The days of lush green grass were now a distant memory as Nxai Pan fully converted to its semi-arid winter state. The vegetation was now predominantly grey and gold, allowing animals such as elephant, lion, cheetah and oryx to blend in perfectly with the colours and textures of the desert landscape.
During July, elephants continued to favour the camp watering hole in large numbers and our water pumps were running overtime to keep up with their insatiable thirst. Elephants are however not the cleanest of visitors, so every day it was necessary for our staff to clear the watering hole of mud and dung so that the elephants would find it suitable for drinking. The camp staff were only too well aware that failing to keep the water clean would mean the elephants coming to drink from the camp infrastructure, with expensive consequences. Maintenance of the watering hole is a ‘housekeeping’ service on a massive scale, but it gives our guests the privileged opportunity to see these magnificent animals drinking, bathing and interacting close to the lodge.
Unusually for Nxai Pan, a clan of spotted hyena have also started to visit the watering hole each morning. Bat-eared foxes and black-backed jackal are still regularly sighted.
The resident female cheetah with two sub-adults was located regularly in a beautiful area near to Nxai Pan. Her offspring are now approximately 10 months old and that means that the male will most likely be with her until the beginning of 2018 and the female for about 6 months longer. Now is a critical time for them to hone their hunting skills. On one occasion, they were seen dashing around; we initially thought that they were playing, but in fact they were chasing a bat-eared fox. Occasionally cheetah will kill and eat the foxes, but mostly they are just trying to drive them away so that they can’t disturb their hunt. The two youngsters were seen to be extremely relaxed around our vehicles, testament to the fact that the guides have patiently earned their trust since they were small cubs.
The Nxai Pan pride has now split into three different groups: 4 lionesses with 5 cubs of 2-3 months old, another pair of lionesses with 3 cubs of a similar age and finally a single lioness who we suspect has a newborn cub hidden nearby – from her engorged teats it seems likely that she is nursing. The male lions move between the different groups. One time a male lion was seen very intently focused on some wildebeest. Our guests held their breath as he started to stalk…. and then he promptly flopped down and fell straight asleep. Food was clearly not his priority that particular day.
The general game is not as rich as during the green season, however wildebeest and springbok are still in the area. Oryx were seen near to Baines Baobabs area eating the tiger foot morning glory and digging for other sources of nutrients and moisture including the Kalahari water tuber. These desert-adapted antelope sensing that the dry season is where survival of the fittest is tested to the maximum.
Our guides were surprised to see a couple of bird species not usually seen at this time of year including the rufous-naped lark and yellow-billed kite. Ostriches were still plentiful and were just entering their breeding season, the males’ lower legs taking on a redder appearance during this important time of year. Other bird species commonly seen were helmeted guineafowl, kori bustard and northern black korhaan, the latter quiet when compared to the noisy summer displays that they produce.
(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!)
