Trip Report - Feb 2007 Victoria Falls and Botswana

Outstanding report so far! I will be visiting the exact same areas in two weeks, and I'm relieved to hear that my chances of seeing wild dogs are pretty good. Can't wait for your next chapter!

sorry you didn't get to make it down to Somalisa, one of my favorite places, but glad you had a great time. I too enjoyed the Lion Encounter. Glad you saw dogs too, looking forward to more of your report.

Sounds like it was a great trip. I am starting to get excited about our first visit to Africa. My husband and I are off to VFH in May and then onto Botswana for a couple of weeks and then to Quilalea Island for some scuba diving. The only thing left for me to organise is our spare time in Victoria Falls. From your report it looks like you did the elle and lion encounter in one day. How did that work and what time were you picked up and dropped off. Did you do any canoeing?

Enjoying very much so far. Look forward to more as well as pictures if you've got them.

Your last line indicates you did see some dogs. A half hour with some rhinos is not bad either!

Richard,

Good to hear from you. Russ, as in Ruster? He's funny and a good guy.....

Can't wait to hear about your wild dog stories and later hopefully, some pictures?

Rgds,
Hari

Im just going through the pictures, and trying to sort them down... 8 different kills and lots of sightings means I took too many photos...

Hari, yes Ruster... He says hello from Botswana, and hopes to see you in May.

Georgie, I did the Lion encounter, and a shortened version of the Ellie encounter. All in one morning.

Richard,

Hi!!! hope to see him out on drive- i dont have reservations at Lagoon. Doing only Lebala....so, i will have to either hope to see him out on drive or sometimes he transfers his guests from Lagoon to Lebala, so maybe i'll see him!!!

8 kills at the 3 kwando camps? My goodness!!!! That's super luck!!!

Hari

Feb 8th

After staying up till 3 am around the camp television, 5:30 came very early...

Mr. Rick, its 5:30 and time to get up.... Uuggg, Rick is still sleeping (advantages of having a private vehicle).

Mr. Rick, its 6:30 and time to get up... Uuggg... They found wild dogs at Lebala... Instantly awake, Rick will be ready to go in 5 minutes.

My head was heavy, but with the mention of Wild Dogs, I was ready to go. After a quick shower and packing, in 5 minutes we hit the road. Russ asked how I wanted to go... the usual tourist speed, or as fast as possible - the trip to Lebala area could take upwards of 2 hours. Of course, I didnt want to miss the sighting, so I said dont worry about me, go as fast as you can. The next hour flew by literally, as we sped to the sighting. On the drive I was told that Spencer was the man who found the dogs, and that he was going to be my private guide for my 2 days at Lebala. Even though I was hanging on for my life for most of the drive, it was exciting, and I was really hoping to see the dogs. After an hour, we went cross country and soon found 2 vehicles who were moving slowly... Russ moved us into place, and WOW, there were the Dogs. They were the Selinda pack I am told, and there were 16 of them. It was great just folling them for the next 30 minutes or so as they moved around. They found a pool of water, and decided to relax a little while. At this time the other 2 vehicles "voted" to leave the sightings to look for other game, as they Dogs had already killed about an hour earlier. I was so glad for a private vehicle, as I could do what I wanted. With the pack being so big, Russ figured that they would soon be hunting again, and he was right. About 30 minutes later, the Alpha female got everyone up and the hunt was on. A short while later (and very fast and bumpy ride) we came across them taking down a smaller impala, and literally tearing it apart. We watched them feed for about 20 minutes until the first Hyena showed up sniffing around. It was intersting on how the pack worked together. Some ate, while others stood watch. When the Hyena showed up, there was a little staring contest, but nothing much happened. The Hyena did get a bone later on, and seemed content with that. With the dogs seemingly satisfied, they moved back to the water hole, followed by some relaxation under a couple of trees. Russ asked what I wanted to do for the rest of the day, and I said you are looking at it... lets stay with the dogs all day.
We waited with the dogs to make sure they were going no where in the heat until about 1 pm. As Russ and I hadnt planned on staying for the day, we didnt have any supplies, so we decided to make the 10 minute drive to Lebala to get some supplies. Charles warmly greated us at Lebala as the manager, and we had a quick bite to eat, and relaxed for about an hour, figuring the dogs were going no where. In the mean time, a new vehicle had gone out to the dogs and was keeping an eye out for everyone. At about 3 pm we went back to the dogs, found some shade under a tree, and waited for them to wake up. I am told by our tracker who kept watch, that both Russ and I were snoring a little as we both caught a little sleep in the hot afternoon. About 5 30 the dogs finally woke up, and we were again off. It was interesting watching them interact, and playing amongst each other. When they finally got moving, there were always a couple of dogs ahead of the pack, and one dog would take the high ground at any offering to view the area (usually a termite mound). Within 45 minutes they found some more impalas, and were again on the hunt. Holding on for dear life as we followed them, we soon found their kill. Very quickly this time though, a Hyena came by and took the kill, and was filling its face as quickly as possible. The dogs stood by and watched this for a minute, and finally decided to attack. Wow, I have not seen such a flury of action as 16 dogs attacked the Hyena. It soon had multiple cuts all over its body, and for suvival dropped the kill, and backed into a convenient Aardvark hole. Russ figured that if that hold wasnt there, that the dogs would have killed the Hyena. The dogs went to their feeding, and a tired and battered Hyena went away. We watched the dogs feed, and eventually relax as nothing else came their way. As it was close to dark, and we still had to drive back to Lagoon, we decided to leave. We had a long 2 hour drive in the dark back to camp, and saw a lot of different animals. Very tired by this time, we had a quick meal and went to a well deserved sleep... it was a fantastic day, and I really enjoyed it.

Wow Richard! What a day with the dogs, 3 kills in one day by the pack too.

At Lebala you probably saw the pictures but that pack did kill a leopard right in front of guests so Russ may well have been right that it could have been lights out for the hyena.

Looking forward to the rest of this action packed trip and pictures!

Fantastic wild dog action!

Richard: Nice account of your wild dog day......

What and incredible report and stories Richard,very well narrated also.
I look forward for the rest of it since i am going to Kwando camps in November( i know my chances with the dogs will be lower at this time)and of course some photos of that amazing experience you had.

Thanks,Paco.

Pacoutside the denning period, your chances to see the dogs are similar during the rest of the year. i.e.,depends on luck as they can travel vast distances and can be anywhere on a given day.

Rgds,
Hari

Typo- i dont know how that smiley got there.......sorry.

As Hari says, the dogs are hit or miss if they arent denning in the area I am told. For instance, the Selinda pack we saw, had not been seen for the previous 3 weeks.... while the Lagoon pack we saw on the very next day had not been seen for about the same period of time... you just hope luck is with you. The guides at Kwando are amazing, and really go out of their way to find dogs.

Don't you love/hate those night caps?

What an awesome wild dog experience! Lucky you to stay with them all day and see so much. I imagine the attack on the hyena was quite something. As well as he kills. What a great story.

Cindy

Feb 9th

After a well deserved sleep, I was awake early this day, and ready to go. We checked with Lebala, and they indicated that they lost the dogs and were not sure where they were. Russ and I talked, and it was decided to go on the morning game drive in the area, followed by a game drive transfer to Lebala to meet up with my new guide Spencer.

We had a nice drive and saw a lot of the normal game around the area. As mentioned, the grass around Lagoon was quite high, so it did affect the game viewing somewhat. At about 9 am we started our drive the the half way point where Spencer was going to pick me up. At this time the call came through... WILD DOGS, this time the Lagoon pack of 6, had been spotted by a camp employee back at Lagoon. Already knowing my answer, Russ asked me what I wanted to do. Lets go.... again as fast as you can. Holding on for dear life again, we had a relatively quick transfer back to camp where we found the Lagoon pack. They were hanging around, and just relaxing. While we were there, the call came through from the same camp employee, that he found a lioness who was stalking out a tree with some young Baboons in it. Understanding that the dogs probably werent going anywhere, we left and drove over to the lioness. At that time a small baboon jumped from the tree, and was immediately pounced on by the lioness. She dragged her kill into the bushes at the base of the tree... how exciting. The rest of the young baboons in the tree were very scared, and making a lot of noise. The rest of the family were nearby and also making a lot of noise. As the lioness was in the bushes I really couldnt get any good pictures, but we stayed there for a while none the less. Russ figured she would stay here for most of the day, picking off the young baboons as they came down one at a time. We went back to the dogs, and spent about 30 minutes with them as they moved around, and finally found somewhere to relax for the day. We than went back to the lioness and as we got there she had just made a kill, this time of a larger baboon who in its stupidity had come over to help the young baboons in the tree. Meal number 2. Again, once she got her kill into the bushes, she was hard to see. We stayed there for a while, and finally decided to catch up with Spencer.

We made it to the Hippo pond, and I got some great Hippo yawning shots. Spencer showed up with 4 people who were transfering to Lagoon. With regret I said my goodbyes to Russ. He is a great guide, and I would highly recommend him to anyone who goes to Lagoon.
Spencer started off with some jokes, and I knew I would like him right off the bat. After about the 4th bird he pointed to off in the distance, I explained by interests... Dogs, Cheetah, Leopards, Lions, other misc wildlife... finally birds. He laughed, and said ok, we will look for the big guys. On the way to Lebala we checked for tracks, and some the usual misc game.

I was warmly greated at Lebala by Charles and the gang. Charles was taking over for BK, who was off for a couple of days break in Maun. We had a nice breakfast, and I checked into my room. After a nice shower and rest, I relaxed in the bar until our evening game drive. Spencer what I wanted to do, and I said I would like to just go hunting and see what we come across. He joked by pointing out some "birds" for me, and we found some Cheetah tracks. I really like the system at Kwando whereby they have a tracker and a guide. In comparison to the Sanctuary Lodges camps that I visited later on my trip, I found this to be much more effective in finding game.

We followed the Cheetah tracks to find 2 brothers. Spencer told a few stories about Hari, and his love of dogs and cheetahs. The Cheetahs were relaxing and after about 45 minutes, we moved on. Unfortunately we didnt find the dog tracks, or anything else, but we had a nice drive, and told a bunch of stories. Back at camp we had a nice dinner, and I met up with the rest of the group. Another great day with Kwando...

Next up.. the great Cheetah hunt...

Richard- all i can say is- "wow" your sightings are fabulous and each minute seems to be getting better!!!

Look forward to reading about those two cheetah boys.....

Hari

P.S: On the subject of tracking, who is tracking for Spencer at the moment?

And more dogs! Lions hunting baboons is quite interesting too.

Feb 10th

As I mentioned, even though this was the "rainy" season we didnt have a lot of rain. This morning, was the first real rain we had, and it delayed our leaving that morning until 6 am. At that time the call came through that some Cheetah tracks had been spotted and that they were very fresh. Spencer and I jumped into the vehicle, and soon found the same 2 male cheetahs from the previous night. They went for a nice stroll, and posed for us atop several termite mounds. After following them for a couple of hours, they decided to have a rest... too bad, we were hoping for a hunt and kill. We waited around for about an hour with them, and it seemed they were going no where. We decided to go back to camp, and get back to the Cheetahs later.

Unknown to me, Spencer sent our tracker out to watch the Cheetahs. About 12 30 Spencer came to get me, saying that they Cheetahs were on the move. We soon caught up with them, and followed for about 20 minutes. We came to an open field with grass about 2 feet high. As the Cheetahs were moving along, we spotted some Warthogs in the distance. Spencer said hold on, we grabbed a good spot on top of a hill, and watched the action. The Cheetahs soon saw the piggies, and crouched down to creep in. At almost the last second, the family of warthogs with 3 babies noticed the Cheetahs and took off... with the the pursuit just behind. Spencer said hold on, and I did barely... lol, hes a crazy driver. In an exciting chase, we came across the 2 Cheetahs who had caught one of the babies, and were feeding. We watched for over an hour, as they ate around the stomach (which I understand gives off a scent that would attract other preds). They fed as quickly as they could. Every minute or so one would look up and scout out the area for anything else. We did notice a little jackal that was following the Cheetahs, and was awaiting its turn. It was amazing to watch the Cheetah as they did the hunt and kill.

We got back to camp, had a nice lunch, and I got to spend some time with Charles. He talked about his enjoyment of his job, and some of the regulars. Johan, if you are reading this, Charles says hello. You left them some amazing pictures in your book to the camp. Our evening game drive was nice and we got to see a lot of different animals. After a nice sundowners we returned to camp for dinner.

Wow-again!!!

Another excellent outing for you and for the cheetahs.

Richard,

It seems that you were at the right place at the right time.

Many thanks for sending Charles greetings. He's a great guy and an excellent guide. I can't wait to see him again and hopefully we still have some luck left. In general the guides at Kwando are great and from my own experience the senior guides are among the best I've seen in the safari industry.

I hope to see some of your photos and read the rest of your journey.

Best regards,

Johan

Feb 11th

I had a very good sleep.. I think I am getting used to the "sounds of the jungle" as I sleep. There was a hyena in the area last night, and I think he / she was right outside my tent for a while.

Our morning drive started out well, with Spencer seeing some Cheetah tracks, and we had a good sighting. They didnt seem to be doing anything, so we decided to move on, and soon found 3 lions, which we followed for a while. We stayed with the lions until they went down for the afternoon heat, and went back to camp. After a good breakfast, I packed and got ready for my transfer to Kwara. I have to say I wish I was staying longer at Lebala. It is a great camp, and Spencer a great guide, exactly as advertised by many on this forum. After a couple of Windhoek's with Charles and Spencer, and a lot of funny tourist stories, we were off to my transfer.

We had the big plane this time, with 7 of us transfering from Lagoon / Lebala to Kwara / Little Kwara. After a smooth flight, we soon arrived at our destination. Tibo (spelling) came with us, and was going to be a guest guide. We were driven to Kwara, and met with the acting manager, Bleu. I soon met my new guide, Doctor, and tracker Justice. Kwara is a beautiful camp, and I liked the view from the bar area, overlooking a large pond with hippos and crocs. Doctor and I had some laughs, and I explained my priorities... he promised some good sightings, and I looked forward to our drives.

Again, with having a private vehicle, Doc and I decided to leave a little early, and go look for some lions that were seen earlier. We soon found the pride, who were lounging around in the sun. We left them, and went hunting. Justice soon spotted a Cheetah lounging under a tree, and we stayed there for a while. The Cheetah didnt seem to be doing anything, so we left and again went hunting. We saw a lot of various game, and I really noticed that the grass was not nearly as high as it was in Lagoon, and Lebala. After about 30 minutes, Justice was like STOP LEOPARD!!! We backed up, and the Leopard was about 5 feet from the path, and in tall grass. I dont know how he saw it... a great sighting. Doctor positioned me for some great pictures, and he made the call. Soon we had 2 more vehicles join us. The Leopard soon got up, and went for a stroll. We greatfully followed the Leopard for about a mile, and he disappeared into some bush. Now I was at a dilema.. lions, cheetah, and leopard.. which to follow. I decided on cheetah, and off we went. It turned out to be 2 brothers, and we followed them for about 30 minutes, with some good posing pictures. It was starting to get dark, so we followed to where the cheetahs were lounging, and went for a well deserved sundowners. We had a night drive back to camp, and had a good dinner. A funny story here... Ostrich was served as the main course... several of us were looking at it funny, including Doctor. He soon took off for about 20 minutes. I asked where he was, and was told he was eating in the kitchen. I joined him, and was given some chicken. We had a few drinks around the fire, and planned to leave early in the morning. When we went to my tent, I heard a noise, and was like, wtf is that... we looked over about 15 feet away was a hippo shuffling by. WOW... time to get into my tent.

Next up... another Cheetah hunt.

Decisions, decisions. Lions, leopards, cheetah. I agree with your choice.

Yep, good choice

Btw, i agree with you about staying longer at Lebala.

However, your trip report is a bad influence to my mental health....
I am trying to deciede if i should ask to see if i can switch atleast two nights to Lagoon(from my current reservations).....

Hari,

I know Russ would like to see you if you go to Lagoon...

Btw, Doctor says thank you for the gift you sent him. He hopes you got his letter.

Richard

Thanks, Richard for your greetings from them....

Did you meet Jonah at the Kwara camps?

Feb 12th

We had an early start this morning as we wanted to find the 2 Cheetahs that we had left the previous night. Unfortunately, they were not there, so we moved on. We heard some baboons hooting off to the side, and Doctor said lets go investigate... they were hooting at something. When we got there, things had calmed down, but they were looking off in one direction. We drove off in that direction, in a large field with 2 1/2 foot high grass. Our tracker got down to look at some tracks, and I was like Cheetah, like 20 feet away. Our tracker got into the vehicle with me, and we moved over. Sure enough, there were 3 Cheetah's who had just made a kill of an impala, and were just starting to feed. We had remarkable timing... again I was impressed that this all started cause of the Baboons, and Doc led us from there.

We watched the Cheetah feed for about an hour. Unlike Lebala where there seem to be a lot of Hyena's, we didnt see many at Kwara. Eventually all 3 had their full, and that time the other 2 vehicles showed up.. not good timing. We left the site to them, and went about our morning, with some good game sigting, including the 2 other Cheetah from the previous night, as well as a lion pride, who were just relaxing in the sun. We stayed with the Lions for a while, and finally moved back to camp around noon for breakfast. After a little siesta and lunch, we were good to go again. I invited 2 people who I knew from a couple of earlier camps to join me in the vehicle, and off we went. We found the Lions from the morning, but it looked like we were too late.... they already had made a small kill, but the main male had eaten the kill. There wasnt a lot left. As they didnt seem to be doing anything, we moved on, and had a nice relaxing drive with some good jokes by Doctor. We had a nice sundowner, and night drive back to camp. Dinner was relaxing, and we stayed up over many drinks at the fire. We got to bed around 1 am, again with Hippos around the area and my tent.

Another great day at Kwando...

Three more cheetahs! What was the story with these guys? 3 brothers? Mother and grown cubs?

Wow!!! i wonder if the two you are referring to are the two brothers i saw in 2005? They were very skittish back then.....

Yes, probably the three brother coalition?

Like i said in the cheetah Masai mara thread......you have great luck riding with you and wish you are at Lebala in June........

Hari

The 3 brother coalition has been regularly in the Kwara area for over a year now. I am curious about this other pair, Richard do you know anything about them, history, age, etc. Kwara has become a real hot spot for cheetah!

Yes, the 3 were the 3 brother coalition... I was very lucky with Cheetah;s, seeing 25 different ones on my trip. They are probably my second favourite animal in Africa to the wild dogs...

PB, I am not sure the details of the 2 brother coalition. We spent time with them on 3 different occasions, but I wasnt given, or dont remember the details from Doctor.

Its hard to get back into work here in Canada... snow, ice, and lol, work... really wish I was back in the bush at one of the Kwando camps...

Richard

Enjoying your trip report immensely and hoping our sightings are as good as yours when we go in two weeks. Glad we booked a private guide/vehicle as it seems well worth the extra expense. Any other advice/tips appreciated.

Feb 13th

After a nice needed sleep, I awoke to my last day at Kwando... was kinda sad, as I had really enjoyed my trip so far. Doc and I took off and had some good game sightings. After a while, we came across some lion tracks, and slowing tracked them to an open field. This was a small pride of around 6 lions, with 3 younger ones. It was great timing as they were in a playfull mood between them all. We watched them for about 45 minutes until they went into the forest, which was too thick to follow. We stayed out and just drove around until about noon, returning to camp. As my transfer to Chiefs wasnt until 2 30, and I needed to check out of the room, I relaxed in the lounge with Bleu and Doc. It was finally time to say goodbye to Kwara, and Kwando... I was really going to miss their camp, and promised to return one day.

I had a short transfer to the airstrip, and to Chiefs camp. Chiefs camp is one of A & K's camps, and a more luxury option. They have 3 rows of seats versus the 2 at Kwando. They also have room for a lot more people, I believe 24, so its not a small intimate camp. Chiefs was very nice, with a beautiful view of the plains off the main seating area. After a quick briefing I was transfered to my room... and wow, what a room. Where Kwando was nice, simple, and totally sufficient for my needs, Chiefs was much more opulent. The room was huge, there was a big fan, a bar fridge filled with your favourite drinks and chocolates, a safe, and a huge bathroom area with indoor and outdoor showers. After quickly getting ready, I was collected for our evening game drive.

Unlike at Kwando where I had a private vehicle (very much worth while), at Chiefs I was in a shared vehicle. Their costs of a private vehicle are a lot more, and they wont guarantee it until 5 days before your trip. It really wasnt a problem though, as it turned out to be just me, and a nice couple from the UK. Chiefs also has just a guide, unlike the tracker and guide system at Kwando that was so successful. We spent the evening seeing a lot of different game... including some large sleeping lions. They do have a couple of wild dogs in the area, but we werent able to track them. After a sundowner, we returned to camp for dinner. Dinner at Chiefs was very nice... we were given a large selection to choose from, and were told that substitutions were ok.. which was very nice. I had a great steak, and good company for dinner. Most stayed and had a couple of drinks after dinner, and then we were escourted to bed...

Here are some of the pictures. I'll try to go through the rest over the next couple of days.

Keep in mind, I am still learning to take pictures...

Richard

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?&mode=fromsite&collid=85420141809.563441974109.1172948233208&conn_speed=1

Richard,

The link isn't working.

Greetz,

Johan

Would you mind sharing how much the private vehicles are at Kwando vs. Chiefs?

Johan,

If you copy and paste the entire link together it works... I dont know why it didnt all go together...

Private vehicles at Kwando were $150 per day, and at Chiefs I believe they were $350 per day.

Lynn, at the website of Sanctuary lodges they mention 350 USD a day. I don't know how much it is at Kwando (but it should be less).

Actually it's quite funny, 3 years ago I went to Chief's at a rate of +/- 250 USD a day in the green season. If I see the rates now they ask already 635 USD a day. It's still one of the best options in the green season but prices are definitely on the rise.

Like I mentioned in another threat, next year I'll gonna go like in the early days ... when I didn't have the money for the fancy camps.

Greetz,

Johan

Richard,

I tried but it still doesn't work for me.

Johan

Lets try this...

http://tinyurl.com/2dl4wx

Feb 14th

I awoke to some baboons hanging out, outside my door. We went off on our drive, and within 15 minutes, we spotted a very shy leopard. She stayed in the grass, and soon bolted into the trees. To our surprise, a young leopard was spotted, and she wasnt nearly as shy. We actually watched her move around for about 20 minutes, and finally grew bored of us, and went into the trees. We than decided we wanted to see some Rhinos if possible, so off we went... it turned out they hadent seen the Rhinos in a while, so our chances werent great... I am sure you know where this is leading. We were driving along, I looked to the right as we passed some trees, and was like, RHINO... We backed up, and sure enough there were a couple of Rhino near us. Our guide called it in, and moved closer. As he did, we spooked them, and they ran into some dense trees. We followed and searched for them for about 20 minutes and than found a group of 7.... wow. We spent about 45 minutes with the Rhinos, and as we sat there, they came very close... the other vehicles found us, and we left them to their viewing. As we had found the leopards and Rhinos, we decided that we needed a big 5 game drive, so off we went... we found ellies, and buffalo in the same area.. as well as a bunch of general game. Our guide thought he knew where some lions were, so off we went. He was true to his word, and we soon found several lions relaxing... a truly great game drive... I just wish we had found the big "6" with wild dogs.

We returned for a nice lunch, and a little relaxation. Even though I was very tempted to use the computer and internet connection provided by the camp, I stayed true to my word to myself, and ignored the outside world. I relaxed with a good book, and enjoyed the afternoon.

We had a pair of guys from Spain join us for the afternoon drive, as well as a member of staff. The camp called us saying they saw something near camp, and that it might have been a wild dog. We took off on a wild journey, but unfortunately didnt find any dogs... I was laughing as I heard the two from Spain talking about our "loco" driver. We looked for, but didnt find, the Rhinos. We did have some excellent sightings of lions, including some lion sex. We also found some cheetahs, who were relaxing, but decided to pose for us in a tree.

After sundowner, we returned to camp for a boma... the food was great, and we stayed up and had a few drinks afterwords.

Lynn: THe cost of a Kwando private vehicle for high season 2007 is $275 per day. The price has gone up.....keeping in scheme with Botswana pricing........last year it was 200 per day.


Hari

Seven rhinos and you spotted the first. Your big 5 days was amazing.

Thanks, Hari for the pricing.

The photo link did not work for me.

Yep...i couldnt get into the photo link.......look forward to seeing them

Richard,

What did you think of your guides at Sanctuary lodges? you did mention they dont hv trackers.....but, what about the quality of guiding?

Thanks,
hari

hmmm... the tinyurl doesnt work? It works for me...

Hari,

I did prefer the guiding at the Kwando camps a lot more. They were very knowledgable, and definitely knew the areas very well. I was amazed at how we picked up tracks and followed them to animals with the guide and tracker system.

There is nothing wrong with the A & K Sanctuary camps. They are well run, posh, and are would totally appeal to a select kind of traveler. It was kind of too "disneyland" for me... our drives almost seemed pre-planned. For the most part, we would find a sighting, take some pictures, and move on to the next. There was usually a vehicle ahead of us, and one behind us. I strongly suspected that they knew where these animals would be.

Kwando was much more of an adventure... go out, see what you can find, and do what you want. If I (or the group) wanted to stay with a sighting, than no problem, lets follow these Cheetah and see what they do. At Chiefs for instance, we came across some Cheetah, got a few pictures, and our guide starts to drive away... I was like, cant we stay and follow them to see if they go hunting... and he didnt seem to care what we wanted to do... his response was that other vehicles want to see the sighting, and that we are going to see the lions next... again like it was pre-planned. Other than when we were chasing after the Rhinos at Chiefs, we didnt follow tracks to sightings... and this was what I enjoyed the most at Kwando... the hunt for dogs, or cheetah, or lion.

Dont get me wrong... I enjoyed my stay at Chiefs, Baines, and Chobe... but if you ask me where I will go back, it will definitely be to Kwando (for more than 2 days per camp for sure), while I would say been there done that at the Sanctuary Camps, and look to go somewhere else... with Mombo being high on my list.

I hope my rambling makes sense...

Richard

Richard: that's good information on how game drive philosphies can be so different. With Chief's being in Moremi they are also limited to established tracks I think, is that correct? It makes it hard to follow a cheetah like you can in Kwando where you are allowed to drive wherever it may go.

As for your photo link, I think most of us had the same problem the first time we posted photos. Your link is tied to your login so it works for you and no one else. What you need to do is pick Share your album and send it to your email address. When you get the message click on it and it will take you into the album. Copy the url at that point and then give it to us and it should work.

Richard,

Can you remember who the guides were at Chief's?

When I was there in 2004/2005 it wasn't like that. But I don't know who's around at the moment ... I liked Brown, head guide at Chief's very much but he left around 06/2005.

On the other hand, some of the guides working for Kwando are among the best I've worked with so ...

Thanks PB.. try this http://tinyurl.com/2ppvsp

At Chiefs / Baines they were allowed to offroad if they were following tracks or an animal of the larger nature... lions, dogs, cheetah, leopard, etc... so we were able to follow any of these, but for the most part we didnt. We had great game viewing, but it was more of a daily checklist to find as many species as possible... maybe thats what most people want... rushing from one sighting to another. For me I enjoyed time just watching the various animals and how they interacted with each other. My favourite day was the one where we spent almost the whole day with wild dogs just following them as they moved around and hunted. At Sanctuary we really werent asked what we wanted to see / do... for the most part our guides decided for us... go to sighting, take some pictures, than move on. At Kwando, there was more interaction with the guides and clients as to what "they" wanted to do. Even though I was in a private vehicle and could make my own decisions, many times I heard the other guide asking his vehicle what they wanted to do. Several times we would split up to best identify opportunites... we will follow the cheetah, you the leopard, and Charles the lions... if something interesting happens, than all would be made aware. I really liked that, and it definitely made my viewing experiences that much better...

Richard

Richard,

The link worked ... and I especially liked some of your cheetah pictures.

I fully understand what you mean by the difference between Kwando and Sanctuary. Actually having to deal with a situation like you experienced now at Sanctuary would drive me crazy ... to avoid such situations I make use of private vehicles. It's expensive but on the other hand going on safari is expensive anyway and wildlife photography is my passion so ...

Greetings,

Johan

Feb 15th

I decided to take a well deserved break this morning, and sleep in, and miss the morning game drive. I actually slept in till about 8 am when the baboons outside my suite decided that I should wake up. I took my time getting up, got ready, and packed. I joined the group for breakfast... and after being told by our driver that I missed a lot of great game sightings... was told the truth that they really didnt see anything. It didnt really matter, as I enjoyed my sleep.

I was asked if I didnt mind checking out of the room, so they could prepare it for the next guests as the camp was going to be full. I was already packed, so it was easy to transfer everything out of my room. I relaxed in the lounge, and really enjoyed a relaxing 3 hours as I went through many of the African Geographic magazines, and enjoying a few Windhoek bevvys. At about 2 30 I was picked up for my transfer to Baines. I enjoyed my times at Chiefs, and if I ever talk my parents into going on a safari, feel it would be the perfect camp for them.

The flight to Baines was only about 20 minutes. My driver picked me up, and told me it was about 50 minutes to camp. He than told me I may miss the evening game drive, as our timing would be tight. I was like, get on it, im not fragile, lets goooo. I am not sure if he was kidding with me, but he said we take short cut, and it seemed like we got there in about 35 minutes. I understand we passed Stanleys camp on the way to Baines. Baines was a nice camp with only 5 huts. When we got there, one of the vehicles had the largest camera I have ever seen on a tripod. I was like... who's that? It turned out that there were a serious camera couple there, and that they had a private vehicle. I checked in, and was taken to my cabin. It is very nice, and they explained the option of "sleeping under the stars"... As I am not a huge fan of spiders, I wisely decided to stay in. There were several large spiders in my room, and while I knew they were harmless, asked that they be removed. I think the staff had some fun with that one... big guy afraid of spiders... we all had some laughs.

I met 2 other couples who were currently at the camp. I waited about 5 seconds till I asked about the camera. They laughed and said it was just a hobbey, and that they come once or twice a year to Africa from Spain. I joined the other couple in our vehicle, and we were off... we saw some of the usual game, and we followed the same road I went in on, and passed the air strip. We found some lions, cheetah, and a nice herd of ellies. After our sundowner, we went for a night drive. A nice thing here is that it is possible, where it wasnt at Chiefs. We spotted some lions, and followed them for a while. It was pretty dark, but we heard some buffalo, and the lions went on the hunt. They chased for a bit, but lost the kill. We went back to camp, and had a late dinner, followed by bed.

Feb 16th

Things are a little different here. We woke up a little later, and had breakfast. We followed that with a game drive... following the same path as we had the previous day. We didnt see a lot for most of the morning, but just when we were about to turn around, some lions were spotted. We found a pride of about 9, with 3 young ones. We didnt stay with them long, and soon went back to camp. We had a light lunch, and a few windhoeks. I read for a while, and had a short snooze.

We were joined by a young italian couple for our evening game drive. We followed the same trail as before and found the same lion pride from the morning. We stayed with them for about 30 minutes, and while they looked hungry, our guide wanted to go look around. We left the lions and didnt see much other game. As before, I wish we had stayed with the lions. We had our sundowners, and followed with a night drive to camp. We did have one nice sighting for about 5 minutes of an aarwolf... I hadnt seen one of them before. Dinner was good. It was explained to me that they couldnt do the Ellie encounter the next morning, that the person in charge would be back for a couple of days. I was also going to transfer to Chobe fairly early at 9 am, so would miss the morning game drive.

Feb 17th

I awoke early, packed, and joined the group for breakfast. After saying goodbye to everyone else, I left for my transfer to Chobe. We stopped by Stanleys Camp on the way to pick up a worker who was also on my flight, and they showed me around. Stanleys was bigger than Baines, with 8 or 9 chalets. They were also zipper entrances versus doors, so didnt look as fancy. We made it to the airstrip, and the 2 hour flight to Chobe.

Chobe Chilwero was not far from the airport, and it looked very posh. After a brief tour, I sat down for my camp briefing. It was kind of funny when they brought me a windhoek without being asked for. I was told that they keep a file on all their guest and their likes and dislikes. They were very apologetic that my room wasnt ready, so I sat and had a beer on the patio. I was told there was a full house that night.... 23 or so people. When I got to my room, I was like wowww. It was very large, air conditioned, and very nice and private. I also like champagne, and for some reason there was a bottle there for me, which my guide opened. Not wanting to let it waste, I changed, moved out to the patio, and relaxed in the sun for a couple of hours. The food at Chobe is excellent, and they had a huge selection for brunch. After some relaxation, it was time for our boat ride. As I hadnt done a lot of water activities to date, I was looking forward to this. We went out on the river, and had a nice ride, with sightings of ellies, crocs, and hippos. We had a sundowner on the water, and returned to camp at sundown. It was around 6 30, and dinner wasnt until 8. I got back to my room, and there was a bath drawn, with candles, and rose petals... would have been very romantic for a couple. Beside the tub was another bottle of champagne. By this time, I was enjoying my last night, and went for dinner. Dinner was excellent, and I got be around 10 pm.

Feb 18th

My transfer to Livingstone was for 9 am. I got up, did a little shopping, and had a nice breakfast. There were 3 of us, with a 90 minute road transfer to LVI. My impression of Chobe were good... it was an excellent post safari stop. The water activities were great, and for those who like the comforts like air conditioning, this is the place. Another place my parents would really enjoy.

We transfered to LVI, had no problems, and I relaxed on the flight to JNB. I did some final shopping at JNB, relaxed in the BA lounge, and very much enjoyed the first class flight to London. I was worried that I had to check out, and check in, and that I had 2 carry on bags. No one said anything to me, and I had an easy flight back to Canada.

An amazing time... thank you to everyone for your help and advice in planning this trip.

THE END

Now time to plan my next trip... Kwando again with a couple SA camps I think...

Richard,

My husband and I are also going to Chobe Chilwero, Baines and Chiefs plus four nights in and around Selinda walking trails and Zib. Did you get your visa on arrival in Zimbabwe? If so was it easy and did you need photos for the visa?

Great report. You mentioned there was no elephant walk at Baines. Had you planned on doing one? Good job with the aardwolf.

Georgie,

I got my visa at the Zambia / Zim border. No picture needed, and it just took a couple of minutes.

Atravelynn,

I had booked the ellie encounter, and actually changed my itinerary around the date they were supposed to start back up after their annual month off. Unfortunately, this changed at the end, and they didnt start the encounter up until a couple of days later.

Richard

Richard,

Enjoyed the pictures....thank you. Lots of nice pics.

The two cheetah towards the end...one on a termite mound and the other by it's side. Where was that?

I also noticed a radio-collared lioness....was that at lagoon or lebala, by any chance? The reason i ask, i think i may have seen her last year....


Rgds,
Hari

Hi Hari,

The 2 cheetah were the 2 we followed for a kill at Lebala. They are the brothers that hang around there...

The lioness with the collar was at lagoon... that is the one who was killing the baby baboons in a tree... I think I have some better pictures on the other disk... will take a look.

Richard

Thanks, Richard......those were exactly who i those they were....

Glad the radio-collared one is doing well. I saw her at Lagoon in August, again at lebala a few days later. Was in a fight of some sort and badly mauled. Glad she is doing well. I'm sure she is more relaxed around vehicles now than she was then....

Rgds,
Hari

That should read : "who i thought they were"....typo

Great pics Richard, fantastic compliment to the well done report. So many great cheetah shots, I really like the one in the tree as well as the wild dog in the mud. The pics feature a lot of eating just like your report -- tremendous luck.

Richard,

Thanks again for your outstanding report.

For your next trip, if you decide to go back to Botswana give Duba Plains a try ... and ask for James 007 - it's really worth it. It's a pity that Paul, who managed the camp for a couple of years, left but they still have a fantastic crew.

Best regards,

Johan

Thanks Johan,

As I learn more, I can better pick my next trip. Duba Plains and Mombo definitely are on my list, as well as an extended stay at Lebala, hopefully with Spencer as a guide.


I will pay the extra for a private vehicle, as it gives me the freedom to do what I want. I also want to get a new camera, and improve my picture quality for the next trip.

Do you think there is availability for Sept / Oct?? lol... any other cant miss camp suggestions keeping in mind while I enjoy everything, I really like dogs, cheetah, lions, leopard, etc??

Richard

RE:your favourite animals in your wish list....makes Chitabe very high on my wish-list.

Selinda and Zib....i will be able to answer your question by Mid-june(meant to be good for dog and cheetah)......yes, i agree with you on Lebala with Spencer.(also the unpredictability of things in the Kwando concession. One minute you are tracking one thing and next minute find something else!!!). For some reason, the delta camps dont give me that same feel....

I am also very curious about other locations outside Botswana- Kafue in Zambia, Somalisa in Hwange NP, Selous etc etc.,

Hari

Johan,

Is Vasco still guiding at Duba? He was our guide during my only vist to DP.....he was very good also.