For some reason, our guests had a bumper lion month. From Duba Plains to Selinda, from the Maasai Mara to Tembo Plains, the most extraordinary sightings have been thrilling our guests. Still, the lion and hyena battles stand out as being reminiscent of Eternal Enemies. All kinds of interactions I frankly wish I had captured on film were seen by so many this month.
Lions very nearly collapsed a giraffe and buffalo fought back boldly.
While some months are of a ‘delicate, subtle season,’ with flashes of colour and elegant cats relaxing up high and looking down on us all, this May has been an ‘action month’ filled with interactions and excitement.
The Okavango is experiencing higher-than-normal floods, with airfields and bridges going underwater. I am so pleased that our camps, Duba Plains Camp, Duba Explorers Camp and Sitatunga Private Island, are on high ground, with additional walkways going into some camps later this year. Okavango Explorers Camp will probably have high water levels for most of this year as the waters push up the Selinda Spillway towards Selinda Camp – a bonus for year-round water in front of camp.
I listened to a robin duet recently, and immediately in response, a dozen cisticolas went off on their own riff. When it got my attention, and I focused, it was because a Pel’s fishing owl was eyeing the channel for opportunities, and the smaller birds were warning me.
This is arguably the most beautiful season – but I may be too biased to judge, because I am enthralled by each season. Every day I can hear a lion, or catch a glimpse of a spotted cat, and listen to the meditative rumbles of elephants – even if they turn to trumpets of irritation at baboons as they go by. Our guests and guides have done a wonderful job again this month in capturing a basic cross-section of what we are seeing where – a snapshot of life in the bush at Great Plains.
