African Safari Update - October 2024
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FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
As children, my three siblings and I spent our winter vacations mostly inside Kruger National Park in the traditional South African style. Just under two weeks or so on a self-drive - mostly self-catered - safari, split among public rest camps such as Skukuza, Olifants, Satara and Punda Maria. We were always looking for lions but enjoyed seeing even the tiny steenbok and our dad gently introduced us to birdwatching as well. Every minute was fun, every game drive was an event and our dad couldn't keep us out of the vehicle. In hindsight, I now realize that he must have been thrilled to have had a crew of such enthusiastic amateur naturalists in the back seats of the VW Kombi.
While time spent looking at mammals and birds in Kruger Park was literally the best vacation ever, it did have one negative consequence. We never made it to Mozambique, at the time administered by Portugal. We had to settle for stories - from neighbors and friends - about giant-sized prawns (or shrimp as we know them now), tales about lush tropical islands like Bazaruto and accounts of snorkeling and deep sea fishing. We definitely suffered from a bit of Mozambique envy.
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It wasn't until decades later that Kathy and I finally made it to Mozambique after a long interregnum during which the country largely disappeared from the tourist map due to a devastating civil war. Nowadays, as popular as back in the day, Mozambique makes an ideal short beach extension to any Southern Africa trip, particularly during the cooler months from May through September. This last June, we returned to Mozambique’s central coastal area in the Vilankulos area for a few days at Santorini and AsDunas resorts. More about that in the story below or on the blog on our website.
Also in this newsletter:
- Our take on Mokete, the new Wilderness property in the Mababe area of Botswana
- Highlights from a short visit to a couple of Great Plains Conservation’s Explorer camps in the Okavango Delta
- News about a couple of Fish Eagle Safaris small-group trips for 2025.
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THE TWO BEST GAME-VIEWING CAMPS IN BOTSWANA?
We’re often asked for our opinion about the best game-viewing properties in Northern Botswana. Lately, the answer has been getting a little bit easier. Two Botswana camps jump out when it comes to consistently delivering scenes of big cats and African painted dogs on the hunt, namely Wilderness' Mokete in the Mababe area and their Chitabe/Chitabe Lediba camps in the Okavango Delta. Lions taking down buffaloes happen with surprising regularity at Mokete. We saw it for ourselves there in early August. Everything we saw and experienced at Mokete confirmed the favorable impression the property - and particularly the game viewing - had made on our colleague Lyndon when he visited earlier this year.
Very early one morning, we were somewhat apprehensive spectators observing an entire kill sequence, on just our second game drive at Mokete. A group of five young lions took down a very old, very beaten down buffalo cow right in front of us. None of us really wanted to be a witness to overly gory scenes with blood everywhere, but our fears were soon allayed. The old, weathered buffalo female succumbed fairly quickly, with just a few weak bellows and a bit of struggle. And there was almost no blood as the lions were not hungry. It turned out that this group of youngsters were simply working on perfecting their hunting techniques. In fact, just as we were driving away the same lions started stalking a different buffalo.
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Beyond the lion and buffalo action, at Mokete there’s a better than even chance of observing the near mythical aardvark - or even walking with one. Plus there’s a small pack of African painted dogs and a second pride of lions headed up by two gorgeous males - the Golden Boys. Fancy some elephant viewing? In the dry season many hundreds of elephants come down to the Mababe Marsh to drink, marching out of the forest right into your field of view, ensconced as you would be, in the Mokete blind.
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As for Chitabe, the game-viewing there has been touching the superlative level for many years now and is showing no sign of slowing down. To the contrary. My daily ‘Frame a Day’ WhatsApp feed from Chitabe is a never-ending stream of leopards, lions, cheetahs and African painted dogs. On the day I was drafting this newsletter, the daily Chitabe feed had photos illustrating all of this:
- A very rare sighting of leopards mating
- An impala carcass being hoisted into a tree by another leopard
- The Tsame pride of lions feeding on an elephant
- A male and female ostrich walking with 19 small chicks
- A female cheetah with cubs, feeding on an impala
Both Chitabe and Mokete are in private concessions where guests can do off-road driving and night drives. My recommendation would be to spend four nights each at those two camps. It will definitely increase your chances to observe predators on the hunt. The experience is intense and often emotional but always mesmerizing. For a predator-focused trip we do recommend using a private vehicle and guide for the duration of the trip. Other guests on the vehicle - usually up to six persons in three rows - may not want to stick around for as long as it may take. Cheetahs - by way of example - often take hours to make up their mind as to when to attempt a take down. Being diurnal, they can be followed around discreetly during the day, as they go about the business of spotting, stalking and eventually running down their prey. It takes patience and time so best done on your own with a private guide and vehicle.
Here are two online brochures for Mokete and Chitabe, respectively.
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For more information about the properties and our suggestions as to how they can best be included in a Botswana or Southern Africa itinerary, email Lyndon at lyndon@fisheaglesafaris.com or call 713-467-5222 or 1-800-513-5222 and leave a message.
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VISITING SANTORINI AND ASDUNAS, MOZAMBIQUE
If you’re of a certain age and someone says ‘deserted tropical island’ your brain may jump straight to Robinson Crusoe and his man Friday. If you’re American, maybe Gilligan’s Island. Tom Hanks and Wilson in Castaway? Of course.
Ask me now, after spending a few days on the central coast of Mozambique, along the pleasantly warm water of the Indian Ocean, and there’s one more candidate: the tropical island of Magaruque. On a half-day outing from Santorini Mozambique, we ended up on this tiny dot of an island, marveling at the sand dollar shells seemingly strewn about like confetti at a wedding. For a couple of hours there it was just us, the sand, the beautiful water and nobody else. Fortunately no scavenging for food or water was required. A perfectly delicious lunch was served under a small tented canopy. Sorry Gilligan, you are no longer my top result in the ‘deserted tropical island’ search.
Learn more about our time in Mozambique on our blog.
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WILDERNESS MOKETE EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS
So did Mokete Camp in Northern Botswana’s Mababe area live up to advance billing? You bet it did! Our very first game drive with guide Jonah - on the afternoon we arrived in early August this year - delivered our best aardvark sighting ever. And what a weird weird animal it is with its odd, thick tail, pig-like claws and elongated snout.
We thought it was going to be tough sledding for Jonah to match a brilliant aardvark sighting but in less than an hour the following morning, he proved us wrong. Not long after first light, we experienced the jaw-droppingly awesome sight of six lions taking down an old, truly beaten up female buffalo right in front of our eyes. From beginning to end, chase to first contact to the embrace of death it almost appeared as if the old buffalo knew that its days were numbered not very long into the event. One or two feeble bellows early on and then a silent surrender to the inevitable end.
Read more about our time at Wilderness Mokete on our blog.
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48 HOURS AT GREAT PLAINS DUBA EXPLORER AND OKAVANGO EXPLORER CAMPS
The most unexpected experience at both Great Plains’ Duba Explorer and Okavango Explorer tented camps, located in remote corners of the Okavango Delta in Northern Botswana, was not the warmth and friendliness of the staff and management. Or the expertise of the professional guides - Paul and Chillie B - which between them helped us find 111 different bird species in 48 hours. Neither was it the quality of the food, particularly the two tasty bush breakfasts. The most unexpected experience at the two classic tented camps was...
Find out what the most unexpected experience was on our blog!
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TRAVEL WITH FISH EAGLE SAFARIS IN 2025
Over the last few years Kathy and I have been designing and personally hosting a few small-group trips to Kenya, Namibia and most recently Botswana, with good results. The primary focus is wildlife (mammals, birds and everything else) but we don’t ignore the cultural offerings, the cuisine, scenic attractions and of course the people themselves.
For 2025, we have a few spots available for small group trips to Madagascar (August 2025) and India (March-April 2025).
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Madagascar lemurs & more
On what will be our fourth visit to Madagascar, we will be taking a few people along, on what promises to be an intriguing introduction to the wonders of the ‘Eighth Continent.’ We will see lots of wonderful lemurs and many other endemic animals including birds, chameleons, geckos and frogs - maybe even a lowland streaked tenrec. And if we get really lucky, an aye-aye. We will be spending an entire week in the remote Masoala Peninsula filling our days with kayaking, snorkeling, whale watching, looking for lemurs and birds - even some nocturnal ones - and hiking in the forests. All while being led by some excellent local guides and enjoying Madagascar's remarkably good French-inspired food.
Here is our online itinerary for our August 2025 small-group trip to Madagascar. The maximum number of guests will be six to eight total.
The 12-night trip will be split between Andasibe-Mantadia (one of the most popular of all Madagascar destinations) and the remote and lightly traveled Masoala peninsula in the north-east. Here is what some recent Masoala guests - who spent several days there this last summer - had to say: “Visiting Masoala has been a highlight of my 25 years traveling in Africa and beyond. I can imagine returning there and spending ten days next time! The diversity is amazingly beautiful and out of this world. The best part is that you're virtually alone while experiencing this magical place. Our Masoala trip was life-changing for my family … I haven't felt so moved since my first visit to Tanzania in 1998. Highly recommended.”
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Great Indian Tiger Safari - March-April 2025
Due to a cancellation, we have room for two travelers on both of our back to back India trips, the first of which starts in Delhi on March 12, 2025. Both the India trips consist of a couple of days in Delhi, an overnight in Agra for the Taj Mahal, several days exploring three different tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh, and an optional extension to Kaziranga for India’s rare one-horned rhinos.
I am really excited about the prospect of returning to India and particularly to spend more time in Madhya Pradesh, with 10 nights split between three of India’s best tiger reserves. This will provide us with multiple opportunities for quality tiger sightings, and likewise several chances to capture images of these stunning predators in good early morning or late afternoon light. By March and early April the tigers will be drawn to remaining sources of water which will improve our chances to see them well even further. Some of the tigers will actually get into the water and that’s the photo I really want to get! Of course the Indian tiger reserves have plenty of other mammals and some superb birds as well. We won't ignore any of them but our primary focus will be the tigers. They are amazing.
I think including Agra for the Taj Mahal and the extension to Kaziranga for the one-horned rhinos will make it a nicely rounded trip, with a bit of culture and some culinary experiences.
Here is the link to the itinerary: Fish Eagle Safaris 'Great Indian Tiger Safari' March 2025
We also have one room still available on the second departure of the same trip, starting in Delhi on March 27. The late March/early April time frame is about as good as it gets to find and observe tigers as it will be dry and hot and they will be around or even cooling off in the remaining water sources. Here is the itinerary: India: Delhi, Agra, tiger reserves and Kaziranga (one-horned rhinos)
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For more information please email me at bert@fisheaglesafaris.com or call our office at 1-800 513-5222 any time and leave a message with the answering service. We will call you back promptly.
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