AFRICAN SAFARI NEWS
June 2005

This Month:
• Wilderness Safaris general Safari News.
• Dive Report from beautiful North Island in the Seychelles.
• Monthly update from Linkwasha Camps in Zimbabwe.
• Monthly update from Makalolo Plains in Zimbabwe.
• Kwando Safaris game reports for June 2005.
• Monthly update from DumaTau Camp in Botswana.
• Monthly update from Savuti Camp in Botswana.
• Rhino update update from Mombo Camp in Botswana.
• Monthly update from Kings Pool Camp in Botswana.
• Monthly update from Selinda Camp in Botswana.
• Monthly update from Tubu Tree Camp in Botswana.
• Monthly update from Vumbura Plains in Botswana.
• Monthly update from Duba Plains in Botswana.
• Monthly update from Mombo and Little Mombo Camps in Botswana.
• Report on the new Pafuri Camp in South Africa.
• Monthly update from Serra Cafema Camp in Namibia.
• Monthly update from Palmwag Rhino Camp in Namibia.

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               Jump to North Island

As if to apologize for the poor weather during the first part of the month, the ocean calmed down, visibility improved and we went back to “Sprat City.” We had a bet on whether the sprats would arrive before the end of June and yes, I won the bet: they had arrived in their thousands. This is how the dive site got its name in the first place: during June to mid August, small fish called sprats arrive on Sprat City and basically take over the reef. They seem to enjoy certain outcrops on this dive site and you can hardly see the reef for these tiny fish. They are in large shoals everywhere. They in turn bring in the larger predator fish, which feed on them, also enticing the rays, sharks and pick-handle barracuda shoals. This is the most active season for this dive site and there is action here, day and night and especially late afternoon, when the king fish start to feed. It is hugely exciting to dive this site over this period. Those that survive all the feasting that goes on get bigger and eventually move off.

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                Jump to Linkwasha Camp

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                Jump to Makalolo Plains Camp

Temperatures seem to take a bit of a nosedive in the mornings, approximately an hour after wake-up call, resulting in our wildlife being slightly elusive during the earlier part of the game drive day. Cloud cover build-ups in the evenings have acted as a shield, trapping a fair amount of warmth from the afternoon sun's rays and thus preventing a bit of comfort from escaping us at night. After retiring from the evening campfire, we still appreciate being greeted by the hot-water bottles tucked under our bed covers!

Carpets of rustling, dried Zimbabwe Teak leaves unfurl and crunch on the unraveled roads before us. The bush has dried up, leaving sparse and prickly grasses clinging to the deep Kalahari sands. Many of the Zimbabwe Teak trees are cloaked in drab brown and khaki colors, whilst the Ordeals seem wilted under the heavy weight of yellow leaves they are wearing. Kuduberry trees are most attractive at this time of the year, being festooned in an array of yellow, bronze, pink, rust, maroon, purple and various greens! Ochna pulchras are still set in hardy green leaves, whilst Leadwoods are a flush of dusty yellow winged fruits. Red Syringas stand tall, looking rather skeletal with their almost bare crowns, and Large False Mopanes are dressed up to the nines in their butterfly-wing-like leaves as they spit out their ripened brown seeds and disperse them amongst the layers of forbearers lying at their feet!

Makalolo's activities have varied a bit this month! As well as our usual game drives, nature walks and platform tree house visits, for those experiencing a subdued morning game drive, Belinda has adopted different types of dung to act as accomplices in entertaining our guests - these new activities include elephant dung baseball, kudu dung spitting contests and kudu dung hopscotch!

June has been an incredible month for cat sightings! The three lionesses from our original resident pride have reunited with their 13 little cubs in tow, making an awesome new pride of 16! These cats have been seen at several places in our concession ranging from the airstrip to beyond the picnic site at Ngweshla - most of the time they are huddled together, trying to beat the cold! Five of the sub-adult cubs from our original pride (1 female and 4 males) are making it on their own in the wilderness and took us by surprise one morning when they appeared on the road leading to the front of camp. They were all quite relaxed, and it appeared that the little female has just come into oestrus, as her brothers seemed quite "interested" in her!

The three young male lions from the Ngamo area have been visiting the Makalolo concession, and were seen lying on a termite mound at Little Somavundla, when a family of warthogs came down to drink. The lions took this opportunity to have bacon on the menu, but as they made their approach, the wind changed direction and the pigs picked up the lions' scent! The warthogs then took off at high speed, leaving only clouds of dust for the lions to choke on! The collared female, with her three sub-adult male cubs who seemed to be progressing well, has been seen again, but sadly she is missing a cub and one of the remaining two has a very injured back left leg and has become lame and is incredibly thin. We can only assume that the intrusion of the three males from the Ngamo area has resulted in territorial warfare and one cub has been killed, whilst his brother is suffering serious injuries from their mighty blows.

During an afternoon at the platform tree house, Tendai and his guests were amazed when they discovered a male cheetah approaching from the eastern side of camp. They tracked him again at sunset, and were delighted to have a full, very relaxed view of him at Little Somavundla. The bonus of doing a road transfer to Main Camp is not knowing what you'll see along the way and we've had thrilling cheetah sightings in the Kennedy area! On one particular road transfer, Sacha saw three sub-adult cheetah resting just off the main road. Shortly afterwards, he came across another group of three resting on top of a termite mound - a total of six cheetah on one drive!

According to Themba, "Hyaena Den" is another of the happening places at Makalolo! Apart from the putrid smell, two cute little hyaena pups and their very shy parents occasionally make an appearance for a few minutes, before disappearing into the safety of their castle. We have had quite of a few sightings of aardwolf lately and on one night drive, a pair was seen.

An orange ball of fire and pink skies at sunset make a breath-taking backdrop for the thousands of buffalo that walk in single file, like ants, across the plains, accompanied by hundreds of wildebeest. We have a majestic herd of 25 sable that visit the front pan almost on a daily basis. Hundreds of elephant are still making the log pile at Little Makalolo a cherished and much-appreciated close encounter! They are still regular visitors to the pool in the evenings and their constant rumblings in the night are a perfect serenade for our guests.

Only 82 species of birds were recorded in the sightings this month. The most fascinating encounter was that of a Barn Owl, who decided to seek refuge in the rafters of our dining room roof for a day. We didn't notice he was there until he dropped a rather furry looking parcel on the dining room table - luckily, nobody was dining at the time! He sat above us for most of the day, trying to sleep and quietly observed the camp's daily activities by peeking through half-shut eyes! Kori Bustards made an extravagant appearance at the airstrip to compete with Sefofane on the runway - the birds numbered 8 in total! A melanistic Gabar Goshawk was sighted at Little Somavundla and a Gymnogene has been frequenting the platform in front of camp! A pair of Black-chested Snake Eagles were seen mating at Mbiza. Strangely, some of the migrant birds are still hanging around in our area - Abdim's and White Storks and one afternoon 6 Spur-wing Geese were seen frolicking in the pan in front of camp!

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Lagoon camp                Jump to Lagoon Camp
(Weeks 1-2)
• The Lagoon Pride of 12 have moved back north to the Lagoon Camp area and have been seen on a daily basis – they hunted and killed 2 buffalo one morning in front of guests.
• Guests saw a female cheetah and 2 cubs on an Impala kill
• A large adult (relaxed) leopard was seen on one evening drive at the airstrip, the following morning guides followed drag marks from where it had killed an impala to the spot where a clan of hyena robbed him of his kill.
• Another leopard was found in the morning and followed for a while before moving off into the sage.
• Plenty of tracks of wild dogs throughout the area but only one sighting of a pack of 2 males hunting.
• Large herds of buffalo seen throughout the area, most often viewed in the late afternoons drinking along the Kwando river.
• Many breeding herds of elephant seen throughout the concession, as well as bachelor herds. They are seen all throughout the day from the front of Lagoon Camp coming down to the river to drink and bathe.
• Night drives yielded hyena, civet and plenty of hippo out of the water.
• One of the game-drive had a special interaction of fish eagle, 3 giant eagle owls, 2 tawny eagles and an osprey all intent on a kill that one of the owls had.

(Weeks 3-4)
• The pride of 12 lions killed a buffalo but were displaced by a clan of hyena.
• 2 nomadic males and 2 lionesses were found on another buffalo kill.
• An adult female leopard (very relaxed) was followed hunting in the early morning.
• A female cheetah and her two cubs were found in the southern part of the concession, they were viewed for several days in a row.
• A coalition of 3 male cheetah were found relaxing after a morning’s hunting.
• There have been plenty of tracks of the pack of wild dogs but they have been keeping their den well hidden thus far.
• There were many sightings of breeding herds of elephant throughout the concession as well as bachelor herds – a couple of bulls have been frequenting the camp at night.
• Good numbers of breeding herds of buffalo were seen throughout the concession, most often seen in the late afternoon coming down to the river.
• The floodplains and adjoining areas yielded good numbers of zebra, wildebeest, tsessebe, impala and giraffe.
• Smaller game sighted included dwarf, slender and yellow mongoose, as well as saddle-billed stork, open-billed stork, African spoonbill, black and slaty egrets and goliath heron.
• At night a couple of African wild cats, civets, several flap-necked chameleons as well as a pair of black-backed jackal were found feeding on a buffalo carcass together with a clan of hyena.

Kwara camp                Jump to Kwara Camp
(Weeks 1-2)
• 2 Adult male lions were followed hunting buffalo, lions were seen on game drive throughout the week.
• The 2 males killed a young buffalo calf last Saturday morning.
• An African Wild dog was found hot on the heels of a kudu calf but did not manage to catch his prey.
• A herd of 4 elephant bulls have been spending a lot of time around the camp feeding on the large trees around the tents.
• A herd of 200 buffalo were found grazing, and then stampeded away when attacked by 2 male lions which caught and killed another calf.
• A clan of 3 hyena we found drinking and wallowing at Honeymoon Pan.
• The lagoon in front the the camp has been especially productive, impala, elephant, lechwe, warthogs and a wide variety of water-birds all seen by guests from the tents and the main lounge
• The floodplains a yielded large dazzles of zebra, as well as smaller groups of giraffe, impala, tsessebe and wildebeest.
• The nights driver were very productive and included a serval hunting mice, civet, caracal, porcupine as well as youngsters outside the Bat-eared fox den, as well as a variety of different owls

(Weeks 3-4)
• A pride of 13 lions was found sleeping – they were well fed.
• 2 adult males were found moving around roaring and marking their territory, they later joined up with the big pride of 13.
• 3 young males split from the large pride and managed to catch and kill
• A pride of 3 nomadic males was found moving into the concession – they were followed for a while before they bedded down for the day. They were later followed hunting a herd of about 700 buffalo
• A pride of 9 lions was found (1 adult female, 3 sub-adult males), and 5 sub-adult females, they were followed hunting and later killed an adult zebra.
• An adult male leopard was seen in the eastern concession area, as well as a mating pair of leopards seen from the boat at the Godikwe heronry.
• A female cheetah was followed while hunting as well as a sub-adult male that narrowly missed catching a warthog and a reedbuck – he himself was later chased at night by the 3 nomadic male lions. Next morning he caught and killed a reedbuck but was robbed in the afternoon by a clan of hyena.
• 3 male cheetah were found in the north resting, they were followed hunting tsessebe but were unsuccessful.
• A pack of 3 wild dogs was seen in front of the camp at morning tea, they lay up for the day close to the camp.
• A herd of 700 buffalo were seen feeding on the new short grass on the burnt areas. They chased off the 3 young male lions that were stalking them.
• Another herd of about 250 was seen, as well as a herd of 500 at the new site for Kwara Island Camp.
• A few elephant bulls were seen – some spending some time shaking the camelthorn trees for their seed-pods
• Herds of up to 150 zebra responding to the fresh new green shoots in the burnt grass areas, as well as a herd of 25 giraffe, smaller herds of tsessebe, sable, impala, roan antelope, kudu, baboons, wildebeest and warthogs.
• At night both black-backed and side-striped jackals (mating pair) seen, chameleons, hyenas, bushbaby, serval seen four times hunting and killing rodents, civet, aardvark, African wild cat and 4 bat-eared foxes watched foraging for insects.
• Birds include 4 sightings of Verreaux's eagle owl, Temmincks courser, young pratincoles, young white-backed pelicans, spoonbills and yellow-billed storks.

Lebala camp                Jump to Lebala Camp
(Weeks 1-2)
• A pride of 12 lions, 4 lionesses, 6 cubs and 2 sub-adults were followed hunting throughout the week, they were seen hunting and the feeding on a large warthog.
• A female leopard hunting – she killed an adult female impala but was robbed shortly thereafter by hyenas. There were a few sightings of shy leopards in the camp area. Also a relaxed adult male was seen from the camp in broad daylight hunting reedbuck.
• An adult female cheetah was followed everyday – she was seen making 5 different kills throughout the week, and was robbed of her kill on 3 occasions.
• Bachelor herds and breeding herds of elephant seen in good numbers both north and south of the camp, coming to drink from the river along the flood plains,
• Large herds of buffalo seen throughout the concession, - some close to the camp as well.
• Hyenas we seen almost every night on their nocturnal patrols, as well as a couple sighted moving through the camp as well
• Other night sightings include honey-badgers, civet and genets,
• General game has been good – especially between Twin Pools and the southern floodplains - zebra, giraffe with young, kudu, impala, red lechwe, Steenbuck, wildebeest, reedbuck and tsessebe.
• Birds specials for the week include a flock of 9 wattled cranes, rosy-chested longclaw, and Kori bustards.

(Weeks 3-4)
• A single adult male lion was seen a few times marking and calling south of camp.
• Another large adult male lion robbed a clan of 10 hyena of their buffalo kill near the old hippo pools. They were both later found taking turns feeding on a buffalo carcass
• An adult male leopard was robbed of his kill by a clan of hyena.
• A shy young female was seen, as well a 3 other sightings of relaxed individuals – one was chasing a caracal.
• 3 adult male cheetah were followed scent-marking and hunting.
• An adult female cheetah and her cubs killed and ate a young male impala south of camp.
• More and more large breeding herds of elephants are being seen daily moving to and from the river.
• Excellent sighting of a buffalo cow giving birth on an evening drive, as well as several large herds (up to a couple of hundred in each) being seen daily north and south of the camp
• Another clan of 15 hyena was found feeding on a buffalo carcass north of Tsessebe Island, several other sightings of hyena including one with a pair if jackal tailing them.
• General game excellent – giraffe, kudu, roan, impala, tsessebe, wildebeest, zebra, lechwe, reedbuck, steenbok, and several troops of baboons
• Night drives include African wild cats and serval seen nightly, 3 caracal, a honey-badger, 2 porcupines foraging together.
• Winter resident birds seen – ground hornbills, Kori bustards, Marshall eagles, secretary birds, and a number of vultures.
• A pair of black mambas was seen hissing and coiling around each other – either a territorial fight or mating!

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                Jump to DumaTau Camp

Just as our guests were departing on their game drive early one morning, a pack of 13 wild dogs came bursting onto the scene as they ran past our guest rooms. A few minutes later they killed an impala right in front of the honeymoon room, and we enjoyed the best seats in the house, watching the dogs feast on their kill from the honeymoon gazebo only a few metres away! We were delighted to observe that the alpha female was heavily pregnant.

Then we had leopard in camp virtually every evening creating much havoc among the resident troop of baboons who roost in the many Mangosteen trees shading our thatched guest rooms. Leopard sightings have been plentiful and at one stage during the month we were averaging three per drive, prompting a guest to ask, "Do you guys breed leopards here?”

Next we were all enjoying early morning breakfast before departing on the morning drive when one guest said, "I so wish we could see wild dogs today." No sooner were these words uttered when an impala come bolting over the balustrade at our dining area, knocking over a number of lanterns with a wild dog in hot pursuit. Soon we had ten wild dog all over the camp, running in various directions as they attempted to flush out the panic-stricken impala. They continued their hunt in camp for some time, totally ignoring guests and staff and at times running just a few metres past us. Eventually they located and killed the impala, yet again right in front of our honeymoon gazebo, henceforth known as the wild dog gazebo!

The dogs have since denned in the nearby Selinda area and often come across the water to our side of the concession boundary in order to hunt.

Early one evening we also sighted a serval with a cub in front of our scenic bar (called the Dung and Beetle). We also had daily encounters with elephant in camp who enjoy snacking on Acacia pods, often vigorously shaking the tree in order to release the pods. We have such Acacia trees at our office/kitchen area, often restricting movement to and from the office and/or kitchen as an old elephant bull likes to hog this tree for up to an hour at a time. The other day he was outside the door and as I started opening the shade cloth door to go out, he just slammed it closed in my face with his trunk. OK, got the message I thought. Quite a charming fellow! However, because of his regular trashing of our High Frequency antenna, he has been named HF!

June also saw the first herds of buffalo in our area with sightings of up to 100 seen at times.

An interesting sighting was experienced whilst following a large male lion early one evening. We were following him along the riverine fringe from the camp when suddenly he stopped, lifted his head to sniff the air, then turned left and proceeded directly into the woodland for approximately 250 metres before freezing on the slope of a termite mound. We sat watching from our vehicle as he started to crouch and stalk but still we could not see beyond the termite mound. Suddenly he flew into action with an enormous burst of speed and hair-raising growl as he took a powerful swipe at a leopard who must have been terrified as she scampered up a nearby Mangosteen tree before coming to rest on an overhanging branch. The lion proceeded to look upward and then made a feeble attempt to climb a nearby tree, before abandoning the silly idea and moving off. This was some really exciting lion/leopard interaction and a real privilege to witness.

We have had lions moving through camp during the evening on a number of occasions, with plenty of “duma tau” (roar of lion) being heard from the comfort of our beds. Some evenings have been particularly noisy with a cacophony of animal sounds filling the evening air. I have to mention the great comment made by a teenage girl at breakfast one morning, when asked what she had heard during the night. She replied " Oh wow, last night I heard things being made, born and killed".

There has been much more, including but not only the following:

Zebra, elephant, cheetah, hyaena, serval, black-backed jackal, bat-eared fox, giraffe, wildebeest, buffalo, kudu, hippo, crocodile, warthog, African rock python, black mamba, tawny eagle, giant eagle owl, bateleur, honey badger, steenbok, impala, red lechwe.

Our guests were awestruck while watching about 150 elephants cross the water whilst on a midday cruise on our beautiful lagoons which are a back-spill from the Linyanti River flowing north from us into Lake Liambezi.

We are also very privileged to have cubs in our area, with one lioness nursing three beauties and another taking care of two. Recently the two lionesses teamed up with all 5 cubs together so that one of the mothers could go hunting. How thoughtful!

Temperatures for the month averaged at a min of 13 degrees C with an average max of 31. The coldest morning was recorded as 8 with our warmest day being 33 degrees C. Yep, the time has arrived for handing out those snug hot water bottles before retiring in the evening and enjoying that customary plate of hot porridge around the morning campfire. DumaTau, certainly the place to be!

DumaTau greetings

IAN & PETRO

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                Jump to Savuti Camp

The seasonal pans have all but dried up and elephant numbers have climbed everyday at the water points in the channel - at the moment we are seeing no less than 100 – 200 elephants drinking at the camp waterhole daily. The interaction between these huge animals as they come to quench their thirst is amazing to watch. The breeding herds are also present but do not stay around for long, rather coming in to the water drinking and then moving off into the safety of the woodlands.This month has been dominated by the three cheetah males that utilize this area as part of their territory. They were found early one morning and the guides waited for them to stretch and wake up as it warmed up. Their patience was rewarded when a small herd of wildebeest moved out of the woodland and into the clearing where the cheetah were resting. Immediately the cheetah were on the hunt. These three cheetah have learnt to use a decoy and one of them will move into open sight of the intended prey distracting them. Then the other two brothers will move around and get into a chasing position to bring down prey. This usually works and it did so again this morning as they brought down a young wildebeest, after a breathtaking chase right across the open channel. The Savuti pride has also had some new arrivals, 5 new lion cubs have been seen in the area around Zibadianja Lagoon. The females have been moving them to a new den site every couple of days. These small cubs are still not able to go with the females and remain in the den while the lionesses hunt.

Leopard, are always a special sighting on game drive and the guides have been treated to some good sightings while on drive. Early one morning a large tom leopard was found on a kudu kill. This is a large kill for a leopard and he fed on it for the following three days, being joined at the kill by a female leopard on the second day. Leopards are primarily solitary, so this sighting was a real exception. The male leopard chased the female from the kill twice, before moving off a fair distance, allowing her a chance to feed.

The temperatures this month have been quite low with an average minimum of 9 degrees Celsius and warming up to about 25 degrees in the afternoons.

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                Jump to Mombo Camp

Kakana and Jack The gestation period of the white rhino is sixteen months, which means that this calf was conceived in early February 2004 – just three months after the mother (Warona, named after Botswana's contestant on the 'Big Brother Africa' TV show!) was released. The fact that our female rhino are conceiving so soon after being introduced to this area is further proof (if we needed any) of how ideal this area is for the species – they are obviously settling in and becoming established very quickly. Before we started this project, no rhino calf had been born in the wild in Botswana in at least a decade, and perhaps as long as 15 years. This means that every calf born here is incredibly valuable and that each birth is an historic occasion. And every new calf born here makes the future of the species in Botswana even more secure. Chief's Island, and in particular the Mombo area, is well known for its high concentrations of all manner of game, resulting of course in the presence of many predators – especially lion and hyaena. Both of these species are known to prey on rhino calves, so we were a little apprehensive at first, but the mothers have all done a superb job of protecting them from harm, and have been successful in raising them.

We know that the father of our youngest rhino is Serondela, a wild male captured in the Chobe area in late 2000 and released into the Mombo area to keep him safe from cross-border poachers. He has already fathered one of our other calves, Valentine, who was born in early February this year (hence his name!).

We were particularly pleased that, with this sixth birth, we were able to predict it very precisely. It seems that immediately before a female rhino is about to give birth, she detaches herself from her group, and moves into an area of thick bush where she is unlikely to be disturbed. Often she will go some way from her usual home range.

Bogale and Valentine

Once we started to see this same pattern of behaviour emerging with Warona in early June, we were very confident that she was about to give birth. Also, and very tellingly, she had been looking heavy for the last couple of months, to the extent that we actually expected this calf a month ago – but she made us wait just a little longer! Nothing can quite compare to the thrill of seeing a new rhino calf for the first time – it is particularly emotional for all those of us who have worked on this project, as we really do get to see the fruits of our lab ours…

Warona and her new calf are a little shy at the moment, so we don't as yet have any photos of them. However, we have some great shots of Valentine with his mother, Bogale – he's now about 4½ months old, and is full of all the energy and curiosity that makes young rhino such a joy to watch. We've had some phenomenal sightings recently, especially as mother and calf are currently quite close to Camp.

We have watched him suckling several times (which rhino calves will do into their second year, if their mothers let them get away with it!).  Also we have seen him playing with other rhino – his favourite game seems to be play-sparring with other male rhino, all of whom are much bigger than him of course.  With his mother close by, he can get away with murder, and can become quite cheeky on occasions!

While sightings of calves are naturally a highlight of our ongoing monitoring programme, with combined research and security patrols, we are also recording regular sightings of the other adults. We are now well into our fourth year of monitoring, and as we collect more data, we are able to build up a more accurate picture of rhino behaviour and ecology in the Okavango Delta. It's an immense privilege to be able to study rhino in the wild in the Delta, as no one has ever had this opportunity before.

As in previous years, we are seeing very interesting movements in relationship to the annual flood. We are in the grip of the southern hemisphere winter now of course, and this must be one of the most beautiful times of year here. The rains of last summer are only a memory now, as most of the pans and waterholes have dried up. In their place however comes the annual flood, bringing new life to the parched landscape. Of course the flooding reduces the amount of land available to many species, and this means that game concentrations are very high at this time of year. This does not seem to adversely affect the rhino however – there is so much food and water available in this season that there is plenty to share with all the other herbivores. As the water pushes down each side of Chief's Island, we are starting to see some of the rhino, which had moved to further-flung areas, return to the main island. This is not as pronounced a trend as it was last year, but then this year's flood has been lower than expected, more on a par with the first two floods experienced by the reintroduced rhino in 2002 and 2003.

Some rhino have moved a long way from where they were released, particularly our four black rhino. These, released in November 2003, have proved to be very elusive, and often we rely more on spoor and tracks to identify them than on actual sightings. This of course is partly due to the habitat they prefer (as browsers, they seem to like some of the thicker bush areas) and also their solitary nature (meaning that each black rhino needs more space than a typical white rhino).

The female black rhino in particular have demonstrated an amazing propensity to walk over long distances, to the extent that they are very difficult to monitor from our base at Mombo. Instead, officers from the Wildlife Department's Anti-Poaching Unit (APU) are monitoring them from their bases on the fringes of the Okavango Delta.

We never really expected that all the rhino would remain in the Mombo area, or even on Chief's Island. Rather, the aim of this project from the beginning was that ultimately the rhino would begin to repopulate the entirety of their former range across northern Botswana. Perhaps in 20 years or so, Botswana will be able to export rhino to other countries in southern Africa, with a view to repeating the success of this project in, say, Zambia or Mozambique.

Botswana has everything going for it to become an important rhino range state, with a very committed government and private sector (eco-tourism especially), and, thanks to decades of careful management and protection, vast areas of untouched wilderness which are perfect for rhino! We have already had interest from other African nations who see this project as a blueprint for future rhino reintroduction's.

In the near future, we plan to bring in many more black rhino (most likely from South Africa). We need to boost our current foundation population of four to around 20 which is the threshold for a viable breeding herd. At the moment there is inevitably a fairly low chance of our black rhino mating – although we have seen tracks showing that on at least two occasions, a male and female have passed very close to each other, and so they must be aware of each other at the very least.

That will be the next phase of the project: to reintroduce more black rhino into the Mombo / Chief's Island area, while at the same time continuing to monitor and study our white rhino population.

During July we will be carrying out an important operation, working with veterinarians from Zimbabwe, to dart several rhino in the bush and fit them with new radio transmitters. While we have been extremely successful at locating them even without radio telemetry equipment (due to the tracking skills of many of the people involved in this project), radio transmitters certainly make things easier – and will facilitate less disruptive aerial tracking work.

Of course we are always busy raising funds, particularly to finance the black rhino reintroduction's, and we welcome any and all donations. If you would like to contribute to this exciting conservation project, please email donations@wildernesstrust.com – the new Trust website will be up soon.

We'd also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has assisted us in any way, and in particular the SAVE Foundation in Australia, and Tusk Trust in the UK, for their generosity and ongoing support for our work – thank you!

Thanks are also due to the International Rhino Foundation in the USA for their fundraising work on our behalf, and to SANParks, the South African National Parks Board, for their logistical help and expert advice.

* *
NJG
Rhino Reintroduction Project
Mombo Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana

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                Jump to Kings Pool Camp

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                Jump to Selinda Camp

Being so close to Zibalianja and CMU camps, the dogs have made these two places their personal dining rooms. Impala are frequently herded into the camps, where they are quickly dispatched and devoured before any hyaena pluck up the courage to enter the camp environs.

Guests marveled as the “3-Boys” cheetah coalition chased a male warthog into the refuge in his burrow. He then fatefully came trotting out to see if the danger had passed, only to be KO in round No. 2. Sadly a lone hyaena rushed in and stole the meal before the cheetah could eat.

The eastern spillway floodwaters have been temporarily halted as they fill a small lagoon that was once a major hippo hangout in the ‘80s! Literally thousands of elephant have been using the clear waters of the spillway as back country pans are near non-existent.

The autumn aerial survey revealed an estimated population of 2009 buffalo. This is the highest estimate since we started our surveys in 1995!

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                Jump to Tubu Tree Camp

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                Jump to Vumbura Plains Camp

Exciting morning drive happened as the guests drove past a female sable with her youngster. Whilst viewing these animals a female leopard was sighted in the vicinity watching them both. It then became apparent that the young sable had a neck injury which was bleeding, most probably from an attack by the leopard then being saved by the mother. The leopard moved off and was followed back to a tree where her cub waited impatiently. Later the leopard went back and killed the sable pulling it back to the tree with its cub. The adult sables then went beneath the tree taunting the leopard, presumably to try and get it to release the carcass. This continued until a few hyenas arrived feeding on bone scraps that were dropping from the tree.

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                Jump to Duba Plains Camp

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                Jump to Mombo Camp

This month has been all about the annual flood. It's a very special time of year, and one which perfectly illustrates the paradox of the Okavango Delta - there is much more water in the area now in the dry season than there is in the wet season! All of the pans which were filled by rainwater last summer have now evaporated under the hot African sun, and so animals are dependent on the steady influx of water which has made its way from the Benguela Plateau of Angola, through Namibia's Caprivi Strip, and then along the Okavango Panhandle in extreme northern Botswana.

Once the waters cross the Gumare fault line they fan out in the shape of a welcoming hand, life-giving fingers reaching out across the Kalahari sand deposits, bringing essential nutrients with them. Tectonic movements, sedimentary deposition and the actions of hippo dislodging papyrus islands in the upper reaches of the Delta can have a remarkable effect on the direction the floodwaters take.

This year, as last, we suspect that much of the flow has been diverted to the West, and this means that water may reach Lake Ngami beyond Maun for only the second time in two decades.This still leaves very significant volumes of water to flow down each side of Chief's Island, and from our vantage point at Mombo, at the north-western tip of the Island, we can see the waters steadily trickling in and spilling out of time-worn channels and streams and out across the floodplains, and then into the Simbira Channel and beyond us as they flow on towards their date with destiny in the Kalahari.

It really is an incredible process to watch… if you look away from the flood for a few moments, and then look back, you could swear that the waters have moved on in that brief time. Everywhere that is touched by the influx turns green almost instantly, as if painted in broad swathes of verdant colour by the brush of a particularly gifted artist. From the sunlight sparkling in the water like so many diamonds to the flaming glow of the rising full moon as it rises over Little Mombo, the water provides a perfect mirror image of everything that happens in and above it - crocodiles basking on sandy islets and flights of white-faced ducks rejoicing in the water, whistling in unison as they land as if to announce the arrival of the flood.

Even though this year's inundation appears to be much less in extent than last year's, the magic of this season is undeniable with vast stretches of leonine yellow grass transforming into lush green floodplains. At almost any time of day, it is possible to sit in Camp and watch lechwe running through the water, or massive buffalo standing stock still in the deeper water, bovine masses slowly grazing on all the water plants around them.

The Okavango constantly defies and exceeds human expectations, and many of the "rules" which people claim govern animal behaviour in other parts of Africa simply don't apply here. Try telling the wading lions of the Okavango that cats don't like water... after all, if dinner is on the other side of the channel, someone is going to have to get their paws wet!

Camp
In the soft evening light, the shallow Vs of geese and storks flying overhead signal the end of another day, as the spoonbills shake their heads in disbelief at the sudden bounty all around them. As I write this, a Hamerkop has just flown over the Camp... according to some African traditions, if one of these "lightning birds" flies over your house, you must burn it down and rebuild it. That's one African tradition we may have to break with!

Many other time-honoured traditions of the classic safari are observed in our timeless setting, from the tartan blankets around the fire to the three-legged pot of hot chocolate bubbling away in the coals - the perfect antidote to cool winter evenings. Perhaps the most pleasurable of all safari traditions is to sit around a camp fire at the end of the day, looking up at the ghostly sweep of the Milky Way above, and the stars of the classic winter constellation, Scorpio, crawling boldly across the night sky. Sipping a steaming mug of cocoa, musing over the day's sightings in the bush and thrilling to the anticipation of yet another day of phenomenal Mombo game viewing the next day.

Game Drives
What a month it has been for game drives. Logadima, the young female leopard whose progress from a cub to a fully independent adult has kept us spellbound for the last two years, is finding her feet as a hunter. She has started bringing down prey larger than herself, up to and including impala rams. For three days this month, she stayed with one kill that she had hoisted into a spreading umbrella thorn tree very close to the Camp. You know you are being spoilt when the first creature you see in a day is a leopard!

Some of the most dramatic sightings - and most fervent speculation - have been generated by the wild dogs which are tenaciously holding on at Mombo, despite the almost overwhelming lion numbers in this part of the Delta. We had been seeing a group of three dogs in this area earlier this year (two males and a female) and in April one of the males was seen mating with the female. Now we have been seeing the two males hunting without the female, and we think (if we have calculated correctly!) that they may be denning - in other words, that the female has had pups. Suddenly it seems that a ragtag bunch of three dogs may have transformed into a nascent pack, the beginnings of a resurgence of the predators that helped cement Mombo's phenomenal reputation back in the mid-1990s. Certainly the two males are hunting as if they had extra mouths to feed - sweeping through the acacias to cause pandemonium among the impalas, and rapidly devouring each one that they catch, gulping down great chunks of meat and then making a beeline out of the area - behaviour that suggests that they are running back to the den to regurgitate food for the latest generation of the Mombo wild dog dynasty.

As yet, we still don't know if these puppies have indeed been born, but we can be sure that we have at least one very special new baby in this area. Early on in the month we discovered yet another new white rhino calf, the third to be born this year and the sixth altogether since we started the reintroduction project back in late 2001. The mother is Warona, one of our older females, introduced in November 2003. With her calf being born early this month (we found this newest calf when it was just four or five days old), this means that she conceived within three months of being released at Mombo - a testament to the suitability of this area as rhino habitat, and to how quickly rhino settle in once they arrive here. Just as exciting, we are looking forward to receiving more black rhino (from South Africa) later this year, as part of our major initiative to boost the population of this very rare species in the Delta to the point where they too can begin breeding.

Perhaps the stars of our game drives this month have been the Mathatha lion pride. Despite their name (‘problem’), the only problem they are having at the moment is trying to fill so many hungry mouths. They currently have nineteen cubs to feed, which means that they need to hunt almost every day - and some days more than once - to satisfy so many growing appetites. The sheer number of cubs in this area at present (there are also eight cubs in the Old Trails Pride to the north of Mombo) illustrates the odds that are stacked against the wild dogs - but these resourceful, adaptable canines always find a way to pull through.

If the dogs do indeed have pups, then these youngsters are likely to cause serious competition to the lion cubs in the cuteness stakes - one of the best experiences you can have on a game drive is to watch a group of social carnivores with young. The playfulness of cubs and puppies however cannot disguise the serious intent behind all their games - preparing them for a life of hunting. Even in an area as rich in game as Mombo is, a predator's life is never easy!

Guest feedback
As ever, we will leave the last word on Mombo and Little Mombo in June to the guests who shared these magical times with us: • You have my unqualified endorsement: the place! The staff! The animals! All fantastic!
• This is the most magnificent place we have ever seen: warmest people, so friendly, so many animals, and luxurious accommodation.
• The entire staff were incredibly welcoming and made us feel at home - thank you!
• It has indeed been a privilege to once again have stayed at Mombo... Jacqui's personality radiates throughout. The staff was charming, willing, and most able at all times. Credit must also be given to Craig and his team who provided such a delicious choice of food for every meal... We shall return again!
• The amazing game drives are worth the trip alone!
• The highlight was watching the lions running through our Camp at breakfast...
• Everyone should come to Mombo at least once in their lives...
• Everything is top calibre - the staff is informative, funny, and gracious - wonderful!

At the end of this month we said a fond farewell to two of our managers, who are moving on to new roles within the company:
Angela will be moving to Maun to work in the Environmental Division, overseeing the many research projects being conducted under the auspices of Wilderness Safaris across northern Botswana, and to help co-ordinate the Children in the Wilderness (CITW) project.
Jacqui will be heading north to work at DumaTau Camp.

We wish them both all the very best!
That's all from your June Mombo team...
Until next time, all the very best from Jacqui, Angela, Craig, Peter & Sharon, Noreen, Mavis, One, Koki, Lee and Nick.

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                Jump to Palmwag Rhino Camp

Palmwag Rhino Camp is looking good, despite the east wind that started picking up in June and the mosquitoes that have become a reason for discomfort during the hot nights. But the camp is still surrounded by an abundance of Hartmann’s mountain zebra, oryx (gemsbok) and springbok which adds immensely to the atmosphere. One particular oryx has been staying close to the overflow of the water tank and the herds are regularly seen at the camp’s waterhole. A late afternoon drive from camp through the golden grass plains presents us with magnificent views of herds of mountain zebra.

Elephant bulls have started moving back into the area. Two elephants, one known as the Koabes bull, along with a young “askari,” were seen regularly along the Achab River. Another unknown bull also appeared between Werelds-end spring and upper Achab. No elephant breeding herds have yet returned. After the good rains on the Grootberg to the East, the elephants were absent from the Rooiplaat Area for about five months.Good lion sightings were made during June, along with good photographic opportunities which also presented themselves.

One beautiful afternoon presented us with two males and a lioness in season, only twenty metres away. They were relaxed and almost ignored our presence. Johan and Ivan took unbelievable pictures – the best taken yet of lions at Rhino Camp. It must be mentioned that we spent most of the morning tracking this pride of lions. We left them after they fell sleep and found them again in the afternoon.These animals were again seen at intervals. Later in the month only one male was seen with the female. There was also a lot of lion and hyaena activity around camp. Tracks of a lioness with a cub were also found.

When it comes to black rhino, we’ve had a variety of sightings. ‘Eva’ the black rhino cow was seen, and the carcass of a 4-year-old calf found in the field was probably hers. This calf died of natural causes and is an unfortunate loss to the local population. We think it was Eva’s because she had been seen to be pregnant, but when she was sighted, there was no young calf . The bull ‘Don’t Worry’ was with her.The black rhino bulls ‘Don’t Worry’, ‘Speedy’ and ‘Ben’ were seen, although less regularly than other months. The cow and calf ‘Dyana’ and ‘Takamisa’ were the rhino most often seen.

On a sad note, 25th of June was also the day when we laid Blythe Loutit of the Save The Rhino Trust to rest. She was buried on the ridge overlooking the Uniab River next to Mike Hearn. Her commitment to the rhino of the area never flagged, and it is thanks to her that the rhino are around today. Her legacy will continue.

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