Early and late green season in Botswana – 2 trips

[Athene]

I will continue with Lebala.

After already having arrived at Frankfurt airport we were told that our flight was delayed from Thursday evening to Friday morning. Lufthansa booked accomodation for us at the Sheraton airport hotel in Frankfurt. Subsequently we were too late for the flight to Maun and had to spend another night at Johannesburg. So we lost a whole day at Lebala. Stephan was on the same flight as well as another guest from the group. Stephan informed the camp and we got picked up in Maun on Saturday afternoon. The rest of the group was already there. Stephan swapped between the vehicles every day so everyone had the chance of his assistance; we had three vehicles for nine people including Stephan.

Our guide was Jonas and the tracker KB. The managers were Barcos and Jacky. They were all very nice.

 

On our first afternoon game drive we found two cheetah brothers. They were lying under a bush and were partly obscured. We had to wait for quite a while until they decided to move. It was already getting dark and the other vehicles had given up and left. The brothers went towards a termite mound and we followed them. Sometimes it pays to wait

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was almost dark and we left. On our way back to camp the other guides had spotted this female leopard. It was the only time we saw her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[madaboutcheetah]

Those boys are getting old …. Spend a lot of time 💤 sleeping.  Glad you saw them.

 

 

[Athene]

@madaboutcheetah thank you. It is always a treat to see cheetahs.

[Athene]

The game drives for our group started early.  A quick breakfast and we left. Jonas and KB stopped for a longer break usually between 9.00 and 10.00.

 

A few photos from the morning game drive.

 

Goliath heron? riding on a hippo

 

 

 

A black-backed jackal in the beautiful morning light

 

 

Lilac breasted roller

 

 

A pair of little bee-eaters

 

 

 

 

Then we got a call from one of the other vehicles and we rushed to see a big male leopard. We couldn't take many photos as he played hide and seek with us in the long grass.

 

 

 

One of the other vehicles got stuck in the water and we had to tow it out. This was not far away from the old military camp.

 

 

On our way back to camp we found this young lioness fron the Wapuka pride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 17 by Athene

[Peter Connan]

Beautiful Bee-eaters.

 

Your Heron is a Black-headed. It's big, but the Goliath is half as much bigger again.

[Alex The Lion]

Some great sightings @Athene

 

I assuming some of the cheetah were very high ISO? I've found a couple of editing techniques to get round the short fall if you are interested?

[Athene]

 Before I continue with the game drive here are some pictures of the camp:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The game drive was a bit quiet this afternoon but it had a surprise sighting for us.

 

Giraffe

 

 

Saddle-billed stork displaying

 

 

 

 

 

Hippos

 

 

 

Male Kudu

 

 

Brown hyena close to camp - it was very shy and quickly disappeared. I think it was only the second brown hyena sighting we had so far -  a nice surprise

 

 

 

We drove to the half-way point where the handover to Lagoon camp is. Here we had our sundowners. It is a very beautiful place.

 

 

 

half moon

 

 

 

 

Edited July 17 by Athene

[Athene]

@Peter Connan thanks so much for clarifying on the heron and liking the little bee-eaters. They are my husbands favorite bird.

[Athene]

@Alex The Lion thanks, you are right, they are high ISO, between 7200 at the start and 11400 at the end as it went dark.

My photos are on a Z6 (NEFs) and i edit them in NX-Studio but haven't ever done any noise reduction or sharpening, just the standard settings.

My husbands are taken on the Z9 and Z7 (2022 trip, Z8 on the 2024 trip). As he does't have much time when we are at home he has taken to processing many of his photos in the camera whilst on the vehicle. He also uses NX-Studio.

[Alex The Lion]

35 minutes ago, Athene said:

@Alex The Lion thanks, you are right, they are high ISO, between 7200 at the start and 11400 at the end as it went dark.

My photos are on a Z6 (NEFs) and i edit them in NX-Studio but haven't ever done any noise reduction or sharpening, just the standard settings.

My husbands are taken on the Z9 and Z7 (2022 trip, Z8 on the 2024 trip). As he does't have much time when we are at home he has taken to processing many of his photos in the camera whilst on the vehicle. He also uses NX-Studio.

 

@Athene

I've not used NX studio, so not sure what is applied under standard settings. Some of the cheetah images have that blurred detail look of having too much noise reduction applied.

[Athene]

On our morning game drive we found the male leopard again. He was an impressive looking animal. Jonas said he was around for some time and was not young anymore. He was patrolling his territory. We followed him for almost three hours and even stayed with him when he was lying down. On our previous safaris we were following females and we enjoyed following a male for a change. The males seem to be much shyer.

Some photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He went for a drink. The surface of the water was covered with red fungus.

 

 

 

 

 

[Athene]

A few pictures from our afternoon game drive:

 

Hamerkop

 

 

LBR

 

 

Steenbuck

 

 

Woodland Kingfisher

 

 

Two of the three males from the Wapuka Pride. We found them close to the old military camp.

 

 

[Athene]

I am sorry if this is a bit of an overload of photos. We are leaving soon to go on our first mobile safari and I want to finish the Lebala part. I will continue when we get back.

 

Our last morning at Lebala was my favourite. One of the vehicles found the Wapuka pride on the road. So we rushed to see them. They were heading towards the water to have a drink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Climbing trees

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we left the lions there were the wild dogs. It was a smaller pack. I can't recall the number. We missed the kill and they were already resting. We did not stay very long and carried on.

 

 

 

We did not see many elephants. This was our only sighting as far as I remember.

 

 

 

 

 

A warthog family

 

 

 

 

Black-headed heron

 

 

Reed cormorant?

 

 

 

Fighting impala rams

 

 

It was time for the Helicopter transfer to 4Rivers.

 

 

 

That's it for now!

 

[michael-ibk]

Great photos, really enjoying this report! Have a fantastic mobile safari, I'm sure you will enjoy it.

[madaboutcheetah]

@Athene- Have a great trip!!  What's your mobile itinerary?  It's going to be amazing .... 

 

 

[Athene]

@michael-ibk  @madaboutcheetah  Thank you very much, I am really looking forward to it but at the same time I am a bit nervous

Classic itinerary starting in Moremi, then Khwai and Savute, 3 nights each and one last night at Chobe.

[AndrewB]

7 minutes ago, Athene said:

I am a bit nervous

Happy to swap with you if you want to duck out ..........

[Athene]

I am not that nervous  @AndrewB 

[Alex The Lion]

@AtheneHave a great trip and wrap up warm. (Looks like the temps are higher than this time last year)

[Athene]

Thank you @Alex The Lion + 5°C in the morning I was told but nice and warm in the afternoon

[madaboutcheetah]

5 hours ago, Athene said:

@michael-ibk  @madaboutcheetah  Thank you very much, I am really looking forward to it but at the same time I am a bit nervous

Classic itinerary starting in Moremi, then Khwai and Savute, 3 nights each and one last night at Chobe.

sounds amazing - can’t wait to hear all about it!! Have a blast 

[Hads]

@Athenethanks for a wonderful trip report. Your photo's are fantastic. Your last morning in Lebala was sensational.

What company are you going on the mobile safari with?

[Peter Connan]

Thanks for a wonderful trip report, and I hope you enjoy the next one!

 

Yes on Reed Cormorant.

[leras]

On 7/17/2024 at 8:13 AM, Alex The Lion said:

Some great sightings @Athene

 

I assuming some of the cheetah were very high ISO? I've found a couple of editing techniques to get round the short fall if you are interested?

I am, for what it’s worth! 

[Athene]

We are back from our mobile safari and it was great. I never thought I would like it so much.

Thanks for your comments @madaboutcheetah @Peter Connan

@Hads   thank you for your kind words, we were travelling with Thru-the-lens mobile Safaris, Joe Ramsden was our excellent guide. On a game drive in Savute we met a Unlimited Safaris vehicle with Joster at the steering wheel. Joe and Joster know each other and they had a brief chat.