atravelynn

Your light was perfect all through the Savuti stay. The zebras in and out of the water were lovely poses. Everybody was swimming--dogs, baboons. The lion cubs were precious. And those leopards just don't quit!

LAleslie

Just looked at your pix. What magnificent sightings you had. My favorites: the lechwe running with birds in flight, the leopard head with bared teeth, and one of the pix of the lions at the kill with the light streaming in on the antelope. Like a painting. Adn of course all those adorable puppies.

debwarr

LAleslie: Thanks for the nice comments about the pictures. My favorite was the one at the kill that you mentioned. I was very lucky to get that shot since I was hand holding the camera and didn't have a flash, just the lights from the vehicle. I just recently sent it into Nat Geo Mag for their "Daily Dozen" contest and it was actually chosen! I've sent in a few photos in the past, but this is the first one they've picked. They choose one from the month (which would be from 360 photos) to put in their magazine. I don't think it will win that, but I'm just thrilled to see it actually appear on their site! If you enjoy good photography, check out their website. There are amazing photos posted every day. It's http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com and go to "Your Shot" and you'll see the Daily Dozen. My photo was in the second week of November. When I was a little girl my dream job was to be a Nat Geo photographer.....I guess now I can say that at least in a minor way I reached my dream!

atravelynn: One of my favorite things about Botswana is the beautiful water and seeing the animals in relation to it. It's fun to watch how their behavior is so different from those same animals in other places in Africa that don't have to contend with the rivers and channels every day. Those baboons were not happy about crossing the water! And seeing wild dogs and lions swimming is such a treat. It was also interesting to see the lions in the trees at Xudum. I've seen lions climb trees with low thick branches before in the Delta, but I've never seen lions who seem to prefer the trees. They were fairly agile going up the tree, but never seemed to know exactly how to come down.

scruffypuma

Debwarr: Congratulations on the Nat Geo shot. I went to the site and there are some impressive photos there, you should be very proud!! You had some great lighting throughout your photos. I really liked the lions in the trees. I have yet to see a lion in a tree anywhere!! Maybe someday. Again, congrats.

atravelynn

Lions rule at Xudum. To even see a Pel's Fishing Owl is a major accomplishment, but such an excellent photo is a real feat!

LAleslie

Congrats on the Nat Geo selection. you are now one of the very elite, and that picture deserved it, even if it was a "grab shot."
Re the lions not being able to come down from the tree: Sounds like a typical house cat.

debwarr

Fortunately for Xudum, they have a pair of Pel's Fishing Owls currently nesting (I think) in a tree right in front of room #9, so they have pretty reliable sightings of this magnificent bird fairly frequently. No telling how long the birds will stay, but I'm happy for the people at Xudum. They are so wonderful and they have many challenges. We met a couple while we were there that came to Botswana ONLY to see a Pel's Fishing Owl and a Waddled Crane (they had no interest whatsoever in the mammals). We saw both at Xudum (and the cranes elsewhere as well), so hopefully they went home happy. But this wasn't even the best Pel's Fishing Owl we saw. Late one night at Little Mombo we saw one right next to the walkway in a bare tree with a half-eaten catfish in its talon. We were close enough to touch it, but, alas, in our hand was a glass of wine....not a camera. We stayed for a long time and it never left. We felt like we were in the presence of royalty!

Thanks for the nice comments on the Nat Geo photo.....luck (and many, many photos) sometimes substitutes for talent!

virginia4

What a hugely helpful trip report! Thank you so much!

atravelynn

What an honor--a Nat Geo Winner!

amycyma

Debwarr

Wonderful report, i enjoyed all the detail, it made me feel that I was back in Botswana.
I too, was most struck by the one wild dog, and the close call between the 2 dogs and the lions.
You had really wonderful sightings. Much more predators then my trip in May/June.
We also stayed in tent #1 in Savuti. And we loved Savuti.

Now I get to look at your photos!

amy

atravelynn

You're a Pel's Fishing Owl magnet! Excellent action at Little Vumbura from the morning mekoro and lechwe running in the mist to the carmine bee eaters and cats. You even saw sable.

africaddict

Great report Denwarr!
My wife and I were also in Botswana this September, and have been very slack in not submitting my trip report yet, hope to soon.
Your experience with obnoxious guests is a timely reminder to book a private vehicle, which is what we do. Surely this could have been done at Little Mombo??
When one is spending so much money on lodge nights like Mombo it is a little extra so very well spent. ;-)

Cheers
Marc

atravelynn

"he did a non-stop (and I do mean non-stop) narration that was both loud, pretentious and dramatic. He also didn't want other people to talk because his microphone might pick it up."

So sorry you had to endure obnoxious man who even laced his narration with profanities.

Should a similar situation present itself again (hopefully not to you), I wonder about a reaction like this:

"Awchoo, awchoo! Oh Excuse Me." "Aw Aw Aw Choo eee!" Others can chime in "Bless you, God Bless, "Gesundheit!"

You could also get a frog in your throat, which one time happened to me legitimately at Mombo as we were watching a leopard get ready to go after an impala and I feared my coughs would mimic alarm calls.

A private vehicle does indeed solve the problem, but I wonder if you could even do that at Little Mombo since there is only one available. Plus, even though your own vehicle is much less than the cost of a room at Mombo, for many people, they've reached their limit just to get to Africa, and hundreds more is too much.

But I have heard of the strategy of asking for a private vehicle after you've arrived and if one is available I was told you may be able to get it for less than if you booked it from the outset. Also if you pleaded your case that you wanted the private vehicle to get away from a clearly undesirable guest, maybe you could get it at a discount. The sympathies expressed to you around the campfire, could perhaps be channeled into a discounted private vehicle, especially if you and the other couple joined forces. Again, that's assuming there even was a vehicle available. Not trying to second guess a less than desireable situation, just trying to learn from others' past experiences.

Your comparisons and suggestions on Mombo vs. Little Mombo are very helpful.

Now I'll have to check out the Mombo photos.

atravelynn

The good luck and good photos continued at Mombo. The hyena youngsters were certainly active. I love those little guys. Adorable lion cubs and it appears there will be more. Superb toilet shot, quite attractive really, puts my bathroom decor to shame.

I was hesitant to include a baboon photo in my last report that revealed the definite maleness of the creature, but I feel vindicated after viewing your action shot.

That snake eating a gecko was amazing and as a result you have won even more accolades than those bestowed by Nat Geo.

"I'm an admin for a group called Snakes eating in nature, and we'd love to have this added to the group!"

I copied that comment. The specificity of various Internet groups is mind boggling. I hope you share your snake shot and make this guy's day.

atravelynn

The good luck and good photos continued at Mombo. The hyena youngsters were certainly active. I love those little guys. Adorable lion cubs and it appears there will be more. Superb toilet shot, quite attractive really, puts my bathroom decor to shame.

I was hesitant to include a baboon photo in my last report that revealed the definite maleness of the creature, but I feel vindicated after viewing your action shot.

That snake eating a gecko was amazing and as a result you have won even more accolades than those bestowed by Nat Geo.

"I'm an admin for a group called Snakes eating in nature, and we'd love to have this added to the group!"

I copied that comment. The specificity of various Internet groups is mind boggling. I hope you share your snake shot and make this guy's day.

debwarr

Hi everyone. I've been away for a while and haven't check into this post, but I want to thank you for the nice comments about the report and photos. Also, great suggestions about the private vehicle. In the past we've been very lucky with other guests, so I really didn't think a private vehicle would be needed. Also, this trip definitely was in the "maxed out" category, so the extra $500 a day (I think that is the going rate at WS camps) seemed a little excessive. The suggestions about going to the managers in this type of situation are good ones. Even if Little Mombo only had one vehicle, we may have been able to get one from the main camp. I also loved the idea about the sneezing and coughing fit to mess up the video! I was fuming so hard, I just wasn't thinking creatively!

Atravelynn....your right about the amazing specificity of internet photo groups. I'm fairly new to Flickr and I just checked my photostream and another photo (of zebra behinds) got added to a group called "Cute Animal Behinds"! Something for everyone!

Marc, go ahead and start on that trip report. I really turns out to be such a pleasure to do because you get to live all your adventures over again!

Take care,
Debbie

Kavey

What a FANASTIC report... everytime I got to a bit where you'd say you were going to be less detailed now I'd shout NO, DON'T at my screen! Loved the detail!

Off to view your pictures now!

debwarr

Hi, Kavey. I just read your comments on my Flickr page. Thanks for the nice words!