Any water that had collected in the waterholes in the mopane scrub appears to have dissipated, as large numbers of elephants and buffalos returned to the river to drink regularly early on in December. Later in the month, after heavy rainfalls, the population was more spread out, and not so dependent on the river water for quenching their thirst.
Two young male lions were seen at Water Cut, resting under the Kalahari apple leaf. After a while, they got up and began moving slowly, and we followed them on their patrol. As we followed, we saw a leopard dash out of the scrub when the lions inadvertently got too close for comfort. Hearing them calling though one night, we tracked the two males for about 10km before we found them along the old Lebala road. The next day, the two intruders were found feeding on a female adult hippo which they appear to have killed during the night.
Two cheetah brothers made a surprise appearance near the Lagoon airstrip. They began a hunt whilst we were there, and managed to catch an impala!
Always known as scavengers, hyenas are excellent hunters in their own right. We came across two hyenas who were working together in an attempt to hunt antelope, and followed them for a while. Unfortunately, we were not able to witness them on a successful hunt, but they were very focussed, and surely had better luck later in the evening.
We came across one of the hunters from the Kwando pack of dogs along the road, and then waited whilst she did the haunting “Whooo” call to connect up with the rest of her pack. 18 other dogs then arrived, and together they began to hunt, bringing down two impalas at the end of the chase.
Another morning, and the dogs and the two male lions appeared at the same spot – John’s Pan. Oddly, it was the lions that backed off, as they disappeared into the bush. The dogs must have been somewhat shaken up however, as we followed them on a hunt but they were unsuccessful.
A lovely morning drive was filled with the rarer antelope species – sable and roan were located early into the drive, and later, we finished off with a herd of eland. In addition there were lots of zebra and buffalo sightings on the same drive.
