Here's another update from Kwando Safaris. This is a continuation of the December sightings. Yesterday we covered from Kwando Lagoon Camp, Kwando Lebala Camp, and Tau Pan Camp wildlife sightings. We now move on to Kwando Kwara Camp and Nxai Pan Camp.

Enjoy the rest of this month's update!

Kwara Concession

The beginning of December truly proved to become a festive month for all. We began the month with two sightings of leopards: while driving around Marula Island, we spotted a relaxed male, looking a bit hungry, who began hunting whilst we looked on. Unfortunately he was unsuccessful. In the afternoon we spotted another leopard, this one female, she was walking around in the same area that the male had been in the morning, so it’s possible she was interested in mating. Leopards were seen through the rest of the month, including a mother with her cub feeding on an impala.

Predator sightings in the Kwara concession have been quite successful. Lions topping our wish list and rarely disappointing, seeing them almost every day. There is nothing better than observing social behaviour and interactions and what better cat than to display all these than a cheetah and her 3 cubs. As we drove towards Wild Dog pan, we spotted the female cheetah and her 3 cubs playing under the shades. We stayed with the cheetahs for a while and through the month these were shay cats were seen in our concession every week. The coalition of three males were also seen often in the Tsum Tsum area but were difficult to follow through the mopane woodland. On the 14th we were so excited after spotting a pack of wild dogs near Tsum Tsum, and to top it all off, the dogs were feasting on a zebra...

Ever since the rains, general game has been quite plentiful, including in and around camp. Usually in the mornings, we have a lot of impalas foraging between the tents. It’s always great to witness these antelopes in large groups, with the baby impala still quite skittish, always staying close to their mothers. We have not been seeing a lot of elephants in camp, ever since the rains, these majestic animals are mostly feeding out in the marshes and plains. On the 11th we spotted 21 elephants whilst out on the boat cruise, crossing the Kwara channel. Quite an interesting sighting, we stopped the boat and witnessed the ellies swimming, feeding and having a great time in the water.

There have been plentiful sightings of antelopes, including tsessebes, wildebeest, reedbuck and buffalos. Also herds of zebras, dust bathing and grazing at four rivers. We also caught a glimpse of a rare sighting: bush pig! Looking a bit like an over-furry warthog, these animals are exceptionally shy, and hard to see.

A huge crocodile was located at Paul’s crossing, not shy at all and on the hunt for fish. We also spotted 8 hippos at Peters crossing and these colossal giants were playing, and of course grunting!

Birding has been wonderful this past month, considering that all you have to do is sit out on the porch in front of your tent with a pair of binoculars and look out in front of our camp. In the trees in camp we hear the birds calling constantly, including the black eyed bul bul, crested barbet and starlings.

Nxai Pan Camp

The beginning of December saw heavy rains, turning the roads into water channels, more suited to a mokoro! The sun came out, quickly drying things up again, but not before the first of the springbok began to be born… Soon, lots of little springboks were bouncing around, learning to run and jump on their stick-thin legs.

The rain also collected in the pans in front of Baines Baobabs – a magnificent sight at any time, but with the addition of the water birds skimming the pans for frogs and insects, it’s a magical place indeed.

The first two weeks of December saw lots of cats – cheetahs and lions – all doing what cats do best – sleeping! However, there was a leopard who decided not to fit into the same pattern, and was seen walking along West Road.

Perhaps realising she had to set a good example for her cubs, in mid December, a female cheetah caught a young springbok, but didn’t kill it, She gave it to her two cubs to play with – this helps them learn hunting and killing techniques. There is always the chance that the springbok will be able to escape the cubs, particularly when they a first learning what to do, but on this occasion, the baby springbok was not so lucky, and cubs killed it.

After the burst of rains at the beginning of the month, very little else fell, and as things got drier again, the lions and cheetah were seen more and more often relaxing in the vicinity of the natural water holes. Elephants and other animals are also visiting the water holes regularly, as the puddles dry up again.

The zebra migration is currently moving through the park. The zebras appear to have split into two, possibly three groupings this year, spreading further out, possibly due to the late appearance of the rain this year.

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Here another update from Kwando Safaris. These are sightings for December. We'll lead off today with sightings from Kwando Lagoon Camp, Kwando Lebala Camp, and Tau Pan Camp. The next blog post will feature Kwando Kwara Camp and Nxai Pan Camp.

Enjoy this month's update!

Kwando Lagoon Camp

With the wild dog pups now completely part of the pack, the dogs are highly mobile, and cover a large territory. This means it’s harder to track them down and keep up with them, but it’s a good sign that the puppies have adjusted well to their life, and are learning the skills needed to sustain them throughout adulthood. This month they ranged over the whole concession, and spent several days close to Lebala. Later in the month they were back close to camp. One morning, they caught a warthog piglet and killed whilst the guests looked on. The next night they switched back to their more usual diet of impala.

Leopards were also seen this month, hunting impala. A shy female cheetah was also seen hunting impala, together with her two cubs.

As predicted, the large herds of buffalo that we have been enjoying seeing the last few months have moved off again into the areas of good grazing. They will be back, but not in the number that they have been for a few months.

Jackals – both black backed and side striped – are often seen in most areas of northern Botswana. However, it’s very rare to see them together, and even rarer to see them chasing each other! Jackals do compete for the same food, but generally keep out of each others way. On this particularly morning, we were watching the two black- backed jackals running along in line with the car, when we realised one of them was actually a side striped jackal – much fluffier and larger looking than the black-backed. It streaked passed us, and was running at pace, being chased by the much smaller black-backed jackal. A second black-backed jackal was following at a distance. We lost sight of the side striped, and a few minutes later the black backed jackal came trotting back to check on his partner.

The carmine bee eaters are still in abundance, and have been joined by their offspring, who have not quite got the same vibrant colouration as their parents. Also still learning to catch, their parents occasionally catch an extra insect on the wing, and offer it to the young.

With the large Kwando channel right in front of camp, it’s essential to get out on the boat and take a trip on it. And this month, the guests are providing some strong competition with the crocodiles that inhabit the water: impromptu fishing competitions! Some huge catfish and bream (tilapia) have been hauled up on the lines, to the glee of those watching. Cast off to live another day – or perhaps end up in the croc’s mouth after all – the end of December marks the end of the fishing season for Botswana, to let the fish breed in peace!

Kwando Lebala Camp

There has been phenomenal general game in the area close to the Baobab: zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, tsessebes and baboons all in the same area. Visits to Kubu Pan were also very productive, with 25 hippos squeezed into the rainwater pan! Three roan antelope – normally a very rare sighting – have been seen relaxing around Lebala airstrip each morning. There was also a very unusual sighting of a black mamba fighting a yellow mongoose – we couldn’t tell who the ultimate winner was!

Smaller herds of elephants than last month – about 30 at a time – have been seen coming from the western edge of the camp, crossing the swamps in front of the camp. Normally in December, the elephants spread out through the area once the rains have fallen, sometimes making it difficult to find them, but this year they have still had a forceful presence.

Leopards were also seen during this month, with an unusual sighting of a large male and younger male seen playing and relaxing in the same area. Males are exceptionally territorial, and do not normally tolerate the presence of other males, but perhaps the older male in this case did not feel threatened by the younger one. As it was, the older male was also seen the next day, being chased by a pack of 20 wild dogs, and he eventually had to take refuge up a tree!

The pride of four lionesses were found several times this month, once feeding on a kudu, with a hyena keeping a watchful eye over them. The three male cheetah were also seen a few times, hunting, but no successful catch whilst we were watching.

The festive season was not a very happy one for some of the young impalas and tsessebes in the Lebala area, particularly around Kubu Pan.

On Christmas Eve, the wild dogs killed a baby tsessebe – it took them about 20 minutes to devour it. On the same day, the cheetah brothers managed to pull down a baby wildebeest, but before they managed to kill it, the wild dog pack arrived and took over the kill, quickly ripping the wildebeest to pieces. Not satisfied, the dogs then moved through the bush and killed three baby impalas. This all happened between John’s Pan and Kubu pan – about 15km – moving through the bush.

Again on the same day, a leopard was found hunting but was unsuccessful.

The wild dogs spent the night Kubu pan, and for Christmas morning, they found Santa had delivered them four baby impalas which the pack caught simultaneously.

The cheetahs, which – sensibly - had moved off away from the dogs, also had a good Christmas catching a male impala. When they finished eating, they moved a long way off – as they had been sandwiched between the wild dogs and the lions.

The lions – one male and a female – were found at Wild Dog Pan, also on Xmas. The next day, they were seen in the same area, mating.

he dogs killed a female impala by Kubu pan, and then a warthog piglet in the afternoon.

On the 28th of December, close to Lebala camp, the dogs again killed an impala. As they were feeding on it, a hyena made a surprise visit – only to be attacked by the wild dogs. As the hyena made a swift retreat, a lioness appeared out of the nearby bushes and grabbed the remains of the kill before the dogs could return to it! Amazing interaction!

Tau Pan Camp

Unusually hot temperatures for December which followed the few days of rain at the beginning of the month led to the Tau Pan lions doing a fair amount of resting from the heat, under the shade of umbrella thorn trees. A leopard was also seen walking along the cut-line, quite relaxed, but no repetition this month of the leopardess drinking from the pool! Tracks are still being seen in and around the camp, so we know she is still around.

Two brother cheetahs were found feeding on a baby oryx, in Passage valley. They were a little nervous and shy, perhaps fearing the arrival of the lion pride that inhabits the area. We also saw a female cheetah that was encouraging her two cubs to try to stalk springbok… not very successfully I am afraid!

The most spectacular – and exceptionally rare sighting for the Central Kalahari – was a group of 20 bull elephants drinking and wallowing in the mud at Passage Pan! Although signs have been seen of elephant activity in the region, this was the first sighting of the actual animal in many months. And then there were 20 of them!

Great birding this month as well, with secretary birds, painted snipes, hamerkops, marabous, lappet faced vultures, and giant eagle owls. General game was also good with sightings of bat eared foxes as well as the black backed jackals, giraffes, springbok, hartebeest, kudus and wildebeest.

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