Long awaited re-union with the people and wildlife in Botswana; Magical Wild dogs; Discovery of brand new Cheetah brothers; Climate change is real in Winter wonderland's paradise - a Kwando safari!!!! - June/July 2022

[madaboutcheetah]

@michael-ibk…. Thanks … I did it from kwara with helicopter horizons (doors off)  … I do believe they operate flights out of Maun also. 

[madaboutcheetah]

2 hours ago, madaboutcheetah said:

@michael-ibk…. Thanks … I did it from kwara with helicopter horizons (doors off)  … I do believe they operate flights out of Maun also. 

Note - for anyone doing this … please specify what time of the day you would like to schedule this scenic flight …. helicopter horizons wanted to schedule my flight mid day at 12:30 pm due to scheduling reasons which didn’t sound right to me ….  I just got Charles the camp manger to re schedule for the following day at I think  3:30 pm which worked well for light etc etc 

Edited July 26, 2022 by madaboutcheetah

[madaboutcheetah]

General game - Kwara ........   (PS - I've never noticed the colours of the Ostrich's legs before!!) 

[madaboutcheetah]

Lebala's "Pride and Joy" .......... Our first afternoon at Lebala - Spencer suggested we try and maximise our time with the local Lion pride while we are here since I'd be obsessed with cheetah tracking at Lagoon (to find the resident males) or with Dogs at Kwara ...... Our plan for the afternoon was to check out Kubu pan about a km from camp and see what was happening and then wind down south to Twin Pools for old times sake and to have a traditional sundowner by the old strangler fig tree ........ Well the Lions had different plans for us.  We were nearly at Kubu pan when we found the sighting to keep us occupied the entire afternoon.

 

The lebala guides were all over wild dogs and the discovery of a new den (small pack of 5 I think) for the past couple of days - so, this was a surprise to one and all ......  A  buffalo kill way out in the open!! 

[madaboutcheetah]

Sometime early 2020, 3 males made their way to Lebala land to disrupt the mighty Wapoka pride and their AWESOME males (Old Gunn and Sebastian) .......  Now the pride is fragmented and spread out all over the place.  These 3 males (Golden Boys) are the current territory holders.

[madaboutcheetah]

News from Bujos in Selinda camp is, poor old Gunn and Sebastian have been displaced from there as well .......  They now have a 6 male Coalition that has disrupted the Prides their way!!!  Unfortunately, that's the end of the road  for our friends Gunn and Sebastian (My favourite Kwando lions of all time) They had been seen across Lagoon and Lebala from 2015 through 2020 (possibly into 2021) 

 

Here in this episode you can see one of the senior Wapoka ladies (striker) with the distinct patch ........ She's still going strong and with cubs @Bush dog and as you can see gives the boys a strong fight at the dinner table!!! 

 

We shut shop and went to Nare pan for a drink !! Plan was to check these lions in the morning and then go check the supposed new Lebala dog den. Stay tuned…

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by madaboutcheetah

[Bush dog]

Thanks a lot, Hari, for the information relating to the Wapoka pride and its senior lady.  It seems that this trip was one of your bests in the area.

[Biko]

Fascinating to see the behaviour of cubs, males, and females. Thanks for posting so many great pictures @madaboutcheetah. My favorite is the one where the buffalo is a cushion for the male and a playground for the cubs.

[Wild Dogger]

As I´ve been told some years ago male Ostriches get red legs when they are in heat. Don´t know if that´s right.

[marg]

Stay tuned?!    eagerly waiting for more.

[offshorebirder]

Superb action shots of the lions in a tussle over the Buffalo kill @madaboutcheetah

 

Looking forward to the next installment.

[madaboutcheetah]

Thanks a lot for all the kind comments .......  @offshorebirder@marg@Bush dog@Bikoand @Wild Dogger...... @Wild Dogger- I think during mating season the ostritch males develop that pink colouration to attract the ladies? 

 

 

Onto the story of the following morning at Lebala .............  As we pull out of camp in the dark (still) we bump into a Wild Cat on the path ..... Both Spencer and I looked at each other and said "what would Mr.Moe say???" ........ Well Mr.Moe believed that a wild cat was good luck and we would see something good.  Hmmmm what's in store?? 

 

We get to the Lions while it's still dark ( there still seemed a lot of cloud cover also) and it still appeared like one of the males was hogging the carcass with the cubs doing exactly the same thing as the previous evening and the rest of the pride sleeping in a nearby sage bush.  I didn't really fancy hanging around that sighting and so we left to go find the supposed dog den.  Well I'm not sure what the communication was, but, it seemed tough to figure out where the dog den was amidst somewhere beyond the Kalahari apple leaf in the vicinity of Wild Dog Pan.  Anyway, by the time we exchanged a lot of directions over the radio and after following their car tracks from the previous day we got to a spot where we thought was the supposed den (I'm still not sure it really was)  - there were no dogs.  Probably out hunting and the alpha too might have to hunt if it's a small pack.  Was the Wild Cat really good luck??  This is turning out to be a goose chase .........  We had to re-invent the plan for the morning, Spencer suggested we drive a bit north towards 10Km to see if there are any signs to the two male cheetah brothers (territory holders) as they sometimes like that woodland in there.  As we were driving, we get a call from the lagoon guides to say they have FRESH cheetah tracks across Grass pan.  We were only about 20 minutes or so anyway by that point.  HELL YES!! We are tracking and getting on the ground.  The boys are back in town after all that searching .........  

 

We were 3 cars total trying to give this a go ....... One of the lagoon trackers - I think KERN is his name was Bloody AWESOME!!!  He got onto the fresh tracks before we could get there and then onto the ground went 3 sets of tracking tandems.  At a point, Spencer turns around to me and says "we have 3 sets of tracks - I don't think these are the boys we are looking for!  and he confirms that the third set is also a male cheetah" ........  OMG who could they be???  

 

After over two hours of very hard tracking towards almost 12 noon we find these awesome Males ........oh! One of the lagoon cars had to call in a back up car as one of their guests wanted to go back to camp as it was tough tracking. UGH.... the other guests  wanted to stay as this was a fascinating experience...... Obviously we weren’t going anywhere and I did my best to keep the other guests in those cars motivated as I knew we were close. :;

 

 

  At first we held back as we thought they'd be shy as they've never been seen in the concession.  JACKPOT!!!  Sighting of the trip!  

 

Here's the first few pictures edited ......  I will have more on who I think they are in the next segment when I edit more images.   Stay tuned .......  

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by madaboutcheetah

[Kitsafari]

awesome big cat photos Hari, and those ardwolves are adorable!

 

[madaboutcheetah]

Thanks a lot @Kitsafari

 

As the day progressed - it became apparent that they were VERY used to vehicles and Cheetah obsessed cameras   .......  A Big Thank You to Barcos and the entire Lebala crew who sent out a Phenomenal lunch (there weren't many cheetah days this trip so this was a rare nice LONG day out) .......   When the cheetah took a nap mid day - we pulled out and went for a quick bite ourselves........    I have very fond memories of the days of the "Boys of Lagoon" when the mighty 3 from Muvumbi all the way down to Lebala made the concession their stomping grounds..... Might we have a "boys of lagoon part 2" ???  Or is this part 3 - if you count the "Blood brothers" WAAAAAY back in time who's range took them from Savuti/Duma tau through Selinda into Lebala and upto Lagoon !!!! 

 

Thanks to Social media and the fact that ex-Kwando staff are everywhere ...... I did some digging .........  Apparently they see 3 very relaxed males up in the old Motswiri area down the Selinda spillway (I think Great Plains have re-branded it as Okavango explorer now) ..... So, it very well could be the same 3.  It is after all probably 60 plus Kilometers up this way?  Absolutely nothing for cheetah ........  Where else could they come from?? They aren't seen in the regular Selinda areas (They have the younger two brother coalition there who cross over into Lebala).  

 

We left them wander into the winter night as they moved into the woodland and beyond.  We put in the hard yards tracking and scouting the next day but alas, they'd moved on .........

 

Off topic and incidentally, India are about to introduce cheetah in a couple of weeks ....... Go figure!!! Looking at this example., we simply don't have the grounds to allow wild cheetah to thrive !!!! (: 

Edited July 29, 2022 by madaboutcheetah

[marg]

Hari…perfect timing as I am enjoying both my morning coffee and wonderful photos!

[madaboutcheetah]

The resident males at lagoon really gave us the goose chase … we’d been looking for them over the course of the week when one day we came across fresh scat at the famous marking post (mahake/ mosheshe) …. We endured tracking them round and round in circles ….. their tracks came back to this post and eventually we got a glimpse of them at sunset (no photos) …. And they were moving into the woodland. I only have iPhone photos from that afternoon’s tracking mission

Edited July 29, 2022 by madaboutcheetah

[BRACQUENE]

@madaboutcheetah

 

I missed your fantastic trip report being in Zambia but this early morning it was a pleasure to read it and dream about my next safari ; picture quality as always stellar Hari ! 

[madaboutcheetah]

Thanks @BRACQUENE.....

 

On a wet Lagoon winter afternoon (rainbows and all.... ) ....

 

Just as the Lions were waking up, Spencer reached out for the ponchos as there was imminent threat of rain heavier than just a drizzle ........  I didn't fancy waiting around!!  Spectacular green season like conditions just prior to the storm though.  We got drenched as we drove back to camp for a hot shower.  It was really really cold (unlike summer rain)

[madaboutcheetah]

iPhone photos of that double rainbow 

[madaboutcheetah]

The dog den up in Kwena lagoon ....... The last time they had a super successful dog den in lagoon was 2016 according to my records.  Those pesky Lions have been a major problem for them!!! 

 

I'm hoping this uber thick den with all the vegetation and tall grass can help them this season ....... neither the den nor the puppies at this very young age are photogenic.  This is the best I could do! 

 

 

[madaboutcheetah]

Kwara concession ........ 

 

First couple of den visits .... the dogs were out hunting (we thought we were early, but, they were SUPER early) - surprisingly the puppies still came out for sunshine and play time!!  Oddly, even the alpha female was out hunting. 

 

[marg]

Hari…there were two cheetah brothers when we were at Zarafa in 2013.  Related to the others?  Or possibly same?

[madaboutcheetah]

10 hours ago, marg said:

Hari…there were two cheetah brothers when we were at Zarafa in 2013.  Related to the others?  Or possibly same?

 

@marg- If you post a photo here of them I might be able to identify who they were .......  definitely not the current two brothers who reign lagoon.  Current two brothers came into the area sometime in 2016.

 

Current two brothers in Selinda/Zarafa are very young (or were young when I was in Selinda in Nov 2019) - these are different from the two up at lagoon.  These two pop into Lebala side occasionally. 

[madaboutcheetah]

28 minutes ago, madaboutcheetah said:

 

Perfect Winter morning ...... 

Edited August 2, 2022 by madaboutcheetah

[marg]

Hari, Here are the photos.  The first two were in 2010 and the second two in 2013.