Summary for this trip? It was amazing!

We spent three nights camping in Deception Valley in Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

During our first night, sleeping in the dome tents in the middle of this wild place, we heard lions roaring all around us. The next morning, after a not so restful night, we left the camp at first light, excited to start our search for the lions.

As we drive towards the waterhole, the guests spotted a pride of lions laying in the shade of one of the many acacia tree islands. It was a pride of five lions - one female with three cubs and one of the big black mane Kalahari lions. A spectacular sight!

After we watched them for a while, we decided to drive on - and not 100 metres further, we came across a female cheetah with two cubs. It is highly unusual to see a cheetah (especially one with cubs) so close to a pride of lions, as cheetah are vulnerable due to their size, and can easily be killed by lions. They are fast and non-confrontational though, so will leave in a hurry should the lions become aggressive. In this case however, the pride of lions were completely unaware of the cheetah family.

We continued on our exploration of the valley and saw spectacular general game - big herds of springbok, oryx, some red hartebeest and many birds of prey.

On an afternoon activity we headed out towards Sunday Pan and picked up lion tracks on the road. We tracked them all the way, until finally at Leopard Pan we came across five females lying quietly, watching some springbok grazing not far away. On this occasion, the antelope were lucky and the lions did not attempt a hunt.

The following morning we came upon another Kalahari black-maned lion, with a lioness accompanying him, drinking water from a puddle in the road in Deception Valley - it made for some great photo opportunities.

We continued our drive, and went all the way to Letiahau about 40 kilometres away, where we found a female cheetah with cubs feeding on a springbok.

In total, during a three-night stay, in addition to all the general game and prolific birdlife, we were lucky enough to see a total of 13 different lion and six cheetah!

Richard Avilino

On a recent Great Wilderness Journey, we were treated to some truly wonderful elephant sightings at Linyanti Discoverer Camp.

We did not expect such great pachyderm sightings at this time of year, as  elephant in the Linyanti tend to move in to the mopane woodlands during the rainy season and start to come back along the Linyanti River only towards May. However, for the past two years, elephant seem to have not shown much movement into the woodland, preferring to stay closer to the permanent Linyanti River.

The three nights at Linyanti produced some excellent wild dog and lion sightings. Our first night in camp we were treated to a male lion's roar - it continued reverberating through the air until dawn. From the night calls, we could ascertain that the male was coming from Chobe National Park, walking along the river in a south-easterly direction. I found his tracks just before sunrise and we continued to track him for a few hours but with no luck.

In the afternoon we did not see any fresh tracks, and eventually we decided to stop for our sundowners not far from where we last saw the tracks. As my guest was having his first sip of Chardonnay, we heard the male lion call! We immediately packed up and went on the chase. We finally caught up with the Chobe Male, walking along the road - we followed him for a while till he moved off into some thick mopane shrubs.

The next day we decided to go out for most of the day and we were lucky enough to find the lionesses of the Linyanti Pride, and while we could not see their cubs, we could certainly here some cries from what could only be some new cubs well-hidden from prying eyes. This pride (consisting of two females, one juvenile male and one adult male) has struggled to raise cubs for the past couple of years, as some cubs are known to have been killed by intruding male lion and others by leopard and hyaena. We are certainly hoping they will be more successful with the latest batch of newborn cubs.

On our last morning, we tracked some wild dogs - we were sure that this was not the resident LTC Pack, which was currently further south. We found six individuals which were actively hunting, so we were not able to keep up with them. We think this small pack is a breakaway group from the large Zib Pack, which frequents the Savuti Camp area. We are hoping that this splinter pack will settle in the area.

What a fantastic three days!

Until the next Exploration,

Victor Horatius

On a recent Diverse Namibia Exploration, the guests and guide were treated to some amazing wildlife sightings and scenic vistas. Here is the report from Charles:

The trip started out in Sossusvlei where we climbed dunes and did the walk to Deadvlei (a stunning place to take pictures). We were fortunate enough to find several small sightings that the guests really enjoyed. We found the dancing white-lady spider, the shovel-snouted lizard as well as several desert-adapted plants.

From here we drove to Swakopmund and our guests were excited to experience the Kuiseb Canyon (this was even more interesting as one of the guests and just read the book: The Sheltering Desert), and he elaborated on the story of the two guys that lived there for two years.

We then got to do the catamaran boat cruise on our day at Walvis Bay and even though we did not get to see any dolphins, a highlight was getting to see a Mola-Mola (sunfish) up close.

We drove to Damaraland Adventure Camp. While long, this drive was the absolute highlight of the trip for everyone. We found a desert-adapted black rhino and after taking several photos, this rhino (in an unusually relaxed manner) approached the vehicle - we just sat completely still and it came to within two metres  of the vehicle, sniffed around, looked at us and turned and moved away.

About four kilometres later as we were driving along, one of the guests spotted a lion cub crossing the road behind the vehicle. We stopped to see a lioness and three more cubs cross the road and disappear.

The next day we visited Twyfelfontein (Namibia's first World Heritage Site), the Organ Pipes, as well as the Burnt Mountain. After a lunch in the Huab River, we continued to look for desert-adapted elephants and after a joint tracking effort we found a group of 11 elephant in the river and had a spectacular sighting. After a full day we could return to camp feeling fulfilled.

The next morning we left camp a bit later since we did not think we would be able to top the experiences of the previous days - how wrong we were! We decided to take another route into the riverbed. We had just entered the dry riverbed when we saw lion tracks and after some tracking, we heard a low growl emanate from a bush. About 70 metres away we saw the same lioness and her four cubs playing around. This time she allowed us to take some photos and have a good look at her and her cubs.

We continued onwards only to find the biggest and proudest kudu bull anyone of us had ever seen.

A little later we again came across a group of about 13 elephants and once again spent quite some time observing them.

We continued back to camp and had another fantastic lunch prepared by some really great staff.

The next day we left early for Andersson's Camp in Ongava Reserve. We were greeted by camp staff and enjoyed a vegetarian lunch that would make even the biggest carnivore ask for more. (I must say even I thought of becoming a vegetarian after tasting that lunch!)

That afternoon, we went for a drive in Ongava and were fortunate to see five cheetah feeding on what looked like an impala. We were also exceptionally lucky with rhino, as we spotted five different white rhino. After sunset, we encountered another two white rhino as well as a spotted hyaena.

Our visit to Etosha was a little rainy and we did not see much game, although we did see some really fascinating birds.

The next day saw us driving back to Windhoek and thus came to an end one of the most exciting trips I (and hopefully the guests) have ever been on."

Charles van Zyl

A guide’s recall on wild dog mania on a tailor-made Exploration…

‘We were very fortunate to come across the large Golden Pack hunting around the Vumbura airstrip during the cool morning. We followed the large pack, which consisted of 24 individuals – we all anticipated a chase and kill. As the pack approached a pool of water, they immediately stopped and began barking. The pack had seen a lioness, which pretended to run away from the pack. The wily lioness went into some thick vegetation…to prepare for her ambush. Suddenly the thick vegetation exploded as the feline lurched at the dogs, sending the canines bolting in all directions. Luckily for the dogs, they all managed to escape the wrath of the lioness – a very great experience for us!’
Francis.