Kwando Lagoon/Lebala June/July 2014

[madaboutcheetah]

Hari did you do something to your workflow?

Those images are stunning!

 

I touched my screen and I swear one of those pups chewed my finger.

 

Thanks, jochen ...... Work flow in terms of?

[Game Warden]

@@madaboutcheetah Awesome pics. Another great trip...

[madaboutcheetah]

This is fun! We saw the cheetah brothers in the Selinda area last September. But, the photos of the puppies are priceless....lucky you!

 

Yup - possibly the very same ones @@marg ...... I'm going to search for game reports from Duma Tau/Savuti to see if these boys venture that far (I'm hoping not) ..........

[johnkok]

@@madaboutcheetah

 

Hari,

 

A bit late to the party as usual. Just managed to steal some time to read your TR. Kudos on the kudus first up.

You must be Kwando's best ambassador. I know I made my trips to LK and Lagoon based mainly on your experiences there. And as @@Kitsafari said, your first posts already made me feel like dropping everything and jumping on a plane for Lebala.

 

Rgds,

John

[madaboutcheetah]

@@johnkok - you are too kind! We must make a plan to go there together .......

 

Now a little more plains game ........... I'm always fascinated with the lone male territorial wildebeest hanging out on his own defending his grounds (this one is Norman's pan)

Edited July 12, 2014 by madaboutcheetah

[madaboutcheetah]

Interlude: A little bit about the two camps at the moment ........... Lebala is currently managed by Leso; apparently he was at Nxai Pan and LK before this (First time I've met him) - He was with WS prior at Vumbura and someplace else ....... He is a bright, energetic gentleman who realizes the Kwando ethos and goes out of his way to ensure that the guests have a great experience. Kudos ............ It was a fantastic time!!! My friends thought Lebala was the best of the 4 camps they visited too. The food at Lebala was very good. Same menus as the other camps I suppose - but, chef Hoitsi really can cook!!! Menus pretty much the same as the last two years I think - very good safari food as the menus feature a lot of fresh veggies these days.

 

All that said, the concession in general is missing the likes of Lebo and Charles (who have always been part of the furniture at either Lagoon or Lebala) ........ They are currently at Kwara and LK respectively (I suppose those camps need really good camp management at the moment more so ) ......... Atleast I got to see Charles at the airstrip in Kwara. For some reason, camp atmosphere to me is part of the Kwando ethos/tradition and the managers/guides/staff have a huge role to play WRT this ......

 

Lagoon at the moment lacks camp atmosphere and the management was quite rough around the edges ......... Everything seemed to be a big huff and a puff - Lack of interest or Just a bad week, perhaps? who knows ........... Certainly very patchy - but, I still had a good time.

Edited July 12, 2014 by madaboutcheetah

[madaboutcheetah]

Lions sleep or stay idle for too long (for my liking) ......... Yet, this keeps my brain working in terms of possible composition ideas.

[Jochen]

Thanks, jochen ...... Work flow in terms of?

 

Well, processing your images, of course.

[madaboutcheetah]

Lechwe action ......... Will pop in a few from my afternoon spent with them.

[madaboutcheetah]

 

Thanks, jochen ...... Work flow in terms of?

 

Well, processing your images, of course.

 

 

In Lightroom - I guess I learnt to do them properly ....... atleast the basic functions.

[Jochen]

Well, you're doing something awfully right!

[michael-ibk]

Lagoon at the moment lacks camp atmosphere and the management was quite rough around the edges .........

Who were the managers?

[madaboutcheetah]

More of Lebala's Lions ( I'm just surprised that I have had to enforce a lot of restraint to wait with the cheetah editing ) ............ Only reason being, it's a lot of editing and no idea where to begin!

[madaboutcheetah]

On saturday July 5, just after last light ..... The Lions took down Two wildebeest not far from the airstrip at White Plains around the dead leadwood tree - here are scenes from the next morning. When we got there in the morning, we found the entire pride on one carcass (Hyenas had taken over the other and had finished it entirely; skittish clan left right away didn't hang about). Feeding scenes of a Lion pride provides for interesting composition thoughts/challenges.......

 

(btw, after this trip I can't believe it - but, Lions are actually interesting subjects ) - Also, Lionesses with cubs when hungry may hunt round the clock so usually Spencer was apprehensive to leave them be and have a long lunch/siesta break... .......... so, they kept me reasonably entertained.

 

 

[FlyTraveler]

Great photos @@madaboutcheetah! I like very much the leaping red lechwes and the "golden hour" lion photos!

[Jochen]

That ribcage in the middle of them. Awesome shots once again!

[graceland]

Just beautiful Hari.....love the lions; you did well with them (not) doing very much, i'd say..

 

I am happy to hear they may be shaking things up at LK.. You might remember how disappointed I was there. Perhaps it never quite righted itself and they've moved new folks in.

 

Now, Lebala - perhaps a chance to go at some point! That would be good.

 

I haven't the initiative or patience to edit but happy others do.

[AKR1]

Lovely pictures Hari.

 

I agree with @@johnkok.

 

You are Kwando's best ambassador!

[Sangeeta]

Superb images, Hari. The lion compositions are imaginative as well as wonderfully artistic

Since these are beautiful sets of photos (and I love this idea of yours for serial images this time), you should think of doing something with them.

[madaboutcheetah]

Thanks a lot, folks ...... You guys are too kind!

[SafariChick]

@@madaboutcheetah just on p. 3 now and just seeing the dog pups for the first time - oh my goodness, they're adorable!! And what do you mean not Safaritalk-worthy? They're great! Maybe they liked that den location because they thought the army would protect them.

[madaboutcheetah]

Some plains game now ......... Note: The Zebra series is South of Lebala by the border with Selinda (the famous Twin Pools area; which is still super wet - too wet for my liking ...... most of those beautiful open areas are under water). The woodland surrounding is meant to be good for Leopard - but, I don't find that area too photogenic these days. Perhaps in a couple of years, it should dry up again. Lebala game drives do head out that way quite a bit - talking to the guides (Leopard is very very high up on safari goers' list).

 

The impala image - we were not quite sure why they were so alert ....... we did look - didn't see any sign of predators.

[madaboutcheetah]

Sundowner at Lechwe corner (IMHO that's one of the best sunset spots in the concession) ...... currently, not very far from the den.

[FlyTraveler]

Fabulous sunset photos Hari!

[madaboutcheetah]

Now it's time for them Muvumbis ......... To keep readers in the loop; The Orange coat males (3 of them) are the Bad boy intruders from Muvumbi who came in last year to end up disrupting the Lagoon pack dynamics- consequently there was no den last year. The Muvumbis are also clumsy hunters - who depend on the Lagoon girls to do the hunting...... It appears that the males are warthog specialists as they seem to sniff around warthog burrows all over the place.

 

The one image at the den in this post - It isn't the main den with the more dominant bossy female ....... This is prior to the shift of all puppies (this is the double den where mums 2 & 3 share two sides of a large termite mound) - the dark dog to the left is the mum

 

The image of dogs passing by a pan at sunset is "Wild dog pan" .......