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Brownies at Lagoon; Splash "special"; From Twin Pools to Kwena Lagoon and beyond - A Kwando Safari Oct/Nov 2018


madaboutcheetah

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madaboutcheetah
15 hours ago, CDL111 said:

The photograph of the Botswana flag and the elephants drinking takes us back to 2014, when we stayed in the family room, which has such a wonderful view.

 

Yes, i agree - that view from Tent 1 is similar to this one.  

 

 

Dogs from lagoon - pack of 7.  They put on a mighty show for us when we caught up with them at Lebala a few days after this sighting.  

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madaboutcheetah

Sensational tracking by Mr Moe and Spencer led us to this female Leopard in the thickets one morning. Following her wasn't easy, but, we tried to keep up for awhile until she decided she needed a snooze.  

 

We bumped into her again the next day when Poster and Mr T tracked her down, but, wasn't great photographically .......

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madaboutcheetah

Here's a different male coalition that we found when we ventured up to Kwena Lagoon to the Carmine colony.  Didn't get to the colony that day as these two boys were super active at Second Lagoon.  There was roaring back and forth (We think there is a third member to this coalition, as there were calls coming back from Kwena Lagoon more north) ......... 

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So glad to see that pack of 6 plus one pup are still OK. 

The photos of the Brownies are a joy to behold. Thanks for bringing back some special moments for us. We never thought we would ever get to Brown Hyena, and definately not at Linyanti!

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madaboutcheetah

@darcy - Thank You!!! What were the highlights of your trip? 

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For us it was the Brownies - we spent 3 early mornings with them and they just were so adorable. We like you caught up with the pack of 6 with one pup at Lebala but I couldnt help feeling sad that the hey days of the Lagoon pack was over, and they were now under pressure from all the Lions. We saw a big pack at Vumbura with one individual that was so pale and followed them hunting which is always thrilling. Although one company seemed to have too many trucks following the dogs, sometimes getting in front of them, which we felt very uncomfortable about.

I look forward to more photos - when are you going back?

 

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Wow, lovely photos as always... I was really jealous of the first set of pictures of the brown hyenas, and then the second set came and you had them in great light too.  

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madaboutcheetah

Thanks @darcy - Very lucky with 3 successful brown Hyena sightings.  We weren't too lucky as there seemed to be a lot of spotted Hyena movement around and they didn't pop out of the den on many of our visits.......... Yeah, insane Lion numbers up and down the Kwando concession at the moment. Bear in mind, the pack didn't help itself with the in-fighting between the two females who had simultaneous dens this year resulting in quite a few lost pups.   

 

Thanks @Zubbie15 - Just very lucky! 

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madaboutcheetah

Kwando's elephants ......... I wish I had a wide angle for this particular sighting ........ :)

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madaboutcheetah

Back to Splash ......... Sublime Tracking by AT and Spencer, found us "special" the territorial male cheetah.  He was perhaps on patrol for much of the wee hours of the morning, that at one point his tracks went our the tire tracks of our truck :) .......... Finally caught up with him - but, alas "Special" is super lazy!  We spent the entire day out with him (went to camp for a super quick lunch since it was only 10 minutes away) ..... However, he had plans for his afternoon siesta and that continued well past sunset - OUCH!!!  

 

A territorial wildebeest has his eye on him .......

 

In the "yawing" pose, you can see that one of his canines are broken!  

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Hari, were the photographs of the elephants taken at Lagoon from the boat?

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madaboutcheetah

@CDL111 - from the truck ; not far from camp by the BDF station. Didn't do the boat this time ....

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madaboutcheetah

The following day after having witnessed the entire siesta "special" .......... We started out super early as always hoping we'd track "Special" down early while he's still active and hopefully he will put on a show for us (I'd hoped for at worst marking logs and termite mounds in good light) ......... The Goose Chase continued well into a couple of hours following his tracks (He'd possibly been walking through the evening after dusk) with AT being relentless in his tracking  .......... Would you believe it!  We bump into a female cheetah ....... Unlike "special" she meant business ...... No siesta breaks, no goofing around ...... She was focused and she got a meal for herself!!! Sorry about the poor quality of images at the end - but, there's not much we could do given the long dried up Reeds by the new Mekero station.  She whacked a Reedbuck!  Too bad that it was all in the reeds and poor photographic opportunity - but, so happy for her!!! 

 

 

That allowed us a relaxed lunch back in camp, ourselves ........ ;)

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Edited by madaboutcheetah
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madaboutcheetah

General game in Lagoon ..... 

 

A morning surprise for us at Zebra Pan - A relaxed Eland Bull.  We inched as close as we could possibly get! and oh My ........ He didn't flinch!!!! 

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The brownie cubs are pure magic...some stunning cheetah shots too! Hell of a trip overall it looks really.

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madaboutcheetah

@Big_Dog - Thank You!!!  Can hardly wait to hear about your Karnataka trip! 

 

In this segment -  Sable etc etc., 

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Amylovescritters

Fantastic report thanks so much for sharing. Incredible photos, as has been stressed repeatedly, lol. Thinking I need to pencil in Botswana for 2020 or 2021... hitting TZ Northern Circuit in March. Too many must see destinations, and most in Africa.

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OMG- I am soooooo jealous about the brown hyena. Never seen one and want to so badly. What a thrill.

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madaboutcheetah

Thanks a lot @Amylovescritters and @lmonmm

 

In this segment, back to the Lagoon Pack - This particular morning, we found tracks inside the woodland while tracking Lions that we heard calling earlier .........  We followed the tracks for a few minutes and then, Spencer mentioned that this one is easy to find now that he's seen what direction the tracks were heading to - he said the dogs are going towards "Watercut" ........ Lo and behold! Here's the pack at Watercut ....... 

 

 

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That large portrait photo of the dog is breathtaking - I love the cantering sable too. What a wonderful collection of photos - you must be very pleased. I have been back from here 6 weeks and I cannot wait to return. These pictures make it hard to resist booking another trip - in fact it is impossible so we have signed up for Nov 2019. I will start saving for my retirement after that!

 

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madaboutcheetah

Thanks @darcy - I wish I were there now too!!!! ;) From memory we met at lagoon in October 2009? You were guided by Mr Allison? November 2019 sounds amazing ........ Your focus is the dogs, correct?  My hunch is, the alpha here with the lagoon pack is on his last legs; so this pack is rife for a takeover soon.  He along with 3 other orange coat males came in and took the pack over in 2013 and from memory, there wasn't a den that year.  However, they ended up with a triple den in 2014! To cover your bases, I'd recommend you put in some days for Kwara concession too - it seems a hot spot for dogs at the moment.  Especially, given their central location in the delta (packs from Kwara, Khwai/Moremi) etc etc., always seem to pass through especially later in the year after den season.

 

@marg - thank you!!! No it's cropped like that the portraits ..... was in front seat next to the guide.

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madaboutcheetah

A few Iphone photos - until I get back to the editing .... 

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madaboutcheetah

Dogs at Watercut later in the evening ..... They weren't going to move on the fully belly! 

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Great report Hari - thanks for sharing. Loved the Hyena and dog photos. Botswana pencilled in for 2020...

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