Chapter 4: The pride, and "the blood brothers"

[John M.]

   A sore and sorry lion.   We saw a few lone nomads in Selinda pride territory, even when the pride's male coalition was at its height.  In 2002, we spotted this one which we assumed had come off second best in an encounter with other lions.

 

 

 

 

On another occasion, we encountered a nomad which had just stolen a kill from the cheetah brothers. We sat in our vehicle listening to the lion eating in a dense patch of grass. We couldn't see it; but suddenly a walking group from one of the camps appeared in the distance, causing the lion to burst out of the grass and flee. 

   

[John M.]

   @Bush dog Re a discussion we've been having in your Matusadona trip report, but to avoid going further off topic, I'll post a photo here to see if you recognise the subject.  It was taken from a video shot by Yvonne during our 2002 safari.

 

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by John M.

[Bush dog]

John, I do not recognise the subject?  By subject you mean the driver, I presume?  Is it Mompati?

[John M.]

26 minutes ago, Bush dog said:

John, I do not recognise the subject?  By subject you mean the driver, I presume?  Is it Mompati?

   Yes, Mompati.  When he learned that we were at Selinda camp and were watching the wild dogs at their den, he drove from Zib to say hello to us. No doubt he remembered us from 2000 because we were such nuisances😁.

   The camps were nearly empty in 2002 because of 9/11, so I guess he had no customers at Zib to guide and was able to find time for us.

 

 

 

 

 

[John M.]

   STers have seen many memorable sunsets and sunrises in Africa. This sunset was viewed from our tent at Selinda Camp in 2002.  The camp had an uninterrupted view across the spillway and associated wetlands.

Image scanned from a 6x4 print. I haven't yet found an original scan.

 

[John M.]

   More on the unseasonable weather which surprised us in August, 2002... the hyena in the rain stealing Amber the leopard's kill in the early hours. 

 

 

   And one of the delightful pups playing and exploring at the wild dogs' den.

 

 

 

[John M.]

   A few more of the MF landscape images from our 2004 safari.  Using the small Fuji rangefinder was an interesting diversion from the 35mm cameras and big lenses, and the resultant image size and quality were and still are most pleasing. 

 

   Selinda spillway upstream from the camp.

 

   Knobthorn/Mokoba on the fringe of the floodplain at Selinda. I loved the wide open landscapes.

 

   Rain trees

 

   Chess in a landscape. I think it was checkmate for the guide. Our guides were great fun, as well as top-notch at their job. Barberton (BB) was Yvonne's driver/guide. They exchanged letters later, after BB wrote to tell that he had a new camera and was improving his photography.

 

[madaboutcheetah]

Ah yes, BB ..... A few years ago, I bumped into him in Maun and I think he mentioned he was in Chitabe at that time.  Right now, I don't know however.  This was maybe even 10 years ago! 

[Bush dog]

Yes, Hari, it was probably 10 years ago.  

I exchanged a few messages with BB in 2018.  He was no longer in Chitabe.  He then worked for Desert & Delta, more precisely in Camp Moremi.

[marg]

@Bush dogThank you for posting.  We were at Selinda in 2007.  After seeing your photos I had to look again at my photos of the trip.  Great memories.

[John M.]

   References elsewhere to Selinda's world famous Bowling Green prompted me to look for photos of pride members at the top of the "green" in 2002. My best showed a relaxed lioness with Zibalianja lagoon in the background. The lions must have fed, because we saw no action.

 

   World famous is probably an exaggeration  but the Bowling Green did feature on Discovery Channel, still can be seen on YouTube, and has a few mentions on ST (notably Bush dog's historical 10-year love affair and the Birth of a Pride thread in "What's on TV").

[John M.]

   The smile of a crocodile. One of Yvonne's photos on the Zambezi before we started our 2004 Selinda safari.