Diamonds are in the news lately as they are finding very large diamonds in Botswana due to a newly developed X-ray technology. Read more about why in the following link: Diamonds
When the diamonds are found, the government has a stake in it. All the people of Botswana benefit as the money is used for roads, schools, etc. They have no blood diamonds.
Mpahpi was our driver. He is a conservationist. He takes his children out of school each year to plant a tree and challenges villages to take care of that tree for future generations.
His father had four wives and 37 children. I asked him if they ever went on a family vacation. YES. Every year the extended family goes to his dad’s village for two weeks in December. Today the number of people in their family is 713. (A police car passed us with a friendly wave. He said that it was his half brother!)
Today is Sunday and Mpahpi will go to church after he drops us off. He said that church is an all day event for the 70 % of Batswana that are Christian.
The donkey cart on the highway is called a Kalahari Ferrari.
We arrived at the Mokolwane Tented Camp in the Okavango Delta.
Wild Dogs
At Mokolwane we began a game drive right away. Our guide, Laps, asked what we wanted to see. Wild Dogs are endangered, and I have never seen them in the wild. Within an hour we were witnessing a fight over a recent kill between wild dogs and hyenas.
The pack of wild dogs had caught and killed an impala before we arrived. A clan of hyenas had stolen the kill. We followed the hyenas and could see them devouring the pieces they had. Their occasional cackles sounded like laughs.
Other, smaller pieces of the impala remained in the area where the kill occurred for the wild dogs to eat. They yipped a lot, especially the pups.
Wild dogs are excellent group hunters with the alpha female leading the hunt. They go and kill as fast as they can. They have great stamina and can travel 3 miles or more at the same speed. Wild dogs are lean because they run a lot.
Wild dog attack and eat the soft stomach as a time saver. Sometimes the prey is still alive. Wild dogs will pick it clean and bite any hyena that comes close. They will leave the bones to the hyenas. Wild dogs will yield to lions.
The alpha female stays behind if she has pups that are less than 3 months old. The wild dogs regurgitate their food to feed the pups. Pups leave the den when 3 months old. An adolescent serves as a babysitter.
Wild Dogs don’t hunt when it is hot. They sleep in the shade and rarely even pant yet breathe rapidly. But when the sun starts to go down, they are ready to go.
Wild Dogs don’t like water. They are scared of crocodiles. Pursued prey will run to the water … where a crocodile might be waiting.
Puppies were playing with two honey badgers … and then with a stick.
Honey badgers can lead one to honey. They are very aggressive and will even attack an elephant. Honey badgers smell bad and taste bad … apparently!!
Hyena
The hyena is a pack animal but spreads out to forage and then they call to each other when they find something. The hyena has a very acid stomach to break down bones. When their poop dries, it looks like powdery chalk.
Hyenas even eat the skin of an elephant. It might take two years since it is very tough. They will drag it to water to soften.
Spotted hyenas live in the wet delta. Brown hyena prefer the dry Makgadikhadi, but we didn’t see any when we were there.
Some locals believe that hyenas (and owls) are associated with witchcraft and bring bad luck so they are killed on sight.
Jackals
There are Black-backed Jackals and Side-striped Jackals. The Side-striped Jackal has a white stripe on its side and a white tipped tail. Males are smaller and they mate for life.
They move around as a family pack or as a couple. They like to follow the lions. They are not good killers but good at stealing leftovers.
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