Mombo lions and a famous leopard

Our last afternoon game drive at Chitabe Camp was a great one… the camp manager, Dawson, called us in to a leopard sighting.  A young male leopard was feeding on a baboon in a tree, so we spent the afternoon with him.  He gave us lots of opportunities whilst up the tree, but just as the sun went down, he came down the tree and lay at its base in order to safeguard his meal.  After a few minutes he scampered back up the tree, having seen the stealthy approach of a spotted hyena.  We managed to get a few images even after the sun had set.

The next day we flew to Mombo Camp, our last stop on this Digital Safari Workshop, and we managed to locate the female leopard named ‘Legadima’, the star of the National Geographic documentary “Eye of the Leopard”, just as she was waking up in the woodland.  During our three days at Mombo, we saw her three times.

We were also fortunate to spend some time with the lions of the Moporota pride, which are now proudly showing off 8 cubs, ranging in age from 2.5 months old to 4 months old.  Whilst we were there they ate a zebra and were joined by their pair of pride males, who stayed around just long enough to eat and then moved off again.

The best sighting of all came about when the female of the pride moved through the open floodplains early on our last morning, with the well-fed and energetic cubs chasing and playing all the way.  The lions nearly stumbled upon Legadima the leopard, who had an impala kill in a tree, but the crafty leopard heard them coming and dashed off, only to climb a huge baobab tree for shelter.  She was too well hidden in the baobab for a photograph, but she stayed safe from the lions.

Mombo also provided us with excellent elephant viewing, as well as numerous giraffes, zebras, impalas, and red lechwe antelopes splashing through the water.  A pack of spotted hyenas and some hippos added to the photographic highlights.

I ended the trip of 18 days with lots of great sightings and memories to reflect on and lots of images to remind me of this excellent trip.  If I had to pick my favourite sightings of the whole trip, I would have to choose two male lions at sunrise on the Kwetsani floodplains and then without doubt, the lion cubs and their mothers crossing the floodplains at Mombo.  It goes without saying that I am a bit of a lion fanatic!

If you are interested in a serious photographic safari adventure, the digital safaris are a great way to go.

I’m off on another 12-day trip on Wednesday… stay tuned for more updates soon.
GA