Khwai Camp
Although the sounds of the African Bush echoed throughout the night, mainly with the calls of male lions near the camp and hyenas, we enjoyed another peaceful sleep in the Khwai camp . The morning routine was a repeat of the previous day. with the 5.00 am wake up call, breakfast and departure for the first morning game drive. This morning one of the group from the other vehicle wanted to switch so we agreed to change vehicles. Stanley the other leader was our guide for the day.
We hadn’t been out for very long before we came across a pair of hyena checking out a waterhole. This gave us the opportunity to capture them in the glow of the early morning sunrise. However, the highlight was undoubtedly the interaction between a pride of lions, a hippo carcass and crocodiles. As we were looking at the hippo carcass, which had floated a considerable distance from where we saw it yesterday, we noticed crocodiles trying to break into the carcass.
Suddenly on the opposite bank a movement in the long grass caught our attention. It was a pride of 8 lions – 4 females and 4 young males. Clearly they were drawn to the smell of the decaying carcass. The lionesses sat in the shade whilst the 4 young males crept closer to the bank, before two of them entered the water. With the crocodiles snapping at their legs they tried to push the hippo nearer to the bank. The river current and the crocodiles pushing and pulling caused the carcass to move into the river again.
In Search of the Leopard.
As this looked as if this tug of war would be going on for a long while we decided to leave the area to go in search of a leopard that was reported to be close by, planning to return later. We were fortunate mainly due to Stanley’s tracking skills in getting good views of the leopard. He anticipated its track through the Bush, probably looking for a secluded spot to rest in the heat of the day.
Leaving the leopard we returned to the hippo carcass. The lionesses were still sitting in the shade but the four young males were now in the water trying to get hold of the carcass. One male managed to climb on top of the hippo as the others tried to bite into the flesh. Unfortunately their efforts caused the carcass to roll and threw the lion into the river. This caused the crocodiles to rise out of the water and snap at the lions.
After taking what turned out to be hundreds of photographs and enjoying the behaviour and interaction of the animals we left the scene. But not before four young bull elephants appeared from the bush behind us and waded into the river. They joined the lions and crocodiles for a drink and a cool down. When they left we headed back to the Khwai camp for a shower and lunch.
Afternoon / Night Game Drive
The afternoon/night game drive began after afternoon tea. Once again lions were a highlight with a lioness with 3 cubs. We thought these were the same ones we saw yesterday and the 2nd lioness was in the Bush with a very young cub which we could hear calling.
As the sun set and the nocturnal wildlife began to stir, we used spotlights to illuminate the shrubs and trees on our return to camp. Along the way, we observed a variety of creatures, including Bush babies, a spring hare, nightjar, African Scops Owl, and even caught a glimpse of an African wildcat. Afterward, we returned to Khwai camp for dinner, marking our final night at this location before moving on in the morning to the Moremi reserve, the oldest protected section of the Okavango.
