Gorilla Trekking
Dumelah

Hope 2010 has begun well for everyone as this newsletter finds you half way through month!

Day 3, the engine’s turned off as we listen for any sound that might give us hope. Eight hours, if not more, a day and not a clue to where they are! Yes, I’ve retuned to Selinda Reserve in the Linyanti region of northern Botswana for my annual wild dog pilgrimage.

My vehicle has some perplexed faces as I almost drive them over the edge with my persistency. “Who gives up after day three I ask?”, as my partner in crime, Steve Kgwatalala, THE best wild dog guide in Africa, gives a grunt of frustration. We’re searching for the resident pack of 13 doggs and won’t be going home until we find them.

With 300,000 acres or 135,000 hectares of pristine private wildlife sanctuary, Selinda is one of the best places in Africa to find Africa’s 2nd most endangered carnivore, the African wild dog. Unless denning, dogs



Gorilla news:
 Current gorillas stats for 2010:
Mubare - 5, Rushegura - 19, Habinyanja - 18 , Bitukura - 12, Nkuringo - 19 & Nshongi - 36 individuals.

Join me in November 2010 for a WILD DOG WEEK
at Selinda. Please e-mail for itinerary request.

Tsamaya Sentle (Goodbye in Setswana)
are nomadic and can cover vast areas in a matter of hours. And unless you pick up a track or hear a call, the pack is as difficult to find as a needle in a haystack!

Having visited Selinda at the same time last year, the abundance of water in the area this year was evident. In fact at precisely 11:15 am August 17th ,for the first time in 30 years, the Okavango Delta joined with the Selinda Spillway! The waters flowed for two months before finally parting on the 17th October 2009. Caused by the tectonic shifting of the plates, the increase in water has had a definite affect on the natural movements of game, many having to divert their normal route in order to bypass the floodplains.

Could this be the reason we’re still searching for dogs at the end of day 3?
You’ll have to wait till February to find out...



SELINDA FACT FILE:
• Owned by a small group of friends who believe passionately in making the Earth a better place.
• Since the day they took over, no animals have been shot for "trophy hunting".
• Today, one can get within inches of a dazzle of zebra, no longer afraid of man.
• May to July is when the waters are the highest in the Okavango Delta.
• June to October, the dry months, is considered the best for game viewing however wildlife is abundant all year round at Selinda.
• Outstanding hospitality, their service hard to beat anywhere in Africa!

* All pictures copyright Lisa Marsden