Ingwe Pan Wildlife Sightings June 2024
June was a pleasant month for wildlife viewing at Ingwe Pan Camp. The days were warm, reaching a high of 33 degrees Celsius, while the morning and evening temperatures dropped to a low of 11 degrees.
Some hot water bottles and extra blankets were needed, but all-in-all the weather at Ingwe was great this past month.
Come One, Come All
Right at the beginning of June, Ingwe Pan was alive with so many different species of animals visiting the camp. During the early parts of the day, a massive herd of buffalo slowly moved towards the pan to have themselves some water.
Later, during lunch, an elephant made its way to the pan, making sure to investigate what our guests were eating before it ate the dry leaves that dropped from a fig tree. We later saw the elephant wanter down to the pan to have some water. As if that wasn’t enough, guests spotted a different elephant on the plain on its hind legs, reaching for the soft leaves found on the top of trees.
The next sighting was of African wild dogs. They were resting under a bush with three adorable puppies playing with each other, bringing smiles to everyone's faces.
Take What You Can Get
With the low rainfall this past rainy season, all the grazing animals on the plains have had to take whatever food they can as the resources dwindle fast. Our guides and guests encountered many interesting sights as a result.
The first was an elephant reaching up into a canopy of trees to look for pods to feed on. Nearby, impala grazed while baboons were chattering, playing and scanning the area for threats and food. A grysbok and a duiker were also spotted by one of our guests in the nearby shrubs to escape potential predators.
On our last sighting, we managed to see a big herd of buffalo wandering slowly down to a watering hole to quench their thirst under the hot sun.
Better Luck Next Time
Guide Brian Tracy Woodland and his guests were on a late afternoon game drive when the sun's golden hues gave way to the characteristic spots on a leopard's coat. It was crouched low to the ground, laying low while stalking an unsuspecting impala.
Peacefully grazing, unaware of the danger approaching, it was as if a sixth sense had told it to leap because if it didn’t, the incredible speed with which the leopard dashed and jumped towards it would have made it dinner. Luckily, it managed to get away and graze another day.
Special Guests
Towards the middle of the month, our guests were treated to see a leopard drinking twice in front of camp in the evening. Leopard sightings are rare. However, seeing them drink water like this happens more frequently as the natural watering holes dry up.
An Eastern Nicator was also spotted around the same time. This species of bird was on one of our guest’s list of special sightings to see, making this one of the most memorable times they had with us.
The Fun Never Ends
Not long after the first time, we saw another impala barely managing not to become a leopard's prey. More elephants stood on their hind legs looking for soft leaves and a big herd of buffalo made their way to a watering hole.
Near the Zambezi River, we even got to see some crocodiles and hippos.
Until next time,
Everard James
Ingwe Pan Camp
