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Updated Information
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
60km |
Meals
Chicken tikka massala |
Weather |
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Moremi National Park,
Botswana |
02 July,
2004 |
3rd Bridge Campground |
19°14.337’S
x 23°21.405’E |
Odometer: 26561km |
Sunny, 90(F) Degrees, |
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Our morning game drive was pretty, but we
didn’t see much in the way of animals aside from a few bird species we
hadn’t seen before. In the afternoon we set out for a water hole to watch
the sunset. (For those of you not accustomed to African game drives, the
animals are usually most active in the early morning and around sundown.
To catch these peak times, we usually leave camp before dawn and drive
until about 10am. If we haven’t driven too far, we return to camp and
spend a few hours during the day resting, then go out again in the
evening. The predators tend to do their hunting at night, so this is as
close as we can get to their active times, since we are not allowed to do
night time game drives.) Graham and Connie spotted a cheetah lying under a
tree near the road and we stopped to watch. It wasn’t long, however,
before a couple of safari company vehicles showed up, and the cheetah
decided to find somewhere more private. We watched for awhile and didn’t
see her again. We set up shop at a different point around the same water
hole we were at last night, and were treated to a spectacular display of a
herd of about 40 elephants running through the shallow waters at the edge
of the hole. They made lots of noise splashing through the water, and by
the time they disappeared into the trees at the other side the babies were
completely soaked. We’re not sure what spooked them, but the sight of such
a number of large animals moving quickly was very impressive. We watched
the hippos bathe for awhile (that’s pretty much all they do during the
day) and returned to camp just after dark. We alternated between giving a
slideshow of our trip for Brian and Debbie and watching a large hyena and
her cub prowl around the outskirts of camp, waiting for us to go to bed so
they could raid the trash cans. |
Brian and Debbie nap in the shade
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Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
91km |
Meals
|
Weather |
|
Moremi National Park,
Botswana |
03 July, 2004 |
3rd Bridge Campground |
19°14.337’S
x 23°21.405’E |
Odometer: 26561km |
Sunny 85(F)
degrees |
|
Graham and Connie, on their own, as the rest
of us decided to go off on our own this morning, spotted a female cheetah
running across the road in front of them. We believe that this is the same
cheetah we saw yesterday because she appears to be very pregnant. The cat
was headed toward a group of lechwes browsing nearby. She broke into a
sprint after crossing the road, and the lechwes took off toward the
shallow water which they prefer to avoid predators. Graham and Connie saw
the lechwes splash into the water amid a cloud of dust, and rushed around
to the water’s edge to investigate. They arrived in time to see the
cheetah with her mouth clamped around the neck of a female lechwe,
probably the injured one we saw two days ago. She rested for a few
minutes, then dragged her breakfast a few feet away into some taller
grass, still no more than twenty feet from the road, and began to eat.
Debbie and Brian happened by shortly thereafter, and about 10 minutes
later Witt and Jen heard Connie suggest on the radio that they might want
to come check it out. We all watched the cheetah devour the lechwe for
another twenty minutes or so, then she walked three or four feet away to
relax. Fifteen minutes later vultures began to circle. When they started
to land, the cheetah returned to her kill to continue eating. The vultures
waited impatiently nearby. The vultures attracted the attention of three
safari company vehicles that joined us to watch the spectacle. As the
cheetah finished her meal, a large (15 feet or so) crocodile approached
from the nearby water. The cheetah gave up her kill, probably having
already eaten her fill anyway. The vultures got about 20 seconds between
the time the cheetah left and when the croc (who didn’t seem to care
whether he had lechwe or vulture for breakfast) grabbed what was left of
the carcass and headed back toward the water. The frustrated vultures were
left with nothing but scraps. The cheetah wandered off into the bush and
Brian drove after her, keeping a respectful distance. He was fortunate
that she decided to walk alongside a track, allowing him to keep her in
sight. She laid down in the shade of a tree to let her meal digest no more
than twenty feet from the track. The rest of us joined Brian and we
watched her for about twenty minutes before she decided to find some more
privacy, walking to another tree to continue her nap. We were elated by
our luck and returned to camp for some rest of our own.
There are nine photos in this gallary; be sure
to click on the arrows to see them all! |
Photo courtesy of Brian Slobe The croc that spoiled the fun Photo courtesy of Brian Slobe Belly full, she leaves the croc to the leftovers Nothing like a nap after a nice lechwe The thrill of the hunt, the elation of success (Modeling courtesy of Brian Slobe)
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Click here to view the
documentary:
"Cheetah Finding Dinner"
(Be sure to have the audio
tuned in! Or you can right click on the file and save it to your computer
to view off line)
High Resolution
Version - recommended for those who have high speed Internet connections
Note: this is a .mov file
viewable with Apple QuickTime - If you don't already have it on your
computer, you can download it free from
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/ |
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More of Moremi National Park |
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