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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

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madaboutcheetah

@marg.... most likely the boys of lagoon. Who were 3 seen in the concession from approx sometime in 2007 until about 2014.  Last two still held fort until April 2016 (The lead hunter disappeared at some point in 2014 - I suppose presumed dead) 

 

i know there seem to be only 2 here .... one would often split up when chasing the ladies. 

 

EDIT - @marg- In the winter of 2010, there was also a two brother coaliton that would go between Selinda and Lebala ..... One of the brothers had a distinct mark on his eye.

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Hari...interesting.  We were at Selinda in 2007 and did not have one cheetah sighting!

Edited by marg
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madaboutcheetah
37 minutes ago, marg said:

Hari...interesting.  We were at Selinda in 2007 and did not have one cheetah sighting!

 

@marg - if memory serves me correctly, 2007 will still be the reign of the old "blood brothers" coalition who were dominant from Savuti/Duma tau through Selinda into Kwando (L and L) .......  The boys of lagoon snuck into upper Kwando originally in the winter of 2007 first time.  They weren't dominant until maybe 2008 or so.  

 

2007 was good times for a well known female cheetah in Kwando/selinda as well.  

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Back to Kwara for this gorgeous Male Lion .......  According to the guides (5 male lions - or is it 6) rule the area now.  Spencer thinks there is a chance that they came from Lebala and are descendants of the lineage of Gunn and Sebastian (I am not sure - but, let's go with that ;) ) 

 

..........  If they are from that lineage - I needed to see them.  So, when the splash guides called on the radio (I think it was Moss and Godfrey) , we went over to take a look !! I was hoping this guy would re-unite with his brother/s ...... but, he walked for a bit and then plonked himself down as he would be expected to!! 

 

The other vehicles were all going over to the Kwara pride of Lions with cubs etc etc., but we didn't respond to any of those sightings as we wanted to focus on the dogs and /or find cheetah if any.  There was a lot of "Thank You - but, we won't be responding" messages back to them.

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Fabulous lion photography! Reminds me of of my visit long ago in Little Kwara  when I saw five male lions nonchalantly walking in a zigzag line outside my tent. Of course we jumped into a vehicle driven by the Cowboy Hobbs ( RIP buddy) and followed them. I have a large image printed on wood of that iconic morning in my study! 

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madaboutcheetah

Thanks @AKR1- RIP the Cowboy for sure!!  He comes up in conversation a lot - lots of good times and memories indeed ....... Oh yes, that was possibly part of the magnificent 7 back in the day!!  I don't think I saw more than 2 of them together at any time.

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Nice to catch up again, Hari.  Love your photos! 

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madaboutcheetah
22 minutes ago, John M. said:

Nice to catch up again, Hari.  Love your photos! 

 

Hi @John M.- It has been a very long time ....... Hope you keeping well.  Great to hear from you!! 

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madaboutcheetah

A quick couple of photos also from Kwara concession .... You can see that the grasses are quite tall ... I'm told parts of the delta have already had some fires making game viewing spectacular (like pom pom for example., speaking to other guests in camps) 

 

Here are some semi-skittish elephants coming out of the woodland .... always keeps me on guard (I'm never comfortable around elephants in Botswana having encountered some very high adrenaline encounters with them in the early days of my visits there when they would chase vehicles all the time) 

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madaboutcheetah

We did come across the Golden Pack at Bat Ear Fox area .......  We stayed with them because we didn't know where they were denning.  Looks like they were hunting in the area that particular day .......  We didn't want them to disappear so we stayed put.

 

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Continued ...... Do you have any doubt as to their allegiance to fellow pack members.  

 

(to be continued) 

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madaboutcheetah

There were lots of greeting rituals and a lot of sniffing around (I wonder if they were trespassing or was the area being trespassed??  Kwara has had stellar wild dog packs in recent years) 

 

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madaboutcheetah

There were lots of greeting rituals and a lot of sniffing around (I wonder if they were trespassing or was the area being trespassed??  Kwara has had stellar wild dog packs in recent years) 

 

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madaboutcheetah

We followed them on a hunt .......  They were successful with an impala ..... When they took off at high speed, we lost them for maybe 10-12 minutes.  Eventually when we caught up, they were feeding on an impala (sorry, I switched to video mode ..... I will try to upload that later if I figure out a way to).  Here you see a couple of images of a dog finishing up a leg.  I'm chuffed with the photos of the dog taking off at high speed.......

 

As it was getting dark we followed the dogs hoping we'd find the den (alpha was missing) - unfortunately, they crossed over into Shinde concession where they are presumed denning .......  We had no access, and it was also getting dark.

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madaboutcheetah

General game (Kwara) ..... My first photograph of African Green Pigeon (Yay) 

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Might have to change your moniker to madaboutdogs :D

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madaboutcheetah

(Continued) ....... Including a small herd of buffalo that probably popped out for the first time in the season.  The Tsessebe at the end is right at the fire break outside Kwara camp (hence the short grass) 

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Your photos are fantastic!  Especially the action shots of the dogs! Simply fantastic!!!!

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madaboutcheetah

@marg- Here's wishing you a great trip!!! Hello to Lagoon and lebala for me!


Thanks a lot @TravelMore

 

@AKR1- Cheetah were hard to find this trip...... So, when in Rome focus on being a Roman (?) :) .......  I don't know if the Wild dog viewing experience in other countries can match that in Botswana? Would certainly be tough to match...... 

 

Back to the den.... 

 

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madaboutcheetah

Continued ......

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Hari, what an incredible joy on a Sunday morning! I can watch these pictures for hours and hours.

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madaboutcheetah

@Biko- You are much too kind!! Thank You!! 

 

Continued from that same morning .....  I was so giddy with the sighting and experience, I opted to go back to camp at 11am. 

 

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madaboutcheetah

Rounding out the report with the Superstars of my Kwando safari 2022 ........ The puppies.......

 

Many Thanks to Spencer Mathambo and everyone at the Kwando camps as always for another fantastic trip ...... Thank you all for following this report and your kind comments.

 

I have a couple of interesting videos that I was able to take (dogs in action in the water and dogs feeding on impala carcass) .... I hope to at some point edit them and find a way to share it here.  Until then, if you have any questions give me a shout!!! 

 

Thank You!! 

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thank you, another very inspiring trip report. Lebala and Lagoon are on my list after seeing this. 2024 it will be!

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