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Selinda, a ten years' love story


Bush dog

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@@Caracal

 

Once more, thanks a lot for following this TR and so pleased you enjoy it.

 

Your roaring lion was probably not mine, perhaps one the five invaders I mentionned in the begining of this TR.

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@@Kitsafari

 

Thank you very much for your kind words!

 

Thanks to digital technologies, those old pictures will never pass on.

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@@graceland

 

Thanks a lot for taking some of your time to have a look at this report.

 

And yes, perhaps some more reports on trips from the past?

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2004/May 2005

 

Continued

 

The three brothers (one being one-eyed). The pictures were taken just after heavy showers. The dark sky in the background and the sun shining on the other side created extremely saturated color shades.

 

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To be continued

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madaboutcheetah

Hi Mike,

 

Just catching up with your report again ....... Been away for the past week. Don't want to bombard your notifications with all the "likes" - every one of them, stunning!!! Especially love all the cheetahs.

 

I've often spoken to John and Geoff about a female cheetah from the neighborhood (Jade) - I wonder if she is the one in your pictures? ..... Oh and good to see Kanawe too.

 

From memory, one of the three brothers died of supposed snake bite in August 2005 ...... as I went in November that year and heard the news from the Kwando folks.

 

Cheers

Hari

Edited by madaboutcheetah
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Hi Hari,

 

Thanks a lot, don't be afraid to thick the "likes". This is a pleasant bombardment, the kind that is most welcomed by the ego. :)

 

It might be Jade, indeed, but I won't swear to it.

 

When I was there in November 2005, I also heard that one of the three brothers (the one-eyed one) died of a snake bite.

 

Cheers

Mike

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2004/May 2005

 

Continued

 

All those lions were seen on the same afternoon game drive, exceptionally guided by André Maertens. As manager of the concession, André was not often guiding. It was thus a real chance to be there when he was doing it.

 

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We had our sundowners at a safe distance, but yet, close to the lions. André asked us to stay on one side of the car, so that it was between us and the lions.

 

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At the beginning of the night drive, it was still in the twilight, André spotted, not one, but three caracals, a female with two young ones. One of the kittens was very inquisitive and fascinated by the vehicle’s lights. Despite efforts by its mother to move away from the vehicle and disappear into the tall grass, he kept coming. This little game continued during around twenty minutes. Eventually, it definitively followed its mother. That was and still is the best sighting I’ve ever had of caracal(s). There are no pictures because I don’t like to take photographs outside daylight. Besides, it’s sometimes nice to enjoy the spectacle of nature otherwise than through a lens and I really enjoyed this one.

 

To be continued

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Towlersonsafari

We are really enjoying this. Your pictures have a lovely luminous quality!

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@@Towlersonsafari

 

Tank you. The luminous quality is due to the exceptional light present during the shooting and also to a special color rendering typical of those argentic emulsions such as Fuji Provia, Astia and Sensia.

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2004/May 2005

 

Continued

 

Kanawe had found the earth of a family of bat-eared foxes, the parents and five cubs. During several days he came back and progressively approached them. So that eventually they were habituated to the car. When I saw them, they were totally comfortable.

 

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To be continued

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2004/May 2005

 

Continued

 

I saw a lot of buffaloes during this period.

 

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Some birds : Ground hornbill, Bateleur eagle, Rufous-naped Lark & Little egret.

 

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To be continued

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2004/May 2005

 

Continued

 

Girafes were everywhere. It was not uncommon to see journeys of thirty to fourty heads.

 

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To be continued

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2004/May 2005

 

Continued

 

This hippo had left its pod after a lost territorial battle. The guides called it Henry. It had taken up residence in a pond and was determined to defend its new kingdom fiercely, as it gave us to understand it, when the vehicle was found in too close.

 

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Portraits of a solitary lion.

 

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This African wild cat did not give me the opportunity to make more than one shot.

 

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To be continued

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2004/May 2005

 

Continued

 

I was at Zib, having a drink and chatting with other guests, when we saw, just in front of the camp, a pack of wild dogs pulling down an impala. Time to get out the car , all to climb on it, and cover the 200 meters, that separated us from the kill, the dogs had already almost completely devoured their prey.

 

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Incidentally, it was said to me, by BB (Barberton Mundu), if I remember quite well, that dogs, by instinct and experience, like other predators besides, hunt the weakest preys. They chase so rather male impalas during the rutting and females when they are close to calving.

 

Pictures from another wild dogs’ sighting.

 

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To be continued

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2004/May 2005

 

Continued

 

Some lionesses and lions’ portraits

 

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And some cheetahs

 

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To be continued

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marindadrake

Fantastic trip report.

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2004/May 2005

 

Continued

 

Though we kept aloof from a small herd of elephants, one of them came to us and charge. We quickly moved back and it stopped.

 

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Those pictures were taken, soon after, at about the same place than the two previous one. The solitary elephant stopped, and after having sized us up, peacefully went its way.

 

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Lions crossing the spillway.

 

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Black-backed jackal.

 

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To be continued

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2004/May 2005

 

Continued

 

We found those hyenas on a kill where there was almost nothing left, but for hyenas, there is always something until there is completely nothing.

 

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Some other residents : roan, red lechwe, waterbuck, girafe and a frog, that was seen on the road, during the game drive guided by André.

 

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To be continued

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Hi Mike,

 

Just catching up with your report again ....... Been away for the past week. Don't want to bombard your notifications with all the "likes" - every one of them, stunning!!! Especially love all the cheetahs.

 

I've often spoken to John and Geoff about a female cheetah from the neighborhood (Jade) - I wonder if she is the one in your pictures? ..... Oh and good to see Kanawe too.

 

From memory, one of the three brothers died of supposed snake bite in August 2005 ...... as I went in November that year and heard the news from the Kwando folks.

 

Cheers

Hari

@@madaboutcheetah oh were these the brothers that were featured in a documentary? I can't recall the title, but I remembered the brother going off on his own and died after a snake bite. Very sad story if I recall correctly. Edited by Kitsafari
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Sorry for the delay in responses...but this is all fantastic. Any photos involving the wild dogs are great. Love the jackal and the wild cat. The giraffe calf sticking it's tongue out is hugely endearing, and the lone hippo bull hugely intimidating!
Awesome hyaenas too, the group shot especially!

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Love those bat eared foxes - still haven't seen them and you saw a family of them. Love the wild dogs. Love the gorgeous hyena portraits. And that close up of the angry crazy hippo is just awesome!

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@@Kitsafari,

 

I'll answer for @madaboutcheetah. Yes, they were the 3 cheetah brothers that featured in the documentary 'Blood Brothers' (an ordinary wildlife doco in my opinion). Their territory stretched from about Savuti Bush camp through to Kwando Lagoon camp with the Selinda concession in the middle, so your best chances of seeing them were if you stayed at Selinda. They were incredible hunters and the three of them would sometimes target sizeable prey such as tsessebe. They all lived to a ripe old age (even the one that was considered to have died from snake bite) and I suspect sired many progeny. Not to mention providing many safari goers with superb viewing.

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@@Bush dog

 

Particularly like the lechwe image. Wow, the concession looks very green in those hyena shots and what an interesting looking frog.

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@@Kitsafari

 

Thanks a lot for your kind words. Usually, bat-eared foxes are very shy and running away at any approach. Here, thanks to Kanawe's patience and competence, while respecting, it had been possible to stay with them as long as desired.

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@@Geoff

 

It was indeed very green. So, I guess pictures were taken In the month of May 2004 or 2005.

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