Posts Tagged ‘kalahari’

Kalahari Plains Camp

Many of the herbivores have moved out of the pans and into the woodland areas, in search of palatable vegetation and possibly some shelter from the energy sapping heat. What makes this interesting is that many of the predator species are territorial and now have to start extending and overlapping their territories so that they include prey species.

A group of three lionesses has commandeered the waterhole in front of camp, which is a good opportunistic move as there is a constant flow of prey species coming to the water for a cooling drink. We know that one of the females has cubs as we can see that she is lactating, but up until this month, we have not seen the cubs. Whilst on a bushman walking excursion, which took us past the waterhole in front of camp and some thick clumps of vegetation, the group suddenly heard a low growl emanating from a clump of vegetation. The group stopped in their tracks and then slowly backed off. We returned shortly with a vehicle, and this is when we came across the young cubs for the first time. The two other adult females ran away, but the mother and her cubs sat tight, allowing us a great view of the cubs.

During August, we had a number of different cheetah moving across the reserve. As the wildlife has spread more widely over Kalahari, the cheetah have no choice but to ensure their home ranges included resources, causing them to stretch their territories. We had a great sighting of a female and her cub, which we presume is around five months of age.

Our highlight for the month was a great sighting provided by our resident honey badger that hangs around camp. We have seen this badger catching ground-nesting birds and a variety of arthropods, but he really did surprise us with his chosen meal on this occasion. The badger ambitiously took on a black mamba. It seemed like he had done this before, as he knew exactly where to attack and where to avoid. The badger swiftly attacked the snake and bit the head off before the snake could administer its lethal venom.

Botswana: The Kalahari Desert
At over 12 million acres, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve is one of the largest game reserves in the world. Located in a private concession bordering the remarkably remote Deception Valley, our camp offers substantial comfort in a remote wilderness. A multitude of antelope species and a variety of large predators call this area home, along with the charming honey badger and endlessly entertaining meerkats, and you’ll have opportunity to get to know them all.

About Boundless Journeys
Boundless Journeys is an award-winning small group adventure tour operator. With a diverse collection of locally guided, small group itineraries and Private Collection trips around the world, Boundless Journeys offers “The World’s Great Adventures.” The adventure trips for 2-16 guests are active, ranging from leisurely cultural explorations and wildlife safaris to challenging trekking in remote regions ― with plenty of easy to moderate walking and sea kayaking in between.

Location: Mombo Camp, Moremi Game Reserve, Okavango Delta

The Maned Lioness
From the late 1990s until 2002, a rather peculiar lioness and her pride used the immediate vicinity of Mombo Camp in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. ‘Martina’, as she was named, was a huge muscular lioness with a mane resembling that of a four-year-old male lion. The remainder of the pride consisted of another (maneless) lioness and her two cubs. Martina herself was never seen to conceive and give birth to cubs even though she was observed mating on one occasion. So what caused this genetic abnormality?

Over the years, Martina’s presence around Mombo fueled many a debate about her genetic makeup at the dinner table and fireside. Was this an expression of gene carried on the x chromosome? Was it merely a freak mutation, never to be seen again? Perhaps a result of genetic mutation due to intense in-breeding? Or a recessive gene able to be transferred to offspring? The mystery was never solved and the story of Martina’s presence at Mombo became history. A few years later, one of the Mombo guides located a new, previously unknown pride, that had just pulled down a buffalo on the western part of the island. Given the rather prosaic name of ‘The Western Pride’, the pride slowly settled into life around Mombo, conducting their hunting and mating activities. There was absolutely nothing peculiar about the pride and they become regular stars on Mombo game drives, producing offspring in the summer of 2005/06 and settling down in the immediate vicinity of the camp, focusing on killing buffalo in and around the channel.

Recently, Mombo guides were stunned to observe a female lion in the Western Price with a large build and the well developed mane of a two to three year old male. Wow! Since then, two other maned lionesses have been identified in the Western Pride. The discovery was overwhelming; the potential questions and answers, even more so. Are these lionesses related to Martina, or rather just products of the same circumstances that bred her? It is impossible at this stage to answer these questions, but we look forward to many more sightings and fireside debates in the years to come.

The new Kalahari Plains Camp is proving to be a great success!

It is set on a dune crest just 3.4 miles from Deception Valley itself. Purple pod terminalia trees provide shade and its elevated position means a cooling breeze is often a welcome addition. Camp staff include local San Bushmen who add further insight into visiting this wonderful area. What makes Kalahari Plains Camp special is its location: the camp is the closest to the famous game-rich Deception Valley of Central Kalahari Game Reserve, offering easy access for the morning and evening wildlife activity peaks. Sightings in January to date have included lion, cheetah, leopard in camp, suricates (meerkats), hundreds of gemsbok (oryx) and springbok, wildebeest, red hartebeest, jackal with pups, Cape fox with pups, honey badger and 125 bird species. Apart from this, there is much to experience and the scenery of this ancient river valley is wondrous. The Kalahari region is the ideal complement to camps in the Okavango Delta and Linyanti. This area will no doubt become an integral part of a traditional Botswana circuit in future.

As a reminder, the “high” season for visiting the Kalahari is Jan-Apr, but even in the first half of May it is well worth a visit.

Boundless Journeys offers set departure safaris to Botswana, or private Botswana safaris for just you and you family and friends on the dates of your choice.