The climate started to change during August, with night time temperatures increasing from lows of five degrees Celcius at the start of the month, to above fifteen degrees by the end of the month. Day time temperatures started to push above thirty degrees. The hotter days and lack of rainfall meant that game was heavily concentrated around sources of water, and our camp watering hole was by no means an exception.
Elephants tended to dominate the watering hole for the majority of every day – a spectacular sight for our guests to enjoy from the lodge, but rather problematic for the other animals who were forced to visit at first light before the pachyderms took over. Regular early morning visitors included kudu and a herd of eight buffalo. Spotted hyena were also seen at the camp watering hole, much to the consternation of some resident warthogs who finished their drinks very quickly before scurrying off into the bush with tails raised in alarm.
The Nxai Pan pride of 16 lions were also seen regularly and had divided into three groups:
Three females with three cubs aged thirteen months
Two females with four cubs of 6-8 months
Two sub-adult lionesses of approximately two years who are independent of the main pride.
The male lions moved between all three groups and were often seen near to camp.
The road that cuts through the middle of Nxai Pan was productive for smaller predators including regular sightings of the highly-prized aardwolf and numerous bat-eared foxes.
Cheetah sightings included a mother with her two offspring – now classified as sub-adults rather than cubs since they are more than a year old. A single male cheetah has also been located frequently. Both male and female leopard tracks were located in the camp area, though the cats themselves remained elusive.
The trip to Baines Baobabs was quieter in terms of game, but the view has changed. The trees have lost their leaves and are silhouetted against the dry, dusty pan. The landscape is much more open now that the lush summer vegetation has been grazed down.
The rise in temperatures meant that we started to see birds who are more associated with warmer weather in the region, such as the yellow-billed kite, red-capped lark and rufous-naped lark.
(Note: Accompanying picture is from our Kwando Photo Library which consists of all your great photo submissions over the years, it may not be the most up to date, but we felt it was worthy of a feature alongside this month’s Sightings Report!)
