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Jacana Camp - January 2009

02 Feb 2009

A prosperous new year to all our readers; we hope that you have a successful 2009. We had a wonderful time seeing in the New Year by driving out to the Jao Hide, where we had drinks set up under the stars. We toasted the New Year with some champagne and wonderful dishes prepared by the imaginative kitchen staff.

Weather and Water Levels
January is one of the wettest months in the Okavango Delta. We received 150mm this month with regular daily rainfall. The thunderstorms have provided some spectacular shows, with the lightning from distant storms lighting up the night skies. The rain has definitely influenced the current water levels, with the water rising about 30cm in some places.

The season of green here by us brings so many interesting flowers like the pictured flame lily - poisonous but beautiful.

Mammal Sightings
Due to Jacana Camp being closed for two weeks for scheduled maintenance, we haven't been out and about as much. However, recent sights have proved that we don't have to go far for an amazing sighting. We have been spotting a lioness and her sub-adult female cub close to camp. While spring cleaning our main camp area, Godfrey, one of our waiters, spotted the lioness from our dining room. She was stalking red lechwe right in front of camp! Before we could all get to the deck, she had already managed to catch a young lechwe. She carried it to the island in front of the camp where she was joined by the other younger lioness where they continued to feed. This was the third time in the space of two months that she has caught a red lechwe right in front of the camp. This is a special treat as we normally have water surrounding our camp for most of the year which is too deep for the cats and other predators to venture close to the camp. The two lionesses were seen consistently for over a week.

There was also a new male lion in the area, and he was heard roaring through the night on a number occasions. On one night, he was heard very close to camp, and we are certain that he was looking for the lioness, as we suspect she might be in oestrus again.

Birds
The Wattled Cranes still love feeding on the floodplain around camp and they have been seen frequently. Sometimes we see flocks of over 20 gathering on the floodplain.

We have also had frequent sightings of a pair of Pel's Fishing-Owls, which we suspect have a nest on the island opposite the camp. Their haunting, ghostly calls are heard almost nightly.

The call of the Western Banded Snake-Eagle has been heard on our island a number of times too. It is a rather humorous sounding call for such a majestic bird. This is also one of our 'rare' birds that don't seem so rare around here!

Staff
The greatest asset to a camp, and especially here at Jacana, is the staff. We have sadly had to say goodbye to Obbey, our housekeeper who wants to retire and Sox, our mokoro poler who wants to focus on studying for his guide's license. We wish them all the best. Unfortunately, Clint and I will be saying our farewells to everyone here too. We have completed our 2-year contract and are heading back to South Africa to pursue other careers. We will greatly miss this little piece of paradise that has become our home and will be hard to say good bye to our staff, who feel more like family. We have been honoured to have met some amazing guests along the way and we want to say goodbye to our regular guests and readers. We assure you our little camp will be handed over to very capable managers that will keep carrying on the spirit that makes Jacana so special and unique.

-Clint, Dom and the rest of the Jacana Team-

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