The Khwai River: Sable country

After our retreat from the Kalahari, we drove back to Maun through slightly more populated areas:

Our guides suggested we change our itinerary and head for the Khwai Community Campsites. This is a small game reserve owned and run by the Khwai people. It has no lodges, only campsites. It is sandwiched between two of Botswana’s best known wildlife areas, the Okavango Delta and the Chobe River. Game travels between the two, through the Khwai. It was an inspired choice, even if we did then see one or two other vehicles per day, rather heavy traffic compared to our previous stops.

The Khwai in February was lush and green, and full of life, though still very, very hot and pretty humid.

I’ll start with a highlight for me, an animal I had never seen before, a sable antelope, Hippotragus niger. We saw them twice, in the same wooded area. The first time, there were perhaps three or four of them, inside the woodland, peering out at us and hard to see.

They have the most glorious horns, although I think we saw only females (maximum 40 inch horns). The males’ horns are even more impressive, up to 65 inches long (as long as an elephant’s tusks, and a big attraction for trophy hunters).

They also have a horse-like mane on the back of their necks,

and a white rump:

boldly marked faces:

with liquid dark eyes

Those facial markings are surprisingly good camouflage in the dappled sunlight. There are two in this photo:

The second encounter was a group of seven, mixed in briefly with the three greater kudu in the foreground:

The sable stayed in the open this time, grazing, perhaps remembering from the previous day that we were harmless:

The herd included a young one, on the right. The adults were probably all females, though there was likely to be a single alpha male somewhere standing guard over his harem.

Males can measure 55 inches at the shoulder, and weigh 520 lbs. Sables are found from Southern Kenya to South Africa, and they are not endangered. Their only predators are lions, but their speed and stamina (up to 57kph for up to three miles) means the lions must catch them quickly or not at all.

PS Before Rhodesia became Zimbabwe, the rather handsome national flag showed two sables: