Kwando Nov & Dec 2014

[CDL111]

Nice pics. Lovely sable & I like the dragonfly

Thanks @@Geoff, to see the dragonfly hovering and see the black dots on its wings, had to take a pic whilst it was stationary.

[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!!!!

 

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?

Is that the family room that's to the left side of the lounge? I stay there only if sharing with someone else and that too only when it isn't booked by a family.

 

I don't have any preference at lagoon tent wise ...... I am fine with any of them. Even stayed all the way the other end one time and love the walk up and down

[Atravelynn]

 

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.

 

It is stalking you!

[CDL111]

 

 

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.

 

It is stalking you!

 

It must be unusual to see a wild cat on 3 consecutive days @@Atravelynn.

[CDL111]

 

 

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?

Is that the family room that's to the left side of the lounge? I stay there only if sharing with someone else and that too only when it isn't booked by a family.

 

I don't have any preference at lagoon tent wise ...... I am fine with any of them. Even stayed all the way the other end one time and love the walk up and down

 

 

 

 

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?

Is that the family room that's to the left side of the lounge? I stay there only if sharing with someone else and that too only when it isn't booked by a family.

 

I don't have any preference at lagoon tent wise ...... I am fine with any of them. Even stayed all the way the other end one time and love the walk up and down

 

 

 

 

 

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?

Is that the family room that's to the left side of the lounge? I stay there only if sharing with someone else and that too only when it isn't booked by a family.

 

I don't have any preference at lagoon tent wise ...... I am fine with any of them. Even stayed all the way the other end one time and love the walk up and down

 

Yes @@madaboutcheetah, it is the family room, my wife has a disability and our TA asked Kwando if it was possible to have rooms near to the main area, they forgot to notify the various camps, so Nelson (manager at Nxai Pan) contacted the other camps, thats how we managed to get the room with a view.

[madaboutcheetah]

Glad it worked out .....

Will try and find you images of the old Lagoon camp this weekend to show how it looked originally prior to the re-furb in maybe 2011 or so?

[CDL111]

Day 3, we can only hope that sightings of predators improve, as on the games drives so far there have been no sightings of lions, cheetah or leopards.

 

There first 2 hours prove to be fruitless.

 

We then arrive at one of the ponds and find a

herd of hippos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A yellow billed kite is then seen.

 

 

 

This is followed by a warthog with 4 young.

 

 

This is the best of what we have seen on the morning game drive, which doesn't say a lot.

 

It has put a damper on our time here so far, but you have to be optimistic, so time for lunch and then back to our room.

 

Elephants were going away from the river just as we got to our room.

 

 

Then saw a golden weaver in the reeds.

 

 

Brown firefinch on the ground just to the side of our room.

 

 

Its time to go on the afternoon game drive and James is now our tracker. We set off with hope that we see preditors.

 

So good old favourite gets snaped

 

 

Followed by warthog.

 

 

 

And then a small herd of buffalo.

 

 

 

 

A lonely giraffe.

 

 

See a bateleur looking pristine.

 

 

And then a few vultures.

 

 

Waterbuck were seen on our way to our sundowner, were we joked with James that Ismal had spotted wild cat the previous night, so we were hoping that he could improve on that.

 

 

We hadn't been on the road for more than 5 minutes when James spotted a wild cat, which didn't hang around for pics.

 

 

We were close to camp when James spotted a leopard in the bushes so Paul drove towards the sighting, whilst bouncing up and down in the vehicle, we got a glimse of the leopard, but unfortunately, lost track of the leopard as the bush was very dense. At least we had seen a leopard but didn't get a pic. It definitely cheered us up. So back to the camp for dinner.

[CDL111]

Day 4 and our last game drive, which does not improve with regard to predators. We do see dogs in the morning at Lebala but we are in the Lagoon vehicle so I have included them in this game drive.

 

It starts off with hope as fresh leopard tracks have been spotted and all 3 guides discuss what is the best plan. 2 trackers go on foot looking for footprints and our vehicle stays in close proximity, the other 2 vehicles drive to a different location to see if they can spot tracks. All to no avail. So it is decided that we we go and try to find the dogs.

 

On the way we see a hyena with 2 cubs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then baboon on sentry duty.

 

 

 

 

Zebra.

 

 

Young wilderbeast

 

 

Kudu

 

 

 

 

 

Tsessebe.

 

 

 

We the stop at the location to transfer to the Lebals vehicle.

 

 

But before James can get the morning coffee ready, we are told to get back in the vehicle as dogs have been spotted. Paul had recieved a call from Thabo (Lebala guide) telling him where the dogs were which is 30 minutes away. On the way we meet the vehicle that we should transfer to, and the guides decide that we stay in the Lagoon vehicle and off we go leaving a couple in the other vehicle confused.

 

So we arrive were the dogs are and the 11 young are in a group at one end of the pond with the adults at the other. Cannot see the one with the injury to the leg, but they are all here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We now stop for morning coffee and wait for the Lebala vehicle. When it arrives we are in for a surprise as Spencer is sitting on the back row, then comes and says hello to us all by our vehicle, we then told him that we were guided by his younger brother at Nxai Pan and he had asked us to say hello to Spencer.

 

So to sum up on our time at Lagoon. Yes it is disappointing not to see many predators, but as we found out with the dogs, which had moved down to Lebala 2 days ago, if the animals are not in the right place at the right time you are not going to see them. Would we go again in December? yes, we would go with hope again.

 

 

 

[madaboutcheetah]

Spencer sighting!!!! Brilliant!

 

I can hear his voice in my head, "hello I'm spencer" .....

Edited February 1, 2015 by madaboutcheetah

[CDL111]

Spencer sighting!!!! Brilliant!

 

I can hear his voice in my head, "hello I'm spencer" .....

The guide/tracker spot him again @@madaboutcheetah, on our last morning. He sneaked in with 6 guests in his vehicle to show them the dogs. Don't think he paid the entrance fee when he entered Lebala concession!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[madaboutcheetah]

 

Spencer sighting!!!! Brilliant!

 

I can hear his voice in my head, "hello I'm spencer" .....

The guide/tracker spot him again @@madaboutcheetah, on our last morning. He sneaked in with 6 guests in his vehicle to show them the dogs. Don't think he paid the entrance fee when he entered Lebala concession!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Haha - that's actually his home base IMHO. I first met him at Lebala ...... and I consider that he is a guest at Lagoon always at home at Lebala. He is based at Lagoon these days only because of the glamor that associates with the camp.

[CDL111]

 

 

Spencer sighting!!!! Brilliant!

 

I can hear his voice in my head, "hello I'm spencer" .....

The guide/tracker spot him again @@madaboutcheetah, on our last morning. He sneaked in with 6 guests in his vehicle to show them the dogs. Don't think he paid the entrance fee when he entered Lebala concession!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Haha - that's actually his home base IMHO. I first met him at Lebala ...... and I consider that he is a guest at Lagoon always at home at Lebala. He is based at Lagoon these days only because of the glamor that associates with the camp.

 

We first met him in June 2007 and he was taking a certain gentleman to Lagoon for a couple of days and on your way back Vundi called Spencer as a leopard had been spotted just a little way from the Baobob tree. Small world!

[madaboutcheetah]

OMG - I remember that very very well ...... It was not Vundi. It was Thabo!!! Or Thabo found the leopard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CDL111]

OMG - I remember that very very well ...... It was not Vundi. It was Thabo!!! Or Thabo found the leopard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It must have been Thabo that found the leopard, because the next time we went to Kwando camps, Vundi was at Lagoon and Thabo was our guide at Lebala.

[Geoff]

@@CDL111 If the dog has an injured left back leg then i suspect it is the individual in the 14th wilddog image of post #58. And maybe the 27th image too.

[CDL111]

@@CDL111 If the dog has an injured left back leg then i suspect it is the individual in the 14th wilddog image of post #58. And maybe the 27th image too.

@@Geoff, just checked what I had posted about the injury, sorry but I said it was the front leg. I do get a good pic on our past day which is 7 December. It could be that this injury is not the same as the one seen on the 1 December. I certainly have no knowledge as to how quickly an injury would start to heal, so I cannot say if this is the same dog or not.

 

[Geoff]

@@CDL111 That looks nasty but even so these creatures are incredibly tough & resilient.

[madaboutcheetah]

@@CDL111 - the Leopard you refer to is on the Kwando website - It's under the tab "Specialist safari" ............. I tried to look for the same image - but, it's on another hard drive and stored away.

[penolva]

 

 

Spencer sighting!!!! Brilliant!

I can hear his voice in my head, "hello I'm spencer" .....

 

The guide/tracker spot him again @@madaboutcheetah, on our last morning. He sneaked in with 6 guests in his vehicle to show them the dogs. Don't think he paid the entrance fee when he entered Lebala concession!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haha - that's actually his home base IMHO. I first met him at Lebala ...... and I consider that he is a guest at Lagoon always at home at Lebala. He is based at Lagoon these days only because of the glamor that associates with the camp.

Spencer " glamorous" he would love that.

[CDL111]

We are now at Lebala, and have to make comment on human behaviour, to us the first part is surprising and the second amusing.

 

At the other camps we always asked people what camps they had been to, what sightings and comments on the guides/trackers. Nobody said anything bad about the guides or trackers, people said how well they got on with them.

 

So to our suprise, the couple who we were now sharing the vehicle with, told us that they had complained to the manager about one particular guide at Lebala and refused to go out on any more drives with him. So they were put into another vehicle. We were obviously puzzled, as we had had good reports on this particular guide from other people. I don't think it is appropriate to name the guide.

 

The second and amusing but at times annoying, was the couple who joined us that afternoon. We think the wife was practising for the world talking championships and she must be a firm favourite for a gold medal. As this lady was recovering from a broken leg, they sat on the front row, so when the third couple joined on our day two in the afternoon, we managed to get the back row, as she didn't talk too loud we couldn't here her, oh bliss!

 

The last couple to join were not impressed with the constant talking so we had to rotate who sat at the back. It takes a brave man to tell a woman to shut up.

 

Goodbye to Paul and James from Lagoon and goodbye to Spencer (who is on secondment at Lagoon!)

 

So its off to Lebala for brunch with Raga (guide) and TT (tracker). We had just set off when Thabo radioed that a leopard had been spotted, as the other couple were not flying out until 1300hrs, we went to see the leopard. Unfortunately she was so far into the bush for the shade that it was impossible to see the whole body. So back to camp for brunch.

 

We are joined by a couple from Switzerland, so we are ready for our afternoon game drive. Raja

introduces himself and TT, then explains what he hopes for on the drive, so off we go.

 

Carmine bee eater.

 

 

And to our great surprise and joy, a leopard. Raja explained that it was female and has a daughter, which will be near by.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The leopard sees something and we think, are we going to see a kill? No! Raja tells us that she has heard a troop of baboons and they can, and will kill leopard. So off she goes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raja said it would be near impossible to keep track of her, and as there are only two of us listening to him, off we go.

 

10 minutes late and another leopard is spotted, I am looking in the trees and cannot see it, so Raja tells me where to look and can I see the legs and tail hanging from the branch? Never make a tracker!

It is the daughter, to see two in such a small amount of time really has us well pleased

 

 

 

 

 

She hears the baboons

 

 

Then down from the tree onto a termite mound.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On of the baboons

 

 

Then we are back on our game drive and see Kudu, who have no interest in us.

 

 

Saddled billed stork.

 

 

No sun but plenty of cloud cover, so its time for a sundowner and then back to camp. No she cannot talk and drink at the same time!

 

 

It must put the guide in an awkward position, when two of the guests are not listening to him and also talking at the same time as he was talking. It was annoying whem Raga stopped and turned off the engine to listen for noises, but she carried on talking.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

Oh my, it really seems to be the season for STers to meet up with annoying car "buddies" - Mrs. Motormouth sounds like the stuff of nightmares.

 

But what a fantastic leopard sighting Lebala welcomed you with - and I love the pic of the Kudus.

[penolva]

Love the markings on the back view of the leopard, beautiful.

[madaboutcheetah]

Amazing ,.....

[graceland]

The leopard shots are splendid.

 

Yes . it is unfortunate some people seem to talk their entire way through a game drive; I had one who screamed" no, don't stop-- get away' no no , don't get near"Take me back-- (that being the worst - what is the guide to do!) So...

 

We now splurge for private!

 

Better than ruining your very expensive trip.

[madaboutcheetah]

@cd111 - by Raja your guide - I wonder if you refer to Balli? a skinny guy with glasses?