Botswana

In Search of Leopards

29th October 2020

In Search of Leopards

What is the only regret that many African safari travelers go home with? Not seeing a leopard. I know of several repeat visitors to Africa who have struck out on leopards more than just once. Three, four trips even and including some known leopard haunts and – nothing. Some animals are more equal than others, and among the much celebrated ‘Big Five’ mammals – lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and buffaloes – leopards are clearly a standout.

Not because they are rare – in fact they are more abundant than any of the African big cats – but because they are naturally evasive, skulking and mostly nocturnal. Other than in a handful of places across Africa, leopards are rarely observed beyond perhaps a quick glimpse, a flash of spots disappearing into the green.

When you do get lucky with a leopard sighting, it is always fodder for camp-fire talk, something to casually mention over dinner back in camp. The reaction being a predictable mix of envy and admiration. Suddenly, you’re the most interesting person in the room. There will be an invitation to provide more details and the conversation will probably meander into reminiscing about old but not forgotten leopard sightings. Memories of this sleek, beautiful cat – pound for pound the most powerful of any of its kind – barely fade with time.

Prod any safari aficionado a bit and they will tell you about seeing a leopard practically run up a tree in Samburu in Kenya, the warm body of a good sized impala firmly clamped in its jaws. Or the time they saw a leopard stalk and kill a careless blackbacked jackal in Etosha National Park in Namibia, in the middle of the day. There are lots of good leopard stories out there. And almost just as many places and opportunities to experience this most memorable of animals, and start working on your own stories. Here are some notes on a few of these special places, with some of our favorite leopard photographs.

Hunda Island, Okavango Delta Botswana

Hunda Island is a large, well-wooded island in the Jao concession in the western part of the Okavango Delta. The Jao concession is exactly what one might anticipate the Okavango Delta looking like, even before you’ve ever been there. A stunningly beautiful mosaic of small, palm-fringed islands, meandering channels and pretty lagoons with sizable stands of reeds and papyrus. When the annual flood is in, large expanses of the Jao floodplain become inundated, creating a water wonderland like no other. Hunda Island is a few feet higher than the surrounding plains, so it stays dry year round. There is no lack of trees though and plenty of game including impalas, baboons, hares, warthogs and rodents. Leopard food, all. Some of the leopards to be seen on Hunda Island are quite relaxed – as the guides will say – being habituated to the presence of vehicles. Which means they can see and smell you – but they don’t care.

More than once, I’ve seen a leopard in a tree on Hunda Island. Which is a photographer’s potential dream shot – and also his or her biggest challenge. The issue being the dreaded ‘bright sky’ background which messes up the exposure, resulting in either an underexposed (dark) leopard or a totally blown out, overly bright sky background. On the day that I managed to get this shot of a leopard in a tree on Hunda Island, this very same animal had been in another tree just minutes earlier, with ‘just sky’ in the background. With zero chance of getting a nicely balanced exposure. I was beyond myself. Only to have the leopard calmly clamber down that tree, and into another one, with – halleluja – green foliage in the background. Leopard in a tree shot? Check. My advice is to be patient and to stick around. Things change, and often for the better. If you’re really keen on getting some great leopard shots, spend more time on Hunda Island (like four nights instead of three) and stay at Tubu or Little Tubu camp. They are right on Hunda Island and you won’t be wasting time getting there.

MalaMala Game Reserve, Sabi Sand Reserve, South Africa

I always think of MalaMala as a place where leopards can be seen strolling down a track at 11 in the morning. It is that kind of a place. The consistency with which leopards are seen at MalaMala is simply astonishing. Practically not a day goes by without a leopard sighting, week in and week out. There were a total of 1,216 sightings in 2019, an average of 3.3 sightings per day. Leopard sightings are measured on a per day basis, so if the Island Female is seen on the morning drive and again in the afternoon, that is counted as one sighting. The record high number for different leopards being seen at MalaMala on one day is no less than fifteen. So if you absolutely, positively ‘have’ to see some leopards on your next or first Africa trip, MalaMala needs to be on your itinerary. You can thank me later.

If you’ve been there recently or are planning a trip, names like the Piccadilly Female, the aforementioned Island Female, the Nkoveni Female, the Split Rock Male or the Maxim’s Male may either be familiar to you, or soon will be. The most widely accepted method of leopard identification is by using spot patterns. A spot pattern refers to the uppermost row of spots on the leopard’s cheeks, above the upper line of whiskers. Probably best to get a good close-up shot of the leopard first, and check the spots later…

This photo of a young male leopard was taken on our most recent trip to MalaMala in June last year. What made it special was that we spent nearly an hour observing him walking around, patrolling the area and checking for the scent or signs of any intruders into his territory. He was completely relaxed and did not so much as look at the vehicle, despite walking right by it on a couple of occasions. Eventually, he selected one of his favorite spots on a flat rock and stretched out. We were one of only two vehicles to enjoy this sighting, the first vehicle leaving the scene within minutes of us arriving.

Mashatu, south-eastern Botswana

Likely the most underrated of any Southern African wildlife sanctuary, Botswana’s Mashatu Game Reserve delivers big cat sighting after big cat sighting to match any other wildlife area in Africa. With no exceptions. Lions, cheetahs, leopards. All three can currently be seen there consistently. On a recent September trip, we enjoyed two different cheetah sightings and three different leopard sightings in the course of a relatively short stay at Mashatu Tented Camp. Unlike the true ‘bushveld’ regions of Southern Africa, Mashatu is relatively arid with less in the way of impenetrable thickets and dense riverine bush. While there’s plenty of cover for leopards in the way of mopane scrub, woodland, craggy terrain and rocky outcrops, visibility is generally quite good and I’ve had more unobstructed views of leopards and other cats here, than practically anywhere else. Except perhaps for the Serengeti/Mara complex in East Africa.

This photo of a leopard at Mashatu was the culmination of a guiding clinic, of sorts. Initially, our guide – and tracker – had spotted some fresh leopard tracks in one of the dry ephemeral rivers in the reserve. Following the tracks down into a gully, we had every expectation of bumping into the leopard. Soon. It was nowhere to be seen. The tracks had petered out in a gravelly patch. We circled around a bit and just when I had pretty much given up on the sighting, the guides heard the alarm call of a helmeted guineafowl. Looping around a few bushes, we approached the loudly protesting bird which was practically pointing at a nearby bush. If a bird could point. Sure enough, not seconds later, a leopard emerged from the bush. It gave us the barest of glances and calmly crossed the dry riverbed, prompting a torrent of machine gun-like shutter clicks from my Nikon D4 at nine frames per second. Success!

Mombo Camp, Chief’s Island Botswana

Wilderness Safaris’ Mombo Camp has gained a worldwide reputation and recognition for all-round excellence. Hospitality, guiding, game-viewing, atmosphere, food – there are no shortcomings. On first arriving at the Mombo airstrip many years ago, we were given the choice of proceeding to a cheetah kill or a Martial Eagle which had just taken down an impala. Of course we did both, and they were both phenomenal. The photos, much to my regret, were lost in a subsequent hard drive failure. I know. Back up on the cloud… The following day we experienced the first of many leopard sightings at Mombo, a streak which remains unbroken over the course of several return visits. As recently as March 2020 we were on a fantastic sighting of a female leopard in a tree – with her cub – within fifteen minutes on our first game drive. So Mombo.

One of the most legendary of Mombo leopards was Legadima, which Kathy and I were fortunate to see more than once. She was truly a ‘movie star’ leopard, featured in Dereck and Beverly Joubert’s ‘Eye of the Leopard’. It followed every step of her life, as the cub of Tortilis, from just eight days to three years old. Two of Legadima’s cubs namely Pula and Maru then became Mombo favorites, as did Phefu, the daughter of Maru. Currently a young male leopard named Tladi – the son of Phefu – is being seen all around Mombo, walking on the boardwalk and clambering onto the roofs of the guest tents. At just 14 months Tladi successfully hunted a full-grown kudu – quite an achievement for such a young predator. The Legadima legacy lives on.

Kaingo Camp, South Luangwa Zambia

Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park is known as good leopard habitat, and there’s no reason not to anticipate seeing one or more at practically any of the camps in the reserve, over the course of 3 days or so. Some South Luangwa camps do have an edge though, as does Shenton Safaris’ Kaingo Camp. It definitely belongs in the top echelon of safari properties where you are likely to see and properly photograph a leopard. On our first visit to the camp we witnessed an extraordinary spectacle one evening when we were out on a night drive, checking for predator action in some open floodplain terrain, along the South Luangwa River.

It wasn’t long before we had the spotlight on a big male leopard walking into the arena, as it were, checking around for what might be available for dinner. And then, just minutes later, from stage left, a female lion dashed into the picture, going straight for the leopard. To her instant regret, our guide had inadvertently lit up one predator for another. She later told us that she would have felt awful if the lion had been successful in getting to the leopard. In the end the leopard made a successful getaway, scampering to the safety of some nearby trees.

Another interesting phenomenon which we first observed at Kaingo involved hyenas and leopards. In this part of Zambia – and likely elsewhere – hyenas often follow leopards around at night, instinctively realizing that they may benefit if and when the leopard makes a kill. Either by appropriating the carcass for themselves – which we have witnessed on Hunda Island – or by scavenging for leftovers. So on every subsequent night drive, whenever we would see or hear hyenas, we’d be thinking and looking around for leopards. More often than not, that is how it turned out.

Kaingo is exceptionally well attuned to the needs of serious photographers, from the way the vehicles are equipped to the abundance of photographic hides, the kind of advice you get and the ability of the guides to anticipate behavior and movement and get you in the right position for a pro shot, time after time.

Kirkmans Kamp, Sabi Sand Reserve

AndBeyond’s Kirkmans Kamp and its younger, deluxe sibling Tengile, are leopard mainstays. On three different visits here the professional guides at both camps have found leopards for us every time without fail. And not just your common, garden variety of leopard sightings. We’re talking leopards in trees, leopards just a few hundred meters from lions, and most recently a ‘leopard alert’ where I was cautioned to stay in my room early one morning, waiting for a leopard to walk out of camp. We’re talking adrenaline-pumping, action-packed sightings which add 200 shots to your photo count in a hurry.

Despite some back-lighting issues, I managed to get a couple of decent exposures of the leopard that had walked into and then out of the camp, a little while later. It had climbed into a tree to survey the area. For whatever reason it was not happy about having the vehicle to the side of the tree, and snarled at us a couple of times. Uncharacteristic behavior for a leopard, in my experience.

In our blog post next Friday we will take a look at the where, why and when of chimpanzee trekking in Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.

More Info

Email bert@fisheaglesafaris.com

Email jason@fisheaglesafaris.com

@fisheaglesafarishouston

#FishEagleSafaris

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Elephants: Everybody’s Favorite

23rd October 2020

Elephants: Everybody’s Favorite

As a native of South Africa and someone who was fortunate enough to start going on safari as a child, I probably saw my first elephant in the wild before I was even 5 years old. As kids in the back of the VW Bus driving in the Kruger Park in South Africa, my sister and my brothers and I would literally shriek with delight when we came across a herd of elephants. We would stare at their giant tusks in awe, comment on their amazing ears, marvel at their versatile trunks, laugh at their antics, coo over the little ones, and just generally be delighted to be in their company.

Having seen literally thousands of them since then all over Africa, one thing remains the same. Every elephant sighting remains special. It is never ‘just another elephant’, or’ more elephants’, no matter how abundant they may be where I find myself. Elephants are fascinating creatures on so many levels and they have an almost visceral impact when you see them in the wild, especially close up.

Of course, there’s the sheer size of them, their massive bodies making an unequivocal statement as to who is the real king of the African wilderness. Hint: it is not the lion. I’ve seen enraged, trumpeting – sometimes even shrieking – elephants scare off lions many a time. Given a certain set of circumstances elephants are afraid of nothing and very little will stop them.

Mostly though elephants are adorable, much loved creatures who are always busy doing something. Mostly eating. The leaves on trees, shrubs, grass, bark, fruit, seed pods – pretty much any edible plant material. Another favorite elephant pastime: drinking. It is endlessly entertaining to watch elephants drink. They cannot go without water for extended periods of time and are almost always to be found within striking distance of a known (to them) source of water. Which means that on safari in Africa, one of the best places to find them – particularly in the dry season – is at a water hole, along a river, in a dam, a swamp or marsh.

Over the years, we have experienced many particularly interesting or satisfying elephant viewings, and every now and then have gotten lucky with a photograph. Here are a few of them with some of our notes and recollections.

Chyulu Hills, Kenya

One of my personal favorite elephant photographs is this one, taken of several elephant bulls at a small water hole right below Ol Donyo Lodge in Kenya’s Chyulu Hills. What made it special to me at the time – and what I tried to capture – was the seemingly invisible turf battle going on. These big bulls were in fact barely tolerating each other’s presence. Their ‘togetherness’ was simply the result of none of them being substantially bigger or more powerful than the others. Reluctantly, by the looks of it, they granted each other just enough room to get some water, and then move on. Nobody dominated, and everybody benefited.

Amboseli Swamps, Kenya

Amboseli is one of the best places in Africa to see elephants. Amboseli is a small national park which is famous for its elephants and its perfect view (cloud cover permitting) of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The Amboseli elephants are special because of the size of their tusks, their approachability, and their daily pattern of walking out of the woodlands to the swamps and then back. It is an arid area so they almost always kick up some dust which makes for atmospheric photos and awesome views. It happened to take me three visits to Amboseli to get some really good photographs of elephants with Kili in the background, but it’s mostly a matter of luck. Good or bad. On my third (successful) visit there were several first-time visitors in the vehicle with me… You just never know. This photo of a herd of elephants walking toward the swamps early in the morning, was made special by a relatively small but critical element: the one big elephant looking back. Just that. Without it, it’s a nicely lit and atmospheric shot of elephant walking, kicking up some dust. With the one elephant looking in the other direction? You can judge for yourself.

Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp, Namibia

Photography is all about light. Many professional wildlife photographers rarely attempt capturing anything beyond the morning and afternoon ‘golden hour’ window, when near horizontal light beams cast a flattering glow on practically everything it illuminates. Including elephants. Digital photography – which allows considerable manipulation of exposure levels in post-processing – has opened up a somewhat bigger photography window. Even so, few serious photographers expect a good outcome for photos taken in bright light in the middle of the day. The exaggerated shadows and washed out colors associated with harsh midday light, make it a poor choice. This photo of a desert-adapted elephant taken on a game drive from Wilderness Safaris’ Hoanib Skeleton Coast camp, is a good example. The soft morning light adds depth and drama and makes the photo ‘pop’. Take this same shot at noon and all the warmth is gone. It may in fact work better as a black and white image, then.

Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

Hwange’s 30,000-plus elephants are wonderful photographic subjects, particularly in the dry season when hundreds and sometimes thousands of them congregate around the many artificially pumped water holes scattered throughout the park. I will never tire of watching a herd of elephants approach a water hole, particularly after a long and dusty, thirsty walk out of the woodland. As they emerge from the trees, they start to walk faster and faster still. The young ones run ahead, excitedly, to get to the water first. Then, almost solemnly, and with serious intent, they all start to drink, practically simultaneously. They fill their trunks with one deliberate deep draft of water after another, squirting several gallons of water forcefully into their mouths. Again and again. Not until their thirst is quenched, do the elephants start to relax, look around at the other herd members, and begin to interact. Elephants lined up at a water source make fantastic photo subjects, as did these three at the Little Makalolo water hole in Hwange. As is the case with giraffe necks and heads, there are often patterns or symmetry – or for that matter asymmetry – to be observed and captured. Look for it and incorporate it into your shots to tell a story and add drama.

Odzala Kokoua National Park, Republic of Congo

By the time I made it to Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo, I had seen and photographed many an African elephant in dozens of places in Southern and East Africa. I had never seen or photographed a Forest elephant though. As it happened, we had fantastic luck with seeing and photographing Western Lowland Gorillas at Odzala. But not much luck with Forest elephants. A few glimpses and some far-off sightings, but nothing worth capturing with the big camera. Until we went on a walk down a small tributary of the Congo River. As we were approaching a clearing, a solitary Forest elephant emerged abruptly from the thick bush to our left. As startled as we were, it gave us a side-long glance and hurried across the opening, splashing through the water and disappearing into the thick bush on the other side, moments later. It’s for ‘can’t miss’ moments like these that wildlife photographers have to be ready for anything, with a camera set to freeze motion. Not ending up with a blurry photo is the overarching objective. With wildlife, there is often very little advance warning before things happen. And sometimes just moments to capture an instant in time which you may never experience again. I’m unlikely to ever again see a Forest elephant dash across a clearing in the Congo, but this image will forever be proof that it actually happened.

Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa

It is easy to believe that elephants are afraid of nothing and indeed they are – most of the time. Under certain circumstances though, they can easily be spooked, with sometimes unpredictable results. These photographs, taken in South Africa’s Madikwe Game Reserve, illustrate such an event. These three young elephants were slowly walking towards a water hole when a solitary running wildebeest set them off.

They wheeled on the spot and rushed off in the direction they came from, kicking up a cloud of dust. I’ve seen similar behavior elsewhere such as when a herd of elephants (in the Okavango Delta) started stampeding for no apparent reason. Ordinarily, this is not an issue to a casual observer, when you are in a vehicle. When you are on foot though, it can be most worrisome; you’d want to get away from the elephants as fast as possible and seek shelter.

Chobe-Linyanti, Botswana

Elephants love water and habitually enter rivers, lakes and ponds to cool off, play and seemingly just enjoy being submerged.

They are natural-born swimmers and can stay afloat for hours if need be. We’ve seen them swimming – with youngsters in the herd – clear across the Zambezi River.

This sequence of photographs shows elephants close to the Linyanti River in northern Botswana, walking in the river and also ‘snorkelling’ as they make their way through deeper water.

Mashatu, Botswana

Mashatu Game Reserve in southeastern Botswana is one of our favorite big cat destinations, but it also has great elephants. The Mashatu ellies are among the most approachable of any and will literally walk right by the game drive vehicles, just a few meters beyond touching distance. Which is awesome to experience – every time. Mashatu also has a specially constructed sunken elephant hide where photographers can get the most amazing shots of elephants coming to drink. This photo was taken of a herd of elephants approaching the sunken hide at Mashatu. They were moving towards the water in an almost businesslike fashion at a good clip, intent on getting there quickly and efficiently. We did manage to capture some great shots on the day and Mashatu’s resident professional photographer helped us improve our photo skills, regardless of our level of expertise. For any dry-season visit to Mashatu, a morning or afternoon spent in the hide is a most worthwhile addition to one’s program there.

Sheldrick Elephant Sanctuary, Nairobi

Since 1977, the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi has cared for and fostered hundreds of elephant calves from all over Kenya. Every morning at 11:00 a.m. there is a public feeding, where visitors can observe the elephants being fed, and learn a bit more about the challenges facing elephants all over Africa. Assistants help to dispense a special milk formula for the babies, and there’s some leaves and shrubs for the older ones. And sometimes a mud-bath on a warm day. The young elephants are housed in a safe stable environment until they are able to survive in the wilderness, when they are moved to Tsavo National Park for possible reintroduction with wild herds of elephants. This photograph of a tiny baby elephant happily drinking its milk formula encapsulates to me, just how vulnerable they are and how dependent they are on us – humans – for assistance. We cannot change the past but we can help to undo some of the negative fallout of poaching and human-animal conflict. Visitors or interested persons who adopt a baby elephant have the option of scheduling a more private afternoon visit, for foster parents only.

Next week’s blog post will focus on the most elusive of the ‘Big Five’ African mammals – the leopard. Much more common than one might think, but rarely seen due to their mostly nocturnal existence. We will look at a handful of places where leopards can be seen and photographed relatively easily and consistently.

More Info

Email bert@fisheaglesafaris.com

Email jason@fisheaglesafaris.com

@fisheaglesafarishouston

#FishEagleSafaris

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Seeing and photographing Giraffes on safari in Africa

14th October 2020

Seeing and photographing Giraffes on safari in Africa

As long-time safari planners and regular African travelers, giraffes are often on our minds, or in front of our camera lenses. Other than perhaps elephants, it is the one mammal that we get the most questions about. Everybody wants to see giraffes on safari. Just like the big cats, these quintessential African mammals are high on everyone’s must see list. It is easy to see why. They are simply spectacular in so many ways. There’s the sheer size of them, their stilt-like elongated necks and unmistakable ‘horned’ heads literally towering above the landscape and everything else. There’s the way they feed, drink, stare at you and run. Pretty much everything about a giraffe is weird and worth a second look.

Linyanti floodplain, Botswana

This photo, taken in the Linyanti area in Northern Botswana, illustrates a couple of things about giraffes and about getting useful images of them. Be ready with the right lens. If all you have available is a big telephoto lens, this is all you might get. A portion of a giraffe. Legs. Or a head, maybe a neck and head. So either shoot them at a good distance where they can fill the frame or use a shorter zoom lens to frame them properly. On this day I was fortunate to have a yellow-billed oxpecker bail me out of the tight photo spot. These birds have a symbiotic relationship with giraffes, helping them to get rid of disease-carrying ticks, food for the birds. Even ill-equipped photographers can be the beneficiaries of symbiosis, with a bit of luck.

Kwara concession, Okavango Delta

When it is not possible to get the entire giraffe – or more than one – inside the frame, consider grouping together a few giraffe necks, heads or upper bodies. Sometimes, you can get lucky and three giraffes will be facing in the same direction, with a nice cloudy background. It doesn’t happen all the time but keep looking for such an opportunity to present itself. Some years ago in the Kwara concession in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, I did just that, got lucky and succeeded in getting a visually pleasing shot of these three giraffes.

Kwandwe Game Reserve, Eastern Cape

I captured this photograph of three plains giraffes feeding at Kwandwe in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is another example of framing more than one giraffe in the same photograph, by isolating their necks and heads. The more giraffes, the better. Four necks may even be better than three; I’ve just not come across a suitable opportunity to try that!

Samburu region, Kenya

There are several species of giraffe in Africa. The three photos above have been of the most common of these, the Southern giraffe. In north-eastern Kenya one finds what I consider to be the most handsome of the giraffe species, the Reticulated giraffe. This photo of a few of them was taken in Samburu, a mostly stark, arid area where a good number of these endangered animals co-exist with a couple of other northern Kenyan endemics such as Grevy’s zebra and Beisa oryx. I’ve always described the Reticulated giraffe as the oil painting of giraffes, compared with the more washed out – ‘watercolor’ – Southern giraffe. If you’ve seen Reticulated giraffes in nature, I think you will agree. Their spots are a vivid, dark burnt orange which make the white stripes stand out even more. Another good place to find and observe Reticulated giraffes is the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.

Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Kenya

Taken in the Lewa Conservancy in northern Kenya, this photo of three Reticulated giraffes also illustrates their striking color pattern. And my penchant for trying to get several giraffe necks and heads in the same photo…

Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya

There is considerable disagreement among scientists as to the specific number of giraffe species. Some maintain that there’s only one ‘giraffe’ with several subspecies. Others contend that there are as many as eight distinct species. A giraffe that is widely considered to be a subspecies is the Rothschild’s or Nubian giraffe. I photographed this one walking in a yellow-barked acacia forest on the edge of Lake Nakuru in Kenya. Full species or not, it is certainly a handsome beast with its characteristic white ‘sox’.

Giraffe Center, Nairobi

There are several Rothschild’s giraffes at the popular Giraffe Center in Nairobi, Kenya. The Giraffe Center is operated by the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife, to educate Kenyan youth about the country’s wildlife and environment and to provide visitors an opportunity to come into close contact with the giraffes. ‘Armed’ with a handful of giraffe pellets, visitors walk up a ramp to a balcony from where they can feed the giraffes at eye-level. The giraffes know the game. Whenever there are visitors, there are giraffes ready to stick out their crazy long tongues to retrieve a treat and be photographed. All for a good cause. Funds raised by the Giraffe Center have helped with efforts to re-establish the endangered Rothschild giraffe in several wilderness areas elsewhere in Kenya.

Royal Malewane, Thornybush Reserve – South Africa

A giraffe drinking is quite a sight to behold. This photo which I took on a game drive from Royal Malewane in South Africa illustrates the peculiar posture which a giraffe has to adopt in order to get its mouth down low enough to drink water from a pond or river. The exact mechanism by which a giraffe gets enough water in its mouth and up its massively long neck, isn’t entirely clear. What is clear is that giraffes are vulnerable to predation when they are drinking and they are always careful to look around for lions, before assuming the position.

Skeleton Coast area, Namibia

A little known fact about giraffes is just how adaptable they are. As a result giraffes are widely distributed in most habitats throughout Africa, even in some areas which are inhospitable to many life-forms. On two separate visits to Namibia’s Skeleton Coast we saw several groups of desert-adapted Angolan giraffe, a sub-species concentrated around ephemeral or seasonal rivers such as the Hoarusib, Huab and Hoanib. Wherever you see groves of acacia albida (Ana) and acacia erioloba (Camelthorn) trees, you can expect to find these giraffes. This photo was taken on a game drive out of Wilderness Safaris’ Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp.

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Baby giraffes are cute. Like most other animals. These two youngsters were photographed on a game drive out of Wilderness Safaris’ Abu Camp in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Even at a young age, giraffes adopt the typical habits of the species like being inquisitive and observant. They can see you long before you can see them, and they fully utilize their special advantage, always looking and staring. When safari guides are out on game drives searching for predators, they make a point of checking out where the giraffes are looking. If giraffes are standing still and staring consistently in the same direction, it is always a good indication that a predator is around.

Samburu, Kenya

Giraffes are relatively common in many areas in Africa. We always expect to see some – and sometimes many – in places like Mashatu in south-eastern Botswana, in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, pretty much all over northern Botswana, the north-eastern lowveld of South Africa including all but the far northern part of Kruger Park, and in most East African parks and game reserves. While it is still fairly easy to see giraffes on a trip to Africa, it is a disturbing reality that giraffe numbers have decreased by 30% over the last three decades, with about 110,000 remaining. Even though giraffes as a species are not endangered, they are considered threatened and the situation could get worse, if current trends persist. Mostly, their numbers are dropping because of habitat loss, which happens when woodlands are converted into farms and ranches. Trophy hunting and poaching also play a role in their steady demise. Some of the species – or subspecies – such as the Reticulated Giraffe are in fact endangered, with their numbers down more than 90% compared with earlier times. These Reticulated giraffes photographed in Samburu in northern Kenya are nowadays found mostly in a few wildlife sanctuaries, with less than 10,000 of them surviving.

In our blog post next week, we will take a look at Africa’s signature mammal: the African elephant. With plenty of photographs and a few of our most indelible memories of interacting with these behemoths in all parts of Africa over the years.

More Info

Email bert@fisheaglesafaris.com

Email jason@fisheaglesafaris.com

@fisheaglesafarishouston

#FishEagleSafaris

YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN

Destinations

Zambia

10th September 2021

Chindeni and the Bushcamp Company, Zambia

By late July we found ourselves at Chindeni, a small Bushcamp Company property

Botswana

Destinations

Okavango Delta

3rd October 2022

Camp Okavango, Botswana

Camp Okavango is in the heart of the permanent part of the Delta. In this idyllic setting there are no vehicles, and it is just a short walk

Area

Destinations

Nyerere National Park

Ruaha

Tanzania

14th October 2023

From My Safari Notebook: Wildlife Photography

Birds in flight and wildlife photographers have an uneasy relationship. Things go wrong as often as they go right. Getting focus-lock on a moving subject

READERS FAVOURITES

Destinations

Zambia

10th September 2021

Chindeni and the Bushcamp Company, Zambia

By late July we found ourselves at Chindeni, a small Bushcamp Company property

Botswana

Destinations

4th August 2022

On Safari At Belmond Eagle Island Lodge, Okavango Delta

What is the ‘secret sauce’ for an unforgettable few days on safari in Botswana? It starts with the animals, of course. The elephants, lions, giraffes, hippos

Destinations

India

27th May 2023

India

India’s tiger, mammals and birds.

Cheetahs, cheetahs, cheetahs

9th October 2020

Cheetahs, cheetahs, cheetahs

For many visitors to Africa, seeing the big cats is #1 on their wish list. Nobody wants to go home only to have to say ‘no’ to the inevitable question about having seen lions. Even though the total number of lions in Africa have dropped alarmingly over the last few decades – largely due to habitat loss – they are still relatively easily seen in most wilderness areas. Lions are also prolific breeders under the right conditions – with enough prey animals around – so they bounce back quickly and predictably after setbacks such as prolonged droughts. Which means that on your next – or first – trip to Africa, you will almost definitely bump into lions if you spend a few days in practically any major game reserve or national park. In Southern or East Africa. So, did you see lions? Yes.

Other big cats are less frequently seen. Leopards are supremely adaptable creatures and they are common in almost any non-urban African habitat except true deserts. What makes them difficult to find and observe is their naturally elusive, shy and mostly nocturnal nature. They are mostly solitary and stealthy creatures of the night. That is when they are out and about in search of prey such as unsuspecting smaller antelope, monkeys, baboons and the like. Consequently, visitors see them mostly very early in the mornings or in the late afternoon, when they start to get active after resting up. In areas where they are habituated to the presence of vehicles, such as the Sabi Sand reserve in South Africa, in parts of the Masai Mara and the Serengeti, in private concessions in Northern Botswana and at Mashatu in south-eastern Botswana, they are more readily seen as they don’t conceal themselves at the first sign of vehicles, movement or humans.

The other big African cat – the cheetah – is in a different league altogether. It has a relatively tiny total population of about 7,000 in comparison with lions (approximately 25,000) and leopards (approximately 700,000). Despite being as sparsely distributed as they are, cheetahs are quite visible where present, due to their diurnal nature and preferred habitat. Cheetahs are adapted to hunt during the day which reduces competition from the nocturnal big cats, notably lions. Cheetahs also prefer open terrain where they can use their amazing speed to its best advantage. And they will often clamber onto anthills or stumps or other elevated spots to check out the area for potential prey – or danger. Open terrain, broad daylight, a spotted cat perched on top of an anthill? Bingo! For me personally, a cheetah sighting is a highlight of any Africa trip. They are just so rare, so beautiful and so special that even a brief glimpse of one of them will make your day.

Here are some photos we took of cheetahs in six different areas in Southern and East Africa where they are regularly seen. The captions summarize the back story about each photo and how it came to be.

Selinda, Northern Botswana

This cheetah was part of a coalition of two brothers which used to move up and down along the Linyanti River in northern Botswana, spending weeks or sometimes months in an area. For no apparent reason, they would then move along to a neighboring concession. Less competition from lions or hyenas, more prey animals? Who knows. The reasons are hardly ever readily apparent. The day on which we bumped into this particular cheetah and his brother, marked the first sighting of cheetahs on a game drive from Selinda, in several weeks. So essentially, we got lucky. Being in the right habitat and spending enough time scanning open terrain along the Linyanti floodplain, just improved our luck somewhat. We would get even luckier later that day, when we saw the cheetah coalition hunt and bring down an impala. My advice to anyone wanting to see a cheetah kill? Bring your best patience game as cheetahs take their time sizing up the area, the conditions and whatever their instinct dictates. It took the brothers the better part of four hours to finally attempt a charge. They were successful though. Cheetahs are the most efficient of the big cats in terms of hunting success, bringing down about 40% to 50% of prey, as a percentage of total attempts. By comparison leopards are successful about 30% to 40% of the time. Lions bring up the rear in a significant way, being successful less than 20% of the time.

Tswalu, South Africa

Tswalu in the northern Cape Kalahari in South Africa is better known as one of the best places in Africa to see pangolins and aardvarks, but it is no slouch for some of the big cats, notably lions and cheetahs. On our most recent visit to Tswalu (we will be returning this November) Kathy had set aside one afternoon to do some horseback riding. We were at the stables and she was just about to set off into the veld with one of Tswalu’s beautiful steeds, when word came on the radio that a couple of cheetahs had been spotted. Kathy and I looked at each other and there was no disagreement: the horses would have to wait for another day. It was a longish drive to get to the cheetahs, with the light fading fast by the time we pulled up to them. Even so, the decision was the right one. Looking in our direction in the gathering gloom, the cheetah’s ordinarily yellow eyes shone almost red. The sighting would be brief but eminently memorable.

Masai Mara, Kenya

When I first saw these cheetahs on a game drive out of Mara Explorer Camp, one of the cheetahs had jumped on top of a game drive vehicle from Mara Intrepids. I do not like to see behavior like that: it should have been prevented by the Mara Intrepids driver-guide. The guides in the area are all aware of the propensity of some of the cheetahs to try to use the vehicle as an observation post. And the guides know to avoid an incident, by staying clear of ‘known perpetrators’. It is potentially dangerous for the guests and for the cheetahs. Getting bitten or getting run over, respectively. Too risky all round. We left the scene, deciding to rather return early the next morning. It made all the difference. We had the cheetahs to ourselves for the better part of an hour, observing them walking around and getting onto anthills – not vehicles. The way it should be.

Serengeti Plains, Tanzania

Tanzania’s Serengeti Plains and its northernmost extension, the Masai Mara in Kenya, are likely Africa’s single best repository of cheetahs. This is their habitat par excellence. Open, rolling grassy plains with rocky outcrops, patches of woodland and riverine thickets, and plenty of prey in the form of Thomson’s gazelles and impala. Irrespective of the status of the annual wildebeest migration, the Serengeti and the Mara are great for the big cats, who have territories to defend and who do not move around with the wildebeest and the zebras. In fact, on the day we saw this cheetah on a game drive out of Nomad Tanzania’s Lamai Serengeti Camp, we experienced a rare big cat trifecta: lions, leopards and a cheetah. All in one game drive, not during the migration season. Other parts of the Serengeti where we have experienced above-average cheetah sightings include the southern Serengeti (Kusini camp) and the western Seronera area (Namiri Plains camp).

Hwange, Zimbabwe

Since we regularly started visiting Hwange National Park in north-western Zimbabwe in the 1990’s, we’ve come to recognize it as a good and reliable area for cheetah sightings. Just like elsewhere in Africa, the Hwange cheetahs move around and can’t always be seen in the same spots. So if you’re keen on seeing cheetahs on a trip to Zimbabwe, we would suggest including two different camps, such as Somalisa or The Hide or Khulu Bush Camp, combined with Little Makalolo or Linkwasha or Camelthorn. And give yourself plenty of time to find the cheetahs; five to six nights in the area would be ideal. This trio of young cheetahs were following their mother around and getting a lesson in patience. She wanted them to stay back and stay low while she approached some antelope. It was not to be. They kept showing themselves and following too closely behind her. Which naturally spooked the antelope. All in a day of growing up.

Mashatu, Botswana

Mashatu Game Reserve in far south-eastern Botswana is currently one of the best big cat destinations in Southern Africa. Spend three or better yet four nights there and you will most likely get to see lions, leopards and cheetahs. And not furtive ‘drive-by’ sightings either. On a recent September visit to the area, we had multiple good sightings of both lions and leopards, and notched up two different cheetah sightings in the course of a 3-night stay at Mashatu Tented Camp. What makes Mashatu a particularly good bet for cheetahs – and other big cats – is the fact that off-road driving is allowed which means that you can get quite close to these magnificent cats. For photographers this is a major advantage over many other areas where vehicles are not permitted off-road. Also, compared with most other good big-cat destinations, the Mashatu properties namely Mashatu Lodge, Mashatu Tented Camp and Euphorbia are moderately priced – at about half the cost of camps of similar quality in northern Botswana. We recommend combining a 3-night WalkMashatu foot safari with a few days at one of the Mashatu camps, to make the most of the area.

In our blog post next Friday, we will focus on one of the most popular and also instantly recognizable African mammals, the Giraffe. There will be photographs, of course, as well as some information about places where they can be seen. We will also review the various species you are likely to encounter in Southern and East Africa, and their conservation status.

More Info

Email bert@fisheaglesafaris.com

Email jason@fisheaglesafaris.com

@fisheaglesafarishouston

#FishEagleSafaris

YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN

Destinations

Zambia

10th September 2021

Chindeni and the Bushcamp Company, Zambia

By late July we found ourselves at Chindeni, a small Bushcamp Company property

Botswana

Destinations

Okavango Delta

3rd October 2022

Camp Okavango, Botswana

Camp Okavango is in the heart of the permanent part of the Delta. In this idyllic setting there are no vehicles, and it is just a short walk

Area

Destinations

Nyerere National Park

Ruaha

Tanzania

14th October 2023

From My Safari Notebook: Wildlife Photography

Birds in flight and wildlife photographers have an uneasy relationship. Things go wrong as often as they go right. Getting focus-lock on a moving subject

READERS FAVOURITES

Destinations

Zambia

10th September 2021

Chindeni and the Bushcamp Company, Zambia

By late July we found ourselves at Chindeni, a small Bushcamp Company property

Botswana

Destinations

4th August 2022

On Safari At Belmond Eagle Island Lodge, Okavango Delta

What is the ‘secret sauce’ for an unforgettable few days on safari in Botswana? It starts with the animals, of course. The elephants, lions, giraffes, hippos

Destinations

India

27th May 2023

India

India’s tiger, mammals and birds.

A Visit to Northern Botswana Continued

3rd September 2020

A Visit to Northern Botswana Continued

JAO CAMP, OKAVANGO DELTA

Having taken my farewell of the Kalahari for a while, I was driven back to Maun where I got back on a small plane for the half hour flight or so, to Jao in the western part of the Okavango Delta. What more is there to be said about Jao other than that it is perfect. Since way back to when we first visited it in 2000, not long after it was opened, Jao has been on our ‘Groundhog Day’ list – a place where you can wake up every morning for the rest of your life and be happy.

The rooms are gorgeous: massive, romantic, dramatic, the stuff of dreams. The same adjectives can be applied to the rest of the property: the main lounge and bar area, the outside seating areas, the library, and extending right out to the gym and spa. Even the dingiest of camps can look romantic at night, but Jao passes the daylight test with flying colors. Does it still look good in the unflattering glare of the midday sun? Definitely yes. Which puts it in very select company.

Dinner was predictably excellent on the night I was there. Even the most jaded of travelers will long remember nightfall at Jao. The sensational views of the sun setting over the Delta, the soft pink glow lasting for what seems to be hours as the birds go silent, the reed frogs start up to their metallic clinks, and the last few baboon noises dying away as they settle down in the trees.

On an afternoon boating outing I caught (and released) a decent-sized tiger fish, much to my surprise and much to the delight of the guide, who was even happier about it than me. Even if I hadn’t caught a thing, it would have been a great afternoon. Being in a small aluminum skiff exploring the bywaters and lagoons of the Okavango Delta can easily push you into a Walter Mitty moment. There you are, expertly piloting the craft along the deceptively serene-looking waterways, taking just the right line to smoothly glide around a tight corner. Fortunately, the imaginary helmsman doesn’t have to concern himself with the myriad of unseen obstacles lurking below the surface. Shallow sand-banks, hidden tree stumps and sometimes – a misplaced hippopotamus. Those ones that are supposed to be in deeper water…

Our morning game drive at Jao was fairly uneventful except that I got a couple of nice bird photos including a Plainbacked Pipit and a Malachite Kingfisher in superb morning light. To be sure, there were lots of elephants around and some general plains game. Ordinarily, we’d advise guests at Jao to take a day outing to nearby Hunda Island, if they are keen to see predators such as leopards and lions, among others.

Upon my return to Jao, there was a surprise waiting for me: a 20-minute helicopter flight over the Delta with Helicopter Horizons, courtesy of Wilderness Safaris. What a treat and what a special experience! This was fast turning into the ‘helicopter trip’. Great to start working on a new skill, aerial photography.

PELO CAMP, OKAVANGO DELTA

En route to Pelo Camp – which would be a new property for me – I did a site inspection at Kwetsani which is now even more impressive than before. Pretty much the ideal – classic – Okavango Delta experience with rooms that are well beyond the standard of a normal, run-of-the-mill classic camp. One thing which will always be the same at Kwetsani is the time tested views over the large floodplain in front of camp, where there’s almost always some birds and animals around. Then it was on to Pelo which I liked right away. Quite small, with only 5 rooms, tucked away on a well-vegetated island right in the heart of the Delta, Pelo is all about experiencing a typical Okavango Delta water camp with boating, mokoro outings and walking on the islands. Pelo has a particularly nice communal area, intimate and inviting. The afternoon boat trip was rather quiet but the other boat saw a breeding herd of 50-plus elephants. As always it’s a matter of time and place.

We enjoyed a boma dinner outside with an entertaining singing and dancing performance from the staff. Great memories!

On my last morning at Pelo, I took my best photos yet of a Pel’s Fishing Owl, a rarely seen nocturnal bird. Prior to my visit, I had been alerted to the fact that there was a female Pel’s raising a chick outside tent number four. Emerging from tent #4 that morning, there it was: staring me down as it was bringing some food (it looked like a piece of fish) for the baby. I managed quite a few exposures in good light. Simply an amazing bird! Later that morning I enjoyed yet another enjoyable and interesting boat ride. There were lots of colorful birds to be seen, with African Fish Eagles being visible practically every few hundred meters. We also had great looks at a few decent sized Nile crocodiles.

SABLE ALLEY CAMP, KHWAI

After a good breakfast it was back to the airstrip for a flight to the Khwai area, where I would spend the next two nights at Sable Alley. The main area is about as good as it gets in Botswana, with a huge open-design deck and dining room, overlooking a pond. The camp also has a beautiful pool. The tented rooms – spread out along a boardwalk in a wetland habitat, were well planned and executed. Spacious, with a large veranda and a usable bench, excellent ventilation, and superior indoor lighting – the best of any camps I’ve been to lately. Add to that a comfortable bed and bedding, separate toilet, ample storage space, an effective waterfall shower head as well as scaldingly hot water, and an outdoor shower on a raised wooden deck.

Our afternoon game drive with guide Tony and trainee Teenage turned out to be surprisingly good despite conditions not being ideal. There were several small groups of elephant, some seen quite close up, and we had some good views of kudu and impala. The most notable sighting was a couple of sub adult African Painted Dogs at a suspected denning site. We watched them for a while before they loped into the bush. According to our guide Tony the alpha female had already given birth to a litter of pups; it remained to be seen how many pups there were, and if the pack would raise them in that location.

We returned to camp for a quick shower, drinks and excellent dinner.

Our Sunday morning game drive was on the quiet side although first time visitors to Africa would’ve been quite happy to see as many elephants as we did. It was noticeable that the elephants in the concession have a lot of ‘attitude’ compared with elephants in most other areas. Likely a holdover from the days in which hunting was allowed in the area, resulting in the elephants being a bit wary and giving vehicles and people a wider berth than one might anticipate. We came across several small groups of up to 10 or so elephants with several young ones including a couple of tiny babies. Clearly the elephants are doing well.

Later on during the drive we came across zebra, kudu, some giraffe, and plenty of impala. Fantastic birds. In line with my previous experiences in this area, it is best visited in the dry season from July through October.

That afternoon I relocated to Hyena Pan, which looked like quite an interesting spot, again likely to be a much better bet in the dry season than when we were there. Located on the edge of a water hole, the camp is rustic but perfectly comfortable, with a cozy common area and large dining room. Our guide there – Daniel – was one of the best to date on the trip: energetic and enthusiastic. We drove about 40 minutes in the Khwai village direction, mostly through non-productive mopane forest. Once we reached the more open area and riverine bush strips of the NG 18 concession, we started to see plenty of game. Initially a mating pair of lions and then a group of four painted dogs which we followed for a while. They kept moving so photography was hit and miss; lots of excitement though. The evening was rounded off with a good buffet meal with beef stroganoff as the main attraction.

CHITABE CAMP, MOREMI

Late this morning I was on a flight to Chitabe, a Wilderness Safaris classic property in the far south-eastern part of the Okavango Delta. Almost immediately I started seeing giraffes, zebras and elephants – clearly there was an abundance of general game all over the area. Since my visit the main area at Chitabe has been rebuilt. The rooms were superb: plenty of space, good lighting, huge mosquito nets, hot water bottles at night, a tea and coffee station, sufficient charging points.

On the afternoon game drive we had yet more views of elephants, zebras, giraffes and a large pride of lions. We enjoyed sundowners at a small, peaceful lake. The excellent dinner that evening was served family style.

I was up at 05:30 am the next morning for a light breakfast, embarking on the game drive just after six. The drive presented our best views yet of spotted hyenas at their den, producing a few nice shots in good morning light. Then we got word about a pack of African painted dogs, and found 20 of them resting up and snoozing in the shade of a vehicle on the edge of the Chitabe airstrip. The light and vantage point was not great but I managed a few photographs.

Then it was back to camp where a huge elephant bull was barring the front entrance, at least for a while. Following on a tasty brunch, we enjoyed an impromptu drumming performance by one of the staff members. By 2:30 pm I was back at the airport, with multiple elephant, zebra, kudu, impala and giraffe sightings en route. Indicative of the wealth of game in the Chitabe area, I had to assist the guide in chasing impala, warthogs and giraffe from the airstrip to make it safe for the incoming aircraft, who would take us on to our next camp.

Chitabe certainly lived up to expectations and indeed exceeded them. The rooms are great and now that the rebuild of the main area has been completed it will likely rival just about any other northern Botswana camp for supremacy in delivering a big game experience.

VUMBURA PLAINS, OKAVANGO DELTA

Just after 3:00 pm I was on the way to Vumbura Plains in the northern part of the Okavango Delta. A bit later than planned, due to an unexplained flight delay. Once in camp – it is a rather lengthy and bumpy drive from the airstrip to the camp – I spent the next hour or so looking around the recently rebuilt main building. It was quite impressive with clean, elegant lines, open to the environment and awash in natural light, with ample seating options in an expansive dining area. Even if you spend several days at Vumbura Plains, you would rarely enjoy a meal in the same spot twice.

After a quick introduction, we walked down the boardwalk to room number one. There were no apparent changes to the room which I had seen for the first time some years previously. Spacious, lots of natural light, decent interior lighting, an impressive indoor shower with a view as well as outdoor shower. A bathtub was oddly lacking – one would expect to see it in a deluxe property like Vumbura Plains; in fact an outdoor tub would be a nice touch. After a delightful dinner with the camp manager it was off to bed, early.

After an early breakfast it was time to saddle up for the morning game drive with my guide Ron. Initially it was slow but after about an hour we found four beautiful young male lions, not quite into their prime but not far from it either. Next was a herd of about nine or so sable antelope. These rarely seen and sparsely distributed antelope are fond of fairly tall grass, often seen in relatively thickly vegetated woodland such as in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe.

This particular group was as approachable as any Sable I’ve ever encountered, the two females allowing us to approach them quite closely. The light was still fairly good and I captured a few decent images. The dominant male sable was not at all cooperative. It was as if he knew that he was the one that we ‘really’ wanted to see, playing hide and seek with us for 30 minutes. He proceeded to deliberately and seemingly determinedly walk from one thicket to another without as much as stopping even once, to give us a good look. The sighting was a big plus in my book as Sable antelope was the one species I had specifically mentioned when asked by Ron – at the outset of the game drive – whether there was something particular I wanted to see. Being able to deliver on a very tricky animal such as this one counts a lot.

The game drive got even better with sightings of a large herd of buffalo at the waterhole and then an equally large herd of fifty plus elephants stampeding through the woodland. Their irate trumpeting and a dust cloud announcing their whereabouts, from afar. They were apparently entering a new or dangerous area and all of the older females were trumpeting and running around. Towards the final stage of the stampede, three of the females – including what appeared to be the matriarch female – started to approach the vehicle in somewhat of a threatening pose. We were ready to decamp at a moment’s notice, but in the end it was not necessary. Plenty of adrenalin though.

CAPTURE AFRICA, KHWAI REGION

Due to a flying mix up my planned 11:25 a.m. departure from Vumbura did not take place, but it was deftly replaced by a helicopter flight of about 20 minutes or so direct to Khwai River Lodge, where I was picked up by Brian Gibson of Capture Africa. An hour or so later we were at Capture Africa‘s private campsite on the Khwai River

Capture Africa specializes in high-quality private mobile tented safaris mostly in the Khwai, Moremi and Okavango Delta areas, but they can set up private mobile campsites and provide support services literally anywhere in Botswana.

Adding a few days of “real“ camping to a mostly lodge-based itinerary adds an extra layer of authenticity and adventure to a trip; for many people this is as close as they may ever come to the bush.

That afternoon, from our exceedingly comfortable camping site we saw an elephant walk along the floodplain, splashing its way through the shallow water and down the river. It was a pleasant change to what I had been doing seemingly nonstop the preceding few days, which was finding the wildlife out on game drives. Having them come to you is infinitely more rewarding and relaxing.

Brian Gibson – who heads up Capture Africa – is clearly passionate about the wilderness. He is a highly experienced guide himself and it was quite a revelation spending a day or so in his company, trying to absorb his pithy advice and in-depth knowledge of the area and its wildlife as well as its people. On a drive with Brian the next day we got lucky with African painted dogs on the move – the thrill of the chase! – and we enjoyed a great lion sighting as well. The Khwai region is clearly a productive game-viewing environment, however the number of vehicles per sighting was notably higher than most of the other areas we visited on this trip.

Our party of four people enjoyed a particularly splendid meal at Capture Africa’s mobile tented camp that night, spending another hour or so around the campfire afterwards. It was just us, a brilliant sky, and what must have been close to 4,500 stars above. That being the maximum number visible to the human eye, which can only detect stars brighter than magnitude 6 to 6.5. Just as noticeably, there was practically no man-made ambient light, no noises and no disturbances. Not that it was totally quiet. If you knew what you were listening to, there was what sounded like a lost – or lonely – jackal, a few hungry hyenas and a couple of African scops owls advertising their presence with their chirp-like calls. The African bush at night.

EBONY CAMP, LINYANTI

This morning I flew from Khwai to the Linyanti floodplain for an overnight at Ebony camp, African Bush Camps’ family option, adjacent to the similar but slightly larger Linyanti Bush camp. Room number 10 at Ebony Camp is the designated family room.

Either camp would be an ideal safari choice for visitors, particularly from about June/July through October and early November, in the dry season. At that time of the year the floodplain attracts good numbers of elephant, buffalo and other big game species including predators.

At the time of our visit in mid-May the surrounding bush was still quite thick which made game viewing challenging. Even so, we saw several small herds of elephants, hippos in the river and a coalition of three male lions. As well as some giraffe, waterbuck, impala and exceptionally good birdlife.

The camp is clearly well-managed and I found the staff to be friendly and approachable. It would be nice to have the tent door zippers replaced with regular doors. Only two of the rooms (honeymoon room and family room) have bathtubs. The other rooms have showers with hot water available at all times.

The grand finale of my Botswana trip was yet another helicopter ride, this time to check out the Linyanti River and its denizens which included several pods of hippopotamus, giraffes drinking, a few crocodiles. From the air, there was a dearth of any signs of human encroachment. There are so few places left in the wilderness which are truly remote and this is one of them.

My next stop would be South Africa, for a return visit to the Kruger Park and Sabi Sand reserve. Details to follow in our blog post to be published next Friday.

More Info

Email bert@fisheaglesafaris.com

Email jason@fisheaglesafaris.com

@fisheaglesafarishouston

#FishEagleSafaris

YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN

Destinations

Zambia

10th September 2021

Chindeni and the Bushcamp Company, Zambia

By late July we found ourselves at Chindeni, a small Bushcamp Company property

Botswana

Destinations

Okavango Delta

3rd October 2022

Camp Okavango, Botswana

Camp Okavango is in the heart of the permanent part of the Delta. In this idyllic setting there are no vehicles, and it is just a short walk

Area

Destinations

Nyerere National Park

Ruaha

Tanzania

14th October 2023

From My Safari Notebook: Wildlife Photography

Birds in flight and wildlife photographers have an uneasy relationship. Things go wrong as often as they go right. Getting focus-lock on a moving subject

READERS FAVOURITES

Destinations

Zambia

10th September 2021

Chindeni and the Bushcamp Company, Zambia

By late July we found ourselves at Chindeni, a small Bushcamp Company property

Botswana

Destinations

4th August 2022

On Safari At Belmond Eagle Island Lodge, Okavango Delta

What is the ‘secret sauce’ for an unforgettable few days on safari in Botswana? It starts with the animals, of course. The elephants, lions, giraffes, hippos

Destinations

India

27th May 2023

India

India’s tiger, mammals and birds.

A Visit to Northern Botswana

27th August 2020

A Visit to Northern Botswana

Abu’s elephants, meerkat moving day & brown hyenas at Jack’s Camp

LITTLE VUMBURA AND ABU CAMP

On a recent May trip to Northern Botswana, I revisited a couple of spectacular tented camps in the northern part of the Okavango Delta, interacted with the Abu Camp elephant herd – joining them in the water for a mokoro trip – flew by helicopter to Mombo for a rhino darting and tagging experience, finally made it to the enigmatic Jack’s Camp in the Kalahari, observed baby meerkats being moved from one den to another, and had my best ever outing with a small San family, at Meno A Kwena Camp.

But first, I ran into the ‘Maun Madness’ phenomenon. This is what happens when three international flights from Johannesburg and Cape Town – operated by SA Airlink and Air Botswana – arrive in Maun at about the same time and the disembarking passengers swamp the tiny immigration and customs facility. Essentially, it was a mess. We arrived at 1:30 p.m. and it wasn’t until 3:00 p.m. that we were through immigration and ready to fly to our first camp – Abu. On the way to Abu we made a stop at Little Vumbura Camp in the northern part of the Okavango Delta, for a site inspection. It took about twenty minutes or so for the drive to the camp, the final approach being by boat – the only way to get into and out of the property. Since my previous visit, the rooms had been enlarged, which was a significant improvement. Little Vumbura is one of Wilderness Safaris’ most popular ‘mixed activity’ Okavango Delta camps, and it is easy to see why. It’s beautiful, romantic and epitomizes the singular appeal of luxury tented camping in Northern Botswana. The sandy walkway which connects the main lounge and the various rooms, retains a sense of immediacy and intimacy, guests remaining more connected to the forest environment than in a camp with a boardwalk.

Not too long afterwards, we were enjoying a splendid plated dinner at Abu Camp, which I had visited three years previously. There were no obvious changes: the rooms were still large, luxurious and well equipped. I relished the opportunity to spend some time in the gym – not a common facility in safari camps in N. Botswana. The following morning we were re-introduced to the Abu elephant herd. Naledi – which had been a slightly rambunctious youngster when we were at Abu last – had now grown into an assertive juvenile and even the elephant handlers were wary around her. Our group split into two with some of us going for a walk with the elephants, and the others doing a game drive. We then switched, walking at quite a pace with the matriarch Kathy following behind. The activity ended with all of us feeding the elephants their favorite snack food – dry pellets – which they consumed by the handful, and clearly very happy to do so!

Were back in camp around 11:30 a.m. for lunch and in the afternoon enjoyed a talk by Map Ives from Botswana Rhino Conservation about the challenges facing both White and Black rhino in Southern Africa. If conservation efforts fail to curtail the current rate at which these animals are being decimated, they could all be extinct in the wild as early as 2024. A rather depressing scenario. In the afternoon, we enjoyed a typical Okavango Delta activity – boating along a channel in a beautiful, serene environment.

MOMBO CAMP AND RHINO DARTING

This day turned out to be one of my best days ever in Africa. It included two scenic helicopter flights from Abu to Mombo, one in the morning and another one in the afternoon, both totally exhilarating and as exciting as anything I’ve experienced in my life. In the morning there was more cloud cover resulting in the light not being as good in the afternoon, when the natural color showed up much more effectively. At Mombo, we observed and participated in a rhino darting experience from start to finish.

In what turned out to be a textbook operation, the team members consisting of Rhino Conservation Botswana and Wilderness Safaris with operational support provided by a local veterinarian and three pilots from Helicopter Horizons fully concluded and completed the operation in just over two hours, with the darted rhino being immobilized for less than 40 minutes. Once the animal was down and stabilized, the veterinarian and her assistants kept it cool and monitored its vital statistics while a security-related procedure was completed. Less than a minute after being injected with an antidote, the rhino stood up, looked around for a few seconds and then slowly and calmly walked into the bush. Clearly not suffering from any major side effects, it started to browse on some shrubs, almost immediately.

In addition to the expense of translocating rhinos from one country to another which costs about $80,000 per animal, a single darting and tagging operation costs as much as $15,000. Much of this goes towards helicopter and vehicle expenses, as well as for manpower and related costs.

While organizations such as Botswana Rhino Conservation have good support in the way of manpower and physical assistance they are in dire need of money to pay for professional services, fuel and specialized equipment. Visitors to Northern Botswana are encouraged to contribute to this vital undertaking, either directly at the BRC site Donate to Rhino Conservation or by supporting one or more of the BRC partners in the area.

The following morning, I was up early to go on a mokoro outing along with the elephants. Getting out on the sparkling clean water of the Delta is always a great experience and being able to do so alongside the Abu herd is even better. In fact, it turned out to be one of my best outings yet at Abu Camp: very intimate and close-up with the ellies, observing them walking through the water splashing and playing and enjoying the area. A couple of the younger ones were occasionally just about totally submerged, diving and jostling with each other, while Kathy was lumbering through the water just a few meters away to my right. Later in the morning I flew back to Maun and then connected with Major Blue Air to Jack’s Camp in the Makgadikadi Pans.

JACK’S CAMP, KALAHARI

Never having made it to Jack’s Camp until this trip, I was super amped to finally be there, to contextualize all those romantic photos I had seen over the years, and to substantiate all the fascinating stories and tales I had heard and read about. It’s always a bit risky to actually step into such a highly romanticized place: how is it ever going to live up to the promises? Can it be as good as advertised? I need not have been concerned. Nothing can prepare you for your first visit to Jack’s Camp. It starts with the location right on the edge of the massive Makgadikgadi Pan, an archetypal desert outpost setting if there ever was one, complete with palm trees rustling in a warm breeze. You don’t have to suspend your disbelief – much – as you step into the 1940’s, entering a romantic, long ago era. The design, the rooms, the carpets, the Persian tea tent, the artifacts, they all work together to create a wonderful, one of a kind atmosphere.

The simple but spacious tents, in my case a twin with two elevated beds, have teak furniture everywhere, with a wonderful Persian rug practically inviting you to take your shoes off and duck beneath the tasselled bed canopy for a well-deserved nap between activities.

Jack’s Camp is all about mounds of pillows, oriental rugs, brass lamps, and low tables inviting you to sit down, cross your legs and enjoy the genteel atmosphere of bygone days. A Pimms No. 1 cup cocktail with some smoked salmon and delicate cucumber sandwiches? Of course.

The camp is slated for an extensive rebuild, to re-open some time in 2021, with much larger rooms, wood-burning stoves for the cool evenings and morning, and an overhead bed cooling system for the summer months. The ensuite bathrooms will have both indoor and outdoor showers and each veranda will have a private plunge pool. There will be a new, larger mess tent, the natural history museum will be retained, and it will be rounded off with a library, antique pool table and a well-stocked drinks chest. The iconic nomadic Persian tea tent will be made larger, whilst the swimming pool pavilion will be reimagined with the addition of a sun deck. A dedicated spa tent will be added.

I can’t say that I was thrilled by the rather dimly lit tent which I returned to after dinner. Over the years, some visitors to Jack’s may have considered the storm lamps to be romantic, others – like me – might have been put off by the detectable smell of paraffin fumes. Not that it bothered me that much, but I am a stickler for adequate lighting in any safari environment. Poorly lit tent interiors pretty much guarantee a never-ending struggle with getting dressed and getting ready – almost always done when there isn’t sufficient ambient light.

Dinner at Jack’s Camp was excellent. The standard set menu (unless you had dietary requirements) was a superb curry dish with a tamarind infused sauce. The sides – which included roast potatoes – were just as good, as was the starter of butternut soup and the dessert, a rich lime tart. I slept exceedingly well in the dry, cool desert night.

The next morning was supposed to be all about the meerkats. The planned activity was to spend time at one of Jack’s Camp’s habituated meerkat colonies. As it turned out, we spent a bit too much time scouting around for lions which were present in the area, resulting in us getting to the meerkats just as they were leaving the den for the day, dispersing into open scrub terrain where they spend much of their time, foraging for food. We were fortunate to get a few decent pics of the meerkat minders moving a few of the youngest babies from one chamber to another.

As it turned out, the fruitless morning search for the lions was not an issue as we would have another crack at the meerkats, the following day. That afternoon, we went out looking for the lions but came up empty-handed once more. Even so, it was quite an adventurous outing. Late that afternoon, just before sunset, we observed several brown hyenas in decent light and relatively close up. We spent a good amount of time observing these beautiful, rarely seen creatures, the young ones being quite dog-like in appearance. Back in camp, yet another tasty dinner was enjoyed by all, this time a rather peppery, nicely tender lamb shank.

The following morning, we were up early for a second visit to the meerkat colony. This time around, there were no ‘lion delays’ en route, so we were in place to see the meerkats emerging from the den at about 7:25 a.m. Soon, there were several meerkats out and about in good light, including three babies. One of the youngsters went out with the clan into the veld, while the others remained behind. A future leader in the making, no doubt.

MENO A KWENA, KALAHARI

From Jack’s Camp, we drove to the quirky Planet Baobab for a site inspection (great baobab forest!) and from there about two hours to Meno A Kwena camp on the banks of the Boteti River. The Boteti forms the border of Makgadikgadi National Park. The camp is built on a high bluff overlooking the river, providing an unusually good view in a country which is mostly just – flat.

Later that afternoon I joined three other guests on a fascinating nature walk, with a small San family, hailing from a Botswana village on the country’s far western border with Namibia. The group led us on a 90 minute outing along a nature trail. The outing was interesting on several levels: observing and listening to the San family members talking to each other and singing, in their spectacularly difficult-sounding language which is full of clicks, pops and other sound effects. Just the sounds of the five vowels alone, are astonishing.

We enjoyed the friendly and engaging nature of all of the family members, with three of the young men being particularly animated and energetic. We were very much cognizant of the fact that the lifestyle as embodied by this small group, exists only in a few and ever dwindling pockets in the remote desert areas of southern Africa. Their way of life and their very existence are on the line due to these gentle, harmless people being pushed out of their traditional areas and being marginalized in the process.

We observed – and participated to the degree that we were comfortable with – in an impromptu game, accompanied by much hilarity. The group leader then showed us how to make a fire from scratch in about two minutes. Not that we’d ever be able to emulate the feat. Once the fire got going, it was time to dance! We observed and marveled at their spontaneous and innocent joy of life, resolving to live in the moment more often.

The following morning we were off on a peaceful boat cruise on the Boteti River, marred somewhat by the presence of a rather ugly and dilapidated fence seemingly running right down the middle of the river. I was told that the fence was in the process of being taken down, to be rebuilt 50 meters off the banks of the river, in order to put the entire river in the animal protected area. This sounded like a good move and we look forward to a return visit to the area to follow the progress.

In next Friday’s blog: we find ourselves back in the Okavango Delta, and then travel to the Linyanti area.

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Email bert@fisheaglesafaris.com

Email jason@fisheaglesafaris.com

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