Central Kalahari

A well fed Cheetah - Central Kalahari, Botswana

Maun is known as the ‘tourism capital’ of Botswana and is where we based our trip with overnight stays at the beginning and end as well as one night in the middle on the transfer from Nxai Pan to Moremi.

The journey to the Central Kalahari is quite long with around 45 miles on metaled roads followed by a similar distance on a dead straight, sandy track. Once at the Northern gate, the remainder of the journey is a game drive to wherever the camp has been pitched. We were located mainly in an area known as Deception Valley and recent sightings there had been very encouraging. The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is huge at around 53,000 square kilometres, so we were only going to experience a small fraction of it

Our previous safaris had all taken place in what I would describe as typical bush, even when we were in the Okavango Delta. But the wide-open plains of the Kalahari were a welcome change and immediately we could see our hoped-for sightings were a distinct possibility. The game drive section gave us a number of excellent bird sightings, but as we got into the Deception Valley area there were Springbok, Black-backed Jackal and three male Lions that we were to get to know quite well in our 4 night stay.

After a 5am call on our first day, we started our game drive shortly after 6am and the pattern for the trip became clear. The early start was the norm, but despite returning to camp for lunch on most days, we were game driving for around 10 – 12 hours each day.

This opening day was to turn out as mainly a bird sighting day and what was immediately noticeable was the number of Pale Chanting Goshawks about. Another fascinating discovery was that the juveniles are very confiding, but the adults will fly before the vehicle has even come to a halt. Aside from the birds we had some delightful encounters with Ground Squirrels doing their Meerkat impersonations, young male Springbok play-fighting and huge herds of Oryx (Gemsbok) the like of which we’d never seen before. The day ended when we encountered three Bat-eared Foxes in the middle of the track, but in fading light. We managed a couple of record shots, but that was the best we got all trip. The length of the grass due to all the rain gave them plenty of cover and they are very nervous anyway, so mainly all we could see were ears.

Day Two was to yield Hartebeest, a charming Scrub Hare and the one thing I wanted to see, Cheetahs. Not only did I see Cheetahs, I finally got to witness a Cheetah successfully hunting and see for myself the stunning acceleration these cats can generate. This probably was the highlight of the trip for me, but there were other encounters that came exceptionally close. We also witnessed the amusing sight of a Clapper Lark. These birds take off vertically with a sound not dissimilar to the drumming of a Snipe, but then issue a whistle as they dive back to the ground.

Our final full day in the reserve was by far the best and gave us memorable sightings of the three male lions. They are three brothers aged around 30 months and have yet to grow manes. They were a joy to be with as they play fought with each other in the early morning, but our evening encounter with them was more memorable. The sight of all three trying to climb a tree in failing light was one to behold and needed an ISO setting of 12,800 just to get 1/60th second shutter speed.

Before that we had seen the same Cheetah with her two cubs as the previous evening and this time had made two further kills. One was left for the Jackals, to distract them from the main kill, which was being gradually eaten by the cubs. The nearby trees began to fill with Vultures, while they waited for their turn to come in and clear up the remains.

Moving back to pick up the Lions again we found a tower of 30 Giraffe in an open area, all very relaxed and a couple of the younger males practicing their sparring on each other. Approaching this location we were very fortunate to spot an African Wild Cat in the undergrowth. In truth, they look like a longer-legged version of a domestic tabby we are used to, but seeing such a secretive animal was a bonus.

Overnight there was a lot of rain and our departure to Nxai Pan was in the wet. Understandably our game drive to the gate wasn’t very productive, apart from a very wet and bedraggled Spotted Eagle Owl we found on the track. Whether she was ill, injured or too wet to fly we couldn’t tell, but she gave us some wonderful close-up shots.

Next time I’ll cover the three nights we spent in Nxai Pan and the challenges we faced there.