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Kwando Nov. 2014, a mixed safari experience


Wild Dogger

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What a great report with amazing (as usual for you) photography @@Wild Dogger! I almost feel sorry for having to go to New Years Eve party and not being able to read your report in details (which I will do next year). Thanks for sharing and Happy New Year to you and your family!

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It's funny how the vehicle-related "trouble" usually comes from ones fellow countrymen isn't it? How does that work? We had similar this year (see my forthcoming TR).....,

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Those Aardwolf are spectacular; what a special sighting!

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The Ardwolf den - such a special sighting. And at least cheetahs have a great pose even if you don't particularly love them..I love their arrogant look, as if...no one can pose better than I...even if I do "mew"..

 

You know I have met so many of my countrymen that have no idea what safari etiquette is...one reason we do try to afford private these days. When the camp gives the "security" briefing, they ought to add...."And This Is What You Do on Safari :rolleyes: " just in case you are wondering!

Also difficult on the guides as well.

Edited by graceland
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Thanks WildDogger. Lovely TR & photos. I hope we are as lucky ( except for the 'car companions'!) In 6 weeks time we will be at Little Kwara.

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madaboutcheetah

Happy new year, Thomas ..... So now you aardwolf puppies to add to aardvark and pangolin .... I think I should be in your vehicle. ;)

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kittykat23uk

Your experience reminds me of the Barron Knights song, "Don't let the Germans pinch your sunbeds" Unfortunately I can't find a video of it online. Were the rules about rotation clearly stated to the new couples when they arrived? In my personal experience I have not often come across this rule and has usually been a case of first come first served, when joining group game drives, or if travelling with the same group throughout then we did rotate but it was more an agreement between us all rather than a rule as such. I've never been to Kwando though.

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Peter Connan

@@Wild Dogger, thanks and happy new year to you as well.

 

Lovely trip report, i am very envious as I have never seen Aardwolf!

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madaboutcheetah

Your experience reminds me of the Barron Knights song, "Don't let the Germans pinch your sunbeds" Unfortunately I can't find a video of it online. Were the rules about rotation clearly stated to the new couples when they arrived? In my personal experience I have not often come across this rule and has usually been a case of first come first served, when joining group game drives, or if travelling with the same group throughout then we did rotate but it was more an agreement between us all rather than a rule as such. I've never been to Kwando though.

Even without rules .... It's just proper etiquette and manners to ask ,,,,, Thomas' car mates were probably the type that would be difficult to handle even at your normal weekend at Epcot centre ;)

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It's funny how the vehicle-related "trouble" usually comes from ones fellow countrymen isn't it? How does that work? We had similar this year (see my forthcoming TR).....,

I think this has to do with the exclusivity of going to such remote places. People maybe think, how is it possible that others from my country go here and, maybe also, how can others afford this. Let´s call a bit being jealous or losing the idea of having it exclusive.

Don´t know, if I am right. It´s just an idea to explain it.

 

 

Your experience reminds me of the Barron Knights song, "Don't let the Germans pinch your sunbeds" Unfortunately I can't find a video of it online. Were the rules about rotation clearly stated to the new couples when they arrived? In my personal experience I have not often come across this rule and has usually been a case of first come first served, when joining group game drives, or if travelling with the same group throughout then we did rotate but it was more an agreement between us all rather than a rule as such. I've never been to Kwando though.

 

I don´t know, if there is a rule as such. It was in all the years we go on safari in Botswana the way we did it, also with wilderness f.e.. And I think for good reason.

IMHO taking seats on a first come first sit base will cause bad blood in the long run.

In Lebala there was no doubt it was done without any discussion. We were the newbies, we took the last row, the next drive we rotated into the second. That was the way it was done there.

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With well mannered people, with or without rules, there will never be a problem. Personnally, I circumvent any eventuality, by automatically, where it's possible, sitting by the driver. Besides, for me, the lowest level is also better for photography.

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At Lebala we are lucky to have Bate as guide, who always did his very best, to get me in a good photo position

 

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and the legendary Mr. Mo as our tracker.

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They were excellent.

 

There´s only 6 people all together in the camp, and Kwando puts all 6 of us in one vehicle. I find this policy strange. I understand why they do it, but it is not customer friendly. More than that, with the early rains and the animals disappearing, it showed that it was hard to find any animals at Lebala at all. With a second game viewing vehicle out there the chances would have doubled. We had that issue with Kwando 4 years ago already and I don´t know, why they are so client unfriendly in that particular case.

In the two days at Lebala we covered the whole concession and were not really happy with the sightings (with one exception). Very low.

 

This was the mixed experience Pt. 2.

 

The pack of 21 wild dogs were in the Lagoon area. There was another pack of 7 in the area and we worked hard to find them.

 

Nonetheless we had some good photo opportunities and our travel mates from Down Under were lovely and we had a good time with them.

They were newbies and while we were a bit disappointed about the sightings, they were absolutely happy. It´s just the point of view.

One lady was very scary of all the animals, when there were ellies she dived deep in the car.

 

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We saw 2 lions late. This came out to be the last sighting of lions in Botswana for us.

 

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madaboutcheetah

Awesome to see Mr.Moe .... Did put a smile on my face first thing this morning!

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Amazing photographs, as always! So jealous of the aardwolf pup, and agree with Hari that you've had phenomenal luck at Kwara - pangolin, aardvark and now this!

All the images are superb, but the aardwolf pup was esp cute and your birds are crystal clear. The stand-out photo for me, though (despite the wonderful dogs) is the NY one of the hippo upright in the water! That one is memorable.

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madaboutcheetah

I agree with @@Bush dog - I too love the seat next to the guide up front (the tracker will jump into any of the empty seats when a predator is found) .......... For one thing (atleast in the Kwando vehicles at Lagoon/Lebala) there is no where to balance a big lens from the front row in the LandCruiser. No place to put a bean bag, either. I don't find the tripod practical at all inside the vehicle..........

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Another vote for sitting up front next to the guide.

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And if it's Spencer you have a very entertaining ride and laugh a lot!

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I find the front seat a bit narrow to be honest. For me the only, but a big, advantage is the low angle. From time to time I also use it.
But I like using a monopod with a wimberley, works fine for me.

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14.11.

 

With all this rains it´s really hard for Bate and Mr. Moe.

But there are animals:

 

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Kudu

 

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first new life Impala and fawn

 

At least we have some good light this morning, so I get some nice shots.

 

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Tsessebee

 

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Yellowbilled Hornbills

 

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Again we cover a lot of terrain to find game.

 

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Hamerkop dipping frog

 

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Giraffe

 

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We get attacked by some elephants, which seemed to be a serious charge as Bate told.

 

Bate

 

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waits a bit unless the elephants are cooling down and tries another attempt.

 

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We also see crocodile (strangely we never have seen big ones in the delta or at Lebala, but they must be somewhere), Lechwe again and a Roan hiding in the bushes.

 

The Aussies leave after this drive.

In the afternonn 7 new guests arrive and we know 6 of them.

Pete and Fiona are joing us in our car as well as another english couple.

There´s another young Aussie couple arriving and a lady from England.

We have good fun with this bunch of people.

 

In the afternoon we again try hard to find the wild dogs. We go as far as to the very south west to the Selinda spillway.

We see hyena, African Fish Eagle, giraffes, Tsessebee, red-billed hornbills and Zebra.

No hints of dogs.

 

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As it´s getting darker, we have a flat tire.

We have our sundowner, while Bate and Mr. Moe are changing the tire.

The spare tire does not really look good for me, there´s a big scratch on the flank.

 

As it´s getting dark, we go. We have to cover a long distance because we´re closed to Selinda Spillway.

 

There she comes:

Jane, the resident leopard of the area. Unfortunately without her cub.

But I am happy to see a leopard.

Bate and Mr. Moe heard her already while packing the sundowner stuff together.

 

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We call the others and after they arrive we leave the gorgeous cat and head back as a storm is building up.

 

Close to camp: another flat tire, the spare wheel of course.

 

Bate calls camp so they can bring another wheel and pick us up while Bate and Mr. Moe change tires again.

 

Next post will take some time now, as we are heading to Myanmar and Thailand tomorrow.

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What excellent dog action. The pale female and the dog you focused on gave you some great results. And also, to be in a place where cheetah are almost a given would be great. It's a shame that a guide touching one soured you on their wildness!

 

I don't think I've ever seen a young aardwolf before (well, I've never seen an adult either, but even photos of young) - extraordinary. Also really nice job capturing the hammerkop in action.

 

I might add that I also rather like Hobbs' hat and sunglasses.

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I hope we get a TR on Myanmar and Thailand; they are on my list.

 

Seeing the leopard -yes quite gorgeous!

 

I like the front seat as well; I remember well at LK when Hobbs took me along with his vehicle guests and had me sit next to him- there were already 6.

 

Such a gentleman and terrific guide. A gem.

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Wild Dogger...I see so many potential winners of the 'New Life' category in Kwando's competition! Either the Impala lamb quartett or the aardwolf cub! It was very painful to read of those 'bored' by the cub. They evidently had no idea of how special such a sighting is.
I also loved the grinning hyaena, and the Hammerkop with a frog was also really cool. (Maybe an entry for the 'Birds' category!)

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  • 4 weeks later...

So, back from Myanmar and Thailand.

Myanmar was a fabulous trip with an outstanding lady as tour guide. Lot of guides in Africa could learn from her attitude and communication skills, but that´s off topic.

 

That´s our last morning in Lebala and after reading the guest book, it seems that not only we had been unlucky with the sightings the last days. Most remarks sound the same.

 

Off we go up north on a road transfer to Lagoon. We hope that sightings will be better there, who knows.

 

On our way we see the usual suspicious.

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the bush is already very green

 

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We also pass a giant baobab tree.

 

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Poor tree has been almost eaten by elephants. The guides try to prevent it to be eaten completely by arranging logs aroung the trunk. Might help for a short time.

 

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It´s really green out there!

 

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The new prisoner exchange point is now Johns pan, no more halfway pan.

 

Mr. Moe again:
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BK is awaiting us and we say byebye to Pete and Fiona.

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We join 3 english ladies, who come out to be heavy birders. Luckily we will only have this transfer to Lagoon with them.

 

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Dead Hippo

 

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Close to Lagoon we find dog tracks but cannot locate the animals.

 

At Lagoon Paul
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will be our guide and Temo`s the tracker

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Paul appears to me like a comfy bear.

 

At least the tents at Lagoon are spacious and nice!

 

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We will be in the car together with Heather and John, a nice elderly pair from England who lives in Somerset West in the winter.

 

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In the afternoon we don´t have to drive far, the dogs are just outside the camp.

 

They are lying in the bushes.

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After a while watching them there, Paul decides to drive into the bushes to get a better look at the dogs. Not good for photography.
Some time later I ask, if it would not be better to go back into the open, as I thought that when the dogs wake up, all this running run action will happen im the open.

Pau denies. He thinks this will happen in the bushes.

What will happen, will happen. The dogs wake up and run around in the open and we have to manoeuvre ourself out of the bushes and miss some of the action.

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The dogs than start their evening hunt attempt and we follow.

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The Golden Dog was always in the back of the pack. He was in charge for the puppies.

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After a while Paul says that it´s time for sundowner and that we leave the dogs now.

The guiding of Paul does not really impress me. But it should get worse.

 

Back in camp we meet Matt who was guiding us 2 years ago, he´s a funny, nice guy.

Edited by Wild Dogger
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