From Dawn Till Dusk - A Botswana Green Season Mobile

[Alexander33]

Michael is right.  Our final full day at Moremi was tiring and relatively unproductive – except for one particular sighting, and it happened to be our first of the morning.

 

We had paused for some reason or another, and Doug spied some movement some ways away.  He held up his binoculars, and announced it was the female leopard again.

 

Only this time, she wasn’t alone.

 

 

 

She had a cub, quite lively and independent, accompanying her.

 

 

 

They ambled up a termite mound to inspect the surroundings. The mother didn’t linger, but the cub’s curiosity kept it in place for a few seconds.

 

 

 

11 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

 

Sometimes you just have to hate twigs and similarly obnoxious green stuff!

 

 

 

Yeah, tell me about it!  Our view here was obscured by foliage, but I think our companions at the front of the vehicle had a better angle and, if so, here’s hoping they’ll show us.

 

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by Alexander33

[Alexander33]

At this point, I noticed that the mother and cub had retreated to a large branch behind us. Now it was time for me to make an excited outburst.

 

“Back up! Back up! More, more, more!”  Matambo got the vehicle in position just in time for us to witness what may be the most intimate leopard mother/cub interaction I’ve yet seen.  The female had stooped down to groom her front paws.

 

 

 

But the cub was having none of it.  This opportunity called for some fun and games.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, the mother, being a mother, decided to turn her grooming attention to her charge. Time for a bath!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They gave us a pose.

 

 

 

And then mom was ready to move on, even if the cub wasn’t.

 

 

 

 

 

However, the show wasn’t quite over.

 

I’ll now turn it back over to @michael-ibk so he can share their perspective as well as introduce the next sequence.

 

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by Alexander33

[Atravelynn]

A Dwarf Bittern and a Pygmy Goose are not top sightings?

Just read page 7.  Now THAT'S top and Doug agreed.

Edited June 17, 2019 by Atravelynn

[Atdahl]

WOW!!!!  Awesome leopard and cub encounter!  Nothing beats a photo of a leopard and cub on a fallen tree....

[xelas]

On 6/13/2019 at 8:14 PM, michael-ibk said:

Indeed, what´s more "Delta" than swimming cars?

 

Swimming when water only reaches the bottom of the car?! You should tried harder (=deeper) at least mid bonnet !

 

A trully inspirational trip report, you two are like Wachowski brothers! Lovely descriptions fantastic photos ... pure delight to read and enjoy!

And with so many leopard sightings, it makes me drolling like a fat dog on a hot sun .

Edited June 17, 2019 by xelas

[michael-ibk]

14 hours ago, Alexander33 said:

We had paused for some reason or another, and Doug spied some movement some ways away. 

 

You have to give the man some credit - actually finding the Leopard cub was exactly the plan. Matambo knew M.T. had a young one, and so Doug decided to try the area where he had left our Leopard Emperess the previous evening, hoping she had hidden her child somewhere not too far. We were even joking that this would be the morning when we would break Doug´s curse - find a Leopard Cub. Whatever it takes. Even if there was just a small chance, we owed this to everybody not in that jeep. To try. Whatever it takes.

 

Uhm, excuse me, that was my inner SciFi-fanboy-Marvel-nerd-self taking over and

running away with me.

 

 

14 hours ago, Alexander33 said:

Our view here was obscured by foliage, but I think our companions at the front of the vehicle had a better angle and, if so, here’s hoping they’ll show us.

 

Just a tad, and this was still 0630 in the morning, so pretty dark. But it got lighter quick and gave us the wonderful sequence Peter already showed you, definitely one of my all-time safari highlights. Sorry, can´t resist posting two more pics from that.

 

 

 

What was that "Doug´s Curse" nonsense I was spluttering about btw? Believe it or not, Doug MacDonald, Zimbabwe pro guide and with more time in the bush than probably all of us Safaritalkers combined had never ever seen a Leopard cub!

 

 

Mother and child (impossible to sex it yet) wandered on. They moved quite quickly but showed no sign of discomfort towards our car. M.T. has grown up in the middle of Xaxanaxa, so she has known cars and drooling tourists all her life, and so the little one has no reason to be afraid neither. Still we kept our distance.

 

 

 

I missed a really great opportunity here - mother had caught a Squirrel for Jr. in a grove, and the cub had fun with it. But unfortunately that happened mostly behind branches and high grass so no photo. At least not from me. Peter?

 

 

Then the two went out for a final parade - all in all we spent more than 30 minutes with them, and only in the last five minutes did two other cars arrive.

 

 

And that last Hooray was well timed - the sun finally came up!

 

 

Our last sight of M.T. Austrian? Famous? Queenish? Empressish? That only leaves Maria Theresia, the only female ruler of Austria´s Habsburg dominion and sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. By marriage, she was Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany and Holy Roman Empress. Hard to believe, but basically half of Europe was Austrian back then.

 

 

 

And our wonderful cub. Doug and Matambo estimated its age about five to six months and we all agreed that that could still just about be considered cub age. At least Doug admitted it was the youngest Leopard he had ever seen. So obviously he was totally thrilled and almost could not control himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Bye Litle One, and thank you for this half hour of safari magic.

 

 

And there they went. We all said this day could not possibly get any better. Absolutely spot on, it could not, as you already saw from my last post. But no complaining after this.

[mopsy]

Great leopard encounter, @michael-ibk @Alexander33 It was always going to be hard to top that sighting first up.

 

Amazing that it was Doug's first leopard cub experience. He must have been pretty excited I assume!

[Alexander33]

1 hour ago, michael-ibk said:

Our last sight of M.T. Austrian? Famous? Queenish? Empressish? That only leaves Maria Theresia, the only female ruler of Austria´s Habsburg dominion and sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. By marriage, she was Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany and Holy Roman Empress. Hard to believe, but basically half of Europe was Austrian back then.

 

In spite of all that, I keep calling her “Mother Teresa.” 

[LarsS]

Wow! That really is an intimate moment between mother and cub. Sightings like these make you will never give up and always try to find wildlife on every drive. It might have been early and not quite light yet, but I think it makes your photos even better. The vibe of the photos adds to the quality of the sighting. Like you caught them getting ready for the day.

 

And then that picture of the cub  jumping on the back of its mother. Just amazing!

[colbol]

Guys -what a fantastic sequence of beautifully captured interactions of MT and her cub . Hang on the wall with pride scenes .

MT -Maria Theresia !! dissapointing outcome really - considering in the post she was described as "not shy and known to all the guides " some people i know were considering tart or teaser or similar (naughty people)

Cheers Colbol 

[janzin]

Fantastic sighting and sequence of the leopards from both @michael-ibk and @Alexander33! Wow, definitely images to print large and hang on the wall. A really special encounter.

 

I confess I had no clue as to "MT" and no way in the world I'd ever have guessed, as my knowledge of European history is sadly lacking. Thanks for a bit of education

 

[pedro maia]

Stunning all those mother/cub leopard shots, really beautiful, congrats to both photographers.

[Alexander33]

7 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

 

You have to give the man some credit - actually finding the Leopard cub was exactly the plan. Matambo knew M.T. had a young one, and so Doug decided to try the area where he had left our Leopard Emperess the previous evening, hoping she had hidden her child somewhere not too far. We were even joking that this would be the morning when we would break Doug´s curse - find a Leopard Cub.

 

 

You absolutely are right.  How could I have forgotten that?

 

 

7 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

 

I missed a really great opportunity here - mother had caught a Squirrel for Jr. in a grove, and the cub had fun with it. But unfortunately that happened mostly behind branches and high grass so no photo. At least not from me. Peter?

 

 

Not anything good.  The pair had ambled to another area with fallen trees and debris, and as we pulled up beside them, Doug excitedly announced that the cub had a squirrel.  It happened so quickly, but as I recall, the cub was perched up on the tree trunk right by us (there in the foreground in the photo below), but then almost immediately jumped down and retreated to the safety of its mother before any of us could lift our cameras.  Ugh. That would have been one for the ages.

 

 

 

Here's a heavy crop, showing the cub still with the squirrel.

 

 

 

And here's a final farewell to mom.

 

 

 

Edited June 18, 2019 by Alexander33

[colbol]

ohh final farewell pic is soo strong-complete  very beautiful !!!!

Thanks 

[michael-ibk]

 

It rained heavily during our last night in Moremi but we did not really notice it - we were all so tired after our long day that we went straight to bed after dinner and skipped the usual drinks. This was the end of our Delta part of the trip - we had two long travel days ahead to get down to the Kalahari. It was grey, wet and gloomy next morning and would only get worse later. But better to have these conditions on a moving than on a proper game-viewing day. We didn´t stop much on our way out of Moremi, it was not really a photo day anyway, and we didn´t have any special "last minute" highlights.

 

 

Although cats couldn´t have been far.

 

 

A Brubru, the smallest member of the Shrike family.

 

 

Ovambo Sparrowhawk. I´m not sure I´ve ever seen this raptor before, we saw a couple of them during the trip.

 

 

Another Red-Headed Weaver proving his architectural skills.

 

 

We did not progress very fast since there was lots of water on the road and Matambo had to go slowly and often look for ways around - this was actually one of the better stretches. We soon realized that getting to Maun by noon and maybe even be there in time to catch up with @Kitsafari, @twaffle and @Sangeeta before they flew out would not be possible.

 

 

 

 

Even though it cannot be much more than 50 or 60 km from camp to South Gate we only arrived there shortly before noon. After that there was a bit less water on the road and driving easier for Matambo.

 

 

 

We took the time to admire a Southern Masked Weaver build a new home - a real fun thing to watch, I do hope his lady did appreciate his hard works. I´ve read somewhere that it happens females do not approve - and rip the nest apart!

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the last 100 km to Maun it was proper "Green Season" or rather "Rainy Season" time - we put on our ponchos and tried to keep our camera stuff dry. Even when we left the wilderness and approached Maun there were still some "fun" road parts to master:

 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2019 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

 

It was past three o´clock when we finally arrived in Maun. Still, that gave us a bit of relax and downtime which we all enjoyed. Some quick shopping for souvenirs, postcards and stamps. And it was nice to have a proper shower for a change, and yes, a flush toilet felt like luxury as well.

 

 

 

We stayed at Cresta Rileys, a no-frills hotel right by the Thamalakane river. I´d normally say a decent enough place (with restaurant and pool) but there were some issues. Three of us had stomach problems after dinners (we´d stay here after the Kalahari as well), and on our last morning before flying home there was no water! Quite inconvenient, especially since I had spent two hours at the river and was all sweaty and dirty! I had to insist quite vehemently that they let me use one of their luxury chalets to take a shower.

 

 

But on the plus side, the garden is quite nice, Woodland Kingfishers were always singing, and it´s just a 5-minute-walk down to the river where I did some birding on our very last morning. I stayed put though after arriving there from the Delta - not worth it going out in that weather, and I was actually quite happy to get a brief birding respite.

 

 

A Swamp Boubou. I had wanted to take a safety shot of this species upon our arrival in Xaxanaka but Doug said I should not bother - we´d see dozens of them in Moremi, they would be all over. Of course we did not see a single one there, and Matambo and me quite enjoyed rubbing the "all over" Swamp Boubous in Doug´s face.

 

 

Sedge Warbler, one of our Palearctic migrants.

 

 

Reed Cormorant

 

 

I was delighted to even find Pygmy Geese in the middle of the city.

 

 

 

Arrow-Marked Babbler

 

 

Southern Red Bishop

 

 

Juv. Fork-Tailed Drongo

 

 

Coming up: The very last section of this report, leaving the lush wetlands of Northern Botswana, and onwards to the neverending vastness of the Kalahari!

 

Edited June 19, 2019 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

On 6/17/2019 at 9:03 AM, xelas said:

Swimming when water only reaches the bottom of the car?! You should tried harder (=deeper) at least mid bonnet

 

I hope the video of us "crossing" in post #146 fits your criteria?

 

On 6/17/2019 at 9:08 PM, mopsy said:

Amazing that it was Doug's first leopard cub experience. He must have been pretty excited I assume!

 

Absolutely, he was very happy about that. But immediately went on to say now he needs to see a new-born.

 

On 6/17/2019 at 10:27 PM, colbol said:

considering in the post she was described as "not shy and known to all the guides " some people i know were considering tart or teaser or similar (naughty people)

 

Well, (the historical) MT would take offense to that - one of her life missions was battling godlessness and immorality, and she even established a chastity court.

 

And thanks for all the kind comments about the Leopard sighting - one of the photos is now my screensaver btw.

 

[xelas]

44 minutes ago, michael-ibk said:

I hope the video of us "crossing" in post #146 fits your criteria?

 

Barely .

[screentraveller]

P 11 I‘m enjoying all your photos and your writing. You caught my  linguistic interest by the humorous way you described  that shrieking lady behind you on the plane and how skillfully she used the F-word  in 3 functions in one sentence.

The GTG from people of 4 continents must have been quite something. I can only   boast about a Central European GTG at my home in Carinthia.

 

Michael, green, blue and white are heavenly.

[screentraveller]

The leopards are WONDERful. Mother and child are in the animal kingdom what Mary and Jesus are to Renaissance painting. Simply moving.

 

MT: dear Peter, please  see her as an empress, not a saint. Mother Teresa wouldn‘t have groomed her own toes next to her child.

[Alexander33]

@screentraveller

 

That’s a great point. I shall not confuse the two again!

[michael-ibk]

 

So, the Kalahari! This was another moving day and a very long drive - we had to do about 250 km. But still we were to set off only at 0800 which allowed for an unusally but very welcome late rise. 06:30, two hours later than normal. Almost felt like we were on holiday.

 

 

No roadpics so this Purple Roller will have to do. It´s a very smooth tarred road going South-East out of Maun (the A3), so we made quick progress. But one we crossed the Boteti and left the road at Makalamabedi things changed:

 

 

This is the longest straight line track I´ve ever driven on - 100 km along the veterinary fence, without a single bend! Took us about three hours. Not as horrible as you might believe, lots of birds all along the way and hundreds and thousands of butterflies always accompanying us. Not very visible in the video due to the weather but I hope you get the idea.

 

 

 

Southern Masked Weavers making use of one of the many puddles - which sometimes were proper road holes actually!

 

 

Sabota Lark

 

 

Violet-Earex Waxill. Quite common, but I´d never manage to get a reasonable photo of this pretty little bird.

 

 

Black-Winged Kite

 

 

 

The Donkeys were far off from the village, they seem to like to wander off a fair bit.

 

 

We were very surprised to see some Elephants down here, they are rarely seen in the Kalahari. But lots of water around due to the rains, and the Boteti is maybe 40 or 50 km away - not that much of a distance for an adult Ele.

 

You cannot imagine how happy a turn of the road can make you - it feels really good after a 100 km straight! At the veterinary checkpoint we had the first of many sightings of Peter´s next birding obsession - a Shaft-Tailed Whydah.

 

 

 

This Ostrich still was outside the park, and it desperately wanted to get in but could´t find a way through the fence. Which really was a problem since it was running away from us, always sticking to the fence. Even though that was of course not our intent we were chasing it and the poor bird was in danger of exhausting itself. Matambo really hit the pedal and accelerated to try to get past it and finally it ran off to the left.

 

 

It was already three o´ clock when we finally entered the park, and from there it was still another 50 km to our campsite in Deception Valley.

 

 

The weather improved once we were in and it got pretty hot.

 

 

Boys do stupid things when in heat:

 

 

 

Many type of antelopes like to "decorate" themselves to appear more impressive. I´m afraid they have no idea how stupid they look that way.

 

 

 

Scaly-Breasted Finch, one of the most common Kalahari birds.

 

 

Spotted Thick-Knee

 

 

The Kalahari Blue-Cheeked Agama. Yes, that´s absolutely the official name, I would never make stuff up as I go.

 

And finally, finally we were almost there - we looked down at Deception Valley.

 

 

Edited June 20, 2019 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

It had been a long and exhausting drive but Deception Pan made it worth it - it was raining pretty much all around us but our spot miraculously was spared. All of this gave the ambiance a serene and almost otherworldly quality, it was one of my favourite hours of the whole trip.

 

 

 

Springbok were all around us. They are often considered "just background" in the Kalahari but the whole rainbow setting was just too beautiful to ignore them. They must have felt like Lions or Cheetah normally do when being machine-gunned at.

 

 

At first it was still very dark and the rainbow only a faint idea of colour.

 

 

But the light fought its way through valiantly and gave us some classic African Golden Hour goodness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excitingly we spotted a Cheetah - our first (and only) one of the trip. It was lying on the ground, far off. The roadnetwork in the Kalahari is pretty limited however and seeing a Cat does not necessarily mean you can get to it. So we just had to wait if it would care to come closer. And decided to just sundowner right here. Beer in hand, rainbow in the sky, Cheetah on the prowl - that´s the stuff!

 

 

It even decided to give us some action and was testing the Springbok herds, trying to filter out a weak or very young one. The sun had disappeared by now, and it was still hundreds of meters away, so apologies for the picture quality.

 

 

Finally it just stopped and the Springbok kept clustering together - so the cat did not find the weakest link it had obviously hoped for.

 

 

 

Not only us, everybody was watching the Cheetah while the sun set.

 

 

But the cat decided to call it a day and go in stand-by position again - but still always alert and looking. With double good reason, there´s not only the chance of finding a nice Springbok snack but also a good one of ending up on the other end of the food chain. Just go read "Cry of the Kalahari" (still ony of my favourite Africa-themed books) - Lions are always around in Deception Valley.

 

 

 

We had to call it a day as well - and were thankful for this beautiful welcome back present the Kalahari had given us.

 

 

Edited June 20, 2019 by michael-ibk

[Atdahl]

Simply stunning Michael! 

[offshorebirder]

Fantastic photos from Deception Pan @michael-ibk and what an experience that must have been!     Congrats on a sighting of a  Cheetah hunting.   

 

You really crushed the Springbok in that closeup photo.   And the landscape shots with Springbok are outstanding.   The rainbows were kind to you as well.

 

And the Shaft-tailed Whydah is magnificent.