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Sango Camp, afternoon game drive in Moremi Game Reserve. June 02, 2014

 

 

At the end of this game drive we had several nice sightings:

 

 

A bull elephant in the bush:


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Khwai concession scenery shot:



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Young Greater kudu female and a Southern red-billed hornbill:


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Moremi sunset with Greater kudu:

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Edited by FlyTraveler
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Sango Camp, morning game drive in the Khwai Community concession. June 03, 2014

 

 

After spending both the morning and the afternoon of the previous day in Moremi GR, the guides decided that it was time for the Khwai concession. The obvious advantage of the concession was the ability to drive off-road and get closer to the animals, ironically this did not work for us when we needed it most.

 

At first we noticed a group of red lechwes on the border with Moremi GR (the trees on the photos are actually in Moremi):


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Then DiTi noticed the wild dogs. I've been looking forward to see dogs during the entire trip, but never had the luck of finding them, neither in Timbavati, nor in Moremi or Khwai and here they are, we are in a concession where driving off-road is permitted, but could not get closer due to the marshy soil between us and the dogs. Bammer! The dogs and the red lechwes were looking at each other for quite a while, but situation didn't develop as far, as going for a hunt. We observed the dogs with binoculars for about 45 minutes until they disappeared in Moremi GR. It wasn't exactly how we wanted to see them, but at least we can say that we have seen African wild dogs not only on photos and on documentaries.


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I didn't have a good tele-lens either - a 70-300 VR, so no matter how many photos I took, they didn't look much better than the ones above.

 

 

While we were observing the dogs, a flock of Spur-winged geese flew nearby and I tried my luck with one short burst of the camera.


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Edited by FlyTraveler
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Another image from the album "The Intimate Life of the Wild Animals":

 

 

Haha...we really need a dedicated thread to collect these classy shots.

 

Great updates! 45 minutes with dogs is still a treat.

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Another image from the album "The Intimate Life of the Wild Animals":

 

 

Haha...we really need a dedicated thread to collect these classy shots.

 

 

 

 

 

Well... you can start one and then let me know, I'll contribute some images :)

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Sango Camp, morning game drive in the Khwai Community concession. June 03, 2014

 

 

After the dogs disappeared in Moremi GR, we drovet to the airstrip where DiTi talked to some people working on the second airstrip construction. Then he couldn't start the engine, good thing the workers pushed us and he finally started. The bad news was that he wouldn't shut down the engine while at most of the sightings which, of course was pretty bad for taking photos (the vibrations of an idling diesel engine are terrible). There was nothing we could do at the moment, except using a higher shutter speed for the cameras, but I was going to talk to the manager upon our return to the camp and ask for some extra hours added to the afternoon game drive for compensation.

 

 

Some plains game:


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Then a group of male waterbuck antelopes posed for photos really well:


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Waterbuck and impalas:


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Then the waterbuck antelopes ran through the marshes:


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Red lechwe and Grey heron:


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madaboutcheetah

How lucky with the waterbuck posing ....... Love that landscape pic.

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Sango Camp, morning game drive in the Khwai Community concession. June 03, 2014

 

 

Yellow-billed storks:


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African spoonbill and Yellow-billed storks:


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Red lechwe, Grey heron, African spoonbill and Yellow-billed storks:

 

 

 

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Pair of Egyptian gees:


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Sango Camp, morning game drive in the Khwai Community concession. June 03, 2014

 

 

As I mentioned before, on this game drive there was a problem with starting the engine of the vehicle, so DiTi kept it running while stopping at sightings. Once when he stopped not far from a bull elephant, he forgot and shut the engine. The elephant looked relaxed at the beginning, but then became kind of restless, trumpeted and mock-charged us. I don't remember being so scared while on safari, the elephant coming towards us and DiTi frantically trying to start the engine.

 

 

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Fortunately he managed to start the engine and we drove away.

 

 

African darter in flight:

 

 

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Yellow-billed stork in flight:


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Sango Camp, morning game drive in the Khwai Community concession. June 03, 2014

 

 

Some impala photos:


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Shame about that vehicle, did you get your extra hours? The elephant charge must have been a bit nerve-wrecking, how close did he get?

 

Still enjoying this very much, unfortunately you´re almost finished... :(

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Shame about that vehicle, did you get your extra hours? The elephant charge must have been a bit nerve-wrecking, how close did he get?

 

Still enjoying this very much, unfortunately you´re almost finished... :(

 

Yes, we got extra two hours added to the afternoon game drive (private, the other couple wanted to rest in camp, so the manager drove them to our vehicle later) with some quite good sightings.

 

The guide managed to start the engine and drove away, so the elephant didn't get that close, perhaps about 30 meters at the most, still it was scary knowing about the problem with starting the engine...

 

Yes, there are two more game drives and one kind of scenic flight over the delta (not as interesting, as the previous once) left on this trip. I am not that sad, because if everything is well, in 28 days we will depart for Ruaha NP, (keeping my fingers crossed).

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Sango Camp, afternoon game drive in the Khwai Community concession. June 03, 2014

 

 

After coming back from the morning game drive, I talked to the general manager Face and asked for extra time on the afternoon game drive (as a compensation for the problems with starting the engine of the vehicle on the morning drive). He gave us two extra hours and since our vehicle mates wanted to rest in the afternoon, we departed alone with the guide (DiTi). He said that the problem was partially solved, but he would switch off the engine at sightings.

 

So we left camp at 14:00 instead of 16:00 - not at all the best light for photography, neither the best time for wildlife viewing, but hey, two extra hours, private on top of it.

 

DiTi took us to the spotted hyena den. Only the pups were there and we observed them for about half an hour, being the only vehicle at the sighting. The good thing about this time of the day was that all other vehicles were not out yet.


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After the hyenas we saw a group of Southern giraffes:


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madaboutcheetah

How awesome - Ruaha round the corner!!!

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How awesome - Ruaha round the corner!!!

 

Keeping my fingers crossed...

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Intensely adorable hyenas, and I also like the impala on the move.

Ruaha sounds great; I anticipate your TR.

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Sango Camp, afternoon game drive in the Khwai Community concession. June 03, 2014

 

 

On with the extra two hours added to the afternoon game drive.

 

 

Male impala with a harem:


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One-tusked elephant:


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Juvenile Bateleur eagle:


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I'll need help again with ID-ing this bird:


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Female Greater kudu resting:


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Slender mongoose:

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Probably a fork-tailed drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis)?. Not sure here, not as black as it should be and it should have a red iris, but that could just be the light.

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Probably a fork-tailed drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis)?. Not sure here, not as black as it should be and it should have a red iris, but that could just be the light.

 

Thanks again for your help, @@michael-ibk!

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Sango Camp, afternoon game drive in the Khwai Community concession. June 03, 2014

 

 

After our vehicle-mates rejoined us on the afternoon game drive, DiTi decided to play it safe and took us to the spotted hyena den again. Since we got our two extra hours of game driving, I did not feel like complaining. The adults were still absent, but we observed the pups for another 20 minutes.

 

 

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This concluded the sightings for our last afternoon game drive not only in Sango Camp, but for the entire trip. The next morning we would do a morning drive prior to our departure for Maun.

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Sango Camp, last game drive in the Khwai Community concession. June 04, 2014

 

 

This was the last game drive for the entire trip. We left camp with our luggage at 07:30 h. and had a game drive until 10:30 when we changed vehicles and the other guide from Sango Camp (Four-Four) took us to the airstrip for our flight to Maun. Our vehicle-mates continued their morning drive for another 45 minutes (their flight to the next camp on their trip was a bit later).

 

Impalas next to a termite mound:


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Then we saw quite a few vehicles at the place where we observed wild dogs on the previous day. It turned out that there was a leopard in the tall grass. All the vehicles were waiting for the leopard to show up. At certain moment one of the guides spotted it and drove into the grass, the others followed. DiTi said that this wasn't a good tactic since they will scare the animal away and it would be better just to stay on the side and wait. I replied that the other guides will scare the leopard away regardless of whether we joined or not and if we joined we would at least had the chance to spot the leopard. This made him enter the long grass and after a while we saw the cat. The leopard was walking through the long grass and we were following it along with several other vehicles.

 

 

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Here he is - a handsome male leopard:


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Then he disappeared again and all guides agreed to go back to the open and wait for the leopard to show up.

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Sango Camp, afternoon game drive in the Khwai Community concession. June 03, 2014

 

 

After we went back to open space to wait for the leopard to show up, our guide DiTi made a mistake asking us if we would like to wait or drive around. There was just one more couple except us in the vehicle and the lady said that she has not come to Africa to look at other vehicles and we should drive around. In my opinion this was like returning a winning lottery ticket and asking for a new one. DiTi said that we should decide what to do, he was fine with either option, obviously being on the last game drive meant it was time for the tips and he tried to please everyone. I still feel sorry that I didn't at least ask to flip a coin, in that case I we lost, I would have known that it was a matter of bad lack.

 

All other vehicles, including the other Sango Camp vehicle with their most experienced guide (Four-Four) stayed. An hour later Four-Four gave us a ride to the airstrip and said that 15 minutes after we left the leopard has come to the open and has stayed there for 20 minutes... I would have deducted have of the tip I intended to give DiTi if he wasn't such a nice person.

 

We kept driving and for about 45 minutes we didn't see any animal at all. I couldn't resist to comment on how interesting the drive was, after which I could touch the silence in the vehicle (I know that I am bad sometimes)...

 

Finally as a little consolation we saw a couple of warthogs consuming their unconditional love in front of a zebra. This scene lacked the grace of mating leopards that we saw in Sabi Sand several days earlier, but compared to the last 45 minutes of the drive was a major attraction. Now I understood the meaning of the expression "making it like pigs" :)


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After the event was over, the warthogs, happy with the result ran around:


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Sango Camp, last morning game drive in the Khwai Community concession. June 04, 2014

 

 

Except the mating warthogs, before going to the airstrip, we saw some zebras and fighting male impalas.


Adult zebra and a foul:


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The fighting impalas:

 

 

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Edited by FlyTraveler
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Spectacular photos all the way through...but especially the little hyaena cubs and handsom male leopard. :)

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