Jump to content

Kwando Nov & Dec 2014


CDL111

Recommended Posts

Really enjoy seeing Tau Pan again in this report, thank you! You had great sightings there, especially with lions. That kill is quite intense. I´m wondering if some of the cubs you´re showing us here are the product of what we witnessed in March. :)

 

I think we had room 5 as well. Looking forward to your last morning - and Lagoon and Lebala of course!

 

@@michael-ibk, as said prevoiusly, if it wasn't for your report I would not be writing this, so thankyou. I am certainly no expert on guessing the age of lions/lionesses, is there somebody out there that could answer your question?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

The wife said she wasn't too bothered as I was the closest to the lions.

Haha, well, can't argue with that logic!

 

Nice lions in this post. I enjoyed the appearance of one at the kill which appears to have a beard rather than a mane. Perhaps it is @@Game Warden's new rival? Also, the big pride male from earlier in the post is a such an archetypal male lion...beautiful photos.

 

 

 

Sorry @@Marks, just realized that my reply was in thew wrong box.

 

And I no longer have life assurance too old at 65.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I loved your butterflies......

 

and then the contrast of the lion kill. wow,

 

had to put my wine down. :wacko:

Very intense those lions were.

 

Picking it back up now...but a great day for you!

 

 

 

Sorry to you too @@graceland.

Thankyou Graceland, even now, looking at the pictures I feel that I am in the vehicle looking at the kill. Is that the first or second bottle of wine?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Tau Pan....brings back some great memories....we were there in Feb 2014. And to be honest we loved Tau Pan and of the 3 camps the other 2 were Little Kwara and Lagoon if we had to pick we would probably go back to TP...just something about it is awesome....

 

 

Sorry to you too @@SSF556,

 

Thanks @@SSF556, the view of the waterhole from the room is excellent, we were in room 5, nearest the main building.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Really enjoy seeing Tau Pan again in this report, thank you! You had great sightings there, especially with lions. That kill is quite intense. I´m wondering if some of the cubs you´re showing us here are the product of what we witnessed in March. :)

 

I think we had room 5 as well. Looking forward to your last morning - and Lagoon and Lebala of course!

 

 

 

Sorry Michael. Got the hang of replying in thr correct box.

 

@@michael-ibk, as said prevoiusly, if it wasn't for your report I would not be writing this, so thankyou. I am certainly no expert on guessing the age of lions/lionesses, is there somebody out there that could answer your question?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Were the lions with the kill a different pride to the ones with the cubs?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Were the lions with the kill a different pride to the ones with the cubs?

The pride that we saw yesterday (day 2) had no young males, nor the pride we saw earlier today. However they may be part of the pride of the single well fed lion that we saw yesterday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 4 and our last game drive. We had an extra passenger whose flight was 1030hrs and our flight was 1050hrs. At breakfast Josiah told us that the 2 male and 2 lionesses that we saw at the kill were "scavengers" and a female (+cub) had killed the young gemsbok and then had to give up her kill. So off on our game drive.

 

We had just left camp and our first sighting was of a few kudo.

post-45840-0-10702300-1421670146_thumb.jpg

 

We then had to stop as a scrub hare was on the road and eventually moved.

post-45840-0-10483800-1421670226_thumb.jpg

 

A swallow-tailed bee-eater with breakfast.

post-45840-0-87036700-1421670293_thumb.jpg

 

Then Josiah was told that cheetah had been seen, so off we went.

We were both hoping that they would be considerably closer that what we saw at Nxai Pan, but just the thought of seeing them was exciting. When we arrived at the location the two other land cruisers were already there and the guides made every effort so that everybody could get a good view and were able to photograph them. Remember no off road driving. This for us was such a fantastic parting memory of Tau Pan.

post-45840-0-33087200-1421670375_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-64455400-1421670447_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-64455400-1421670447_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-79950300-1421670518_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-33575300-1421670598_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-30820900-1421670674_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-12519800-1421670747_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-26604200-1421670826_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-05966600-1421670901_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-79251800-1421671071_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-29253600-1421671145_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-96918700-1421671218_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-52576300-1421671291_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-79882400-1421671350_thumb.jpg

 

We then came accross a herd of ostrich and found it extreamly hard to count them, the concensus was that there were at least 25 , Josiah said that these would probably be born last year. It wasn't possible to get all of them in the photograph.

 

post-45840-0-29560300-1421671408_thumb.jpg

 

Then our last photographs of Tau Pan wildlife.

Slender Mongoose.

 

post-45840-0-33342300-1421671477_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-20457200-1421671522_thumb.jpg

 

Then off to the airstip to drop off a TA rep who had stayed one night, then 20 minutes later we said our goodbys and off to Lagoon via Maun.

 

To sum up our stay at Tau Pan.

 

We really did enjoy it, and to be so close to all the predator sightings we feel that we are extremely fortunate. Again all the staff did there very best to make peoples stay a happy one, and they succeeded. Hopefully, in time, elephants will return to Tau Pan as we both missed them. It is not going to happen overnight.

We only had one heavy downpour and lost little time on that game drive, this obviously affected sightings but there were birds to look at. Yes we would go back. Would we go back in November? I would like to answer this at the very end of the report and I am sure you will then understand why.

Last comment. It was only when @@Geoff asked a question yesterday about the lions at the kill that I asked myself how many prides are there in Tau Pan?

Day 2, a single male, 2 hours later a pride + young cubs. Day 3, a pride in the morning with young cubs, and late afternoon the female + cub at the kill followed by 2 young males with 2 females.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@CDL111 Off topic. Don't forget to upload an avatar pic...

Yes, I will use a pic from Lagoon day 2,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great cheetah sighting...nice to see that they were accommodating and approached, since you couldn't go off road. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We arrived at Lagoon, and our guide was Paul and our tracker was Ishmal for the first 4 game drives and then we had James for the last 2. I had read that @Hari had recommended Paul as a guide, so we asked our TA to ask Kwando if we could have Paul if he was available. On our ride to the camp we were told that cheetah was way up north and hadn't been seen for a few days.

 

None of the vehicles at Lagoon had the roof on, so if it rains you stand a chance of getting wet if the panchos do not keep all the rain out. It, in my opinion gives people a better view of all the game, no posts in the way for photography and you can see all the birds.

 

We were allocated room 1, which is the family room and the nearest to the bar! I am not sure if this is the only room with the view down the river from the veranda.

 

post-45840-0-98403800-1421934870_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-76375700-1421934921_thumb.jpg

 

So to the start of day 1 at Lagoon.

 

It is nice to see elelphant again

 

post-45840-0-32087400-1421935037_thumb.jpg

 

We the spotted a troop of baboons who were not interest in having their pics taken and were very evasive.

 

post-45840-0-12133300-1421935140_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-97701100-1421935255_thumb.jpg

 

This is the only leopard that we saw today. One of the guests overheard my conversation with Matt (guide) on this animal but didn't here the word tortoise, she was quite excited that we had seen a leopard and started telling other guests that a leopard had been spotted.

 

post-45840-0-28309100-1421935351_thumb.jpg

 

More elephants.

 

post-45840-0-87978700-1421935443_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-72536600-1421935542_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-94595800-1421935651_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-43368200-1421935760_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-60450400-1421935858_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-96740000-1421935972_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-17449700-1421936077_thumb.jpg

 

Side striped kingfisher seen in the tree.

 

post-45840-0-43560500-1421936171_thumb.jpg

 

Then some sable.

 

post-45840-0-11286600-1421936503_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-46859000-1421936620_thumb.jpg

 

Paul recieved a call that dogs had been spotted, so we made our way over to them. The other 2 vehicles were already there and had seen the dogs try to catch a monitor lizard and a warthog, to no avail. One of the dogs had a damaged front leg and could not put any weight on it. Paul told us that it would probably be looked after by the other members of the pack, which consisted of 8 adults and 11 young. I didn't have the best seat to enable me to get good pics, but when there are 3 vehicles with 6 people in each vehicle, its not possible to get it right for everybody. My turn will come. I am just happy to have seen the dogs.

 

post-45840-0-22410200-1421936879_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-90577800-1421936950_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-90952600-1421937023_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-25141700-1421937098_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-58627200-1421937731_thumb.jpg

 

The light was starting to fade and Paul said that it was highly unlikely that there would be a kill that night and the dogs would go back to the den, so we moved on. Had our sundowner and then back to camp.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great start at Lagoon, Sable even, wow!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

madaboutcheetah

Can't believe those puppies have grown so much!!!! Saw them at the den in July when they just started showing themselves .....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was a good decision to make the 2-hour trip to the kill. Still very active.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't believe those puppies have grown so much!!!! Saw them at the den in July when they just started showing themselves .....

We do get better pics of the dogs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was a good decision to make the 2-hour trip to the kill. Still very active.

It is unquestionably one of the highs of our holiday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 2 at Lagoon, and there are 3 couples on our game drive , One of them had brought an ipad to take the photos, just watching him trying to take a pic with the sun shining onto the screen was to me farcical. It was suggested by Paul that he looks for the dogs and we were all in agreement, so off we went.

 

First sighting was zebra.

 

post-45840-0-96348000-1422196570_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-49486400-1422196637_thumb.jpg

 

Then a reasonable sized herd of buffalo.

 

post-45840-0-02043100-1422196700_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-60932000-1422196762_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-50185000-1422196827_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-03618000-1422196895_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-69257500-1422196927_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-48407100-1422196993_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-78328200-1422197063_thumb.jpg

 

Bat eared fox, which we have seen many times before.

 

post-45840-0-29836200-1422197129_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-30048000-1422197199_thumb.jpg

 

Tsessebe with their young.

 

post-45840-0-37319700-1422197269_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-17439800-1422197334_thumb.jpg

 

L B Roller.

 

post-45840-0-50934800-1422197390_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-40554500-1422197442_thumb.jpg

 

Dwarf mongoose at their home in a termite

mound

 

post-45840-0-94525700-1422197506_thumb.jpg

 

Red-necked falcon.

 

post-45840-0-10170300-1422197538_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-68272000-1422197566_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-06818900-1422197621_thumb.jpg

 

White backed vulture.

 

post-45840-0-61698800-1422197640_thumb.jpg

 

Good old elephants.

 

post-45840-0-88179900-1422197719_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-28212600-1422197785_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-28668300-1422197850_thumb.jpg

 

Paul said that it seems that it is highly unlikely that we are going to find the dogs, so lets just see what other wildlife we can find.

 

Passed one of the water holes and there were knobbilled ducks.

 

post-45840-0-22194200-1422197920_thumb.jpg

 

A herd of giraffes.

 

post-45840-0-66976400-1422197990_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-18462300-1422198052_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-43953700-1422198122_thumb.jpg

 

Then its back to the birds.

 

Marabou stork.

 

post-45840-0-60060600-1422198156_thumb.jpg

 

Tawny eagle looking majestic.

 

post-45840-0-36743000-1422198193_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-15164200-1422198237_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-61988300-1422198278_thumb.jpg

 

It was the time for the morning tea/coffee and this little dragonfly posed for a photo.

 

post-45840-0-95681200-1422198317_thumb.jpg

 

On the way back to camp it was the usual animals with the exception of ostrich.

 

post-45840-0-29305200-1422198383_thumb.jpg

 

Had brunch and then back to the room with a view. Midday and the eles arrived for their lunchtime drink. They didn't stay long.

 

post-45840-0-43599700-1422198418_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-94890900-1422198455_thumb.jpg

 

Squirrels at play on the handrail.

 

post-45840-0-72826300-1422198513_thumb.jpg

 

Then an hour later a male came for a drink.

 

post-45840-0-08678900-1422198548_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-53864400-1422198585_thumb.jpg

 

3 bee eaters.

 

post-45840-0-20402300-1422198619_thumb.jpg

 

And then two flew off.

 

post-45840-0-68034900-1422198656_thumb.jpg

 

He then flew away.

 

post-45840-0-48083200-1422198692_thumb.jpg

 

At afternoon tea we met a lady from England who had to be XX (well over 70). This was her first safari. She told us it was something she had always wanted to do and that do it before I die. She then told us that she was going to finish up at Victoria Falls and as a treat for herself, had pre booked a microlight flight over the falls, to all this on your own deserves admiration.

 

Its time to go out on our game drive, dogs leopard, lion?

 

A herd of eles.

 

post-45840-0-32042300-1422198757_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-54177300-1422198828_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-45040800-1422198896_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-40647500-1422198961_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-16475100-1422199028_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-34103500-1422199103_thumb.jpg

 

Then a ground hornbill.

 

post-45840-0-07671800-1422199178_thumb.jpg

 

Red leche.

 

post-45840-0-69136600-1422199244_thumb.jpg

 

The male seemed to impress the 2 females.

 

post-45840-0-68671600-1422199277_thumb.jpg

 

Stopped too late to catch the sun going down. At least we had a G & T

 

post-45840-0-34486800-1422199347_thumb.jpg

 

Then it's back to the camp, but no sooner had we departed than a wild cat was spotted.

 

post-45840-0-08530300-1422199405_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-44811100-1422199437_thumb.jpg

 

post-45840-0-71544400-1422199506_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wild Cat! I bet he'd enjoy those squirrels at play, a unique perspective of a shot. Lechwe in the water are always a thing of beauty.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wild Cat! I bet he'd enjoy those squirrels at play, a unique perspective of a shot. Lechwe in the water are always a thing of beauty.

 

Wild Cat! I bet he'd enjoy those squirrels at play, a unique perspective of a shot. Lechwe in the water are always a thing of beauty.

Thanks @Atravlynn, we do see wild cat again on day 3 at night (and get a pic) and again on day 4 on our way to the airstrip but are not able to get a pic for the daytime sighting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice pics. Lovely sable & I like the dragonfly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

madaboutcheetah

Wow!!! I love that particular herd of Ellie that come to drink across from the Lodge - Many a time, we would go out in the boat at mid day and wait for them to come have a drink right there!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great ele and fox sightings, and some nice birding as well.

 

At afternoon tea we met a lady from England who had to be XX (well over 70). This was her first safari. She told us it was something she had always wanted to do and that do it before I die. She then told us that she was going to finish up at Victoria Falls and as a treat for herself, had pre booked a microlight flight over the falls, to all this on your own deserves admiration.

I do really admire this. She sounds like the kind of person I love to meet when traveling.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow!!! I love that particular herd of Ellie that come to drink across from the Lodge - Many a time, we would go out in the boat at mid day and wait for them to come have a drink right there!!!!

Thanks @@madaboutcheetah. It must have been a beautiful sight being so close to them in the boat. Will you be asking for room 1 next time you go?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great ele and fox sightings, and some nice birding as well.

 

At afternoon tea we met a lady from England who had to be XX (well over 70). This was her first safari. She told us it was something she had always wanted to do and that do it before I die. She then told us that she was going to finish up at Victoria Falls and as a treat for herself, had pre booked a microlight flight over the falls, to all this on your own deserves admiration.

I do really admire this. She sounds like the kind of person I love to meet when traveling.

 

Thanks @@Marks, we bump in to a herd of elephants at Lebala that the guide and tracker estimated to be 200 to 300, but the camara cannot do it justice. Perhaps Kwando could offer microlight trips and then that would be some picture. Annie is such a nice person, but was not sharing our vehicle. Never thought to ask her if she had included a bungee jump.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Safaritalk uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By using Safaritalk you agree to our use of cookies. If you wish to refuse the setting of cookies you can change settings on your browser to clear and block cookies. However, by doing so, Safaritalk may not work properly and you may not be able to access all areas. If you are happy to accept cookies and haven't adjusted browser settings to refuse cookies, Safaritalk will issue cookies when you log on to our site. Please also take a moment to read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy: Terms of Use l Privacy Policy