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News from Xakanaxa
Camp - September 2004
Fauna
and Flora
The scenery in the Moremi is spectacular at
present partly due to the arrival of Spring. There is
a blend of unusual and sweet perfumes in the air as
the flowering trees compete with the herbal fragrance
of wild sage. The tall, upright acacia nigrescens (knob
horn) are covered in a canopy of cream flowers and their
new leaves are just starting to form. The small dense
bushes of the Acacia hebeclada (candlepod) with pendant
branches (that create hideaways for carnivores) are
also covered with a mantle of cream ball-shaped flowers.
The large Kigelia Africana (sausage trees) are a vivid
green with new leaves while their pipe-shaped flowers
have formed a beautiful blanket of deep cerise on the
ground below. The long brackets have about 15 buds on
and it’s interesting to think that in a few months
they will be the extraordinary fruits that can grow
up to a metre in length.
With all the excitement of Spring in the air, one can
be certain to find monkeys, baboons and a host of birds
eating the sweet buds or insects gathering pollen. The
Lonchocarpus capassa (rain tree) add to the colourful
scene with their small lilac flowers, while the golden
grasses, marsh areas and creams blossoms form an artist’s
palette of colour contrasts at this lovely time of the
year.
Temperatures have been high for spring/early summer
with temperatures of about 11 degrees celcius in the
early mornings, mid-day highs of 33-35 degrees (in the
shade!) that cool to around 24 degrees in the evenings.
The water temp in the plunge pool is refreshing and
most guests have taken pleasure in cooling off and washing
off after the afternoon dust and heat on game drives.
Game viewing in camp
We’ve had fantastic game sightings in camp this
month! We have two big and two small males, a female
and a baby Bush Buck who have proved to be an irresistible
enticement to our local pride of seven wild dog that
have been in camp twice in the past week in an attempt
to hunt them. Our resident hippo (Pavarotti, his girlfriend
and a youngster of about one year old) continue to sleep
outside tent number 10 every night and Rambo (an elephant
identified by the shape of one broken tusk) has become
a regular visitor to the camp. Doc the croc continues
to make a daily appearance as he has a good supply of
fish in the pool next to the dining-room. A family of
genet cats is often seen in the evening in the Pendants
area.
One of the more thrilling guest experiences was two
weeks ago as guests had just left the dining room; kitchen
staff spotted two young male lions on the pathway that
leads to the tents! Needless to say, staff and guest
were driven and not walked home that evening!
Game Drives
What a month for game drives and game spotting!
We’ve been fortunate enough to catch sight of
(twice) a female cheetah with six small cubs, but she
is very protective and has been moving and hiding the
cubs regularly. A few small groups of solitary elephant
bulls as well as separate breeding herds are seen daily
on the way to and from the airstrip. We spotted one
unlucky female leopard watching impala from above them
(in a tree) miss out on a kill when they suddenly moved
on before she could take action!
The most spectacular sighting this month is the herd
of approximately 500 buffalo in the area at the moment.
As the herd was crossing a stretch of shallow water,
guests witnessed a pride of 15 lions (3 males, 5 females
and 7 cubs) kill one of the buffalo that had lagged
behind the rest of the herd. Just goes to show that
it really is the fittest to survive out here in Africa.
The pride remained in the vicinity eating from the carcass
for about 3 days and are seen every few days.
Flights
Mack Air pilots always make an effort and as the pilot
had 5 minutes to spare he asked if we were comfortable
with turbulence and if we would like to fly low along
the Santandadibe River. It was amazing to see so much
water there – it was incredibly beautiful. Sighted
were numerous herds of elephant - hippo out of the water
in one area and at least 24, large crocs and a buffalo
herd of about 2000. The pilot reported sightings in
the area of up to 4000. It is well worth advising clients
to book a game fight during their visit as the Delta
is seldom seen like this.
Meals
Dinners are always interesting with so many Nationalities
gathered recently Scots. living in Cape Town - Indians
living in Australia, Australians, New Zealanders, Austrians,
Italians, South Africans, Germans and of course, locals.
Vegetarians are very well catered for with a selection
of at least 5 different vegetables and pasta and vegetable
or lentil dishes and a mixed salad for dinner. To top
it off, evening meals are accompanied by the reverberating
snores of male toads which certainly adds to the atmosphere
in camp!
Other News
Lake Nagami which has not received water for the past
20 years is still filling up and the Thamalakane River
appears to be getting overflowing lake water through
a tributary. The floodwaters from the Angolan highlands
reached the Kunyere River at Toteng in May and continue
to pour into Lake Ngami. The lake now stretches a distance
of 32km. It is 70 kilometres from Maun and is well worth
visiting. This is where the locals from Maun spend their
weekends; at the waters edge to see different species
of birds that once congregated at the lake and have
now
returned after a long absence. Like a great big black
cloud, the sky is at times filled with thousands of
queleas and the pelicans are starting to breed, what
a beautiful sight!
All in all, Botswana is the place to be right now –
long may it last!
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