comments about the dogs not being as pretty as those further south, being two factors). For those who have been, how did you find the experience compared to e.g. Mana? Is there more or less diversity of other wildlife? How is the scenery & general vibe of the area?

 

Did you manage to access a den site in Mana Pools? I don't remember.

 

To be entirely honest, I question whether accessing den sites on foot or in a vehicle, is really such a great idea. I did it several years ago at Lagoon, and I had slight doubts about it then. But that pack must be very habituated by now as they've denned in that area for years, and must be used to being visited on a daily basis, probably by several vehicles at once. In other areas where the dogs aren't use to it, visiting a den could disturb them and make them move den sites, putting the puppies at risk.

 

I got the impression that the "inaccessibility" of the den sites at LWC is partly due to their physical location, but also for the dogs' protection. I think Annabelle said that one year one of the packs did den somewhere quite open, near a village and suprisingly the denning was successful. But I still think they don't visit den sites regardless of whether they are physically accessible or not.

 

For me, I have enough doubt about it now that I won't be pushing to visit den sites anywhere in the future. Not when puppies are small anyway- if they're a few months old and already moving with the pack (ie the "second" den site that the Laikipia dogs seem to have) then that's different.