August sits on the line between spring and winter in Mombo; where some days take on the biting chill of July, while others are balmy and hot, bringing with them a hint of summer. On a couple of days we even had clouds overhead - a tantalising hint of the still-far-off rains to come, but until then, we still have the colours and smells of September and the parching dust of October to look forward to out here in our corner of the Okavango.

Floodplain areas are slowly drying back as the waters recede, leaving a fresh green flush of nutritious graze behind - this is irresistible to the herds of game that crowd the open plains. The vistas are immense; great sweeping expanses of green leading the eye into the shimmering distance, everywhere dotted with animals and birds...a pullulating scene of vibrant life. 

The wildlife sightings have, as always, been outstanding - with a few wonderful highlights...

The female leopard, Slim Girl, was seen on a few occasions this month, usually in the south of the concession where her territory lies. 

Blue Eyes, the male leopard who dominates the southern area of the concession provided what must have been the most thrilling sighting of the month. Alerted by the alarm barks of a troop of baboons near Drift Molapo, we found him lying along a rain tree branch about five metres off the ground. The baboons shrieked their agitation at him from all around while he regally ignored them, even when they were in the branches of the same tree above him. A herd of impala wandered into the vicinity, which prompted a frenzy of warning shrieks and barks from the sharp-eyed baboons who could see what was about to happen. The antelope somehow ignored the noise, and slowly wandered closer to the fatal tree. The baboons eventually seemed to give up on their efforts in trying to warn the impala, and carried on their activities of feeding, mating and playing. All the while, one male impala kept getting closer and closer to where the leopard lay in wait. The scene erupted in chaos an instant later as Blue Eyes stealthily moved into position then leapt from the tree straight onto the impala with a resounding impact. With dust flying and baboons roaring, he had the presence of mind, or possibly the clinical calculation to subdue the impala ram in a choke-hold for a few seconds before a phalanx of male baboons charged at him. Forced to retreat in the melee of roaring teeth and fur coming at him, he disappeared into dense brush nearby. The impala ram managed to stand and stagger a few metres before crashing to the ground, and died from his injuries moments later. The baboon troop eventually quietened down with the dangerous cat no longer visible, and resumed their foraging. A long while later they moved off farther away and Blue Eyes returned to drag the carcass into the undergrowth to feast in peace. 

Legadema has also been around a fair amount recently, and on a couple of occasions she has visited the camp on her territorial patrols. One evening she was sighted in the camp environs between Mombo and Little Mombo, just before melting away into the gathering gloom. Shortly thereafter, without any of us detecting her movement, we saw her standing right in the bar area next to our sherry station, as if she were inspecting what was on offer! The sound of voices raised in warning was enough to send her on her way, padding gently off into the night. 

Late another night she killed a baboon, waking us all up as the slumbering troop realized one of their number had been attacked and taken by their ultimate enemy in the darkness, and raised a cacophony of alarm barks and terrified shrieks. The next time we found her; she had killed yet another baboon, this time out near Honeymoon Pan, and had pulled the carcass into a tree a few hundred metres from the troops' regular roost. She posed with this macabre trophy of her erstwhile tormentor in the early light of dawn until the troop returned to chase her away. Later that afternoon, however, we returned to the same tree to find her with a freshly-killed impala tucked into one of the boughs.

A week or so before this, in the 92 Dog Den Road area, we found the male leopard Mmolai, also with an impala kill stashed in a tree. He was in an area he has seldom been seen in since he arrived on the scene, but close to the Serondela Floodplains from whence we think he came, which is some distance from his recent usual haunts.  

The Moporota pride of lions have been seen regularly - sometimes a little too regularly as they have been spending a lot of time in the camp environs! It appears they are now actively pursuing a daytime hunting strategy using the tree island of Mombo Camp as a trap in which to catch impala. Since the island is surrounded on three sides by water, their strategy is to flush these antelope and run them into an ambush cordon along the only dry route off the island. This has been successful on a number of occasions, leading them to use it fairly often, especially in times when larger prey like buffalo are scarce in the area. 

The remaining Jao boy, dominant male of the pride, was seen limping very badly at the beginning of the month, and we wondered whether the ancient cat had fought his final battle. He has somehow managed to keep up with the rest of the pride, but has lost a tremendous amount of condition. We wonder how long it will be before we no longer see him. 

The Western Pride has had an unexpected boon with the absence of male lion competition from the Mporota and the Mathatha Prides (the Western Boys haven't been seen in quite some time). Mmamoriri's pride has successfully fought off both of the two larger prides in territorial disputes - one of which happened right in the camp. It was an incredible sight to see her charging through the shallow water from Skimmer Island, scattering the Mporota Pride before her!

The former Mporota-breakaway Pride, now known as Akuna, have been seen in the areas between Stompies Road and Siberiana, often accompanied by a magnificent young male lion that is new to the area. We are currently attempting to discover his provenance by comparing him with pictures taken of lions all over Chief's Island. 

Another older lion, known as Malinga, has also taken advantage of the power vacuum and was seen mating with one of the females from the Mporota Pride, so perhaps we will once again see lion cubs in the concession!

The lion dynamics are set to change dramatically in the future with the demise of the Jao Boys, and we will be fortunate to observe this fascinating transition at first hand. 

The lone wild dog is still a regular feature at Mombo. She has changed her regular haunt to the open area near Drift Molapo and, as has become to norm to her, has a pair of jackals in attendance. This might point to the existence of a den somewhere nearby - so the saga may continue!

The hyaena den on Galloping Horse Road has provided many of our visitors with delightful encounters observing the youngster's antics, as well as a fascinating insight into the lives of these much-maligned, yet amazingly complex, social creatures. 

Stompie, the elephant has been a regular visitor to camp this month - much to the ire of the camp carpenters as he removes inconvenient sections of walkway in his wanderings! The ilala palms on the island were a particular attraction to him this month and we often were treated to the sight of him bashing the tree trunks to shake loose the palm nuts which he devoured with relish. 

A hippo carcass at Suzy's Duck Pond provided a focal point for a large amount of carnivorous activity - firstly the Mathatha lions, then hyaena, and finally a multitude of marabou storks and vultures picked the area clean within a couple of days...nothing goes to waste in nature!

We have been fortunate to have a few rhino sightings this month - Serondela, one of the dominant bulls of the area, has been seen in the company of the female Warona and her two youngsters. 

The bush is starting to take on the vibrant hues of spring, the temperatures are rising each day and there is an atmospheric dry dust hanging in the air turning sunsets and moon rises into glowing, blood-red orbs...the coming months are set to become warmer and drier until the advent of the next dose of life-giving rains which should arrive by the end of October. 

Guides in camp for August were Cisco, Doc Malinga, Moss, Tshepo and Sefo. 

Managers here were Vasco, Ryan, Katie, Ruby and Glen, with Graham at Little Mombo. We also welcomed Liz Parkin, recently of North Island, to the Mombo team.