Lest we forget...Katavi is getting greener, to say the least, and a short stroll around the camp can yield some spectacular birding opportunities.

 

Mataya, 2010

Another year later, have a look at the Mapacha brothers, so named because they look like twins.  Last year they were nomads.  Now they have taken over the Katisunga North Pride.

Mataya, 2011

Macho, 2010

Macho, 2011

 They are turning out to be magnificent beasts.  You may recognize them as the elephant killers from last year's blog.

Last year we had a day to remember...Chada blog followers will recall the night we spent listening to lions taking down a hippo in camp.  Newsletters and blogs and photos flew, and we told and retold the story over dinner in the mess tent, the very tent that was partially knocked down by the hippo and the lions as they fought.  To this day, despite being folded away in the off-season, the mess tent still has some blood stains and a few lion hairs stuck to the outside wall.

Chada camp, 2010

Remarkably, one of the most beautiful wildlife sightings of the season took place on the very same day, but was understandably overshadowed by the events in camp.  After watching the lions feeding on the hippo, waiting for them to leave, and putting the tent back together, we found a lovely young female leopard in a tamarind tree not far from Chada.

She was the most relaxed Katavi leopard we had so far seen, completely at ease on her branch above the vehicle.

Delilah, 2010

Yesterday, as we sat watching hippos in a pool, we saw a leopard draped over one of the lower branches of a rain tree not far away.  We drove closer.  So relaxed was this cat that she barely looked up when we approached her tree.  Then we noticed an impala she had stashed in the branches above her.

She looked familiar.  Even cats have distinct features, expressions, ear notches, and whisker marks that make identifying them easier.  After two hours of photographing her as she alternated between resting and eating, we were pretty sure she was the same leopard from the day of the lion vs. hippo battle last year.

Last year, we had named her Delilah for her beauty and poised, sultry nonchalance.  Back in camp, we went through our old photos and sure enough, this was our cat, now much more filled out and muscular, but no more nervous around a car than she had been before.  What a reunion!

 

A female elephant lay on her side, struggling to rise for an entire evening, suffering some unknown ailment.  She was tuskless, leaving no motive for poachers to have shot her and we never found any signs of injury.  By morning she had died and we found lions there, guarding what would be their meal for a week.

 

He feasted for a while, painting his jaws crimson.

More often seen on the wing, the African marsh harrier is a graceful, low-flying hunter over the plains.

 

 

One of the Chada pride's best hunters has finally succumbed to her wound.  Kicked in the back by a buffalo while hunting in June, Salama has been nursing a gash in her back that stubbornly refused to heal.

Salama right, arguing with her sister over a choice piece of hippo.

When we posted the above shot on Chada's Facebook page in August, we still had high hopes that Salama would pull through.

 

Salama (right) nuzzles her sister.  We are not the only ones who will miss her it seems.

 

As we enjoyed another leisurely drive along the riverbank yesterday afternoon, we were surprised to see a young giraffe walking around by his own. Strolling towards the open river bank, with the tree line a good 50 metres behind it, the animal was unaware of what was going to happen next.

As it kept facing the river, four lionesses came shooting out of the tree line. At a speed that was next to unbelievable, the lions jumped literally on top of the young giraffe. Two at the back and two biting the young animal in the neck – it was over within the blink of an eye.