Wild Dogs!
Trip Start
Jul 12, 2008
1
17
25
Trip End
Aug 04, 2008
Lebala Camp,
Botswana
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Our first stop was to see the lions - they were now out in the middle of the road, and alert. A big male and a younger male. Osi says they travel together, and the young one will take care of the older one when he can no longer hunt. Both lions were very interested in the huge flock - swarm, really - of red-billed quelea kicking up dust in the distance. Osi said the lions thought it might be buffalo. The amount of dust the birds generate, plus the thundering of all those thousands of wings, really does sound like buffao. No wonder the kitties were interested.
Next, we heard the wild dogs had been spotted, so we went off to find them
The old male lion
. We found six all together, lying in the bushes. They appeared restless - partially, they, too, were interested in the quelea, but Osi told us they had lost their alpha female a few days ago and were still looking for her. One of the dogs climbed up on top of a nearby termite mount and began to whine/howl - calling for the missing female. Osi said the guides were worried she had been bitten by a snake - very sad.Coffee break - we went out onto a large pan (where we could see any animals approaching with evil intent) and had coffee, tea, and nibbles. I asked Osi his schedule - three months on, then 21 days off. Not a bad ratio, but I bet those three months of work are very intensive. While having our coffee break, we heard that another jeep had come across a leopard kill. They thought they had seen a female cat leaving the area, so we packed up and headed off.
No leopard - we were hunting through leopard-coloured bushes - but then Mo heard the call of a wild dog: the lost female! We drove off through the bush in the direction of the call and soon caught a visual of the dog, sitting alone on a termite mound. We sat for a while, watching her. Once or twice, she sent out a mournful wail, then would listen intently for a response. Clearly trying to find her friends
The old male lion
. We wished we could pick her up and carry her to the rest of the pack - but at least we now know that she's okay. Osi thought there was a good chance for a reunion. Just before we left, a hyena appeared, circled the mound, then lay down close to the wild dog - hoping she would go hunting and share her meal.As we had been out for hours, it was time to return to camp. We did, shed all those layers from the morning, then went to breakfast - our third meal of the day. "We're eating like hobbits," declared Keegan. Only one other guest remained: Don, from Newton, Massachusetts; funny how small the world can be. We chatted with him and the guides for a while, then decided to siesta.
Spent time reading, journaling, going to the common area for drinks, and browsing the reference materials. Showered; no siesta.
Our afternoon drive began with a search for the lone alpha female wild dog - she was not where we had left her. We then drove to look for the pack, but they had also left.
While driving to find the pack, Mo spotted leopard tracks, heading toward a water hole
Curious giraffe
. We followed the tracks but lost them again in the apple-leaf trees. We might have searched longer, but we wanted to find the wild dogs before they went hunting.Osi and Mo seemed to know where to find the pack, and we came across them at a watering hole. The alpha female was not with them. We had less than a minute before one stood up, went kissing the others, signaling the beginning of a chase.
We followed the dogs, keeping with the core group as they spread out. At first, the dogs ran through an apple-leaf woodland - we were mowing down trees, elephant-style, to keep up with them. It was fun, but bumpy, and we would periodically lose sight of the dogs, then catch glimpses of them through the tress. Once, our exhaust system came unattached, and we had to wait a couple of minutes while Mo and Osi fixed it.
We eventually emerged out of the woodland, at a waterhole. The dogs went to drink, and a hippo emerged, ears and eyes, only, watching the dogs intently. When the dogs walked around the water hole, the hippo turned, following them with its eyes. From there, we drove out onto a flat pan. We buckled up, preparing to follow the dogs when they broke from a trot to a run
Giraffe
. The lead dog stretched out, head down, spotting a herd of impala across the flats. Soon, the lead dog began to run, the other dogs followed, we started the chase, the impala panicked and began leaping about. Flying across the pan in pursuit of the dogs was great fun - with a few huge bumps - the dogs in sight the whole time. The pack split, and we followed a group of three. The y went around a bush, we went around a termite mound to follow them , and saw a one impala standing, frozen, caught between two halves of the pack of wild dogs. We continued to circle the termite mound, and stopped, seeing the dogs move to where the impala had been standing.
Suddenly, the impala burst through the brush in front of us, almost landing in the jeep. It turned and headed off towards its herd, chased by the three dogs. The dogs' effort seemed very half-hearted, however, and they slowed quickly, allowing the impala to escape. In the growing twilight, we saw the dogs head back towards their den, away from their prey.
The excitement was over, and I was glad the impala got away. We briefly followed a hippo that walked across the pan to the waterhole. It bared its teeth a couple of times; very intimidating.
As the sun had already set, we decided to stop on the pan for our sundowner. We had the classic African sunset: variegated colours over acacia trees. The stars came out, and we viewed Jupiter and its moons through the binoculars.
Eventually, it grew cold, so we packed up and headed back to camp. We shined a spotlight the whole way back, but, other than a couple of springhares, saw nothing. Campfire, then dinner, then bed.
