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A tribute to Steve Kgwatalala or how a good guide can make a difference


mvecht

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madaboutcheetah

Hari

I found these old sightings reports from Kwando.

Not sure that it helps though.

 

August 2005

A pack of 3 wild dogs (2 males and a female) were followed they may be the foundation of a new pack next winter.

 

September 2005

The pack of 3 was seen again but moved west into thick mopane woodland after a day.

 

The pack of 3 would be the remainder of the original Lagoon pack.

In August 2004 there were 4 adults (2 males, 2 females) and 8 puppies when I arrived. 1 puppy was lost while I was there and the Alpha female killed a few days later. We had the news over the radio at Lebala and then the following day I was sitting next to Lisa (Jackson?)at dinner where she retold the story.

In October 2005 we did not specifically look for the pack of 3 but I do not remember why.

In July 2006 we did look for them. Especially doing walks near to old den sites but with no luck.

 

Looking forward to your old notes/trip reports for further clarification. as I vaguely remember something abouts dogs denning at a very unusual time.

 

This was very helpful, Michael ..... now I remember. The pack did den for the second time again in 2005 (approx in Nov) - the 3 adults were successful with 3 puppies.

 

No further additions in 2006 - all puppies lost?

 

In 2007, the den was not far from the Lagoon airstrip and the pack was ultra successful - pack of 6 raised a successful litter .....

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Hi Hari

I saw the pack a couple of times in September 2007 together with Spencer. They were chasing Sable!

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But the Sable were not impressed.

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Last installment

The last morning we headed south as there were both Lion and Cheetah tracks going in that direction.

First we saw a lone dagga boy.

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The cheetahs were long gone which was quite impressive. They had been spotted the previous afternoon not to far south of Lagoon camp and now they were already in Selinda. More than 50 km over night but they also had a huge territory to patrol.

Instead we found the Lion pride that we had already seen. They had travelled more than 40 km over night.

They made a half hearted attemp to hunt Wildebeest but the Wildebeest managed to stay ahead and the Lions then decided to do what Lions do best.

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After the Lions we had a nice Giraffe sighting including a territorial dispute with some Plovers. The Plovers won.

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A sighting of a Saddle billed Stork finished this safari.

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This was the last time I saw Steve. He was an outstanding guide.

Always hard working, a great sense for animal behaviour and always approaching his work with great humor.

He is greatly missed.

 

Steve Kgwatalala RIP

 

PS If there is any interest, I will be happy to make a short trip report from some safaris prior to ST?

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michael-ibk

There definitely IS interest. This was a great report with wonderful sightings, I enjoyed it very much - thank you!

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Thank you for the fantastic pictures and a trip down memory lane. what action-packed trips you had at Lagoon/Lebala! If I'm not wrong - are these the 3 cheetah brothers that was in a documentary. their story was amazing, and though i realised the docu "humanised" the cats a fair bit, it was still hard to watch the second bro at the waterhole.

 

especially love those pictures of the caracal and the civet!

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madaboutcheetah

@@Kitsafari - you refer to the waterhole scene where the elephants supposedly kill one of the cheetah?

 

These boys featured in an older documenatary called, "Blood brothers" ...........

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@@Kitsafari - you refer to the waterhole scene where the elephants supposedly kill one of the cheetah?

 

These boys featured in an older documenatary called, "Blood brothers" ...........

Yes that's the one, where only 1 survived. So they are not the same cheetahs as these? Blood brothers sound familiar although that is such a popular title.

 

Kwando sounds like the place to go with.

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Atravelynn

This report reads like "Kwando´s Greatest Hits" - simply awesome!

Just what I was thinking!

 

What a lovely tribute to your guide, Steve Kgwatalala. That lions on the hyena series in intense. Great shots at night and with movement. Then hyena with wild dogs and wild dogs with zebra. Exceptional, all the way around.

Edited by Atravelynn
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@@mvecht plenty of interest from me in your pre ST safaris.

 

Amusing image with the plovers & giraffe. I suspect the plovers had a nest or were hiding chicks nearby.

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@@Atravelynn @@Geoff @@Kitsafari @@michael-ibk

Thank you for the kind words.

I enjoyed it as well as a lot of details from the trips came back to memory.

I will now try to make a combined trip report from other trips with the main emphasis on pictures

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry for lateness...but a fantastic TR! What action packed trips to Kwando, numerous kills and a Eternal Enemies-style lion / hyaena interaction!
Also...awesome Civet photos. May sound odd, but I know barely anyone with good daylight photos!

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A lovely tribute to Steve and I enjoyed all the additional information surrounding your retrospective very much.

 

I'd love to see more from earlier safaris.

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