| | Weather and Landscape
During the wet season, Khwai must be one of the most beautiful places in Botswana. The landscape has completely transformed and the mopane trees have officially sprung back to life with their trademark luminous green leaves, making the drive around the camp absolutely spectacular. Of course, for all the green there must be the rain, and what a month it has been for storms. The sky in front of camp has been unbelievable, and with the sun catching all the storm clouds during sunset, it has created some of the most magnificent landscapes many of our guests have ever seen.
The storms create much excitement and as soon as you hear a clap of thunder, expect an immediate bucket of water to drop from the sky. This cools down the drives quite substantially although the humidity is still fairly high!
Wildlife
This month the animals have been a little more difficult to spot due to the woodland trees sprouting their new leaves, however, the game is still as amazing as ever. On one sunny morning a pack of six wild dog were spotted running through the wetland in front of camp, wreaking havoc amongst our resident reedbuck, and although they were unsuccessful in their hunting our 'family', they were still very active and dashed off into the thicker woods in search of more game.
Another sighting (possibly the same pack) happened not too far from camp with the dogs hunting baby impala. The dogs were very efficient, and in one hour at least four young impala were caught and devoured while in full view of the excited guests who were witnessing a very successful day for our endangered friends.
A pride of 14 lion was spotted near the Mogotlo game viewing area having taken down a zebra; this was a lovely sighting as there were several cubs and two very large males involved in the episode. The lion have made Banoka their home, and have stayed around the camp, with their spoor (tracks) seen on the roads leading out of camp every morning. Their roars also dot the soundscape on a nightly basis.
Where there are lion, the hyaena follow closely. Side-striped and black-backed jackals are also being sighted more regularly in all the areas.
The herbivores are also making an appearance in camp more and more, with kudu walking the paths along with impala, giraffe and reedbuck coming through the camp to get their water. The hippos are also quite active out the water during the day with the cooler temperatures, and their clumsy and grumpy antics are quite amusing for our many guests.
Tortoises and terrapins are the name of the game nowadays for the game drives. Many hatchlings are found wandering the roads and that shows there is a very healthy reptilian population in Khwai. The roads are full of large water puddles and small terrapins are often found swimming in these puddles - when a vehicle is seen they quickly swim to the edge and climb out, scuttling away to the safety of the bush.
Snakes have also been very active around the camp lately, with spotted-bush snakes, stripe-bellied sand snakes and eastern tiger snakes found, hunting small lizards and chameleons, who are also spotted in the trees if lucky enough to get around their amazing camouflage. A small vine snake was found in a tree and they too are amazingly camouflaged.
Birds and Birding
The bird life has been particularly brilliant, with many species being seen around the camp. These include the Rufous-bellied Heron, Slaty Egret and Kurrichane Thrush. There have been many other birds spotted in the lagoon in front of camp, such as the Great-white Egret, Saddle-billed Stork, White Stork, Marabou Stork, Wattled Crane, African Darter, White-faced Duck, Red-billed Teal, Spur-winged Goose and many, many more. There is also a Red-headed Weaver nesting outside the office.
Interesting Sightings
During the last week of the month, as part of the ongoing lion research in northern Botswana, a research team was out conducting a lion call-in survey close to Banoka Bush Camp in the eastern Okavango Delta. It was a thrilling event - read about it here.
James Moodie
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