This is part two of the Kwando Safaris Update for March. In this update, Tau Pan Camp, Nxai Pan Camp, and Kwando Lebala camp updates are provided after the introductory note from Bill.

Along with the Kwara area clients have had tremendous experiences at Tau Pan Camp. It is a fantastic place to see some of the smaller carnivores and we have had clients come back with great photos of meerkats, honey badgers, aardwolves, and bat eared foxes as well as some sightings of the elusive brown hyena. The Kalahari lions continue to impress all visitors and most end up with some good cheetah sightings, in February a client reported that he "saw lions and cheetah galore". Our latest client to Tau Pan had a remarkable and totally unexpected experience when a pack of 4 African wild dogs spent 2 hours hunting springbok on the open Tau Pan, stamina of both species was on display and the sprinbok exhibited their pronking (leaping 4 feet off the ground) behavior with dorsal flagging, basically the white hairs on their rumps flare up into an incredible powder puff display. I hope to do a special blog entry on this amazing sighting.

It will soon be the time of African wild dog puppies at the Kwando Camps. ©Bill Given

African Wild Dog Pups on the Way!

While I don't consider Lagoon Camp to be a fantastic green season location I will send people there who are especially keen on finding African wild dogs and once again the few sent all had nice sightings of the dogs. Now as we shift from Green Season to the dry season, Lagoon and Lebala become the best Kwando camps to visit and I do have some tremendous special deals I can apply for multi-night stays, with wild dog denning season quickly approaching these camps become very special places to stay. It sounds like in the Lebala/Selinda area there will be an early litter of pups and then the larger Lagoon pack is likely to have puppies emerge from the den in July. Now to the second part of this month's Kwando Safaris sightings....

Tau Pan Camp

Tau Pan Camp's resident Brown hyena has returned to its routine of an early morning drink at the water hole in front of the main area. Camp guides believe that they time their drinks not to coincide with the two big male lions who are also fond of a similar morning routine. After quenching his thirst the hyena then slips away into the thick bush, usually to the east of the camp.

On Phokuje Pan we have been fortunate to see a family of meercats (surricates) on several occasions. These highly gregarious bands are legendary for their bold approach to humans and fascinating group social structure. So far eight individuals have been identified.

Also on Phokuje Pan there have been excellent views of Cape eland antelopes. A herd of about thirty has been spotted quite a few times moving in and out of the area.

In close proximity we still have a female cheetah living with her two cubs and hunting from the large springbok population in the area.

Closer to the camp the blond and the dark maned lion coalition still rule the roost on Tau Pan. A total of six females have at times been seen in their company and one week three of the females were accompanied by three cubs. The lions in the area seem to single out gemsbok as their favourite prey but have also been seen hunting animals as diverse as the springbok or prickly porcupine!

Kwando Lebala Camp

A great month of game viewing on the savannahs of Lebala has yielded excellent predator viewing for our guests. Around Kwando Lebala CampA large variety of plains games species Is providing ample food for our resident Leopards, Lions, Cheetahs and Wild dogs. There is some concern for the smaller of the three packs of Wild dogs in the Kwando concession. Previously when sighted they had numbered six but now they number merely four individuals. It is not uncommon for skirmishes to break out with larger predators such as lions or hyenas so there is concern that two may have been killed in the fighting. Moreover, one of the remaining four dogs is heavily pregnant and awaiting a new denning site so cannot be an enormous help hunting. Wild dogs rely heavily on numbers for success on their hunts and the less animals the higher the chances of starvation. On one occasion this was highlighted when the four dogs pulled down a sub adult kudu only for one of them to badly sprain its leg and put it out of action for up to a week.

Lion sightings have also been good this month with the two males of the area being followed for several hours following a large herd of buffalo. The morning light revealed a successful hunt on a young buffalo that had been isolated and killed away from the formidable male ‘Dagga Boys’ of the herd.

Elsewhere, there was the unusual sighting of a pangolin. The only one of its kind for several months. Astonished onlookers snapped with their cameras while the shielded ant eater slowly made its way into the bush.

Nxai Pan Camp

Nxai Pan Camp has witnessed some astounding cat viewing in the Park this March. Firstly, a female leopard has been seen on occasion with a young leopard cub walking from pan to pan and stalking the numerous springbok in the area. The mother is naturally very protective of the newest member of her family but some excellent shots have been taken of the youngster oblivious to the dangers around him!

Additionally, we have also had great sightings of a cheetah mother and her cub close to camp. The mother managed to chase down a springbok antelope right by the large Baobab infront of the camp Nxai Pan.There are also plenty of lions in the area. One group of seven lions have been seen recently on a zebra kill and they have ventured close to the camp to drink from our water hole. That water has to be shared with some huge resident bull elephants who still dominate the view from the front porch.

Additionally, we have seen some good herds of eland in the area towards Khama-Khama Pan to the North-East. They are fairly shy but provide an excellent spectacle as they leap in front of the safari cars in front of the road.As well as the excellent migrant birdlife we are still enjoying we have seen two fantastic sightings of a Stanley’s Bustard and Martial’s eagle hunting a White-faced Duck.