In the Country of the Tswana
In 2007 earthquakes reopened the Savuti Channel from the Okavango Delta—where the Cuando/Okavango River flows into the Kalahari Desert and dries up—to the Mababe Depression. What had been a November-March estival wetland then became, once again, a year-round wetland…
Yes: that’s Puumba up there, because hyenas and jackals cannot climb trees, but leopards can, even carrying a full warthog in their jaws…
Dawn breaks…
Cat tracks—moving down the road: move faster with no rustle…
Cat pee—recent…
Cape buffalo...
The cats we had been following—three 2-3 year old males…
The cat-boys close in…
By now, one of the three should have diverted off and gone belly-down in the grass—waiting for the other two to show themselves, rush, and hope to drive a young/old/weak/cape buffalo into the ambush spot. None of them have…
Herd bull says: “You are too close, cat-boys!” But what are the other bulls doing? Grading him on form?
Warning given…
Cat-boys move off…
Cat-boys take a short rest…
Coming our way…
Cat-boy #3 gives us a wider berth…
Snoozing cheetah at mid-day…
Our first vulture sighting…
Five year-old Fred with a zebra kill—a kill he did not make…
Ten other lions—the ones who made the kill, led by a matriarch—around in the grass; Fred is hogging the kill, taking occasional bites, and growling at others who get too close…
Three of the ten licking up some spilled entrails…
The next day: dawn…
The ten from the previous day—again: on the road, to move fast and silently…
The Fourteen-Lion parade: the ten juveniles and females from the previous evening led by the matriarch, joined by the three cat-boys from the previous morning, plus the five-year-old Fred bringing up the rear. Again: moving swiftly and silently along the road with no rustle; and then they will turn right and start hunting upwind…
Now heading upwind and about to go belly-to-dirt. In a minute, even with our monkey eyes, it would be very difficult to tell by sight if there were any lions—let alone fourteen—within fifty yards, crawling slowly upwind through the grass. We were extraordinarily, extraordinarily privileged to have the world-class Jonah Seboko as our guide…
References:
Alexander, Lesly. 2025. “Savuti Botswana: The Ultimate Guide.” SKL Group of Camps, February 27. https://sklcamps.com/savuti-botswana.
Carter-Manning, Julian. 2024. “Raw & Wild at Mokete in the Mababe Depression”. Wilderness Destinations. March 7. https://www.wildernessdestinations.com/journal/our-collective/raw-and-wild-at-the-new-wilderness-mokete
Keakabetse, Boniface. 2023. “Mababe - where people and wildlife live side by side.” Independent, March 20. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/campaigns/giantsclub/mababe-where-people-and-wildlife-live-side-by-side-b2304391.html
Kemp, Leigh. n.d. “Savuti Changing Ecosystem.” Siyabona Africa. https://www.botswana.co.za/Botswana_Travel_Articles-travel/savuti-seasons-botswana.html
Vincent, Jessica. 2025. “How Northern Botswana’s Evolving Landscape Became a Haven for Wildlife”. Travel + Leisure, February 9. https://www.travelandleisure.com/wilderness-camps-botswana-safari-8773592
If reading this gets you Value Above Replacement, then become a free subscriber to this newsletter. And forward it! And if your VAR from this newsletter is in the three digits or more each year, please become a paid subscriber! I am trying to make you readers—and myself—smarter. Please tell me if I succeed, or how I fail…
#mababe-depression