As we bumped along the sandy track into Wilderness’s Chitabe Camp in the Okavango Delta last month, my guide, Goodman, turned to me and asked, “Do you want to do a Monkey Run in the morning?” I had no idea what that was, but I was intrigued.

He explained that we’d wake up before first light, grab a packed breakfast and a coffee-to-go, and leave camp ahead of the other vehicles. The idea was to get farther out into the bush and to watch the sunrise and maybe, if we were lucky, track down some wildlife before the day began. This also meant that I’d be out on game drive for most of the day. It sounded perfect and so it was an easy yes from me!

‍
So that’s exactly what we did. In the cool hush of early morning, coffee in hand and a blanket wrapped tightly around me, we set out. Goodman had a hunch about where the pack of wild dogs might be as he’d been observing their behaviour and general movements for many years. We’d made finding the dogs our mission as one of the young children in camp had told us that wild dogs were the predators he was most eager to see. The sky began to shift from deep indigo to dusty pink and then bright orange, the sun rising steadily to our east, casting a golden light over the plains. The bush stirred to life. Birds launched into their dawn chorus and, somewhere in the distance, lions roared. We followed the lions’ roars to a waterhole and found a pair of lions curled in tight balls in the brush; they were obviously cold. We decided to leave them to sleep and continue our mission, Goodman would update the rest of his team once they all left camp.

‍
As a keen birder, I was on the lookout for any new species I could add to my growing bird list. As we approached a waterhole, I noticed a large number of vultures perched high in the distant treeline. That was our cue to investigate. As we neared the vultures, something caught my eye, two large ears just visible in the long grass. We slowed to a crawl. We’d found them!The dogs were sprawled around an old hyena den site at the base of a large tree with large holes that had been dug amongst its roots. The area surrounding it was strewn with half-chewed sun-bleached bones. Two of the females were visibly pregnant, and we watched the alpha female investigate the old burrows. Goodman was thrilled; it looked like the pack was considering this spot for their den. This would be wonderful for the guides as they would be able to watch the puppies grow. Only time will tell if this den site makes the cut!

‍
One of the vehicles that coming to join us intercepted a young male leopard that was walking straight towards the dogs, we waited with baited breaths as he got closer and closer. He changed direction just in time before walking into the dogs, they would have chased him. While it was clear that some of the dogs were sleeping off their full bellies, some were restless and skinny. There was a good chance the pack would hunt again that evening and so we made the decision to follow the leopard. He was clearly on the hunt, and we were ready for action.

We trailed him carefully as he took us through thickets, using termite mounds and small trees as vantage points, scanning for prey. Suddenly, a family of warthogs appeared, trotting unknowingly straight towards him. Again, we held our breaths as the piglets got closer and closer to where he was now crouched in the shadows of a small bush. When all the warthogs had their heads down munching on the grass, he sprang, headed straight for the smallest piglet. The piglet squealed and chaos erupted. The mother warthog wheeled around and charged straight for the leopard in a bold attempt to protect her young. He darted away with the mother warthog hot on his heels, he knew better than to take her on. Phew, we sighed in relief, the little warthog would live another day.

Still determined, the leopard moved off and continued scanning the bush. We followed for a while longer, watching as he climbed trees and paused on termite mounds, methodically searching the landscape for another chance for a meal. He kept his nose to the wind and we wondered if he could   smell something that we couldn’t but, eventually, our own hunger caught up to us and we left him to continue his search for food.

‍

We stopped at the waterhole we’d passed earlier that morning to have our breakfast, replaying the incredible game drive we’d just had together. Whilst munching on our breakfast that the chefs had so kindly packed for us we watched as a hyena, a herd of impalas, a troop of baboons and a small group of zebras came down to drink. It was midday and starting to heat up. We made the decision to head back to camp to freshen up before our afternoon game drive.

That afternoon, we returned to the dogs, they’d moved into the shade on the edge of the river. They’d flushed a leopard who was now perched high in a massive Jackalberry tree above them. After much debate he made a run for it and managed to disappear into the shadows before the dogs noticed. Not a minute too soon as the dogs were starting to get up and greeting one another – it was time to hunt. The dogs fanned out across either side of a thicket. Then suddenly the bushes to our left exploded, an impala burst from the brush with a dog hot on its tail. The impala leapt high over the waist-length grass, while the dog, bounding to keep it in view, struggled to close the distance. The chase played out in a blur of energy and instinct, until the fading light forced us to stop. We left them hunting into the night. From the vivid sunrise to the leopards near miss and the dogs’ explosive energy, it was a day to remember!

The next morning Goodman said there was something I needed to see before catching my flight to my next destination. We drove to the same waterhole where we’d enjoyed our packed breakfast the day before. Then, he veered off into the bush and brought us straight to a pride of lions that were feeding on a giraffe. We were less than 100 meters from where we’d last seen the leopard sniffing the air the morning beforehand - he must have caught the scent of the carcass on the breeze. Our guess is that there hadn’t been any vultures there the previous morning as they’d all been circling the wild dogs, only spotting the giraffe and lions that morning when they’d taken off from their overnight roosts.

Wilderness’ Chitabe Camp is situated in the NG32 concession in the Okavango Delta, a region renowned for it’s high density of wildlife. After just 2 nights at the camp, I was absolutely blown away by the number of species I encountered! Follow here to see the newly renovated Wilderness Chitabe Okavango Delta camp.

- Written by Robyn Sewell