Botswana and Namibia Trip Report June 2012

[twaffle]

We will know because most of us keep checking back. Not addicts at all!

[penolva]

We will know because most of us keep checking back. Not addicts at all!

Ha Ha , just like me then.

[madaboutcheetah]

 

 

Trip Report Namibia and Botswana June 2012. Part 11

 

We left Lebala by road and met up with Carlos from Lagoon Camp at the half way point. Spencer Mathambo, who was going to be our guide would meet us later. We had met him at Lebala where he was guiding a private safari. We got stuck in deep sand an hour from camp and it took an hour to dig our way out. It was hot!! Carlos gave us a lesson in what to do in the circumstances, which we will remember for next year on our self drive.

 

We met up with Spencer and Aaron, his tracker, and went out on an evening drive to find the famous cheetah brothers. Hari had told me about the brothers and recommended Spencer as our guide. We got both, thanks very much Hari, your suggestions really made our trip. ST members are great!!!

 

The brothers were snoozing and only moved on when the sun started to set after lots of yawns and cheetah yoga. The light turned golden and with the sounds of the doves, my favourite sound of Africa, we watched those beautiful animals interact with each other. When you get sights and sounds like that with only 4 other people to share it with you truly feel privileged. We were able to get some great video and photos. They even tried a half hearted hunt, and we laughed at Spencer’s “Come on boys”.

 

Lagoon camp is beautiful and we wish we had stayed there for 3 nights instead of 2. Spencer is a real character and we enjoyed every hour we spent with him. He and Aaron showed us how to track and it was fascinating. The first morning they tracked the wild dogs and that’s when we saw them running in the water. I will put the video here again, I have had a lot of positive comments about it. Thanks. The following morning we found the alpha female cleaning out an old den and we heard since that she gave birth to the puppies two days later.

 

The rest of the time at Lagoon was mostly spent with cheetah’s but the second evening we met with the most inquisitive and cheeky Roan Antelope. He gradually walked closer and closer to us and showed off his beautiful ears. We were so lucky as they are very shy usually.

 

The sounds of frogs and hippos during the night was magical. I thought some of the frogs sounded like hundreds of Spanish Flamenco dancers with their castanets dancing in the darkness.

 

Glad that the Spencer fan club has more members ......... Glad you had a good time and no surprises, he's one of the best at what he does - guiding and entertaining guests!!!

 

Quick question - your video clip above of the 2 male Lions walking during a night drive (in the Lagoon sunrise clip sequence) - are they from Lagoon? Did Spencer tell you where they came from? Thanks ..... Love the videos!!! All of them.....

[madaboutcheetah]

Oops - I didn't mean the Roan video - the other one titled, "Africa - sounds of the okavango"

[penolva]

Hi

Oops - I didn't mean the Roan video - the other one titled, "Africa - sounds of the okavango"

Those lions were two of the 7 brothers at Little Kwara, although I heard they have split up. We did see 3 together later and two on the airstrip as we flew in. They are magnificent and I had an encounter with one which is in Part 3 of my Trip Report. I put them in that 'sounds of' video because of the frogs!

[madaboutcheetah]

Cool ......... Yes, those 7 from LK have been very seldom seen together as all 7 - simply, because they have to cover a large territory to defend.

[penolva]

I reckon when the second part of a report is merged with the first it gets missed by new readers.??

[twaffle]

Sometimes it seems as if people aren't reading it because not everyone will comment, and sometimes people will comment early, keep reading and may give a final comment at the end. I'm pretty sure everyone is still keeping up with the second part and waiting eagerly for the next instalment.

[pault]

I reckon when the second part of a report is merged with the first it gets missed by new readers.??

 

Not the kind of readers we like around here!

[penolva]

Thanks for that. Part 3 coming up! Pen

[penolva]

Trip Report Namibia and Botswana June 2012. Part 111

 

Flying over the Okavango Delta was an amazing experience. Watching elephants walking to the water holes and herds of buffalo kicking up dust. I had watched film of it taken by the BBC and tried to capture some of the beauty myself. The water is crystal clear and you can see the patterns made by the sand as the water sweeps over it and clearly see the hippo pathways made through the grasses.

 

 

Arriving at Little Kwara we were pleased to find Hobbs was our guide, I had put in a request for him and Spencer with Kwando when I first booked. Lucky us had the vehicle to our selves with Hobbs and Chester as the others in the camp were a family of 5 and a group of friends. We enjoyed every moment spent driving with Hobbs. He is an amazing guide.

 

The first evening we saw a sister and two brothers coalition of cheetah.They were younger than the ones we saw with at Lagoon and very playful. I managed to capture one jumping out of a tree, which although a bit blurred I beat Hobbs attempt as he missed it all together!

 

 

We got a call to say that two of the Magnificent Seven lion brothers were nearby so we rushed over to see them as it was getting dark quickly. They were just waking up and the affection they showed to each other was amazing to see. We just sat watching them when one got up, walked over to our jeep, came to my side, and sat down less than 3 feet away from me and just looked right into my eyes. Needless to say I don't have any video or photographs of that!! It was one of the most fantastic moments of my life. He had the most beautiful face and looked up for several minutes right at me. He then just wandered off around the other side of the jeep and started roaring!!!!!!. Hobbs said ‘Are you OK’, he thought I had been terrified, quite the opposite, I felt so lucky and still do, I will never forget it.

 

 

We followed the lions for a while and then went back to camp. No sun downers that evening.

 

Next morning we found a pride of lions arguing over a kill. They made so much noise. One of the males was trying to steal some meat from a female a using his weight to squash her to make her release it. He finally managed it and then had a fight with another male who tried to steal it from him. There was plenty of pieces of meat and bone around but this bit of skin seemed to be the bit they all wanted.

 

Three more cheetah brothers later that morning made us think we had gone to heaven. There were animals everywhere, huge herd of buffalo, many many elephants and our first sighting of lechwe up close.

 

We were allowed to go to the wild dog den. The guides were restricting the number of vehicles there as the puppies were still in the den and no one wanted to disturb them. We could hear them clearly and watched as other members of the pack put their noses into the den, wagging their tails , getting to know the puppies and encouraging them to come out. Its a real privilege to see that kind of behaviour. I heard after we got home that the puppies came out the next day.

 

 

We thought we might have a nap after lunch that day but being in tent No 1 meant that the resident baboons made sure we didn't. Jumping off the branch above the tent, landing with a thump and sliding down, then doing it again and again. Mothers brought their babies to stare at us through the windows and some of the older males sat on our patio chairs. I had a shower, its outside, and they came to try to steal the soap while I was in there. They entertained us for a couple of hours.

 

We spent the evening out on the motor boat and watched a beautiful sunset as Hobbs explained how the delta fills and showed us on his map that Xakanaxa campsite is very near to Little Kwara, and we are going to camp there next year! All our campsites are booked and we used Brenda in Maun to do that for us. She has been great. This part of my report has been delayed because I have spent the last two weeks sorting out the trip. I cant believe you have to book so far in advance, but you do as there are so few campsites in Moremi, Savuti and Chobe.

 

Next morning we found the lions with another kill, but they were hiding it. We ended up driving for a couple of hours through beautiful grass plains, birds flying high in a blue blue sky, the occasional animal but mostly just breathtaking scenery. I think Hobbs said it was Tsum Tsum but I am not sure. To end the morning we saw a Lilac Breasted Roller trying to catch a snake and the snake was fighting back.

 

Singing by the staff that night was wonderful and we had a last glass of wine on our deck but had to go inside as lions were roaring nearby.

 

 

Before we had to leave, next day, Hobbs and Chester took us on a mokoro ride amongst the water lilies, Jacana’s, Fish Eagles and Hippos. We were so sad to leave that amazing place.

 

I will post more of the videos as I make them.

 

Next stop Chobe .........

[AKR1]

Thanks for the Kwara part of the report as it brought back fond memories of our wonderful Trip there a few months ago. Wasn't Hobbs a great guide? Did you hear about one of the magnificent seven lions missing as we did or are they all accounted for. Hearing one of them roaring from a few meters was an awe inspiring experience. My favorite sightings on safari occurred right outside Kwarac camp when we saw and followed five of the magnificent seven lions for most of the morning. It was such a great sighting that Isso the manager of Little Kwara gathered 8 of his staff and drove over to show it to them. Wonderful memories of the lions walking in all that water in February.

[penolva]

I heard there were only 6 now and even they are not together. You were so lucky to see 5 together and to see them walking in the water, Wow.

[penolva]

 

[pault]

Happy times at Kwara!

[Atravelynn]

Though it was not the seious quality of your other fine videos, the monkeys on the tent video had a charm all its own! Anybody wondering if a mekoro ride is scary or tipsy should view your peaceful ride through the delta. Liked the feet shot at the end. Feet seem to be a theme here lately. I thoroughly enjoyed the airplane ride, both audio and visual!

 

Would you mind a summary of your Namibia itinerary? Also how cold were the nights and early morns that time of year? Thanks.

 

By the way, regarding readers posting or just viewing, as I was responding, 2 other people were viewing your post.

[madaboutcheetah]

OMG. Those Baboons look very scary, indeed!!!

 

Love the videos, Pen. I tried to sing along to the "Beautiful Botswana" song, but, looks like they keep changing up the lyrics from day to day. Haha.

 

Would love to see the 3 boys from Tsum Tsum when you get a chance to post that clip. You definitely had an amazing trip all round!!!

[Orca Fan]

Love this! Videos are an essential link in the memory chain these days. Vicarious travel indeed, I can almost smell the air!

[penolva]

Though it was not the seious quality of your other fine videos, the monkeys on the tent video had a charm all its own! Anybody wondering if a mekoro ride is scary or tipsy should view your peaceful ride through the delta. Liked the feet shot at the end. Feet seem to be a theme here lately. I thoroughly enjoyed the airplane ride, both audio and visual!

 

Would you mind a summary of your Namibia itinerary? Also how cold were the nights and early morns that time of year? Thanks.

 

By the way, regarding readers posting or just viewing, as I was responding, 2 other people were viewing your post.

 

I will do a summary of Namibia before Chobe. As far as photographs etc of Namibia we are making a Blurb book and I was going to post a link to that. Glad you like the videos. Pen

[AKR1]

Penolva

 

I did not realize the significance of your dog sightings at Kwara. According to the just released Kwara June sightings report , this is the first time the dogs have ever denned in the Kwara concession.

http://www.kwando.co.za/pdfs/June%202012.pdf

 

[madaboutcheetah]

AKR1,

 

Deep in the Western side, there is heavy mopane veldt - there is a very high possibility that dogs have/had denned there in the past. It's just that the game drive areas didn't have a den in history to date. As you know, high density of Lions too in the area.

[penolva]

OMG. Those Baboons look very scary, indeed!!!

 

Love the videos, Pen. I tried to sing along to the "Beautiful Botswana" song, but, looks like they keep changing up the lyrics from day to day. Haha.

 

Would love to see the 3 boys from Tsum Tsum when you get a chance to post that clip. You definitely had an amazing trip all round!!!

 

 

Here is one for you Hari, we only saw them in the evening and spent most of the time watching them begin to hunt as it was too dark to photograph. I loved the way the guides tried to track them the next day and they were gone far away. Pen

[penolva]

Penolva

 

I did not realize the significance of your dog sightings at Kwara. According to the just released Kwara June sightings report , this is the first time the dogs have ever denned in the Kwara concession.

http://www.kwando.co...s/June 2012.pdf

 

I didn't realise that either, thanks for letting me know.

[Atravelynn]

So you are a wild dog legend and didn't know it. I'll patiently await the Namibia wrapup. Thanks Penolva!

[madaboutcheetah]

Thanks, Pen. Enjoyed seeing them!