In Yesterday's Kwando Safaris blog post, I provided you with the news from Kwando Kwara Camp and Kwando Lagoon Camp . This is the second blog post for Kwando's October sightings and covers Nxai Pan Camp , Tau Pan Camp , and Kwando Lebala Camp . Enjoy.

Kwando Lebala Camp

October has brought stifling heat and extraordinary game viewing to Lebala this month. Lebala itself means ‘open space’ where huge herds of Elephants and Buffalos are now crowding by the permanent river source of the Linyanti Swamps.

Elsewhere, a Leopard was seen killing a young Lechwe and dragging it to safety up an acacia tree where it sat with its meal for two days. Cheetahs are a common site around the area especially if the Lions move somewhere else temporarily.

Lion sightings have been numerous and very entertaining - they are often tracked and found stalking the large Buffalo herds of Lebala. A Black Mamba was also observed raiding a Carmine Bee Eater nest and coming out with a bird which it consumed whole – a very rare and special sighting.

Around the camp, more wonderful sightings have been seen and especially great was when a Martials Eagle pounced onto an unfortunate Water Monitor Lizard and proceeded to have very substantial meal of it over the next days.

Tau Pan Camp

Visitors flying into Tau Pan airstrip last month would have been greeted by the sight of a Leopards leftovers hanging from an acacia tree near the parking lot! A male Leopard killed the Springbok before dragging it up a tree to protect it from nearby scavengers such as Lions.

Our two male Lions are a common sight and have almost adopted Tau Camp in their daily circuit of water, rest and hunt. Lucky visitors enjoying a morning cup of tea will see them casually stroll down to the water hole - drinking their fill and finding a shady spot to sleep under for the day.

The legendary status of the Honey Badger has been maintained in the Kalahari once again in recent weeks. The central Kalahari where Tau Pan is positioned is one of the few places where Honey Badgers are regularly diurnal and can be seen in daylight. One such sighting took place close to a resting Cheetah. As soon as the cat saw the Badgers it sped off swiftly in the opposite direction!

Lots of desert game has remained on the pan during this very hot month of October. Springbok, Oryx, Hartebeest and Giraffes can often be seen from the main deck and rooms of camp.

Nxai Pan Camp

In this driest of months the Nxai Pan waterhole has been teeming with the local wildlife. The unrelenting heat and dust has given the skin of resident bachelor Elephants an orange brown tinge in contrast to the dark greys and blacks of the Okavango and Kwando Elephants.

All eagerly await the impending rains and incoming migration of Zebra and Wildebeest. Some early rains have encouraged fresh grasses but for now the resident predator species have to rely on the last remaining brave antelope species to hunt. Oryx, Springbok, Impala, Ostrich and Eland remain to be harassed by the Lions and Cheetahs. The two brother Cheetahs in particular are a familiar site for guests and have become less shy as the season has gone on. Wild Dog tracks have also been identified on the pan and a resident Leopard has been seen on occasion in and around the camp itself.