Lebala visit Sept/October 2008
Oct 11th, 2008, 01:26 PM
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Lebala visit Sept/October 2008
Hello all,
I guess after all the anticipation and waiting, another safari has come and gone. I am certain Monday morning is going to be a reality punch in the face.
As usual, right now the first thing I miss are the people. Many many thanks to Spencer and Mr.Mo at Kwando Lebala. They were Friend, guide and host all in one and they will be sincerely missed ........
I had possibly some of my best ever cheetah viewing over the past two weeks. The star of the concession (to me atleast) is the female cheetah with a cub (approx 7-9 months). Had some amazing sightings that even surprised some of the experienced guides.
Spending a lot of time with the mother and cub - saw every kind of interaction. Went on hunts, high speed chases (including two missed hunts right across the front of camp on two evenings in a row), two kills, play kill of the steenbok, and a lot of bonding between the two.
Oh! before I forget - My first Pangolin sighting on Wednesday October the 8th.
Yes, Dogs being the stars up north at Lagoon - but, to me Cheetahs it will be.......
Also saw the Three brother coalition and the new Two brother coalition (the ones that removed the old two brother coalion). All said and done, none of these boys are all that photogenic. The Three brother coalition are okay when they are resting, but, hate being followed when they are marking their territory and move around a hell of a lot and really love the woodland areas. They cover a lot of area from well north of Lagoon. Still trying to discover some of the Southern areas.
The Two brother coalition are still a bit skittish as they are still feeling their way around the southern areas and they look like real beasts. Very big males.
If all of this was not enough - we heard from the guides in the Selinda that they found a new female with 4 cubs near the spillway. We took a morning drive this past Friday to Twin Pools as we figured that most cheetahs in the neighborhood eventually pop up over there at some point passing through. Lo and behold - we found them as soon as we got there. Forget any photo ops of them however, as they probably have only started seeing vehicles now as they took off and bolted away. Probably also from the mixed woodland areas..... did see them through the binocs. Didnt try to follow them as they were A.) Skittish B.) they ran off into the Selinda concession.
Oh! yes - there are dogs too but who's looking?
Had very good Cheetah, Wild dog and Leopard viewing, Roan and other plains game.
Reasonable Elephant and buffalo viewing, but, no where close to normal years with lower water levels. Lots of water in the Eastern side of the concession.
Will hopefully work on the photos this week and put them up on the pbase after I catch up with work.
Dogs - the lagoon pack and the denning pack (remaining members of the Selinda pack) were in a fight at Water cut this past Monday. One of the dogs from the Lagoon pack was hurt. That pack are now 8 adults and 6 pups.
The denning pack are 5 adults (4 males and one female) and 4 puppies.
There are atleast three other nomadic packs moving in and out of the greater Linyanti area. Two different packs of 5(one of them have the second female from the denning pack that have split off).
One pack of two females running between the two concessions.
Lion Viewing wasn't too great - They have a new pride of 6 or something like that who have taken over the void created by the other prides. They were seen near Lagoon camp - but, too far for me to give up the cheetah viewing to drive all the way up there to see sleeping Lions. Didn't bother....... did see the two new Male Lions that travel between Lebala and Selinda. .... Saw them twice and also one of them another time.
Lesson learnt on this safari - if you have a specific subject of interest ..... stay with it for as long as possible. Start every drive with tracking them. Resist the urge to respond to the radio.
Rgds,
Hari
I guess after all the anticipation and waiting, another safari has come and gone. I am certain Monday morning is going to be a reality punch in the face.
As usual, right now the first thing I miss are the people. Many many thanks to Spencer and Mr.Mo at Kwando Lebala. They were Friend, guide and host all in one and they will be sincerely missed ........
I had possibly some of my best ever cheetah viewing over the past two weeks. The star of the concession (to me atleast) is the female cheetah with a cub (approx 7-9 months). Had some amazing sightings that even surprised some of the experienced guides.
Spending a lot of time with the mother and cub - saw every kind of interaction. Went on hunts, high speed chases (including two missed hunts right across the front of camp on two evenings in a row), two kills, play kill of the steenbok, and a lot of bonding between the two.
Oh! before I forget - My first Pangolin sighting on Wednesday October the 8th.
Yes, Dogs being the stars up north at Lagoon - but, to me Cheetahs it will be.......
Also saw the Three brother coalition and the new Two brother coalition (the ones that removed the old two brother coalion). All said and done, none of these boys are all that photogenic. The Three brother coalition are okay when they are resting, but, hate being followed when they are marking their territory and move around a hell of a lot and really love the woodland areas. They cover a lot of area from well north of Lagoon. Still trying to discover some of the Southern areas.
The Two brother coalition are still a bit skittish as they are still feeling their way around the southern areas and they look like real beasts. Very big males.
If all of this was not enough - we heard from the guides in the Selinda that they found a new female with 4 cubs near the spillway. We took a morning drive this past Friday to Twin Pools as we figured that most cheetahs in the neighborhood eventually pop up over there at some point passing through. Lo and behold - we found them as soon as we got there. Forget any photo ops of them however, as they probably have only started seeing vehicles now as they took off and bolted away. Probably also from the mixed woodland areas..... did see them through the binocs. Didnt try to follow them as they were A.) Skittish B.) they ran off into the Selinda concession.
Oh! yes - there are dogs too but who's looking?
Had very good Cheetah, Wild dog and Leopard viewing, Roan and other plains game.
Reasonable Elephant and buffalo viewing, but, no where close to normal years with lower water levels. Lots of water in the Eastern side of the concession.
Will hopefully work on the photos this week and put them up on the pbase after I catch up with work.
Dogs - the lagoon pack and the denning pack (remaining members of the Selinda pack) were in a fight at Water cut this past Monday. One of the dogs from the Lagoon pack was hurt. That pack are now 8 adults and 6 pups.
The denning pack are 5 adults (4 males and one female) and 4 puppies.
There are atleast three other nomadic packs moving in and out of the greater Linyanti area. Two different packs of 5(one of them have the second female from the denning pack that have split off).
One pack of two females running between the two concessions.
Lion Viewing wasn't too great - They have a new pride of 6 or something like that who have taken over the void created by the other prides. They were seen near Lagoon camp - but, too far for me to give up the cheetah viewing to drive all the way up there to see sleeping Lions. Didn't bother....... did see the two new Male Lions that travel between Lebala and Selinda. .... Saw them twice and also one of them another time.
Lesson learnt on this safari - if you have a specific subject of interest ..... stay with it for as long as possible. Start every drive with tracking them. Resist the urge to respond to the radio.
Rgds,
Hari
Oct 11th, 2008, 09:22 PM
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The fires are deep into the mopane at the moment - very Westerly and far and away, but, did see them on Friday evening. Lots of water around Lebala and Lagoon, so should be okay.
Weather right now - Gosh there is a huge temperature swing in a given day. You definitely need a fleece in the Am for the first two hours, especially as it has been windy almost August like.
Then the temps heat up well into 40-42 degrees C. That converts to well over a 100F. Not for those who can't tolerate hot climates and I don't recommend it, if you are heat sensitive. I loved this time of the year as I could pack lightly without the heavy clothing. However, the light conditions etc etc., was only average. One or two days hazy.
Weather right now - Gosh there is a huge temperature swing in a given day. You definitely need a fleece in the Am for the first two hours, especially as it has been windy almost August like.
Then the temps heat up well into 40-42 degrees C. That converts to well over a 100F. Not for those who can't tolerate hot climates and I don't recommend it, if you are heat sensitive. I loved this time of the year as I could pack lightly without the heavy clothing. However, the light conditions etc etc., was only average. One or two days hazy.
Oct 12th, 2008, 12:44 AM
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Thank you all for the welcome and well wishes .....
For those of you planning safaris for 2010, 2011 etc etc., all I can say is this ........ you can't read web sites or TA marketing and say let me go here for one species and there for a different species. Every area is constantly changing in terms of the predator dynamics and in a productive area you will always see something or the other - For example, in previous years we were seeing a lot of Hyenas in Kwando. Now not that many. This probably is one of the reason why they are seeing so many cheetah and dogs in the area.
Cheetah - also, possibly the fall out of the savuti boys coalition has seen more male cheetahs popping up more regularly trying to make their mark on the area.
For those of you planning safaris for 2010, 2011 etc etc., all I can say is this ........ you can't read web sites or TA marketing and say let me go here for one species and there for a different species. Every area is constantly changing in terms of the predator dynamics and in a productive area you will always see something or the other - For example, in previous years we were seeing a lot of Hyenas in Kwando. Now not that many. This probably is one of the reason why they are seeing so many cheetah and dogs in the area.
Cheetah - also, possibly the fall out of the savuti boys coalition has seen more male cheetahs popping up more regularly trying to make their mark on the area.
Oct 12th, 2008, 06:29 AM
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Missed a few important sightings -
I guess there is always a day on every safari where everything goes right in terms of the sightings - that was Wednesday October 8th. The Am drive started with tracking the female cheetah as we do every morning - While doing so, we picked up tracks of the 3 males also that joined up together - within a half hour found all 5 of them together!!! What a find? A two for one tracking mission ...... Surprised everyone. The males were interested in the female who wasn't. After a half an hour of trying to harass her, they took off and left on their march northwards to the Lagoon area through the woodlands.
That afternoon, she had not fed for 3 days already and looking quite hungry. Started early for the PM drive and she was active by the time we located her. She killed almost within 5 minutes of us finding her. She made us wait for the two or three days prior - she was hunting those days right in front of the camp and missed. One of the misses was a clear visual of the high speed chase. The impala jumped through the blue bush that stopped the cheetah from bringing it down.
After we saw the feeding and just when the light went out drove along to the pangolin encounter. We radioed all Lebala vehicles and they came racing to the spot and we all got photographs with the pangolin.
Other sightings of note:
Quite a few Honey Badgers - atleast 6 different ones.
Some good quality leopard sightings
Caracal on my first drive
Boomslang
Civet on the roof of the lounge
I guess there is always a day on every safari where everything goes right in terms of the sightings - that was Wednesday October 8th. The Am drive started with tracking the female cheetah as we do every morning - While doing so, we picked up tracks of the 3 males also that joined up together - within a half hour found all 5 of them together!!! What a find? A two for one tracking mission ...... Surprised everyone. The males were interested in the female who wasn't. After a half an hour of trying to harass her, they took off and left on their march northwards to the Lagoon area through the woodlands.
That afternoon, she had not fed for 3 days already and looking quite hungry. Started early for the PM drive and she was active by the time we located her. She killed almost within 5 minutes of us finding her. She made us wait for the two or three days prior - she was hunting those days right in front of the camp and missed. One of the misses was a clear visual of the high speed chase. The impala jumped through the blue bush that stopped the cheetah from bringing it down.
After we saw the feeding and just when the light went out drove along to the pangolin encounter. We radioed all Lebala vehicles and they came racing to the spot and we all got photographs with the pangolin.
Other sightings of note:
Quite a few Honey Badgers - atleast 6 different ones.
Some good quality leopard sightings
Caracal on my first drive
Boomslang
Civet on the roof of the lounge
Oct 12th, 2008, 06:44 AM
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Great sights, Hari!
Will be in Lebala in November for 4 days.
Private vehicle on two days. I hoped to have Spencer as guide. Contacted Kwando for that and they wanted to charge me an additional € 135,00 per day for having him as guide (in addition to p.v. fee). I donīt know, if this is normal. Will see whoīs gonna be our guide.
Canīt wait to get to Botswana.
Thomas
Will be in Lebala in November for 4 days.
Private vehicle on two days. I hoped to have Spencer as guide. Contacted Kwando for that and they wanted to charge me an additional € 135,00 per day for having him as guide (in addition to p.v. fee). I donīt know, if this is normal. Will see whoīs gonna be our guide.
Canīt wait to get to Botswana.
Thomas
Oct 12th, 2008, 07:10 AM
#13
I guess I'll add another person to my "I hate you" list. You saw a pangolin! And all that cheetah action - 2 kills, training with a steenbok and chases - wow! Sounds like another great trip for you.
It sure is hard to get home and back to the real world, isn't it.
Cindy
You saw a pangolin! And all that cheetah action - 2 kills, training with a steenbok and chases - wow! Sounds like another great trip for you.It sure is hard to get home and back to the real world, isn't it.
Cindy
Oct 12th, 2008, 07:24 AM
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Who needs the Big 5 when you can score the Big 3 - Honey Badgers, Cheetah and Pangolins!! (None of which have I seen).I may ask you to buy me a lottery ticket while you are still "hot"!
Look forward to seeing your always excellent photos.
Look forward to seeing your always excellent photos.
Oct 12th, 2008, 07:39 AM
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Awesome sightings Hari! It's perfect that Lebala is becoming a cheetah stronghold, at the moment combining your favorite area, camp, and species.
Pangolin, caracal, boomslang, civet, many honey badgers -- you had fantastic luck with the fascinating less seen species. Usually just one of those is a big score and you had them all.
Pangolin, caracal, boomslang, civet, many honey badgers -- you had fantastic luck with the fascinating less seen species. Usually just one of those is a big score and you had them all.
Oct 12th, 2008, 10:04 AM
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Hello Hari,
You had a great stay in Kwando, my favourite place in Botswana and Africa. Your sightings were exceptional, particularly the cheetah sightings. After so many trips, I am still waiting to see my first pangolin, and aardvark also.
I am leaving for Tuli on thursday,....
Regards
Mike
You had a great stay in Kwando, my favourite place in Botswana and Africa. Your sightings were exceptional, particularly the cheetah sightings. After so many trips, I am still waiting to see my first pangolin, and aardvark also.
I am leaving for Tuli on thursday,....
Regards
Mike
Oct 12th, 2008, 02:35 PM
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Wow, with sightings like these I may have to re-think my dred of Uri vehicles. A year after our trip to Botswana, the Kwando camp (we stayed at Lagoon) upon reflection was really the highlight (the remaining 4 were WS camps) because of the guiding and sightings. Next tiem I'll try Lebala. Good advice about ignoring the radio.
Oct 12th, 2008, 05:08 PM
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Hari, welcome back.
Did you happen to see any sable? I missed them in August although I saw two groups of roan. Also, were there any tsessebes? I was surprised to find just one group. In case you haven't figured it out, I am interested in the ungulate dynamics as well as predators.
Did you happen to see any sable? I missed them in August although I saw two groups of roan. Also, were there any tsessebes? I was surprised to find just one group. In case you haven't figured it out, I am interested in the ungulate dynamics as well as predators.
Oct 12th, 2008, 06:28 PM
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Hi Safaridude,
Sorry - missed out on the ungulate details. Bear in mind the flood levels this year, so sable I didn't see any in the Lebala area. There is a much better chance up north at Lagoon - but, I didn't drive that far except a couple of times.
Lots of Roan in the Lebala area. One morning saw a herd of about 30. All the other plains game in plenty - tsetsebe, impalas, zebras, giraffee, red letchwe, wildebeests.
Plenty of smaller cats African Wild Cat and Serval. Didn't do night drives most times as I was generally with the cheetah very close to camp - 10 to 20 mins at most and just drove straight home when the light goes flat.
Hari
Sorry - missed out on the ungulate details. Bear in mind the flood levels this year, so sable I didn't see any in the Lebala area. There is a much better chance up north at Lagoon - but, I didn't drive that far except a couple of times.
Lots of Roan in the Lebala area. One morning saw a herd of about 30. All the other plains game in plenty - tsetsebe, impalas, zebras, giraffee, red letchwe, wildebeests.
Plenty of smaller cats African Wild Cat and Serval. Didn't do night drives most times as I was generally with the cheetah very close to camp - 10 to 20 mins at most and just drove straight home when the light goes flat.
Hari
