Reigning cats and dogs! Hellish heat, battling bugs, balky boats: A Botswana safari in early December

[Peter Connan]

If I may answer @AKR1's post ?

I do quite a lot of reading on this.

Specifically with regard to Nikon equipment, the consensus of opinion appears to be that the sensors are ever so slightly worse (due to rows of pixels being re-purposed to drive the autofocus if I understand it correctly), while the new lenses are all markedly better than their predecessors.

 

The autofocus on the Z8 and Z9 are definitely superior to the systems in the DSLR's although they still need skill to get the best out of them and the best approach is not the same as it used to be.

Thus any improvement in IQ in these pictures are all down to @janzin's skill!

 

Edited January 5 by Peter Connan

[janzin]

Aw thanks @Peter Connan  I won't deny it's a measure of skill (i.e., experience--I've been photographing since I was about 8 years old) but equipment is surely a factor, as is post-processing. What I notice is that a lot of people just don't bother to post-process to their best advantage. I don't spend much time on most photos but enough to improve them as best I can.

[janzin]

Overnight we had that tremendous thunderstorm I had mentioned before.  Tremendous lighting and thunder that shook our tent around 3-4 a.m.  But by dawn all was over, with just a few puddles to remind us. And it was very localized as we later learned it didn't storm at Lagoon. Still, for awhile at least, it cooled things off, and the next couple of days had intermittent clouds and some drizzle which kept the heat down.

 

That morning was our last at Lebala. We had our bags all ready to go and take with us, as we'd have a safari drive between Lebala and our new camp, Lagoon. When we booked the trip it was our understanding that we'd change guides with each camp, but we were happy to find that Thabo was going to remain our guide at Lagoon. It always helps to have consistency of guiding, especially if you like the guide you have We would change trackers though.

 

As I mentioned, the plan was to meet up with @madaboutcheetahand the logical place to do that was in the spot where the cheetah brother were.  Thabo was in constant radio contact with Spencer, Hari's guide, and we'd all be tracking and looking for the cheetahs.

 

But before we got to that area we did come across a few other things.

 

We found our small pride-let of lions that we'd seen the first night.

This cub was obviously trying to scare us off.

 

 

Well, maybe he's just practicing. Not so fierce after all.

 

 

A young male.

 

 

The pride was generally just sleeping and we didn't stay with them too long as we had a destination to get to!

 

This jackal was carrying around a porcupine quill. I don't think it was stuck, he was just playing with it.

 

 

 

This jackal (not the same one I don't think) was getting cheeky with this huge Warthog.

 

 

The Warthog was having none of that!

 

 

An elephant came out of the bush to say hello.

 

 

And a Steenbok paused long enough to grab a shot.

 

 

Of course, there were birds.

 

 

And one of our first Carmine Bee-eaters. We did see some on this trip but unfortunately, Thabo told us that the ground-nesting colony which we remembered from our prior trip was no longer active. So we didn't really get a chance at flight shots or large groups which we'd be hoping for (well, a few later at Splash, you'll see.)

 

 

 

 

And we came upon this Martial Eagle which was coveting this very very dead and well-eaten Monitor Lizard.

 

 

 

Edited January 5 by janzin

[janzin]

Mid-morning we arrived at the area where we were to meet up with Hari. Of course we were also looking for the cheetahs, so we'd stop, Thabo and Peach would track--rinse and repeat. Spencer and Hari were doing the same. This area was actually pretty big and it was kinda comical trying to meet up with the others as there were no "street signs" as it were. The guides sort of could describe where they were, but not exactly. At one point we were at the completely wrong end of the area and had to turn back around.

 

Anyway eventually Spencer and Hari found the cheetahs and eventually we made our way over to the same spot--success!

 

 

The boys were quite full from their kill the previous day and in no mood to move.

 

I don't know what was more exciting, seeing the cheetahs or meeting@madaboutcheetah. Actually meeting Hari was more exciting, for sure (we've seen a lot of cheetahs doing more than just resting.) Hari was traveling with his sister, @Genie67and it was really fun to meet them both! We all got out of our vehicles (a bit away from the cheetahs and hand-shakes all around. Stupidly I didn't think to take a photo with Hari!! I really regret this oversight (although I got some snaps when we met up again later.) In fact we ran into each other again with the cheetahs and also the dogs. To come!

 

Meantime, here are a few cheetah portraits, as they did not move at all and didn't even yawn.

 

Brother 1

 

 

Brother 2

 

 

You can see the blood on their fur from their recent meal.

 

Going back to sleep...ZzzzZzzz...

 

 

Since nothing was happening, we switched vehicles to head off to Lagoon (and traded trackers--saying good bye to Peach and hello to our new tracker, T4. And yes that was his name, I asked him if that was short for something and he said no, but I'm sure it was a nickname. What mother would name her kid T4? )  We also said bye to Hari and Genie, who proceeded on to Lebala.  But we'll meet again!

 

Now, as to this report, there is going to be a hiatus as I cull and process the Lagoon section. I think it's "only" about 6-7K photos to go through.  Hopefully I'll continue next week!

[Towlersonsafari]

I really really love your photo's @janzin

[madaboutcheetah]

Wow on the Martial eagle!!! 

[janzin]

Thanks @Towlersonsafariand @madaboutcheetah!

[JimS]

On 1/3/2024 at 9:08 PM, janzin said:

And a lizard I am not attempting to identify (if anyone can, feel free!)

 

Not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I'll speculatively call Rainbow Skink (Trachylepis quinquetaeniata). I received a copy of "Snakes and other reptiles of Zambia and Malawi" for Christmas, and the Rainbow Skink seems the only good contender from that collection, with the white speckles and the dark band from eye to the foreleg.

 

A couple of comparison images:

iStock image of Rainbow skink taken in Okavango

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trachylepis_quinquetaeniata_1.jpg

 

Just to add what has been said by many others already, wonderful images all round!!

Edited January 5 by JimS

[mtanenbaum]

I love the picture of the jackal and the warthog! I don't know if it's partly the angle but the warthog looks like some kind of prehistoric beast next to the tiny jackal!

[janzin]

1 hour ago, JimS said:

 

Not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I'll speculatively call Rainbow Skink (Trachylepis quinquetaeniata). I received a copy of "Snakes and other reptiles of Zambia and Malawi" for Christmas, and the Rainbow Skink seems the only good contender from that collection, with the white speckles and the dark band from eye to the foreleg.

 

A couple of comparison images:

iStock image of Rainbow skink taken in Okavango

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trachylepis_quinquetaeniata_1.jpg

 

Just to add what has been said by many others already, wonderful images all round!!

thanks @JimS, Rainbow Skink looks good for it!

[janzin]

2 minutes ago, mtanenbaum said:

I love the picture of the jackal and the warthog! I don't know if it's partly the angle but the warthog looks like some kind of prehistoric beast next to the tiny jackal!

Ha, I know. It was a BIG warthog, although Jackals are smaller than one thinks/remembers.

[janzin]

Camp 2: Lagoon

 

Surprise surprise, I realized I can start the Lagoon section a bit sooner than I thought (nasty weather here yesterday got me processing at least through day 1!)

 

Upon arrival in Lagoon we were shown to our tent which turned out to be the "family tent." I presume they gave us this because of my request to be close to the main area, and sure enough it was tent #1 and the only tent to the left of the dining room (all others were to the right.)

 

 

Note the door to the left which led to a second bedroom.  We kept it closed, no need to mess it up. This turned out to be very fortuitous...you'll find out why later!

 

The huge bathroom--with both indoor and outdoor shower, yay!!

 

 

The Kikoi for the Kalahari cooler, which was definitely useful and used. (I'd actually brought my own--one that had been gifted to me by Serian in Kenya--but I didn't need to use it as each camp provided one.)

 

 

 

The view from our deck. Much nicer than the Lebala view.  There were always a couple of Lechwe and a few birds in sight. One morning we saw a distant lioness drinking. But there wasn't nearly as much water as there had been when we were there in 2013. In fact, their boat was "grounded"--not enough water in the river. So no boat rides available from here this trip.

 

 

Later in the afternoon, as we were having our high tea, we noticed this huge herd of elephants down the far end (note the 2nd group cut off at the right--I didn't even see those at first.)

 

 

As soon as we started our afternoon drive Thabo took us right down to the elephants. As you can see there was a bit of a rise so we were looking down at the ellies in the river. It was quite a sight, even though the afternoon light was harsh. 

 

Ellie overload!

 

They were enjoying both cooling off in the water and munching on the vegetation.

 

 

 

This group seemed to be a mixture of moms and calves. I like the one carrying the stick...just for fun I think!

 

 

 

 

 

Mom being protective.

 

 

 

 

There was at least one patriarch, who gave us a menacing look as he came up the hill, but he wasn't any real threat.

 

 

A great start to the afternoon. What else would the day bring?

 

Edited January 8 by janzin

[Athene]

@janzin great trip report and beautiful pictures as always, I am eagerly following as we will also be on a Kwando Safari in March.

[Atravelynn]

I like the Martial Eagle and obvious remains for the story it suggests.  Eles in water always bring a surprise and sometimes a stick!

 

[Thornburyswan]

20 hours ago, janzin said:

Camp 2: Lagoon

 

Surprise surprise, I realized I can start the Lagoon section a bit sooner than I thought (nasty weather here yesterday got me processing at least through day 1!)

 

Upon arrival in Lagoon we were shown to our tent which turned out to be the "family tent." I presume they gave us this because of my request to be close to the main area, and sure enough it was tent #1 and the only tent to the left of the dining room (all others were to the right.)

 

 

Note the door to the left which led to a second bedroom.  We kept it closed, no need to mess it up. This turned out to be very fortuitous...you'll find out why later!

 

The huge bathroom--with both indoor and outdoor shower, yay!!

 

 

The Kikoi for the Kalahari cooler, which was definitely useful and used. (I'd actually brought my own--one that had been gifted to me by Serian in Kenya--but I didn't need to use it as each camp provided one.)

 

 

 

The view from our deck. Much nicer than the Lebala view.  There were always a couple of Lechwe and a few birds in sight. One morning we saw a distant lioness drinking. But there wasn't nearly as much water as there had been when we were there in 2013. In fact, their boat was "grounded"--not enough water in the river. So no boat rides available from here this trip.

 

 

Later in the afternoon, as we were having our high tea, we noticed this huge herd of elephants down the far end (note the 2nd group cut off at the right--I didn't even see those at first.)

 

 

As soon as we started our afternoon drive Thabo took us right down to the elephants. As you can see there was a bit of a rise so we were looking down at the ellies in the river. It was quite a sight, even though the afternoon light was harsh. 

 

Ellie overload!

 

They were enjoying both cooling off in the water and munching on the vegetation.

 

 

 

This group seemed to be a mixture of moms and calves. I like the one carrying the stick...just for fun I think!

 

 

 

 

 

Mom being protective.

 

 

 

 

There was at least one patriarch, who gave us a menacing look as he came up the hill, but he wasn't any real threat.

 

 

A great start to the afternoon. What else would the day bring?

 

Great photos & very interested in your ‘bedroom 2 story’ as we - my daughter & I - had that room in June 2022 & she used the second bedroom on our 3-day stop. Great room & camp tbf, we had more water so took a boat trip on one of our afternoon activities but like you regularly elephant & buffalo further up stream from our deck.

[xelas]

On 1/4/2024 at 4:32 PM, janzin said:

(I think Olympus has it too.)

Indeed it is one of its strong points, called Procapture. But it needs a lot of practise ... as so far it produced only one useable photo and a looooot of discarded ones .

 

It is easy now to reach 17K or more in two-weeks photo trip. Like you also myself I am pushing the fps down; luckily my lens does not allow for camera's fastest (50 fps or 120 fps).

 

Your photography is on top, again. DSLR vs ML? Much of the gadgets that ML is bringing to the game are helpful but also distracting. The optical viewfinder of a DSLR (specially of FF cameras) still have an edge over the electronic one.

Yet the future is in the mirrorless so many of us have already adopted it, and others will follow.

 

 

[janzin]

1 hour ago, xelas said:

The optical viewfinder of a DSLR (specially of FF cameras) still have an edge over the electronic one.

 

 

 

Thanks @xelasI don't necessarily agree with you about the optical viewfinder--I've been mirrorless for awhile now and don't think I could go back to DSLR. I love the 'what you see is what you get" of the electronic viewfinder, never have to wonder if I've got the right exposure or white balance-- lots of other things to worry about but rarely that Plus the ability to see the live histogram is very useful, as is focus peaking with manual focus.  The current range of Nikon and I expect Sony and Canon as well don't have any perceptible lag in the EVF and no blackout like older EVFs did. 

[janzin]

BTW, I don't think I mentioned that not only were the dogs absent from Lebala, they weren't hanging around Lagoon either. They seem to have wandered into the Selinda concession and hadn't been seen around Lagoon for awhile. Of course, we were always on the alert and in touch with others from the camp who were also looking, but I don't think anyone saw them while we were there.  We'd have to wait until Splash to get our dog fix.

 

Meantime, there were other treats in store for that afternoon.

 

Leopard #2 of the trip! A female this time.

 

 

This one was not as cooperative as the first, photographically speaking. She got up for a bit and laid down on a termite mound...

 

 

 

But then moved into some grass to finish her ablutions.

 

 

 

 

Thabo told us this leopard had a cub, but it was nowhere to be seen...at this point. We left her heading into the bushes to see what else we might find.

 

A Kudu with impressive head gear.

 

 

Quite a rack!

 

 

Our first adult Bateleur.

 

 

Not much else until it was getting close to dusk. We came upon another Kwando vehicle who told us they had just left a male lion.  Since we'd not seen an adult male yet, we set out to find him.

 

Found him marking some territory...  Light was low by now.

 

 

For some reason he doesn't look very happy

 

 

He sat down to rest which gave the opportunity for some portraits. In the fading light, I went for B&W.

 

 

 

 

But the night wasn't over quite yet...

[janzin]

During our spotlighting that evening, we came upon the female leopard again!

 

Unfortunately I made a bit of a mistake and did not have a fast enough shutter speed. They aren't even very high ISO--I could have increased the shutter speed significantly. Oh well. Sometimes you just get caught up in the excitement and forget what the heck you are doing   So these aren't as sharp as they could have been.

 

 

 

She sat for a moment.

 

 

But wait...now there are TWO!

 

 

Yes, indeed she had been joined by her cub.

 

 

 

Now that made for a very successful afternoon.

[Kitsafari]

excellent night shot of the porcupine! i loved that. 

 

[KaliCA]

OMG, I'm in love with your pictures! Every one of them a gem... and of course, the black frames only enhance the quality. I'm starting to feel a little yellow about now...

Really enjoying your Bat-Eared Fox! safari. Many thanks for posting.

[madaboutcheetah]

@janzin- Looks like the same leopard we saw too !!  There actually were two cubs - one of them super super shy and really hiding into the thickets at the sound of the approaching vehicle the time we had the sighting.

 

Re the Dogs ..... We actually bumped into a Selinda vehicle on the boundary while at Lebala on our last morning just before you picked us up on the plane to Kwara ...... No sign of the dogs there either!!  or so he said  

 

I assume they were in the mopane with all the game in there with all the impala lambs after the first rains.  We saw them on our second day, thanks to a dutch couple (Kwando regulars) who spent the good part of 4 days trying to track them all over the place with their guide KB. 

Edited January 10 by madaboutcheetah

[janzin]

Lagoon day 2:

 

It was a rather quiet day.

 

We didn't see much action during the morning. Some necking male giraffes.

 

 

 

 

Some lounging lions, who were just resting under a tree and not looking like they had any intention of moving.

 

 

A very bedraggled-looking Blue-cheeked Bee-eater; I guess he was in molt. The only one I got a photo of on this trip.

 

 

Yellow-billed Hornbill; we didn't see too many of these.

 

 

There were some zebra and more giraffes this morning but really nothing in a good photo situation. So, back at camp during lunch break, I shot a few birds around camp.

 

 

Not in the best light, these next two were hanging out in front of the dining area by the river. There were weaver nests in the trees there.

 

 

 

After lunch, we ran into the elephants cooling off at the same spot in the river as the day before. Not quite the whole herd this time.

 

 

 

 

If I recall correctly, we were looking for the dogs this afternoon as it had been the day before that someone had seen them--albeit briefly, and they ran into the mopane not to be seen again. Not by us anyway!

 

More birds. 

 

African Fish eagle, this time with a fish.

 

 

Open-billed Stork with a really open bill

 

 

Honestly it was a pretty dull afternoon, in fact probably the slowest day of the trip.  But we did come across this group of Sable antelopes at the very end of the day, in poor light but they are just such beautiful antelopes, and rather uncommon here,  I'll post them anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

A very large and striking male.

 

 

But we did have one final nice sighting in the dim dim light...this female(?) leopard surprised us! Not sure if this was the same leopard we'd seen the day before with the cub. Might be--not 100% sure if it's actually male or female.

 

 

 

 Well, there's usually a quiet day or two on safari--but tomorrow will bring a lot more action, I promise!

Edited January 16 by janzin

[Peter Connan]

The Blue-cheeked Bee-eater and Babbler photos are so sharp they could draw blood!

[janzin]

The following morning we awoke to see this lioness drinking from the river, not far from camp (photo was taken from the breakfast area.)

 

 

We quickly headed out in the hopes of catching her up the road, but she was gone when we got there. Still, we figured the rest of the pride were somewhere close.

 

On the way as we looked around we came across--yes, more Bat-eared Foxes! The Bat-eared Fox safari continues!

 

 

 

It wasn't long before we found the pride. Actually it was just a couple of lionesses with cubs, but they had made an impala kill. The following is not for the squeamish.

 

 

Yum, brains!

 

 

This cub was really enjoying gnawing on the ribs. Mmmmm, spare ribs!

 

 

 

 

A sibling came to join in.

 

 

The other cubs were just resting, but some looked ready to explode!

 

 

Impala's not enough for breakfast, I need some milk to go with it.

 

 

 

Eating makes me sleepy...

 

 

Finally, time to rest.

 

 

We left the sleeping pride to see what else we might find.

 

There's always birds...

 

 

 

 

We ran into the cheetah brothers, but they were once again just resting under a tree. 

 

 

Thabo thought they would hunt again later, and it was getting close to lunchtime, so we decided to return and revisit the cheetahs in the afternoon. 

 

Meantime, back at the ranch...I took some more shots of a few birds during lunch.

 

This Bennett's Woodpecker, a female, turned out to be a life bird. I didn't even realize it until I got home and updated my database. It was foraging around the trees in front of the dining area.

 

 

 

 

The White-throated Bee-eater was still hanging around, and the light was slightly (just slightly) better than the previous day.

 

 

And a couple of birds hanging around the water.

 

 

 

So the morning wasn't exactly full of action, but we had seen a bit--it was fun to watch the lion cubbies.  Maybe the afternoon would bring some cheetah action????????

 

 

Edited January 19 by janzin