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Green Season Botswana January 2016: Part Two - the Amazing Duba Plains; Leopards of Selinda and incredible scenic flight!


madaboutcheetah

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madaboutcheetah

All of that perhaps is the reason for the Ivory and the missing Tigers ............ Shame!

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madaboutcheetah

I don't edit photos in order ...... So, here's a handful from Selinda.

With the Selinda Pride having dispersed into the woodland along with the buffalo herds after the rains, the home boys from Lebala popped over into Twin Pools for a visit - here's a couple of Drop the Pilot/Sebastian; (atleast that's who I think it is......)

 

The Strangler fig tree can probably match the best bar or coffee shop for a drink stop ............ it's right on the boundary between Lebala and Selinda and I couldn't be in the neighbourhood and not stop there for drinks.......

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madaboutcheetah

Today's segment features a pack of 5 ...... This sighting right at Twin Pools shared with the Lebala game drives - Vundi and OB had followed the tracks from deep into Selinda....... the moment we got to Twin Pools, we bumped into Bate from Lebala. We found the pack possibly having just killed the impala possibly a minute or two prior........

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@@madaboutcheetah wow - love these wild dog images! Some of the dogs really have a wild look in their eyes - like in the first two - and it is cool, if a bit gruesome, to see them carrying such large bones and pieces of their prey.

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madaboutcheetah

My final morning of the safari was pure magic ............ OB had discovered the Leopard den about a week prior and I had heard amazing stories from guests i met at Duba. Unfortunately, every time we went we drew a blank as she was probably out hunting. Was it worth the wait!!!!!

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madaboutcheetah

Would you believe it???? Leopard #2 found by OB not far from the airstrip!!!! Thank You OB! He was at the sighting patiently until we scampered back to camp to pack luggage and race to the sighting!!! Lovely catching up with OB who was one of my first guides in Botswana - over dinner the prior evening, we reminisced a cheetah and two cubs we had seen at Kwando lagoon way back in 2004(?).........

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Alex The Lion

Great images, Hari.

 

Did Vundi guide at both Duba and Selinda? He is such a wonderful guide.

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madaboutcheetah

Thanks, Russell ......

 

Yes he did indeed guide me at both ....... He was to attend an end of season GPC training program that was due to start at Selinda ..... so on request, he just flew up a couple days earlier.

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Oh my .. that Leopard Cub sequence is just fantastic! Not to mention the Dogs and the second Leopard. Even withou your beloved Cheetahs you must have been happy with this. :)

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3 cubs! Sensational.
Great dog kill too. Not even sure what parts of the Impala they were playing tug of war with...

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@madaboutcheetah.

 

Hari - wow! It's great that you got so many shots of the leopard cubs. Any idea how old they were (4 months or so)? Also, how long were you able to stay and observe them?

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madaboutcheetah

Thanks so much @@michael-ibk ; @@Big_Dog and @@PT123 ........ I was told they are only three weeks old. You still see them in the den (which is a big log) .......... How long were we there? About an hour or so ...... I was really running short of time, as I had to run back to camp to pack up my bags! I doubt there would have been more photographic moments as she set out hunting after the cubs went back into hiding.

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@@madaboutcheetah - Wow! Leopard with cubs and wild dogs with a kill (again...just posted on part 1). Your sightings and images are amazing. Needless to say another place I want to visit...although at this rate I will need to retire twenty years early to fit them all in not to mention win the lottery to be able to fund it.

 

Thank you and kind regards

 

deano.

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madaboutcheetah

Thanks a lot for all the kind comments ; @@SafariChick ; @@deano

 

 when I was at the sighting and she carried one of the cubs back to the den as he wanted to follow her as she set out hunting.

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@@madaboutcheetah

Superb photos of the dogs - beautiful and gruesome at the same time!

And then the leopard with the cubs - really special sighting and excellent photos.

(and still time to fit in another leopard before you leave)

Thank you for posting these

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Fantastic dog photos!! Love the fourth one in post #29, what an expression.

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May I join the chorus by remarking as to how gorgeous the dogs and leopard + cubs are? Just superb.

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madaboutcheetah

Thanks a lot everyone for all the kind comments!!!

 

Here's the last instalment of the Selinda section ....... African Wild Cat - not easy to photograph ....... Sorry about the quality of the photo, but, I tried...... :)

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Wow Hari, you are killing me with these photos! Especially with those little leopard cubs, how special and adorable are they?!?! Aerial photos are superb too as well as the wild dogs, leopard, cheetah, wildcat .... oh I just loved everything. Seems to pay off to visit that area off season in January.

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I agree about the wildcat photos - amazing to see them- and to get such good photos.

I also admre your sky pictures with the approaching (?) weather.

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