"The trip was outstanding, really good - despite all my concerns with the wet season. Clearly the tall grasses make wildlife watching much more of a challenge, and we missed a few things (for example we were not able to find a cheetah with 2 month old cubs despite we tried and tried... and there are no buffalo herds this time of the year which means much less predator activity...).
But I saw lots and lots of animals, and a few very special things. The absolute highlight was that in Laggon I could spend several hours following a pack of dogs whilst they hunted... and we were lucky enough to see them taking down an impala, less than two meters from our car. We witnessed the whole process - which I found very upsetting, as they ate the poor animal alive in less than two minutes - and I took probably a hundred top quality pictures in those two minutes. I have never seen in my life pictures of a wild dogs kill so I think I got something that is really unique... although very gory.
We also saw cheetah almost daily, including an amazing image of a coalition of three brothers watching from a termite mound less than 10 meters from the car, in great light... a family of lions playing rough games... a coalition of 7 male lions hunting by night, hippos fighting, a very rare African Wild Cat, an even rarer Pangolin...
And of course, the lodges are very good, the guides and trackers are fantastic (the two guys that I had at Laggon are absolutely top class), etc.
You also did well by choosing 3 nights at each Lagoon and Kwara and only 2 at Tau Pan. Although Tau Pan is a very beautiful lodge - and of course brand new - and the Kalahari is a very interesting experience, it is lighter than the delta in terms of wildlife, which is my main interest.
All said, without doubt, one of my best trips to Africa. Thanks very much for 'convincing' me to go, I will definitely return to Kwando as soon as I can."
Mr DeFrias, Botswana, March 2009
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