BACK TO BOTS - CAPRIVI AND LINYANTI AREA

Yep, back to Bots - let's face it, it's the prime wildlife destination right now in southern Africa. With a government who really seems to understand the value of conservation and photographic safaris, most of the land is protected and hunting will be 100% abolished as from the end of this year. So there I was, going back to Bots, as a man on a mission. I was going for Cheetah and African Wild Dog photography, and for that I had to go to Lagoon Camp of Kwando Safaris...so I was told. As we are working closely together with Kwando, it was no problem to make a booking for 3 nights at Lagoon and while I was at it, I added 3 nights at their Lebala Camp, only 30kms away from Lagoon.

As per usual I managed to catch a ride to the border with Botswana, about an hour drive. We crossed the Zambezi river to get from Kazangula in Zambia to Kasane in Botswana. Despite some improvements, the difference between the Zambia and Botswana side of the border is huge. Zambia is a mess and they don't seem to care; Botswana has got everything pretty well organized. Anyway, it seems I am getting used to it because I hardly see it anymore; I do cross this border quite often.

In Kasane I just make it in time to the airport and it seems I am the only passenger to embark for the flight to Lagoon Camp, about a 45 minutes flight. Even if there would have been more passengers, it could have been only 3 more because it is a 4 seater. For a while we follow the Chobe river and it is clear how high the water level is, incredible. I have never seen this river so wide and huge parts of the land are under water.

After 45 minutes we land in the middle of nowhere, which is such a pleasure. Of course a game drive vehicle appears out of nowhere and I meet the first guides of Lagoon Camp. The short drive takes 20 minutes to the camp and after a short briefing I am shown my safari tent, a standard set-up in Botswana it seems. You might think: tent? That sounds pretty basic. No way, these are the luxury type of tents with en-suite bathrooms. So don't feel sorry for me, I had myself a nice little set-up. The afternoon drive was only to start in some hours so I dozed off on my comfy bed, while little bee-eaters were doing their thing near the river at my tent and huge monitor lizards were slithering passed my tent.

After 1 hour however I was rudely awoken by the manager. They had tracked down the wild dogs, she says. Would I like to come along now? Sure thing, that is the main reason for me to come to this place. Lagoon does have, as they call it, a resident pack of wild dogs, one of the rarest predators in southern Africa but also one of the most intriguing one. "Resident" basically means that the dogs are used to safari vehicles hence the possibilities for proper photography are great.

After a suicidal drive through the bush we do indeed find the pack of 16 dogs. Another vehicle was already there with a German film crew. Later I find out it is Matto Barfuss, the well known film-maker and also called the "cheetah-man", together with his lovely wife. The dogs are still sleeping, but since wild dogs usually hunt twice a day it was just a matter of waiting. Soon enough the dogs did wake up and started to move around the bush, with increasing speed. I would have though they were planned hunters, but it’s the contrary. The dogs just move through the bush until they find something they like for dinner. The first encounter, a Cape Buffalo, is a bit too big for the pack, but then they stumble upon a male warthog.

Now male warthogs are dangerous animals because of their tusks and ferocity. So for dogs to take on a warthog is not a small thing one would think, but the dogs did not hesitate for a moment and attacked straight. Also the warthog was impressed, because it was running back and forth squealing like a … pig. The warthog managed to hide under a tree stump though, only his nose sticking out with his tusks on both sides, and the dogs whimpered in frustration because now they couldn’t get to the pig anymore.

After a while the dogs lost interest and started to move…but only a pig can be that stupid…the warthog came out of its hiding…the dogs knew straight away…and with the 16 of them they jumped on him. Now, wild dogs are known for being relentless, and to some this might seem; others call it efficient. No matter what, when wild dogs kill and eat their prey it’s not a pretty sight. While some of the dogs hold on to the struggling animal, the rest start to eat already from the soft parts. As a result, we were watching a warthog which was still struggling, but all his intestines were already eaten away and most of its belly. Finally the animal succumbed and the dogs had a ball…

And of course, but very unfortunately, my camera refused to work on the moment supreme. So you will have to do without the guesome pictures...

After such a splendid first day the expectations were high for the rest of the days. The search was on for the cheetahs, because Lagoon has also three cheetah brothers roaming around. These brothers were also very used to game drive vehicles, which made it easy to follow them. We found them twice and they were ready to hunt, but eventually only the film crew saw the cheetahs take down a young kudu. But even without “a kill” it was a real pleasure to see these majestic cats.

The lagoon area does have all the other “obvious” wildlife around like impala, elephant, kudu, wildebeest, giraffe etc etc. But lions are currently not present, which is the reason for the cheetahs to hang around, since they don’t match well with lions. But they do have lions at Lebala, the next camp I go to. It’s not the particular reason for me to go there, since I find lions most of the time quite boring, but on our way to camp we find 3 cubs left behind by their mothers who went out to do their thing. Lion cubs are very cute so it was a pleasure to watch them for a while.

While at Lebala we tried by all means to find leopard, but to no avail. The elusive cat did not want to be seen. Also the adult lions stayed away, although we tried to find them. But I did get a real real treat! One evening, returning from a drive, a caracal crossed the road. First time for me and gee, was I happy! Next day we found a serval which is also quite special, so I didn’t mind the lack of lions at all!

The flight back to Kasane was the most spectacular I have done so far. The young Scottish pilot asked us if we wanted to do something special, and of course we said no. So he flew as low as possible and allowed over the Chobe river, going side-ways all the time which was brilliant for game viewing from the air. A special treat to top off a special stay in the Botswana bush.

A special thanks goes out to Kwando Safaris.