Jos Janisch over at exploregorongosa.com sent me an e-mail about "Africa's Lost Eden" a special about Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park. She was kind enough to provide a link to an official trailer of Africa's Lost Eden.

Cape Buffalo - like this one - are among the fauna visitors can see at Gorongosa National Park
© Bill Given

Africa's Lost Eden U.S. Air Date

While Africa's Lost Eden has already premiered in various parts of the world, you'll want to be in front of the television on Wednesday, March 24th. That evening, it will be shown on the National Geographic Channel (Nat Geo).

Background Story for Africa's Lost Eden

Gorongosa used to be a major safari destination in the 1960s and 1970s. The 1,500 square mile park boasted huge herds and varied wildlife and made Mozambique one of the premier destinations for safari related tourism. Unfortunately, civil war came to Mozambique and had a horribly negative impact on both the human population of Mozambique, as well as the park wildlife. Hence the name of the Nat Geo special - Africa's Lost Eden.

The news isn't all bad. With the help of American Greg Carr, Gorongosa National Park is making a comeback. I wrote a blog post about a 60 Minutes story that covered the fall - and rise - of Gorongosa National Park. I encourage you to check out my Gorongosa National Park blog post to learn more about the park, and to see the 60 Minutes story. It will serve as a good primer for Africa's Lost Eden.

   

Saddle-billed stork repositions along Savuti Channel
© Bill Given

Saying Botswana during the green season is a spectacular time for birds should not be equated to the blind dating reference of "she has a great personality". The amazing birdlife is a strong positive for visiting Botswana during the green season (December through March) as many migrant species are down for the Southern Africa summer and the scenery is a vibrant compliment to the increased birdlife but just as some people may have a great personality and be attractive Botswana’s green season still delivers a great all-around safari that the birds are a wonderful part of but not in place of excellent mammal viewing. That disclaimer out of the way let me share some of my recent Botswana birding experiences.

Vigilant tawny eagle looking to hunt near Sankuyo Bush Camp
© Bill Given

Most of my clients only mention mammals when stating their safari desires, with some throwing in that they will also enjoy birds and other small animals along the way. Once on safari, most discover that they can be overwhelmed with the beauty and variety of the birds, without having to transform themselves into hard core twitchers.

A dainty malachite kingfisher perches in between hunting sorties near Mapula Lodge
© Bill Given

One nice thing about birds is because they are active throughout the day you often get some of your more interesting photos with them as subjects. In Botswana because of the wetland environment larger wading birds and extremely active kingfishers are some of the best to observe and photos of them help show the dynamic environment.

With luck you sometimes observe very unique behaviors as well. On my last trip I was very fortunate to find the stunning combination of a colorful carmine bee-eater riding in a jockey position upon Africa’s largest flying bird, the kori bustard. This is thought to be an example of mutualism where both species benefit from being associated with one another. It’s clear that the carmine bee-eater benefits from eating insects kicked up by the large kori bustard and if you watch the head movements in the video you can see that the bee-eater is indeed plucking insects from the air. It is believed that the carmine bee-eaters will detect danger quicker than the kori bustard and thus provide the benefit of greater safety.

Barred owl just outside my tent at Sankuyo Bush Camp
© Bill Given

In my wildlife biologist career I have spent many nights walking miles through dark forests playing taped calls to survey for owls and that’s likely why they are my favorite to see. The above photo is probably my favorite African bird sighting as I discovered this little barred owl just outside my tent as I walked home and then I was able to call him to above my open-air loo at Sankuyo Bush Camp. This last trip was an excellent one for owls and in addition to the barred owl we found pearl-spotted owls, white-faced owls, giant eagle owls, and a spotted eagle owl. The owls are a real indicator to me that the continents were connected at one time because each of these owls we saw are in the same genus as a North American counterpart and in each case they look very similar demonstrating a shared ancestory.

Lilac-breasted roller at Mapula
© Bill Given

More than anything it is the palette of extraordinary colors that grabs attention of safari goers. The rollers, bee-eaters, and kingfishers in particular have unbelievable colors that often surprise with unexpected bursts of new shades when they take to flight.

Perhaps the only thing more beautiful than the dazzling colors of the lilac-breasted roller is three together
© Bill Given

   

Selinda’s current specialty is leopards and this male was particularly relaxed.
© Bill Given

I finished guiding my group and then headed on to the legendary Selinda Reserve, a huge wedge of land that lies between the game rich Kwando and Linyanti Concessions. The Selinda area has likely undergone more change in the last couple years than any other location in Botswana, both environmentally and with accommodation. Large floods in the past two years have added a significant amount of surface water here and for the first time in nearly thirty years the Selinda spillway flowed to the point of connecting the Okavango Delta with the Kwando/Linyanti river systems.

All of this water has caused some species to disperse- some concentrations of animals inside the Selinda concession. However, I have been very excited about a new canoeing adventure (Selinda Canoe Trail) that is a multiday paddle and camping trip. The canoe trip is actually one of the better cost values available during Botswana high season (June through October) and its natural to finish with a couple nights at one of the luxury camps in the Selinda Reserve so I wanted to visit for myself.

A well known guide, Steve K., who gained his skills and built his reputation at the Kwando Camps has been guiding at Selinda Camp for the past two years. I learned the area is very good for leopard and they have nine known individuals and sightings of these beautiful cats is frequent.

In my two nights I had two leopard sightings. The first was a shy female in a tree who left after a minute. The second was a male near Zarafa Camp who was extremely relaxed laying on the ground and we stayed with him for close to two hours before leaving him to a nap and to catch my exit flight.

Currently, two male lions are spending the majority of their time inside the concession and there are a couple females that are expected to bring out cubs very soon. Sighting these lions is a regular occurrence, I saw them once and heard them the second night too, though they can slip out to a neighboring concession from time to time.

African wild dogs come and go frequently and the Selinda concession remains a well used part of the range for two packs though they typically den in the neighboring concessions.

Cheetah have become a very infrequent occurrence as the main two cheetah that used the area are tending to stay on the other side of the Savuti Channel within the Linyanti concession and they are hesitant to swim the channel. However, Selinda Concession is receiving two male cheetah that have been captured on the Ghanzi cattle farms where they come into conflict with livestock. The cheetah will be relocated to Selinda where they will receive a ‘soft’ release, moving into a large boma (fenced) area inside the reserve within the next month and then it is anticipated they will be released onto the reserve in May. Considering there is a very strong coalition of males dominating the Kwando concession and then the Savuti Channel forms somewhat of a barrier to movement to the southeast its quite likely these cheetah will remain in the unoccupied area of the Selinda concession enhancing the diversity of predators.

Beyond my good luck with big cats I was fortunate to have a quality daytime sighting of an African wild cat.
© Bill Given

There were quite a few elephants but they come and go during the green season, while the buffalo disappear completely into the mopane woodland. In the dry season large quantities of both species frequent the area. The permanent water makes Selinda a good place to see the handsome red lechwe and the bird life is very good, especially in the water areas, while the woodland edges are a good place to find roan and sable antelope.

A red lechwe dashes through the water of the Selinda Spillway.
© Bill Given

Next up I will review the accommodation in the Selinda Reserve.

   

Elephants are all over Mapula this Green Season. © Bill Given

Elephants in Abundance at Mapula

At one point Mapula Lodge head guide Dicks said to me “Bill, is this Mapula or is this Chobe?” Famed for its 65,000 elephants in the dry season nowhere can rival Chobe for sheer numbers of elephants but this January it felt like Mapula had elephants in all directions and for long stretches of driving we would consistently encounter one group after another, sometimes scattered bulls but very many breeding herds as well.

Beyond the numbers (there could easily be a couple thousand eles currently in the Mapula area) the viewing was extremely high quality. We had a number of opportunities to see herds frolicking in pans of water. Many of the young bulls were into playing games by mock charging the vehicle and in a few cases passing through would find us in close quarters and require some aggressive maneuvers to run the elephant gauntlet. All very exciting! One thrilling moment was watching an elephant mock charge a large male lion to send him trotting away from the herd.

Mapula Lodge Lion Tracking

In typical Mapula Lodge fashion, game drives featured lots of tracking and extreme off road driving. The results of those efforts was great – three different lion sightings in three days.

On our first day we found spoor (tracks) of a female lion and Dicks and Simon had tracked her to newborn cubs seven weeks ago before heading out on leave, no one had seen this lioness or her cubs since so we decided to track. A good trail led into thick grasses and dense Kalahari apple trees. Rather than give up when the spoor was lost Dicks and Simon thought their way through the bush weaving in and out of dense shrubbery before Dicks spotted the lioness deep under the bushes.

It was very difficult to see, so we waited patiently until she called her cubs and then three healthy cubs ran to her to nurse. Most of us enjoyed this sighting by the wonderful sounds as only those sitting at the lowest perspective could actually see this well concealed location. We decided this was still a very sensitive time and with the great news of healthy cubs pushed on to find other animals rather than bashing around in hopes of a better view.

On other drives we would find one of the three spectacular Mapula male lions on his own and on our final drive would follow roaring to discover the other two Mapula Boys finishing up a patrol.

African wild dogs had been in the area the day before we arrived but they moved on to a neighboring concession so we unfortunately missed the dog pack.

Mapula is unusual in that buffalo tend to be found year round. © Bill Given

Mapula Lodge - Other Wildlife Sightings

General game was extremely plentiful and we saw lots of herds of zebra, wildebeest, tsessebe, and impala. All the grazing species had babies that had been born during the last two months making it an interesting time to be there and observe family behavior. The large plains areas of Mapula stay particularly productive in the green season and unlike many areas, it is often possible to find buffalo throughout the year. We were able to track down a herd of more than 500 that was tucked into a woodland edge of the plains due to the presence of the lions. Sable antelope continues to be a regularity at Mapula and we had a sighting (I’ve seen sable on every visit).

Botswana Bird Sightings from Mapula Lodge

Lilac-breasted roller in flight is an astounding display of color. © Bill Given

During the green season is the best for bird sightings as many migrants come down from the north and join the resident birds. Because of the varied habitats, Mapula is an exceptional area for birds. Lilac-breasted rollers and Carmine bee-eaters were prolific and there was a great mix with larger birds like raptors and cranes being commonly sighted including the endangered wattled crane. Rain is so localized that we could see awesome storms late every day and yet completely avoid them on all game drives.

   

Encounter with an African Wild Dog at Grassland Bushman Lodge

Unique Predator Encounters Available at Grassland Bushman Lodge

Grassland Bushman Lodge (also known as Grasslands Safaris) provides a unique opportunity for visitors to learn about predator/livestock conflict in a very dramatic way – up close and personal.

An Eye to Eye Look at an African Wild Dog

At Grassland Bushman Lodge, Guests are able to walk in with a pack of 19 highly endangered African wild dogs, quite an interesting experience to be so close to these highly elusive predators and allowing for observation of some of their typical behaviors and energetic character. It is also possible to drive into a similar enclosure of approximately 40 acres that houses an impressive pride of lions.

A Captive Lion at Grassland Bushman Lodge

How Predators End Up at Grassland Bushman Lodge

All of these predators were destined to be shot on neighboring cattle ranches, but the Grasslands Lodge owners, the DeGraff family, were requested by the Wildlife Department to capture and rescue these animals. Early on animals were caught and released back into the Central Kalahari Game Reserve but most quickly returned to the cattle farms and that has sentenced them to a life in captivity.

There are quite a few captive lions that have very limited interaction with people and they will be subjects in my Conditioned Taste Aversion (CTA) research. With success we might be able to release some of these animals (each must be carefully evaluated) and without a doubt work with these captives can help us advance the CTA methodology to the benefit of the remaining wild predator populations.

Two Cheetah Outside Grassland Bushman Lodge

Grassland Bushman Lodge Wildlife Sighting

Interestingly, our group had a very unusual sighting of a family of 4 cheetah very close to the Grassland Bushman Lodge. Due to dangers of interacting with livestock, predators are very wary in this area and rarely sighted so we had some extreme luck. A blog entry from later in this trip will detail that 2 cheetah captured on the cattle farms in this region will be released later this year in the Selinda Reserve.

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