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South Africa and Zambian Adventure: Tswalu and Kafue


gatoratlarge

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Gatoratlarge we will spend 3 nights in Hwange, 4 in Mana Pools and 2 at Chitake.  Mana, Chitake and our time in Zambia will be with Doug Macdonald.  

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On 10/28/2017 at 0:35 PM, michael-ibk said:

Great report, you had such outstanding Pangolin and Aardvark sightings. And how cool you snatched a Sitatunga photo, it was gone when we arrived at Musekese. The hippo "winner" succumbed to its wounds after your departure and became lion food.

 

@michael-ibk They referred to that hippo at Musekese as Satan as he relentlessly attacked the other hippo long after the fight was "over" --- the sounds were horrific apparently.  But when we were there he never left this little trough in the flood plain and so it's fascinating that at the end of the day he not only killed the other hippo but died himself.  What an aggressive animal!  Sort of belies the cute ear wiggles, rotund body and snorts that are so endearing on the river...

Edited by gatoratlarge
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A few more Wild Dog Pics from Tswalu:

 

 

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And I'll finish it with a few more meerkats cause how can you get enough of these little charmers:

 

 

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Edited by gatoratlarge
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Loved this report @gatoratlarge - such good sightings and as you said such a variety of wildlife you saw! So jealous of the pangolin and aardvark! 

 

Thanks for sharing all this!

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Fabulous TR and photos!  Thank you for posting such a great trip! HOw wonderful you saw pangolin and aardvark as well as the cute meerkats at Tswalu!  And kafue looked wonderful!  Hope we can continue to travel to Africa... just such a far distance for us... 

happy travels!

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  • 2 weeks later...

@AandA thank you---I hope you keep traveling to Africa as well---the plane ride is the only negative---I just settle in for 24 hours of misery and take my lumps! :D

 

 

 

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Thanks for that laugh!  We are in CA, so the flight truly is miserable!  Will keep coming as often as possible! Safaris are the best!!!

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@AandA.....try Emirates next time.  It's still long but not miserable.

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Thanks Marg!  Looking at Emirates or even Qatar for NBO this time. Last time, we went nonstop from ATL to Jo'burg on the 16 hr Delta: at least we had prem Econ bulkhead..  maybe we'll get lucky and get a bus. Class "deal" next trip. :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

 

You are reporting on a couple of places of great interest to me:  Kafue, where I can see what we just missed a few days before our arrival and Tswalu where I plan to go in the not too distant future.  How thoughtful of you to plan your safari destinations so well! 

 

That red ground really highlights the lions.  Your Tswalu trip was outstanding, especially pangolin and aardvark.  What an interesting snake eating snake encounter.  There could not have been anything you hoped to see but missed in Tswalu.  The star species even all enjoyed an encore performance in your report.  I kept thinking, "you saw THAT in Kafue?" and then realized it was Tswalu.  The red ground was a big hint too.

 

The Kafue River is gorgeous around Kaingu.  You caught the antelope.

Edited by Atravelynn
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11 hours ago, Atravelynn said:

 

You are reporting on a couple of places of great interest to me:  Kafue, where I can see what we just missed a few days before our arrival and Tswalu where I plan to go in the not too distant future.  How thoughtful of you to plan your safari destinations so well! 

 

That red ground really highlights the lions.  Your Tswalu trip was outstanding, especially pangolin and aardvark.  What an interesting snake eating snake encounter.  There could not have been anything you hoped to see but missed in Tswalu.  The star species even all enjoyed an encore performance in your report.  I kept thinking, "you saw THAT in Kafue?" and then realized it was Tswalu.  The red ground was a big hint too.

 

The Kafue River is gorgeous around Kaingu.  You caught the antelope.

Thanks!  I certainly have no complaints---I felt quite lucky to see what we did...there were still a few things I didn't get to see...an aardwolf would have been nice and perhaps a better view of the brown hyenas, maybe a zorilla sighting?? :D

 

But that's being greedy...the scenery is quite stunning with the red sands of the Kalahari in Tswalu and I loved the wild feel of the Kafue...hope to go back some day...

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Maybe we will see each other on the next Kafue visit!  But you will never find me hanging over the falls like you did.  I will have to experience that vicariously from your photo.

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  • 1 month later...

@gatoratlarge  I've arrived late at your trip report but I enjoyed it immensely. I was at Kaingu four years ago and I remember the river well with those enormous, almost unreal looking boulders. Musekese has been on my wish list for a while, so hoping to go there either this year or next. You had some great sightings there and that just make me want to go even more. I got interested in Tswalu via @Kitafari and seeing your wonderful pictures, not to mention the extraordinary sightings, really makes me want to visit. It's horribly expensive though! Still, I shall do my best to get there! 

 

Thanks for such an interesting TR.

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gatoratlarge

@Galago thank you!  The Kafue is now one of my favorites although there are so many wonderful places in Africa, my collection of "favorite spots" is losing some of its usefulness :).  More and more, I find myself wanting to be in the most remote, raw, wilderness edge and Kafue gave me that feeling.  I wish I could have stayed longer than the four nights (two at Kaingu and two at Musekese) as I think it has much more to reveal but I'm thankful I got to visit it in the first place.  I hope they'll be a next time as I think they have great plans and aspirations to make it one of the premier wildlife destinations in Africa  maybe even bringing back rhino if it proves safe enough from poachers.

 

You are right---Tswalu isn't cheap---you do get your own guide and tracker so you dictate your course/plan for the time you're there.  As a solo traveler the good news was there's no single supplement but when I convinced a buddy to come with me, that was then the bad news---no break in price :D

It is a stunning terrain and scenery and the chance to see unique wildlife like pangolins, aardvarks, aardwolves, brown hyena, not to mention rhino, wild dogs, the magnificent black-maned lions, and getting so close to the meerkats...there's just a lot there to make it worthwhile even at the high cost...for me, it lived up to its reputation in every way.  Our guides were as good as I've had in many visits to Africa.

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