Seven male lions and four females began the month finishing of the remains of a kudu that they had killed not far from room 1. Pied crows and vultures soon descended after the lions moved off the kill, to finish what remains there were to be had. Six male intruder lions arrived at the Tau Pan camp waterhole at the beginning of the month and chased away the two females that were there.. The lionesses were then not seen for a week or so.
The female cheetah and cub were seen drinking at the camp waterhole recently. Although they do frequent this area, they are also often seen in the Passarge waterhole. We also had the adult male cheetah coming down several times to drink – spending about 20minutes each time at the waterhole. We also saw another male cheetah near San Pan that had caught and killed an ostrich.
The colours of the Kalahari are changing – trees such as the camel thorn and the brandy bush are getting their new foliage, so greenery slowly comes into the desert. The scents are changing, too, as each acacia comes into blossom, one after the other.
It was however the month of Lions. Not only on the water hole in front of camp, but also in other pans in the area were they seen. But off course we don’t only look at lions the whole day. We have a resident baboon spider in the demonstration area, and the trackers know how to make them come out. A very impressive spider which lives in a hole, which is a trap for their prey at the same time.
