Kwando`s Green Season

[AKR1]

Hari,

 

Check out this iconic picture- the sixth one is just around the bend. Difficult to believe they could be overthrown as a group, given they used to fight together. But, it did happen. @@michael-ibk, sorry to put my Kwara picture in your trip report!

 

[michael-ibk]

What a Magical Safari you had @michael-ibk; your photos make me feel like i've been along for the ride.

 

I do love Botswana in Green Season. The rains just made it all the more mystical and romantic.

 

Looking forward to more!

 

Thanks, @@graceland . Well, luckily we didn´t have so much rain. One proper rainstorm during our ... exciting ( ) flight to Kwara, a bit of rain on the subsequent game drive, a bit of drizzle on another gamedrive in Kwara and one pourdown between activities one afternoon at Vic Falls. Don´t know if that´s typical, we had expected to get wetter more often.

 

 

@madaboutcheetah @michael-ibk I met Maipilo last year when I was in Bots also - I think at Lagoon. Continuing to really enjoy this report! Really looking forward to the last camp!

 

Thanks, @@SafariChick . So Mapilo/Maipilo(?) does rotate.

 

 

 

Wow, I would definitely have had problems with getting into a mekoro in the delta after that.

Ditto that.

 

Me three. I had trouble with the idea of a mekoro even without hearing that - after hearing it, wow, I definitely don't think it's for me. How lucky is it the surgeon was in camp (and had the proper equipment to do stitches?! I wonder was it just another guest who happened to be there? Would love to know more details.

 

 

Well, according to our jeep buddies camp staff was understandably very coy about what had actually happened, and at first they didn´t want to tell the reason for "no mokoro" at all. But of course, someone talked eventually. Someone always talks. I have no further details, however. About proper equipment ... you should watch more TV series, then you´d know that a seewing needle and some twine is quite sufficient, go watch the Lost pilot.

 

 

 

Thanks for an excellent report@@michael-ibk.

The Kwara part in particular brought back some great memories. I am surprised you did not see the cheetahs as we had multiple sightings including a start to finish Red Lechwe kill at four rivers and an exciting failed hunt with the 3 cheetah brothers in Tsum-Tsum. Also, 6 of the magnificent 7 lions ( long gone I understand) walking together about 200m from my tent sit out at Kwara. No dogs during our Feb 2012 trip.

 

Do you have any details on the Hippo attack on guests in a mekoro at Pom-Pom camp?

@@AKR1 - from these images here of the new 4 males ....... I don't think those 6 or 7 could hold a candle to these guys! MASSIVE ......

 

From following reports of the remaining two cheetah males, seems they tend to hang around Splash a lot now - their territory is being challenged by the hour! what with Tsum Tsum being prime Cheetah land and all ......

 

 

 

Hari,

 

Check out this iconic picture- the sixth one is just around the bend. Difficult to believe they could be overthrown as a group, given they used to fight together. But, it did happen. @@michael-ibk, sorry to put my Kwara picture in your trip report!

 

 

@@AKR1

 

No problem, it´s a great picture, and the story of the ousted kings of Kwara is very interesting. The four "intruder males", the Marsh Boys, seem to have entered the scene early 2013. The August sightings report mentions a "tussle" between the four Marsh Boys and two of the seven. October reports three of the intruders killing hippo in the area. For November it´s "The four ‘Marsh boys’ the big males that ousted the members of the Magnificent seven returned to the area with a female and two sub-adults in tow. "

 

So it´s not very clear when exactly the magnificent seven were dethroned, but late autumn 2013 they seem to have gone.Quite likely the Marsh boys didn´t take them all on at once, but in fights with a better head to head ratio favouring them?

[wilddog]

Well, I did not hear about the Pom Pom incident and survived my mokoro trip at Little Kwara. Phew! More of that when I get to me TR!

 

 

Interestingly - Wikipedia says it can be spelt Mekoro, Makoro or Mokoro. You learn something new everyday

[Big_Dog]

Lion politics are fascinating stuff...much more so than dull human politics.
Sad to hear there were no dogs at Kwara...sure Lagoon will have something, looking forward to hearing what sightings you had!

[michael-ibk]

Linyanti, Lagoon Camp



Camp to the upper right




Our stay in Lagoon literally started with a bang - unfortunately that bang was a Lapwing clashing into the plane´s front windshields. Icky bloodstains there.

But that was not seminal for our stay here. Not at all. Lagoon Camp was far and away the best, perfect in every way, be it accomodation, staff, food or - most important - guiding and sightings.

We had ample time to settle in our new accomodations since we arrived as early at 12:30, and were quite impressed with our "tents":







Bedroom/Sitting room




Dressing room








Bathroom. There´s also an outdoor shower.







Private Viewing Deck. Just lovely, lots of birds around all times, especially Little Bee-Eaters. The sound of grunting hippos always present. Also saw a water monitor here.

Quite a difference to accomodations in Kwara. Which were fine, I´d like to stress again, a comfy bed and clean bathroom do suffice absolutely, but of course we did enjoy our luxury "house" in Lagoon.

No monkeys here (as opposed to Kwara), but lots of Squirrels and birds of all kinds. And elephants at times. My favourite camp inhabitant was this kinda grumpy-looking African Scops Owl:







Main area, library



The Bar




Dining room






The boat for trips (didn´t do that here.)




View from main area

Managers were Obi and "Mr. P.". Did a stellar job, especially Obi is incredible. Always present, always friendly, always making sure guests are happy. I liked to chat with her, and thought it funny how different our worlds are. When I told her about Austrian winters and snow in general she whould visibly shudder and firmly assure me that she could never live in a place like that. She could hardly comprehend on the other hand that us westerners have trouble imagining growing up and living next to dangerous animals, like Alex and Paul telling me about their walks to schools as kids when they would often encounter lions and hyenas. Nothing special to them, just the environment they have ever been used to.

One night all of camp staff did a dancing/chanting presentation for guests. I enjoyed it, mainly because I felt that they had incredibly fun doing this, probably even more so than their audience. And their "Beautiful Botswana" song will stay with me, I often think of that.

[michael-ibk]

When we wanted to go to High Tea unexpected obstacles were in our way:



Elephants were wandering through camp. What a delight!

We had to wait for them moving on a bit before we dared proceeding to the main area, sidling along the neighbouring tents for a bit of cover.



We then met our new car buddies, @@The Bear and his wife from the UK. Ours was a lucky encounter, since we would share the perfect (and longest!) game drive the next day.

I had asked for Spencer as a guide, and was a bit miffed that that wish was not fulfilled. But in hindsight I´m happy about it. Don´t know what miracles Spencer does work, but our guide Paul was absolutely fantastic. Extremely knowledgeful, very respectful of animals, an obsessive tracker, very witty and funny with his deadpan humour and with the amazing ability to tell interesting stuff about pretty much anything, even herbs and trees and grasses when animals were not around. (Which was not often). Without question the best of all the Kwando guides we´ve had. Great, great guy! (Met Spencer too, btw, the perfect gentleman.)

I also liked our tracker James very much, a quiet young man who obviously loves what he does. Leopard and Zebra are his favourite animals, an interesting choice.





Landscapes here were very different from Kwara, gone was the tender green and the watery roads, this was a decidedly drier and gruffer landscape, with lots and lots of very conspicous high termite hills. Loved the smell of wild sage everywhere.

Game was reluctant this afternoon, a few Tsessebes and Impalas, that was pretty much it on the "bigger" front. But delightful bird sightings, especially our first Southern Carmine Bee-Eaters. And Ostriches.







We found leopard tracks and were hell-bent on finding the big cat. Paul offroaded around stubbornly for more than an hour, it really was hard work for the two of them in the high grass. Eventually, when we (but not Paul) had pretty much given up, a beautiful male leopard was crouching next to the road between the shrubbery. Unfortunately he was extremely shy and dashed off the instant he saw us. We tried to follow him, but all of a sudden he was gone. I could still see some leaves rustling where he had run through, but inexplicably he had turned invisible. Prince of stealth indeed. Paul told us that this male is notorious for his shyness, never stays around.

No pictures therefore, but we felt elevated that we had seen this beautiful cat and celebrated in style with sundowners.




Paul warned us not to expect too much for nightdrives, the high grass was a problem here as well. But after it had turned dark, it got exciting - two huge gleaming pairs of eyes were coming for us out of the black:



The two males of the local pride, "Blondie" and his brother.

Seeing them here in the dark felt special, truly an eerie atmosphere. I was a bit worried for James who was still in his tracker seat outside the car, flashlighting the big males from not more than five metres away. But Paul just laughed at me and said it was fine.





After they left us and we were still full of adrenaline Paul explained the stars to us with a very strong torch light. The sky was perfectly starlit, and we learned about the Southern Cross, Orion and his sisters, and his mortal enemy, the Scorpio, who casts him out of the sky every night. Sittin there in the dark, smelling the wild sage, listening to Paul talking about the constellations and the rich mythological tales tied to them, with cicadas providing a background concert, marvelling at the starry sky in a clarity I had never experienced before - that´s one of my perfect moments of this trip, maybe more so than many of the best animal sightings.

On the way home James found us a Civet, we had a short, but good view of it crossing the road then. And a hippo was grassing just outside camp.

Happy with our afternoon we discussed plans for the next day with Paul - concerning dogs!

[michael-ibk]

Birds, pt. 9 (Kingfishers)

Like everybody else I love Kingfishers. Would have expected to see more of them, but just a few Pied ones at Kwara, and one Malachite, my favourite. Couldn´t get a photo of that one, though. Lagoon presented us with a few very nice sightings of these beautiful birds.



Pied Kingfisher







Two Woodland Kingfishers



Brown-Hooded Kingfisher



Grey-Headed Kingfisher

[Big_Dog]

Stunning photos as ever. Your camp ones are also quite excellent, taking anyone who's familiar with Kwando back there just by looking at them.
Particularly love the sleepy Scops Owl, and it's always nice to photos of Blondie and Brother!

[madaboutcheetah]

I'm glad Blondie and brother stuck around - in recent years, we'd always have a take over and new males every few months!!! Two very impressive males down the Lebala way too - King booker and his brother!!!

[michael-ibk]

My heart had sunk the other day when Paul had told me the dogs were not around Lagoon at the moment - they were in the Lebala area. Luckily our jeep buddies were as keen on seeing them as we were, so Paul promised to drive over there and try to find them, if someone at Lebala saw them. Big relief!



The morning started quietly, Lilac-Breasted Roller, Francolin chicks, a hippo in an pond, a few Impalas. Paul then wanted to have a look for the three young lion cubs, sired by Blondie. Their mother had started to bring them out on occassion and so their lair was known to the guides, although they were moved every few days.

We left the road and drove up a hill, smack-dab in the middle of a few bushes. At first we couldn´t see anything, even Paul thought they were gone, but then there was some movement deep in the hide. A pair of tiny eyes watched us from in there, a cute little muzzle came into sight gradually, moving forward and forward by the fraction of an inch.

We could almost sense the cub´s inner conflict. They know they have to stay hidden, it´s a dangerous world for lion cubs, but we were far too interesting for the enterprising little rascal to stay put, and so he came out to get a better look at the strange creatures closing in on its home.






His siblings couldn´t resist the temptation neither after big bold brother´s inquisitiveness, and so soon joined him.

 

You can see how close they approached, that´s the car to the right.




After a while mommy and auntie appeared, passed us by very closely and commandeered the little ones back into the bush - time to suckle. We couldn´t see them anymore in the dark bush, and after a while listening to their delightful noises decided to move of. And the second car (with Spencer) had arrived by now, so we made way for them trying to get a closer look.

We didn´t get very far, while we were taking pics of a Woodland Kingfisher nearby Spencer radioed in: "They´re coming out!"

So we returned, watched the family play and cuteness ensued.









Motherly love

Yes, I´m a big bad lion. Groaaaar!




Mommy always kept a watchful eye.

We spent a good half hour with them, until they retreated. It was time to move on fur us anyway if we still wanted to go to Lebala - and of course we did!

As @@madaboutcheetah mentioned, Lagoon has been the stage for lion takeover after lion takeover, and only Blondie and his brother brought some stability. The pride is tiny, just the two males and the two lionesses, now the cubs. Really, really hoping here they will make it.

[Big_Dog]

Some of the greatest lion cub photos around there @@michael-ibk ! The one with the light dappling it's little face is simply stunning.
When I was at Lagoon, fellow visitors there also showed me photos of them being...'sired' by Blondie in August roughly.
So few lionesses may make them very susceptible to spotted hyaena takeovers at kills too...lets hope the cubs stay well hidden and expand the pride in later life!

Also...you're not entering the Kwando photo competition are you, Michael?...

Edited May 11, 2014 by Big_Dog

[madaboutcheetah]

I think there is a third Lioness who hasn't introduced her cubs yet to the pride (so probably smaller than these ..... ) ..... atleast that's what I remember from the sightings report -

 

Absolutely loving every word/image/video of your Lagoon section of the report - Thank You!!!!

Edited May 11, 2014 by madaboutcheetah

[michael-ibk]

My "most wanted animals" for this trip were definitely Wild Dogs. I don´t know if it´s their rarity, their fascinating, almost altruistic social behaviour or just the simple fact that they look so much like two of our family dogs, German shepherd dogs, who I had loved so much as a kid. Lagoon has a good reputation for dog sightings, and it was actually the prime reason for going there at all, since I was warned that other animals would be scarce and the Linyanti could be very much hit and miss in the Green season. (Not really true for me, or I could say that the "hits" are very strong hits.)

And now they were not even around in Lagoon! It really was pure luck that our jeep-buddies wanted to see them as well and were ready to do the drive to Lebala. Otherwise I surely would have tried to get a private vehicle desperate as I was for seeing them.

Lebala is farther away from Lagoon than I had expected, I think it´s about a distance of more than 40 km. So we drove there purposefully, and Paul told us we couldn´t stop as often as normally, which was fine by us. Everything for the dogs! The landscape on the way was very pretty, lots of little ponds with hippos and waterbirds, many Giraffes and Impalas on the way.

We all were pretty tense when after more of an hour of driving we came close to the area where the pack had been seen this morning. Would they still be there? Or gone into hiding or just ran off as they do, they do cover great distances after all? I was a bundle of nerves.

But no need to worry, a Lebala jeep just having left them gave us directions, and so we drove off the road and quickly found them:













I was really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, happy to seem them. I mean, happy.

This is the Lagoon Pack. Formerly sizable, they consisted of more than 20 dogs last spring. Then four intruders chased the male alpha dog off in May and integrated themselves. By June their number had reduced to 14, the others members dispersed (as they didn´t care for the newcomers according to Paul). In September the pack split, the old alpha female left with four others, and a pack of nine remained, though the two still met from time to time and merged for a short while. (Not quite sure about the fate of the alpha female, the Kwando reports seem to imply that she´s part of the pack of five now, but Paul said she had died if I´m not mistaken.) In November one male went missing, and since then it has been a pack of eight - three males and five females.




Here are seven of them in the uppter picture, one dog kept to himself, some 20 metres away from them. Privacy issues apparently:





Last year with all the changes in "leadership" the pack had not denned, and has not established a new alpha pair so far. But they are surely trying to create new life.

As @@madaboutcheetah already announced in another thread these kinda clumsy efforts paid off - three of the females are now pregnant. You saw it here first how it came to that.

It´s an ununsual situation, textbook behaviour would be the alpha pair and only the alpha pair siring offspring, but more pregnancies are not unheard off. From what I wrote in the other thread (http://safaritalk.net/topic/12655-lagoon-wild-dog-updates/?hl=%2Blagoon+%2Bdogs#entry127840):

Scott and Nancy Creel, The African Wild Dog: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation, say:

Alpha Females produced 81 % of 85 litters in Kruger Park, and 75 % of 57 litters in Serengeti. ... If a subordinate gives birth, her pups are usually born several days after those of the dominant. Subordinates´ pups are sometimes killes b the dominant female, but often creched with the dominant female´s pups and raised. ...

(Let´s hope they go for the second option. )

At least two of the male dogs were trying to mate in Lagoon, so there are probably several fathers in play as well.

... A genetic study in Kruger found that the alpha male fathered most pups, but at least 2 of 10 litters had multiple paternity. ....Date from Selous also detected multiple paternity. ...

Let´s all just hope for the best, I also read somewhere that "surplus" mothers are sometimes ousted from the pack. Trying times for the Lagoon dogs, but with promise for the future.

I think "Goldie", the very distinctive-looking dog, so much less "painted" than the others, would make a cool alpha dog - just from a visual perspective of course, because he looks so different.

Rest now, Goldie, you´ve earned it.



Thanks, Lagoon pack, you were my definite safari highlight.

[michael-ibk]

Some of the greatest lion cub photos around there @@michael-ibk ! The one with the light dappling it's little face is simply stunning.

When I was at Lagoon, fellow visitors there also showed me photos of them being...'sired' by Blondie in August roughly.

So few lionesses may make them very susceptible to spotted hyaena takeovers at kills too...lets hope the cubs stay well hidden and expand the pride in later life!

 

Also...you're not entering the Kwando photo competition are you, Michael?...

 

@@Big_Dog

 

Thank you, that´s a very flattering question, but really not. Better leave that to the serious photographers.

 

The cubs were not sired in August, they were first seen late December, so were roughly three months old when we saw them. I actually was worried about the fact that they came out of the bush for us, curiousity could really kill the cat here. If they wanted to see us wouldn´t they want to see a hyena or a leopard as well? Paul, however, said they could and would differentiate and know who´s a danger to them and what´s not. I want to believe that.

 

I think there is a third Lioness who hasn't introduced her cubs yet to the pride (so probably smaller than these ..... ) ..... atleast that's what I remember from the sightings report -

 

Absolutely loving every word/image/video of your Lagoon section of the report - Thank You!!!!

 

@@madaboutcheetah

 

Thanks, glad you´re enjoying it. Now that you mention it I do recall that Paul spoke of a pride of five.

Edited May 11, 2014 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

It was past 10 a.m. after our coffee break, and we were about to drive back to Lagoon. We didn´t notice since we kept talking about the awesomeness of dogs incessantly and didn´t pay attention but Paul had received news of a very cool sighting via Lebala radio. So instead of driving back we went further into Lebala territory. Still not knowing that we were going the other way (without mountains as benchmarks we Austrians are utterly helpless with orientation ), we just took delight in this Black-Backed Jackal who wouldn´t pay attention to us and let us approach very closely.







Gesundheit!




It took us a while before we understood where its attention was focused. The jackal seemed to smell something, and we followed his looks. Tree. Just saw a tree there. But why were Paul and James smiling so wickedly? Surely, it couldn´t be .... hadn´t we had goodies enough on this day? Was this really...?

I uttered a deep, unbelieving "Nooooooooooo". But it was.

Leopard!!!




A beautiful female up there, posing in classic leopard style. At first she was concealed inbetween the leaves, but Wonder-Paul apparently speaks Big Cat, because after his friendly invitation she moved forward a bit.

Another exclusive sighting, the Lebala cars had all already left for lunch before our arrival. In the distance a Spotted Hyena was snuffing around, obviously smelling the leopard´s prey but unable to locate it.

The Hyena disappeared again, continuing its search in the wrong direction. They really should learn that "car in awe" + "tree" can only mean spotted cat.

Its prey was a big impala ram, too heavy for this female to bring it up the tree.

 

 

It was already 11:00 a.m. when we left our beautiful cat.

[michael-ibk]

"Ok, folks, no more stopping now, we really need to get back, it´s a long drive," Paul said. We didn´t argue, especially since it was an absolutely cloudless day and really, really hot now in the open car.





But it was as if the Safari God was not willing to let us go yet, and so threw everything in our way to prevent us from getting back.

Hippos.











Lots and lots of cool birds we couldn´t resist taking pics of, like African Spoonbill, African Fish-Eagle, Brown Snake Eagle, Southern Carmine Bee-Eater and more (most already posted).

Dozens and dozens of Giraffes.





If several giraffes walking together are a journey, and more of them standing together are a tower, then what is this?

Elephants were everywhere suddenly, in the course of half an hour we saw more of them than in all our time at Kwara, definitely more than 50.











Impalas, Tsessebes, Warthogs, Impalas, even Red Lechwes and Zebras abounded now, on the very same places that had been almost lifeless on the way to Lebala.










Our last highlight for the day was tree-centric again.



See me?



Better now?



A Verraux´s (Giant) Eagle Owl, a most impressive bird.

A second one was on the tree on the other side of the road.



We finally were back in camp at about 13:30, and Mr. P. jokingly said that he had considered dispatching rescue cars for us. Lunch was (still) waiting for us, and we couldn´t stop talking about what a great game drive this had been.

Kwando at its finest - sightings first, and everything else has to wait.

[Big_Dog]

Dogs, leopards, hyaenas, eagle owls and assorted game! Top drive of the trip, perhaps?
Those leopard shots are wonderfully set against the blue and green dappled background. Excellent sighting! Unlucky hyaena though...
Very glad you got your dogs too! The Lagoon pack are looking good through your lens!

My bad on Blondie siring the cubs then...guess he was just having some fun!
Also loved the oft-underappreciated jackal, little giraffe creche and my favourite owl species.

I'm also quite relived you're not entering! (As a compliment of course.) I also admit I'm entering more through desperation to return to Kwando over any real photographic skill!

[michael-ibk]

Dogs, leopards, hyaenas, eagle owls and assorted game! Top drive of the trip, perhaps?

Don´t forget the lion cub. Yeah, definitely top drive. And longest drive.

 

Those leopard shots are wonderfully set against the blue and green dappled background. Excellent sighting! Unlucky hyaena though...

Very glad you got your dogs too! The Lagoon pack are looking good through your lens!

Thanks!

 

My bad on Blondie siring the cubs then...guess he was just having some fun!

Also loved the oft-underappreciated jackal, little giraffe creche and my favourite owl species.

Nothing wrong with no-strings-attached fun, is there?

 

I do enjoy the "smaller stuff" a lot. Honey badgers and Bat-Eared-Foxes were highlights for me, also this specific Jackal.

 

I'm also quite relived you're not entering! (As a compliment of course.) I also admit I'm entering more through desperation to return to Kwando over any real photographic skill!

 

Don´t sell yourself too short, we´ve all seen your report. And I sympathise with your desperation, cudgelin my brain here how and when to get back there.

[SSF556]

wow...good sightings at Lagoon...

[SSF556]

My heart had sunk the other day when Paul had told me the dogs were not around Lagoon at the moment - they were in the Lebala area. Luckily our jeep buddies were as keen on seeing them as we were, so Paul promised to drive over there and try to find them, if someone at Lebala saw them. Big relief!

 

 

The morning started quietly, Lilac-Breasted Roller, Francolin chicks, a hippo in an pond, a few Impalas. Paul then wanted to have a look for the three young lion cubs, sired by Blondie. Their mother had started to bring them out on occassion and so their lair was known to the guides, although they were moved every few days.

 

We left the road and drove up a hill, smack-dab in the middle of a few bushes. At first we couldn´t see anything, even Paul thought they were gone, but then there was some movement deep in the hide. A pair of tiny eyes watched us from in there, a cute little muzzle came into sight gradually, moving forward and forward by the fraction of an inch.

 

We could almost sense the cub´s inner conflict. They know they have to stay hidden, it´s a dangerous world for lion cubs, but we were far too interesting for the enterprising little rascal to stay put, and so he came out to get a better look at the strange creatures closing in on its home.

 

 

 

 

His siblings couldn´t resist the temptation neither after big bold brother´s inquisitiveness, and so soon joined him.

 

 

 

 

You can see how close they approached, that´s the car to the right.

 

 

 

After a while mommy and auntie appeared, passed us by very closely and commandeered the little ones back into the bush - time to suckle. We couldn´t see them anymore in the dark bush, and after a while listening to their delightful noises decided to move of. And the second car (with Spencer) had arrived by now, so we made way for them trying to get a closer look.

 

We didn´t get very far, while we were taking pics of a Woodland Kingfisher nearby Spencer radioed in: "They´re coming out!"

 

So we returned, watched the family play and cuteness ensued.

 

 

 

 

 

Motherly love

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, I´m a big bad lion. Groaaaar!

 

 

 

Mommy always kept a watchful eye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a good half hour with them, until they retreated. It was time to move on fur us anyway if we still wanted to go to Lebala - and of course we did!

 

As @@madaboutcheetah mentioned, Lagoon has been the stage for lion takeover after lion takeover, and only Blondie and his brother brought some stability. The pride is tiny, just the two males and the two lionesses, now the cubs. Really, really hoping here they will make it.

When we were there in Feb they were still hidden, but we did catch a glance of the cubs the day of departure on the last game drive at Lagoon...

[marg]

Great sightings for you, and for us great reading and viewing. Thanks!

[madaboutcheetah]

Michael, my relatives were guided by Paul too in March (probably just days before your visit) and they spoke very highly of him too ......... I just can't put a face to the name though - not sure if I've met him yet.

[michael-ibk]

Thanks, @scootr29 and @@marg .

 

@@madaboutcheetah

 

 

That´s Paul (on the right) with tracker James. Paul told me he´s been with Kwando for years, at least the last two of them non-stop at Lagoon.

[SafariChick]

Wow, what a fantastic day! So glad you got to see your dogs - they were such a highlight for me too at Lagoon! Will be very interesting to see what happens with this pack.

[TonyQ]

@@michael-ibk

Very enjoyable!

Beautiful lion cubs - and the video of them playing and chasing their mother is great

I am pleased you got your dogs (an ambition of ours!) and you have excellent pictures

The leopard photos are superb

A great day...