Chitabe Camp. 02 Jan 2011,con't
Arrived in time to catch the only other two couples at the camp finishing their lunch. Had half a sandwich before siesta time. Very hot here.
Our evening game drive was shared w the Belgian couple. The terrain here is very different. We are in the Okavango delta proper now, and the camp is on an "island". It is very marshy in spots and mostly sandy otherwise. Wild sage everywhere and many dead Leadwood trees lend and eerie feel to the place, especially on this evening, as it was darkly overcast. Add vultures to the trees, and you get a sense of doom.
Plenty of different antelope to be seen, and we were just generally enjoying the drive. Chitabe is apparently famous for it's wild dogs, something we didn't realize. We also didn't realize this morning what a big deal they are. They are the world's most endangered carnivore and also the most successful hunter. 60-70% of attempts result in a kill. Also the ancient grandparents to all domestic dogs. We found the pack, 23 dogs in all, and followed them for some time. When they were in the deep bush, we were able to follow them by watching their entourage of vultures, never far away. We sat observing them for some time, but the Belgian gal was chaffing to go find the lions, so we puttered off. It doesn't work that way, incidentally. You just go out on safari, and you see what you see. You can't scan these enormous concessions (this one is 60,000 acres) for the particular thing it is you want to view. You're more likely to see certain things in certain areas and at certain times of the year, but that's as far as it goes. Stopped for our sundowners (Gin and tonics all around. They just taste better here), and then had to make a bee-line for the camp as we watched black storm clouds roll twds us. Almost made it to the tent before the sky opened up.
We got picked up for dinner just before eight. You are never allowed to walk alone in the dark. This camp is crawling w baboons and they can be aggressive. Then there is the whole leopard thing....
Nice meal w staff, the Belgian gal and another couple.
Johnny is Danish, Katie is a Texan, and they live in Moscow. He is a force, this guy, and she was a real doll. (Incidentally, they stayed and hung out w the dogs in their jeep and saw a kill). We had all together too much fun drinking and kibitzing w these two until after midnight. They didn't have a 5 am call, as they had a 09:30 flight. Not too clever of us, but we had a great time!
03 Jan '11
Opted for a 06:00 start. Ouch.
Away we went w our usual expectation to be happily entertained no matter what. We weren't very long in before Gordon, our new guide and driver, heard something that he followed. What we arrived to was a leopard, treed by the wild dogs, and hissing just like the neighbor's cat would do in the same situation! We watched this monkey business for a bit, then Gordon said he heard an alarm call that we couldn't detect at all. Off we went. We came upon a large herd of impala, all making the strangest noise. Chirp? Gasp? Bark? Hard to describe. Maybe "Chuff!" They make the noise by forcing air out of their mouths. Had a look around to see another leopard in some bushes, eating what was left of her kill. You could tell from tracks that it was stolen from her by a hyena. (We ran into the hyena w his spoils on the way back to lunch!) She sulked off and climbed a tree and the dogs were then cued to enter the area, scattering the impala. They snorfed up the intestines that she wouldn't eat, chewed on a loose hoof, and moved on. We decided to follow them.
They continued to move, sometimes playing like dogs do, the lead dogs moved out of our sight, and we rounded a corner to to sink into a mud hole. Stuck! Fifty meters up ahead, they already had a fresh kill! Ooh! So close. Not much to be done but radio for help and have our morning coffee break. Help arrived just as we finished, and we were towed out in short order. By the time we got to the carcass 30-35 minutes later, the vultures had already picked it clean! Nothing but skull and a few vertebrae left. All this by 10:00.
Headed back twds camp. We were the only 2 guests for lunch. Enjoyed a great chicken pot pie with Gordon and the camp manager, Trevor.
Definitely ready for a siesta after last night. Slept about half an hour before we were shocked out of our sleep by screaming baboons bounding around on the top of our tent. Fighting over food, likely. Took a while for our heart rates to come back down! Hotter than Hades in our tent.
Tea and intros to the nine new folks that have joined the camp. Two families of four, and a Dr. from Miami. He will be joining us. A Patrick Dempsey look-a-like. Poor me.
Out for our evening drive, and by all accounts a quiet drive. This is not generally elephant territory, however, we saw the biggest herd we have ever seen. Probably 150 of them, in a long, wide parade. The guides here obviously don't do a lot of elephant time, like at Savuti, because they are very shy of them. At Savuti, they figure on where they are headed, drive ahead, and park. Then the animals just stream around you like you're a tree. They know what every ear flap and trumpet means, and react accordingly. These guys are nervous around elephants but can find leopards w their eyes closed, and manage wild dogs expertly. More on that shortly.
Another phenomenal sunset, this time I chose the South African white, (Gordon doesn't ask you your preference at lunch, but rather travels w a well stocked bar). We of course had elephants traversing in the distance as we took our sundowners. Beautiful sky as we headed back to camp slowly.
Cocktails around the fire pit, and another meal of local dishes w lively company. We adjourned again later to the fire pit and I saw my first Genet cat. I had no idea this tiny nocturnal cat even existed, but it has a spotted body and a stripy raccoon tail. Sleek, wary and glossy-eyed. Cool.
Wow. Long day after a long night. I asked for a ride home, and suddenly everyone got up to leave. Sensible, I suppose.
04 Jan
My first good night's sleep in a week. Probably because I switched my Malerone to noon yesterday.
Headed out at 06:00, for the usual antelope and birds. The morning air and soft light are reason enough to get up so early. Stumbled upon a pride of lions sleeping under a large bush/small tree. Three lionesses and three cubs. We sat and watched them sleep, nurse and cuddle for about half an hour, taking hundreds of photos and some video and then drove off to find the dogs. We found them easily, picking them out by the vultures. Spent some time watching the vultures clean up a recent kill. They sound almost like the clacking of silverware or maybe knitting needles as their beaks hit bone. We moved on after 10 minutes or so and followed the water up to the dogs. They were sleeping or having fun. We watched them play in the shallow water for a while, (it's a shame I can't attach video to this, even with my tiny crummy camera I have some great clips) then moved on to have our morning coffee break. Gordon always says he needs to mark his territory when he hops out. Standing talking around the jeep, I noticed the dogs approaching. I slowly moved up and back into the truck, (Never run in the bush!) but the fellas stood their ground. Did I mention this is the world's most successful predator? They continued to come closer, sniff the guys and the truck. Michael and Gus figured if Gordon wasn't worried, they were OK. A long five minutes passed, they lost interest and moved on. Gordon could make them jump back with a stomp or a wave of his spoon. I climbed back out for a bit, but the rest of the pack came to follow the leaders, so I slid back in. A couple of minutes later, we could hear their characteristic "chirp" the books call it, a strange excited yipping. So we packed up and followed the noise.
GAME ON!
We arrived at a watering hole that had a herd of wildebeests (used interchangeably w gnu), circled in defense of their young, surrounded on all sides by dogs. The dogs would move in, nip at them and then the gnu would charge out anywhere from 5-20 ft. The object being to break the circle and isolate a little one. One hapless wee one followed mom far enough out of the circle to catch the dog's eyes and they stormed it. Three jeeps gunned their engines and we were in pursuit! Yeehah! What a ride! We caught up to the poor little b***** as it bleated it's last. These dogs don't go for the throat like a lion or a leopard, but sink their teeth in anywhere and yank. Particularly gruesome, but over in an instant. Literally torn limb from limb in a minute. Half a dozen or so set about eating, and the rest continued to torment the herd. Strangely, the gnus didn't run off, but rather moved closer to us and the majority of the dogs. A Marabou stork made the scene and then the vultures began to arrive. During all this, there was a dog behind our jeep, sound asleep. We hung around for awhile, not sure if they would try for another, but they started to hop in the water and clean themselves, so we headed back to camp.
Quite a morning!
Lunch, rest and broil slowly. Even hotter today, so just climbed into the shower every 10 minutes, and lolled in front of the fan.
Evening drive: Back to visit the lions, who had ambitiously moved to the other side of the same tree for their day's activity. Moving w the shade is about all they do when they are fed. They sleep about 18 hrs a day. They began to rouse, and were a little more active as the evening cooled. So cute watching the little ones stalk each other and then pounce.
Found a watering hole full of hippos for our sundown drink. This is also the time of day that they begin to stir. Again, lots of yawning, but these guys were also breaching, which was a new experience for me.
Drove home in the dark w the spot light on, and topped off the evening w a leopard siting, not far from camp.
Closed our day w dinner under the stars. A great, homey meal of roast chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and coleslaw. All well prepared.
05 Jan 2011
Pretty quiet morning drive. Found a leopardess, we know now she has cubs as they were seen last night. We were pretty sure that she had them hidden in the hollow of a tree she checked on, but she was not kind enough to show them to us. Lots of zebra today. Most of the camp departing today.
Lunch, shower, airstrip.
Off to Windhoek.