Chapter one: How it started for me

[John M.]

It's been a long time since I was last active on ST.   It's evident that most of those who post in these forums are engaged in a love affair with Africa, even if they don't declare it, so I thought it would be appropriate to mark my return by illustrating very briefly how mine started. I could call this a "mini-historical" trip report. 

 

I made an almost off-the-cuff decision in 1995 to go on safari in Africa, and decided on the Okavango Delta-- but left the rest, luckily, to a good travel agent. Good fortune stayed with me, and resulted in eight safaris between 1996 and 2008. There would have been more, but business, long-distance travel exhaustion and other reasons put an end to them.

 

Memories of the affair remain, though, and following are just four of the photos that started it.  They were taken with a 30-year-old manual camera, print film and second-hand zoom lens of no great quality, and similar photographic experience. On the very first morning of the safari, near what was then the Mombo Trails camp, we encountered a young female cheetah on the prowl, and saw her chase down a reedbuck.  We spent most of the day watching her with her kill, occasionally moving off to check on a nearby small pride of lions, and on one occasion, coming across a honey badger and her young. That was it. Day One. What more could one want? Well, Day Two produced wild dogs at their den, a coalition of male cheetahs, lions stealing the cheetahs' kill at nightfall, and an evening of nerve-racking lion roaring all around camp.  I was hooked. 

 

My apologies to those who have seen the photos before.

 

Grassland hunter

 

 

Coat of Arms

 

The kill

All mine

[madaboutcheetah]

@John M.- Welcome back to safaritalk ...... Might I request you to post some images of the famous "blood brothers" (named after the documentary of them) - from Selinda/old Zibalianja ......

 

[Treepol]

Good to see you again @John M.

[John M.]

Will do so, soon Hari

21 minutes ago, madaboutcheetah said:

@John M.- Welcome back to safaritalk ...... Might I request you to post some images of the famous "blood brothers" (named after the documentary of them) - from Selinda/old Zibalianja ......

 

 

[Caracal]

@John M.@madaboutcheetah- am much looking forward to following this and you guys have now got me searching through my old journals for when I stayed at Zibalianja in 1998 when Lloyd & Sue Camp were managers and Mompati a guide. There was a cheetah with 2 cubs about 6 months old.

[John M.]

That may have been the one they called Jade, though that might make her remarkably long-lived. We saw her with a single cub in 2002, and with two adolescents in 2005. 

[CaroleE]

On 8/5/2022 at 7:00 AM, John M. said:

On the very first morning of the safari, near what was then the Mombo Trails camp, we encountered a young female cheetah on the prowl, and saw her chase down a reedbuck.  We spent most of the day watching her with her kill, occasionally moving off to check on a nearby small pride of lions, and on one occasion, coming across a honey badger and her young. That was it. Day One. What more could one want? Well, Day Two produced wild dogs at their den, a coalition of male cheetahs, lions stealing the cheetahs' kill at nightfall, and an evening of nerve-racking lion roaring all around camp.  I was hooked. 

That was some introduction and all in two days!

It is very very easy to begin a love affair with Africa. She draws you back at every opportunity.

Gorgeous cheetah photos.

[John M.]

  Nearing the end of that first safari, we had a mobile camp on the Chobe River, near the junction of the Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe borders. The first of these photographs won me a copy of the Lex Hes book, The Leopards of Londolozi, from my travel agent. Needless to say, I didn't need that as encouragement to book another safari.

 

 

 

  The travel agent had offered me a few days in Hwange NP to end my safari, but for cost reasons, and perhaps foolishly, I chose to go to the Matobo Hills instead:  not so good for wildlife, but scenically quite wonderful. I joined three or four print photos together to make this panorama of the view from the hilltop where Cecil Rhodes was buried. I was no fan of Rhodes but wanted to see his burial place and the scene that he described as The View of the World. 

 

[John M.]

  I'm embarrassed that until now, I haven't thought to pay tribute to my first safari guide, Andy van Smeerdijk, an Aussie working for Wilderness Safaris in Botswana.  On his return to Australia, he worked as a journalist, but died of MN disease at a fairly young age several years ago. I wonder if any other ST veterans encountered Andy in Africa or elsewhere. He had a brother, also working for WS but in Namibia. 

  The next photo shows our group in 1996 admiring the view from Xigera in the delta as we set out on a walk. Andy is second from the right, standing next to the tall man. Our group comprised three Aussies-- me, Andy and his assistant, Chloe Kurtz (grand-daughter of an Australian film actor), and six Americans-- a New York couple, young ladies from Boston and Hackensack NJ, and a couple who were on leave from the US State Dept. 

  The second photo shows Andy in our vehicle at Savuti bush camp on the Savuti Channel.  We would have been among the first customers at that camp, as it had been open for only five weeks. 

 

                   

Edited January 9, 2023 by John M.

[Pangolin]

I am just now catching up with this report after I too have had a long absence from Safaritalk. My second safari was the Jacana Safari in 1996 with Wilderness Safaris (mostly overland that included Mombo Trails, a rustic camp in the Delta with a specific location that remains a mystery to me, Savuti Camp, and mobile camping along the Chobe). By coincidence, my guide was Dave van Smeerdijk, Andy's brother. Dave was great and is now one of the founders of Natural Selections Safaris. Our sightings at Mombo Trails were similar to yours - two packs of dogs (one with 33 members), four cheetahs, a leopard and her cub, etc.  Lions killed an impala in the middle of camp one night.

Edited June 24, 2023 by Pangolin

[John M.]

Certainly a coincidence! My safari the same year was June 23- July 8, covering Mombo Trails, Xigera, Savute bush camp on the channel, Chobe, and the Matobo Hills.

2 hours ago, Pangolin said:

I am just now catching up with this report after I too have had a long absence from Safaritalk. My second safari was the Jacana Safari in 1996 with Wilderness Safaris (mostly overland that included Mombo Trails, a rustic camp in the Delta with a specific location that remains a mystery to me, Savuti Camp, and mobile camping along the Chobe). By coincidence, my guide was Dave van Smeerdijk, Andy's brother. Dave was great and is now one of the founders of Natural Selections Safaris. Our sightings at Mombo Trails were similar to yours - two packs of dogs (one with 33 members), four cheetahs, a leopard and her cub, etc.  Lions killed an impala in the middle of camp one night.

 

[John M.]

On 6/24/2023 at 2:14 PM, Pangolin said:

...Mombo Trails, a rustic camp in the Delta with a specific location that remains a mystery to me, Savuti Camp, and mobile camping along the Chobe. 

 

   I remembered I have a map which I brought home from my 1996 safari. I don't know if it helps you re the location of the Mombo Trails camp back then but here it is.  The trails camp was the red dot a stone's throw to the west of the main camp. 

 

 

   We flew Maun-Mombo, Mombo-Xigera, Xigera-Savuti bush camp, then a 9-hour drive including stops to a mobile camping site at Chobe.

 

 

[Pangolin]

@John M.Thank you, but I worded my reply very poorly. It was the camp after Mombo Trails that I have never been able to locate with any precision. Our itinerary was the same as yours, except that we flew from Mombo to a camp called Khurunaraka (that is grossly misspelled but looking it up right now is not feasible). The camp was somewhat primitive (the tents did not include bathroom facilities), but we liked our stay there. It was only a 10-minute flight from Mombo and was somewhere in the general vicinity of Pom Pom, but to the east. The itinerary had a generic name for it because they used various camps for that part of the safari. If I recall correctly from my time on Safaritalk many years ago, @Atravelynndid the same packaged safari in the same general time period but went to a yet a different camp.

 

I have the same (or very similar) map in my files somewhere. Our trip was in Septemebr 1996.

[John M.]

1 hour ago, Pangolin said:

@John M.Thank you, but I worded my reply very poorly. It was the camp after Mombo Trails that I have never been able to locate with any precision.

  

   I think I recall reading about Mombo Trails' replacement about 25 years ago!  Would that be the same as the present day Little Mombo?  I've seen a map box on cntraveler.com's Mombo page which locates both camps, but no doubt you've seen that too, and it probably isn't precise. The map shows the Mombo airstrip, with the track leading south to the main camp and further south to Little Mombo. I looked because I've always been rather fond of maps.

[Pangolin]

9 hours ago, John M. said:

  

   I think I recall reading about Mombo Trails' replacement about 25 years ago!  Would that be the same as the present day Little Mombo?  I've seen a map box on cntraveler.com's Mombo page which locates both camps, but no doubt you've seen that too, and it probably isn't precise. The map shows the Mombo airstrip, with the track leading south to the main camp and further south to Little Mombo. I looked because I've always been rather fond of maps.

Yes, the basic story is that Little Mombo replaced Mombo Trails. I believe, however, that both camps were moved and totally rebuilt a number of years ago. They are in the same general vicinity, but not in the same place they were in 1996.

[Atravelynn]

On 6/28/2023 at 12:15 AM, Pangolin said:

@John M.Thank you, but I worded my reply very poorly. It was the camp after Mombo Trails that I have never been able to locate with any precision. Our itinerary was the same as yours, except that we flew from Mombo to a camp called Khurunaraka (that is grossly misspelled but looking it up right now is not feasible). The camp was somewhat primitive (the tents did not include bathroom facilities), but we liked our stay there. It was only a 10-minute flight from Mombo and was somewhere in the general vicinity of Pom Pom, but to the east. The itinerary had a generic name for it because they used various camps for that part of the safari. If I recall correctly from my time on Safaritalk many years ago, @Atravelynndid the same packaged safari in the same general time period but went to a yet a different camp.  What a nice trip down memory lane you encouraged me to take.  In my itinerary this water camp was called Wilderness Mokoro Trails Camp, but specifically it was Xepa.  The 13-day Wilderness mobile trip was the Jacana Safari.

 

I have the same (or very similar) map in my files somewhere. Our trip was in Septemebr 1996.

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by Atravelynn

[John M.]

8 hours ago, Atravelynn said:

...down memory lane...

 

      A delightful old saying, encouraging me to unearth these pics of my first safari camp:  the Mombo Trails dining room, taken from the "carpark", and my tent, in front of which was a dusty path, where I believe staff worked to remove big paw prints first thing one morning.

 

 

[Pangolin]

Mombo Trails in 1996 would have been one helluva first safari camp ever! Hard to top it. We had been to Zimbabwe in 1993, so it wasn't my first camp, but it quickly became my favorite! It is nice to occasionally be on the good side of "you should have been here yesterday". Yesterday in this case being when Mombo Trails was the first stop on a safari (The Jacana Safari) that cost about $US 2400 for the whole thing. 

[madaboutcheetah]

12 minutes ago, Pangolin said:

Mombo Trails in 1996 would have been one helluva first safari camp ever! Hard to top it. We had been to Zimbabwe in 1993, so it wasn't my first camp, but it quickly became my favorite! It is nice to occasionally be on the good side of "you should have been here yesterday". Yesterday in this case being when Mombo Trails was the first stop on a safari (The Jacana Safari) that cost about $US 2400 for the whole thing. 

 

 

I have no idea - but, i doubt the viewing today is anywhere near good.

 

I was in Mombo (was a proper camp already) in 2003 and saw quite a lot then.  

[John M.]

44 minutes ago, Pangolin said:

Mombo Trails in 1996 would have been one helluva first safari camp ever! Hard to top it. 

Couldn't agree more. I've just re-read my journal (yes, I kept one in the early days). It suggests I started this report a little tamely. The lions stealing the cheetahs' kill of a young kudu occurred only about 50 metres from camp after nightfall. The rest of the night seemed to be marked by lions roaring from all directions. I was tired, so left the campfire before everybody else. I remember Andy asking me if I was OK returning alone to my tent on the other side of camp. I bravely said yes, and set off with my flashlight. I don't think I've ever been so nervous😬. But I slept well, being woken only once by roaring close by about 1.30.

[pault]

I love how appropriately slowly this thread is moving. Great to read these @John M.and to see the things i foolishly missed. The safari vehicles are a wonder! 

[John M.]

12 hours ago, pault said:

I love how appropriately slowly this thread is moving. Great to read these @John M.and to see the things i foolishly missed. The safari vehicles are a wonder! 

 

   I've never liked rushing good things

[John M.]

   I thought I might end this chapter with a chuckle (unless something else prompts me to revive it in future). 

   I touched on image quality briefly in a photography talk (general discussion) thread.  Well, here are two disastrous attempts to record an awesome incident which I mentioned earlier in this chapter.... a night-time cheetah kill stolen by lions at the end of the second full day of my first safari nearly 28 years ago.

   We only had vehicle headlights to view this, because night drives were not possible at Mombo and the guides therefore didn't use spotlights. The kill of a female kudu happened after dark near camp, as we were belatedly ending our drive.  The poor kudu was still making a noise as the cheetahs began feasting. Lions turned up after a few minutes and drove the cheetahs away.  

   It was my fault that my 30-year-old manual Pentax Spotmatic produced only a handful of reasonable images that safari. These two are not among them, and it took me a while to find the negatives to rescan in the vain hope that I might be able to improve the pictures.

 

 

   

Edited January 7 by John M.

[Pangolin]

On 7/4/2023 at 1:11 PM, Atravelynn said:

Pangolin said - It was the camp after Mombo Trails that I have never been able to locate with any precision. Our itinerary was the same as yours, except that we flew from Mombo to a camp called Khurunaraka (that is grossly misspelled but looking it up right now is not feasible). The camp was somewhat primitive (the tents did not include bathroom facilities), but we liked our stay there. It was only a 10-minute flight from Mombo and was somewhere in the general vicinity of Pom Pom, but to the east. The itinerary had a generic name for it because they used various camps for that part of the safari. If I recall correctly from my time on Safaritalk many years ago, @Atravelynndid the same packaged safari in the same general time period but went to a yet a different camp.  What a nice trip down memory lane you encouraged me to take.  In my itinerary this water camp was called Wilderness Mokoro Trails Camp, but specifically it was Xepa.  The 13-day Wilderness mobile trip was the Jacana Safari.

Well, just to briefly re-open the thread - after many years of sporadic searching, I stumbled across the general location of Khurunxaragha Camp (spelled correctly), which was the long-lost bush camp of my 1996 Jacana Safari in Botswana. Turns out it is just south of the present day Kanana Camp, near the current airstrip. This was our camp immediately after Mombo and was pretty rustic. Not a big deal, but if fills a gap in my safari memories. 

 

Edited January 19 by Pangolin

[Atravelynn]

Thank you @Pangolin for the rest of the story!  Long time in the making.