News / Camp News

Kwetsani Camp - January 2010

02 Feb 2010

Weather
This has been a month of plenty at Kwetsani, especially with regards to rain. We have had 327mm (13 inches) of rain during the month - 145mm of which fell in one night during dinner. This made for a very interesting evening - full of umbrellas. The next morning even the pan on the way to the baobab was filled up with water, which brought all the waterfowl to camp and resulted in some spectacular birding opportunities. The mornings would start with bright blue and sunny skies and the afternoon would arrive with spectacular thunderstorms. Most of the evenings were nice and cool. The average maximum temperature was 31°C (88°F) with the mercury dipping to 17°C at night.

According to the bush telegraph we can expect a very big flood this year and it looks like it might be early again. With all the rain we have been having it sometimes feels like the flood has already arrived - most of our roads are flooded with the water, which makes for interesting game drives.

Wildlife
We've had some great wildlife sightings at Kwetsani this month. The resident lion pride has become part of everyday camp life and we have been lucky to get a few glimpse of their newest additions. No one is sure yet but it looks like four or five cubs. The female lion have been using the floodplain in front of camp for their hunting. On one occasion we witnessed them make a kill 100m out of camp. The one female was drinking water at the pan just out of camp when three lechwe approached. They did not see her and ventured too close. She set off after them and the young one stumbled, and it was all over in seconds. Then the male lion came running up and stole the kill. She did all the hard work and had to sit and watch as the male ate the whole kill... This is very often the case with lion.

Our resident elephant have been scarce, only visiting camp on the odd occasion. There is a female group in the area with quite a few small calves, and our guests had a great time observing these wonderful giants. Two huge buffalo bulls have moved into camp and they are a regular sighting in the morning. They've befriended the bushbuck and we see them hanging out together on a regular basis.

Birding
A pair of Woodland Kingfishers decided to raise a chick in the tree next to our office - which has given us hours of viewing pleasure. Four Ground Hornbills also made their home in front of camp.

Camp News
The camp saw in the New Year under a full moon on the Kwetsani floodplain. We had sparkling wine next to a fire in the heart of the Okavango Delta with some wonderful guests. The roast gammon and stuffed venison complemented by roast potatoes and an assortment of scrumptious vegetables added to an already wonderful evening.

On the evening of the 5th we finally got the chance to do a bush dinner. We could still see the lightning in the distance, but it kept its distance. Our guests were pleasantly surprised when they drove past camp and found the quintessentially safari scene of dinner in the African bush.

Camp Staff
Camp Managers: Iván Phillipson and Ilze van der Vyver
New Camp Managers: Douw and Linda Cloete
Guides: Jonah and OP

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