Africa Travel Journal » digital

Mombo lions and a famous leopard

James Weis — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 04:21:23 +0000

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

Digital Safari-Lions and Foxes

James Weis — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 03:52:56 +0000

We arrived back at Chitabe Camp, the fourth camp on our Digital Safari Workshop, and headed out on our first afternoon game drive to find two male lions who were resting. We waited for them to wake up and luckily for us, they did just that whilst the late afternoon sun was still shining strongly and we managed to take some portrait images of the pair.

Adult male lions typically live in coalitions, which can range in size from 1-7 lions, but the average size in southern Africa is 2 males. This pair are actually part of a 3-male coalition, but one of their number was not with them. Males in coalitions often move on their own for days at a time, either marking territory or when seeking females. We actually found the 3rd male on his own some days later.

We also had a good sighting of some bat-eared foxes, interesting little carnivores that feed on insects. Their huge ears help them precisely locate insects and their larva moving under the ground. The foxes listen with heads cocked to the side until they locate an insect and then they dig furiously to find and gobble up the tasty morsel.

On our next morning we once again had a quality lion sighting, this time with a pride of four cats. The pride includes an adult female, another very young adult female, and two near-grown offspring, one male and one female, both belonging to the older female.

They provided us with some exciting photographic opportunities when they took to play fighting with one another. Later, they lay up on a termite mound to enjoy the warm winter sun.

The next and final stop on our safari will be at Mombo Camp… stay tuned.

Digital Safari-Wild dogs, elephants and cheetahs

James Weis — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:05:35 +0000

We arrived at Savuti Camp, the third camp on our Digital Safari Workshop, to hear that there was an active wild dog den not too far from camp and that the viewing restrictions that are placed on such dens for the first month (in order to avoid disturbing the dogs when the puppies are so young) had just been lifted, so we were able to arrange that one vehicle per game drive visit the den site. Wild dogs are highly endangered and it is good news when the dogs manage to den and raise pups successfully.

Upon reaching the den we found a single adult dog, the babysitter, waiting above ground near the den entrance. After an hour the adult dog called to the pups inside and within an instant, thirteen tiny dark bundles of fur with white-tipped tails came racing out, full of youthful exuberance.

During our stay at the den, the mother returned from hunting and fed the hungry pups, who tussled and tugged at the pieces of meat she regurgitated for them. The dogs are tied to the den site for roughly seven weeks of the year during the breeding time (until the puppies are big enough to keep up with the normally nomadic pack), which was lucky for our group as it meant we were able to see the dogs every day of our stay.

There were more powerful sightings to follow at Savuti camp… this time we were treated to the spectacle of a herd of approximately twenty-five elephants entering the Savute channel right in front of camp. Some of the herd just swam across, while some of the young bulls engaged in spectacular play fights in the middle of the channel, with water spraying everywhere.

The herd took almost twenty minutes to cross the river and by the end of the sighting, all of us who had watched it were left shaking our heads in amazement. A year ago this time would have seen these same elephants walking on dusty trails in the middle of the old river bed, coming to the pumped waterhole. Since then the channel, which had been dry since 1982 until very recently, has once again filled with lovely blue water, water-lilies, birds and fish. Now the elephants played, swam and drank from the deep and clean waters of the Savuti.

There was more still to come as Kane, one of the Savuti guides, tracked down the Selinda lions, who were feeding on a giraffe they had just killed. Then on our last afternoon we managed to locate the ”new” male cheetah pair that are holding the channel territory. The two young male cheetah were scent marking and looking for prey as they made their way along the south bank of the channel. Upon sighting a herd of impala deep in the woodland, they stalked and gave chase, but without success. We followed them when they emerged into the open grass on the river bank and enjoyed some excellent photo opportunities as they went about their business of scent marking and patrolling their territories.

Male cheetahs often live in coalitions or two or three animals, usually made up of siblings. This coalition consists of two young male cheetahs and this particular pair arrived into the Savuti game drive area in December 2008.

For something a little different, one afternoon we practiced photographing some wildebeests to get “motion blur” images.

More to come soon!
GA

Digital Safari-Male Lion at Kwetsani

James Weis — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:52:10 +0000

This morning at 05h30 we heard a male lion roaring. We headed out from Kwetsani Camp, our second stop on the Digital Safari Workshop in Botswana and right at sunrise, we located him walking towards camp with the sun rising behind him.

For the next fifteen minutes we followed the lion as he roared, scent marked and then strode purposefully through the wet floodplains directly east of camp. Red Lechwe antelope scattered in alarm at the lion’s approach. After re-positioning our vehicle several times so that everyone could photograph this chap walking towards us, we watched as the lion waked east through some deep water and out of reach of our vehicle.

After the lion sighting some of our photographic group spent the morning doing aerial photography from an open-door helicopter.

Later today we ended up south of Kwetsani, where we managed to spend some time photographing a troop of Banded mongooses. This particular troop lives in the immediate vicinity of Jao Camp, the sister camp of Kwetsani. These mongooses have become quite used to people moving around the camp and as a result, we were able to photograph the mongooses on foot from quite close up. The troop were finishing up their hunting and digging activity for the day and were socializing at a termite mound, which they use as a home.

Our last photo opportunity came on the way back to Kwetsani camp, when we encountered a Saddle-billed stork fishing in shallow water.

More to come… stay tuned.
GA

Digital Safari-Leopard at Chitabe

James Weis — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:46:25 +0000

Today we got our first leopard of the trip. The sighting was at Chitabe Camp in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, the first of four camps we will visit on our July 2009 Digital Photo Safari.

She was a relaxed female leopard, beautifully perched in a dry acacia tree.

The leopard was watching some impalas in the distance and she eventually came down to try to get closer to them. She stayed in the woodland, moving quietly along the edge as we watched, stopping only to scent mark on bushes and to smell interesting scents.

She climbed a low tree to get another line of sight on the herd of impala, which were feeding in the bushes not far away. With clear intent, she flattened herself instantly, lowered her ears and slunk off the tree stump with typical leopard agility. We watched in silence as she stalked slowly and carefully towards the antelopes and out of our sight. We waited in anticipation for the next twenty minutes, expecting her to charge out at any instant to make an attempt at one of the impalas.

Then suddenly, one of the impalas caught sight of the leopard and as one, the herd became fully alert, with alarm calls sounding and plenty of foot stomping. All at once, the herd moved away at a run. That was the end of our sighting as we left the leopard to continue its search for food.

Digital Photo Safari July 2009

James Weis — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:32:17 +0000

It’s almost time for another group of ten lucky photographers to join Andy Biggs and me (James Weis) on a photographic workshop safari in the amazing wilds of Botswana.

This will be my 15th safari in Botswana and I still cannot get enough of what I consider to be the finest adventure location anywhere. The combination of the vast and pristine wilderness with an abundance of wildlife is what makes the trip so special for a photographer like myself.

The exclusivity of the camps (we typically take the entire camp with just 13 people) is another feature that makes northern Botswana’s safari locations such a great place to maximize photographic opportunities.

Our trip is sold out again and we have another top-notch itinerary, with 12 nights in a combination of four safari camps.

The itinerary is 3 nights each at the following camps:

Kwetsani Camp – a lovely camp offering a combination of water and land activities.

Savuti Camp – consistently great camp for predators such as cheetah, leopard, Africa wild dog and lion. Lies along the famous Savute channel, which is flowing again for the first time in 25 years.

Chitabe Camp – another consistent camp for game viewing. Over the past 3-4 years, Chitabe has become the best camp in Botswana to see leopards.

Mombo Camp – what can I say? Mombo is arguably the best game viewing on the continent. You have to get in line to get space at this camp during the busy months and for good reason – amazing, amazing, amazing.

I will be posting updates here (via Sat phone) of our daily sightings in case you are keen to see what we are up to and what we have seen each day. Please check back to see why I keep going back to my favorite destination anywhere.

If you are interested in joining a future Digital Photo Safari Workshop, check the sidebar at right and follow the link.