Family joy

"For me, there have been two standout moments from 2022. One morning I was radioed to say that the wild dogs had just come through camp and that they were on the hunt. I got up and ran to public areas. As I stood on the deck overlooking the channel an impala darted past me, shortly followed by the wild dogs. Within seconds, they had cornered and taken down the impala. Wild dogs are an incredibly rare sighting, so to catch a glimpse of the pack at camp as well as a hunt ending in a kill was truly incredible. It was a very memorable experience for all of us at Xigera.

My second, and probably most treasured moment, was a recent one that occurred when taking my family out for a drive one afternoon. My youngest had been asking to see an Aardwolf (part of the hyena family) for most of the year. These creatures are nocturnal and very shy, making the chances of seeing them even rarer than the wild dogs. We searched many times without success; however, Ike (our head guide) told me that he had recently seen a female in the area. We had all but given up that afternoon when we came across a little figure near a den. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an Aardwolf pup. The joy and excitement on my son’s face was incredible; he did not stop talking about the sighting for the entire week. It is moments like these - when our guides see the joy that this brings our guests - that make these sightings so incredibly special."

- Ben Seager, General Manager