Duba Plains Camp Latest News

With fascinating interactions between Lion and Buffalo on an almost daily basis at Duba Plains, a lot of our guests are just as interested as the team at Africa Uncovered about this remarkable wildlife haven and so we have decided to bring our guests news straight from the camp as soon as we have it.

Please also see below for guests comments at Duba Plains Camp.

09 October 2007
Duba Plains Newsletter – Sep 07

Managers: Moalosi, Tebby and Bonang.
Guides: ST, Reuben and Dennis.

September was a very busy month and we operated with a full camp most of the month with a high percentage of our guests as repeat to Duba Plains. Weather was good – quite temperate during the day and night for most of the month. Only in the last week of the month did we really experience a temporary weather change when it became very windy and dusty for a period of about 3 to 4 consecutive days.

Game viewing
As we mentioned last month the elephants have come into the area in large numbers and this continued over September with some notably large breeding herds and of course the regular bulls that always come into the camp at this time of the year. They have been seen most of the month sleeping around the camp perimeter; they lie up against the low lying termite mounds as it is easier for them to heave their large bulks up off the side of the mound when they are suddenly disturbed from their slumber! An amazing scene to watch! Not only were they in camp to feed and sleep – they have been pretty destructive as well. Several times this month we did not have water in mornings as overnight they pulled up water pipes to gain access to the fresh clean water and then left the water tanks to drain. There have even been few incidents where they pushed the water heaters down in a very gentle manner so as not to break the solar panels. It was very interesting one morning to watch a bull elephant walking from the water channel towards camp. He walked all the way through the water on the floodplain just to get to the swimming pool where he broke the rails in an attempt to drink water out of the pool!!

Bird life has been interesting in September. At this time of year most of the water pans are drying up leaving isolate fish populations at the mercy of fish eating birds in the so-called ‘fish traps’ that are left behind. This is an incredible sight to behold with a huge variety of species to be seen in one spot. We have been watching saddle-billed, yellow-billed and open-billed storks, pelicans, cattle, black, little and great white egrets, spoonbills, glossy ibis and many, many others in large flocks fishing efficiently from these drying pans. September is also normally the month when the first summer migrants start to return; it is always very nice to see them back. The first to be seen were carmine bee-eaters and yellow-billed kites. Not only the migrants make the birding interesting – we have been having regular sightings of other local birds of prey like martial eagle, tawny eagle and black-chested snake-eagle.

Other smaller creatures such as bat-eared fox, aardwolf, honey badger, and side-striped jackal are still being seen on a regular basis on game drive due to the open grassland habitat we have. The wide open space makes it very easy for us to watch them going about their business which is fascinating in terms of learning about their behavior.

Of the larger species the buffalo herd spent the whole of this month in the area that we can access easily, which is great for viewing of course. They are still in excellent condition despite the relentless activity between the buffalos and lions. This month the interaction between the two has again been fantastic to witness as the two groups fight against each other. It is interesting to note that the interaction only resulted in eight kills this month. While this is a lower number than normal it is not just about the kill and the interface between lion and buffalo, and the endless game of the hunt that plays itself out on the Duba floodplains, is enough to keep everyone absolutely riveted.

Lions
The two Duba Boys, estimated at just over 16 years, are still doing very well at the moment. One of them has been seen limping quite badly and there was a period of a week this month when he was not seen at all; apparently this is an old injury from few years ago caused by a buffalo horn. This male reappeared but in pretty poor condition. Their longevity has amazed most of our repeat guests who did not expect to see them still alive! Although there is a slight evidence of deterioration on their bodies, age is only slowly working on them. The Duba Boys have been holding the dominancy in the area for about ten years now which has been aided by two main factors: they have an excellent prey base in the buffalo herd and have not had threats or challenges from other males for a long time. This has assured stability in the area so far. There was a time when we were all anticipating a challenge from the five males from the Skimmer Pride (in the neighboring territory) once they left their natal pride. It now seems like they have gone in a completely different direction, because it has been more than six months since seeing them at all. This in a way is against what we were hoping for as attached to the Duba Boys as we are. It is imperative for successful genetic breeding that a new generation of males takes over the territory in the near future.

Junior (the two year old male with the Tsaro Pride), has provided his own surprises to both the guides and guests. He seems much bigger in size compared with what is expected for his age. In September he made his second solo kill (after a first in August). With his eagerness to initiate hunts (doing it the right way now), he is proving himself a valuable and useful member of the pride. However, he seems to have also developed a penchant for initiating fights within the pride and recently scrapped with the silver eyed lioness who he appears to target specifically. Junior is now a big lion who no longer tucks in his tale and retreats when being growled at by the Duba Boys. He has been seen growling back, and 2 days ago he took one of the boys on in a severe fight that lasted about a minute without him giving up – rather the Duba Boy did ? interesting times and a bit of a turn up for the books ?

The young female cub in the Tsaro Pride (9 months) is also still continuing to participate a lot in hunting, after being missed by the swinging horns of a buff last month. This time she was taken on a several meters chase by an old dagga boy (buffalo bull) – had she not made a quick decision to escape into the palm island the whole thing would have ended in disaster. The silver eyed lioness has cubs at the moment, though her offspring have still not been seen.

The rest of the Tsaro Pride is doing very well and are in good shape at the moment with three major groupings being seen on a consistent basis: 2 females and junior; 2 females and the 9 months old female cub; ‘Silver Eye’ mostly alone due to her having the cubs and meeting up with the others only when hunting and feeding. There has been substantial conflict between the lionesses on the carcasses – a new and unprecedented development in the pride and one that we shall continue to watch with interest.

The Skimmer Male that was in the Duba Boys and Tsaro Pride territory last month has again appeared in the area this September. This time he did not spend his time just wandering around and made good use of the incursion ? he was caught in action mating with one of the Tsaro females for a very good period of 3 to 4 days! This incident happened along Molapo Road, which is the territorial boundary of the two prides. After mating, he disappeared for a while, and then came back into the area, and walked a distance of 7km (about 4 miles) into the Tsaro Pride territory, all the way up to Kabole Pan which is just after the bridge. This means he pushed way into the territory of the Duba Boys and was not looking settled at all (as he was aware of what will happen if the Duba boys come across him), leaving the next day for safer ground.

As I mentioned above,interesting times

Duba Plains – Guests Comments

“We loved our stay here. It is one of our favorite places and we hope to return again. We loved the total ambience and friendly staff and the charm of Britt and Cardo.”
B.G and H.G., New York USA

“We enjoyed seeing the four Lions and eleven cubs and being able to watch them interact for an hour and a half was wonderful.”
C., K., S. and J.B., USA

“We always send you our evaluation of the camps we stayed in while visiting Botswana. We were privileged to be in good hands with Tanya at Duba Plains and Corle at Little Mombo. These two dynamic women should be promoted within your organization or given huge raises. Their organizational skills coupled with sincere concern for the tourist puts them right at the head of your employees. Duba Plains is an extraordinary paradise. Attention to detail is everywhere, James and Tanya are superb ambassadors of Wilderness, Botswana, and Africa. James has an exceptional knowledge of lions and will someday be compared to Cynthia Moss and her elephants. Tanya’s menu’s were delightful, delicious and well-balanced. I will never forget our first night at Duba Plains. The vehicles got stuck in mud and Tanya walked through 10 inches of mud to reach our vehicle.

Within 30 minutes of reaching camp, she had transformed herself into a beautiful Cinderella and had a superb supper waiting for us. Her elegance reminds me of Jackie Kennedy. Guide Sealy and tracker Reagan were experienced and knowledgeable. Our first morning game drive we witnessed 30 separate lions. We witnessed mating, a kill and 17 females hunting a herd of buffalo. We have never seen 17 lions surrounding, singling out and attempting to eat breakfast on the hoof. Our guides did not worry about getting back to brunch at a certain time because the game viewing was exceptional. I have M.S. and there was always a helpful arm ready to assist me in or out of the vehicle or to our tent. Why would you ever want to leave Duba Plains?”
David & Ruth Arendsen

“Your staff was incredible. They made us feel very welcome and were flexible with choices. The food was amazingly good.”
J.A. and M.A., USA

“Extremely well run establishment and very friendly and excellent staff.”
J.W. and J.W., Kent, U.K.

“I was looking through our Africa pictures yesterday and was reminded of what a great time we had with you guys at Duba. I have to say, Duba was, by far, our favorite place of the whole trip. You guys really run a great camp and have a wonderful staff. I don’t think I have ever been as relaxed and comfortable as I was there. I recently found a wind chime that sounds exactly like the reed frogs so every time the wind blows here, we’re reminded of the wonderful evenings spent at Duba.”
K.K. and R.K., Texas, USA