Yesterday's post covered three Kwando camps, today's post wraps up the June Kwando Safari Sightings with reports from Kwando Lagoon Camp and Tau Pan Camp.

Kwando Lagoon Camp

It is officially ‘denning’ time again at Kwando Lagoon Camp and not only wild dogs! A hyena den was also discovered this month about 15 minutes drive from camp which has allowed guests excellent and regular sightings of the hyena and their young.

Also very close to camp, the guides had regularly spotted a pack of 17 wild dogs. The alpha female became notable by her absence around the middle of the month, leading guides to believe she had entered the den in order to give birth. The den site was later discovered within three kilometres of the camp and we are waiting in eager anticipation for the arrival of new puppies!

Fortunately for the dogs, while leopard have been spotted on a baboon kill and cheetah hunting on the flood plains, lion have been few and far between this month. While the dogs are expecting puppies we are all grateful for their absence! The increasingly abundant buffalo herds are likely to change this in the next few weeks though.

Tau Pan Camp

One of the most notable events in the desert this month was a severe frost which hit the entire region. Temperatures plummeted in the Kalahari to several degrees below freezing! Staff woke to find not only was water in the pipes frozen but even the water in the toilets was solid ice!

The animals no doubt faired a little better from the cold but are beginning to feel the affect of the dry season. Even with significant late rains the grass has taken on its famous Kalahari yellow colouring as it dries out.

Game is now moving further a field in search of good grazing and the herds to break up into smaller numbers. The guides are, after a year of travelling the Kalahari, beginning to see recognisable groups of animals especially predators, including a group of five mature cheetah (one female and four males – probably her grown young), including mating lions at many of the pans. The Tau Pan pride have been spotted regularly and one of the two dominant males has been seen mating with several different females. We hope to see the pride grow in size with new arrivals in the coming months.