Machaba Camp Wildlife Sightings July 2024
As the winter season winds down, July at Machaba Camp has become a little colder than the previous month. Mornings and nights have been very cold, with a minimum recorded temperature of 9.2 degrees Celsius. However, thanks to Botswana’s semi-arid climate, the daytime has also been warm, reaching 25.1 degrees.
There has not been any rain this month, meaning the area around our camps has become drier as the month progresses. However, the floodplains are filling up meaning more wildlife will be looking for water at the perennial Khwai River near Machaba Camp, making for amazing wildlife viewing right at our door.
Show Off
The standard procedure for our guides is to briefly explain the plans for the day, detailing where they are headed based on the guests’ interests and what they might see along the way. On this particular day, they heard impalas and baboons calling. They stopped to listen to where the sound was coming from. That’s when they heard the sounds of red-billed spurs as well. Their guide immediately knew that a big cat was the cause of the commotion.
The guide and guests started looking for tracks and found the tracks of a female leopard. Not long after that, they found the beautiful female dark-spotted leopard shrouded in vegetation. To our minds, we think she was showing off how magnificent she could be.
V Is Not For Victory
One cold morning, our guests went on a 4X4 safari to see some of the wildlife near Machaba Camp. They were mesmerised by seeing elephants in the river splashing water on their backs. Suddenly, our guide and guests spotted a group of lionesses stalking some impala by Acacia Crossing.
The lionesses kept their bodies low and the movements deliberate, so as not to scare away their prey. They moved into a V formation to set a trap for the impala. Unfortunately for the lionesses, their prey was too nimble and ran through a gap in their formation.
Calculating Cat
Guests at Machaba are always ready to explore the wonders of the Okavango Delta, and one day in the middle of July, our guests witnessed something magnificent in this magical location. By Mosomalia Corner, we saw a leopard feasting on a warthog that it most likely managed to kill very early in the morning.
We caught it tearing away at the animal’s belly, filling its own in the process. The leopard then paused and looked up into a nearby leadwood tree, calculating how much energy it would need to drag its meal up the tree. Not long after that, the leopard continued eating as our guests snapped pictures of the magnificent scene.
To The Victor Go The Spoils
One afternoon our guides and their guests travelled to a nearby hyena den to see if anyone was home. Little did they know this was the perfect time to make a house call. When they arrived, they found the hyenas they were looking for feasting on an elephant carcass. We could see how happy they were filling their stomachs with meat, but their happiness did not last long. Another clan appeared, wanting to steal their meal right from under them.
A fight ensued, with the foreign clan trying to drag the carcass to their den, and as if that wasn't enough, a pack of African wild dogs also appeared! They took what bite they could and also joined in on the fighting, but eventually, the foreign clan of hyenas won the battle. Days later, we spotted the elephant carcass in their den. What a rare sighting indeed.
Until next time,
Atty & Moss
Machaba Camp & Little Machaba
