Chobe Game Lodge Newsletter, November 2006


Picture Gallery

Report by the Chobe Game Lodge Guides

General

November was the advent of our rainy season and with it came the complete metamorphosis of the bush from dry arid landscape to lush green vegetation. In total we have had 113,5mm of rain for November. On the 16th a very big thunderstorm passed over the Kasane region with up to 110mm falling in Kasane itself, with the brunt of the thunderstorm passing by us towards our east. At Chobe Game Lodge we only measured 10mm of rain after the storm. The Sedudu area of the National Park must have had quite a lot of rain falling there as well during the storm of the 16th as the Sedudu Pan was almost completely full after the storm. The rain also brought the mean day temperatures down a lot and most days were quite mild and pleasant.

Vegetation

As mentioned already the rain brought bout a dramatic change in the bush as most plant species indigenous to this area respond very quickly to any rainfall. This fact can be ascribed to the very seasonal nature od most indigenous plants in most parts of southern Africa and certainly in Botswana. The vegetation has adapted to respond very quickly to rain because most species have rather short life cycles to fit into the few raining months of the year.

Away from the river inside what is classified as miombo woodland the Zambezi teak trees and Muondo trees started shooting their new leaves for the season. These trees characteristically have bright pink to red new leaves, making for some spectacular scenes after the first heavy rains. The Zambezi teaks also started to blossom for the season dotting the lush green bush with its purple flowers.

All the grass species growing on the deep Kalahari soils are annuals and the new growth for the season started within a week of the first good rains. By the end of December game viewing should start getting significantly more difficult with the dense undergrowth of grasses sprouting out.


Page: 2 Birdlife
All the Chobe's summer visitors and residents have returned by the end of November. The very characteristic calls of the woodlands kingfishers are ringing out from everywhere in the bush, as are those of Klaas's cuckoo, Diedericks' cuckoo ...

Page: 3 Mammals
November's predator sightings were probably our best ever and not only lion but also leopard sightings were basically a daily occurrence. We now have a female leopard with two young cubs residing in the immediate vicinity of the Lodge ...

Page: 4 In Conclusion
Even though we by now have had our first good rain showers, a lot more rain is needed during the coming months to fill up all the water pans and ensure a good yield of vegetation for next years' dry season. December is probably the most b ...