secretly an adrenalin freak) but having a husband that was out for anything.
Looking back at her, her face was pale and her eyes undecided on whether to fix at the steadily advancing
Rhino or the Elephants. I had to announce our presence to the animal before it walked onto us. On that
note she charged nose held high. Whilst I was screaming and shouting the guests were making for the nearest
trees. The cow backed off at the shouting, and we both stood there for the next two minutes snorting at each
other before she made another charge. This time whilst screaming and shouting my rifle against a bush, I was
at the base of a tree when she stopped 5 metres away. I briefly looked back at two guests and noticed
them hanging off a young tree like apples waiting to be picked off when suddenly Vicky's branch gave in
and she hit the deck but shot straight back up again with
the help of her husband. With that commotion the Rhino and her calf backed off further
giving us a chance to get away, weaving through the herd of Elephants that thankfully
didn't seem to take note of us.
This month it seems that our guests have taken a liking to the Rhino project at Tashinga and hence has become a very popular activity. That,in the comments of the guests, has been their highlight of their Safari for their whole trip to Africa. We have had Lions kill Buffalo on three occasions this month within the area of the lodges, and hence having them hang around in our back yards, on full bellows but singing them off echoing through the nights.A male Leopard who is rather elusive but extremely vocal seems to have taken residence into the area. Mid month Kevin had his fare share of adrenaline when during his canoe activity ran into a Hippo, which didn't take a liking to him or his guests. This Hippo proceeded to get out of the water in pursuit of the group but eventually turned away after Kevin had performed and shouted all sorts of abusive and unthinkable words which to this day, he would not repeat. The Safari ended with happy campers who swore that they were ready for a three day canoe safari. Other interesting aspects and discoveries have been a Hyena den which is very active, petrified wood in the form of a whole tree still intact, a fish eagle flying over the lodge at dusk with a bat in its talons, fish eagle robbing a darter of its bream and a pair of Black Sparrow Hawks.
We have ended the month off, on a rather high note. During an afternoon cruise a flash of a tawny coloured animal dashed into the peninsularpursuing a herd of impala. It was a lioness. She with great skill managed to chase two of the impala onto the residing island that is nowbottle shaped. The impalas soon became cornered, no way to run. They jumped up and down performing not knowing which way to run. At this stage, there was no other way but through the lioness. One of then had to die. They proceeded to run the dreaded gauntlet and the cat picked her target. It was a matter of seconds and the fast moving antelope became motionless. The other animal managed to get away and continued running, disappearing into the distance, it's probably still running. After that drama the lioness immediately dragged the carcass further into the jesse away from the sleezy jaws of the not too distant crocodiles. Seconds later the cruise stumbled into a dead hippo in a small creek infested with crocodiles. One male lion was on the carcass tearing and ripping chunks of flesh from the partially decayed hippo. The waters bubbled with crocodiles waiting in on the lion and probably us to have their turn. The next morning we were awakened at about 0400hrs by a pride of lions that shouted continually. We assumed they were still at the decayed carcass now on full bellies and content followed the sound that morning before the walk and came found four males and a lioness feeding on a young hippo near the Chura river mouth right by the other lodge.
Top of Page
September 2000
At night we have had the most striking pictures of the burning mountains in the distance
from the annual bush fires that have misted up the horizons of the valley. It's a picture
resembling that of an active volcano with flowing larva down the mountain side and into the
waters of the lake, turning the calm waters blood red with it's reflections. The sky has
been very hazy and the Matuzviadona mountain range has turned to a mere grey outline, but
contributing to the stunning sunsets with silhouetted dead trees and the countless bird
life flocking back to their roosting sites. The heat of the Zambezi valley has started to
make it's impressions of having dried out it's inland water sources hence driving the bulk
of the water dependent wild life to the lake shore. Watching the herds of elephants,
especially the small bachelor herds of elephants that come down and provide us with endless
entertainment when swimming, splashing and playing amongst the shallows of the foreshore,
only a few yards from the rooms where the guests take time to sit with icy cold drinks in
their hands as though at some organised elephant theatrical performance.
The crocodile has proved to be the biggest lion-kill robber in the area, stealing it from land and dragging
them into the water out of reach of the lions. Just at the entrance of the Lodge we had a kudu bull that had
been killed by a lioness and her one year old cub. It was not long until the crocodile sensed it and proceeded
to climb up the small hill at least one hundred and fifty yards from the water's edge. It then dragged it down
and before it could take it into the water, the two cats came down and dragged it back up under a shady tree not
too far from the water. The three animals stood there tugging and pulling, tearing the remains of the dead animal.
When we went back in the afternoon, the three where all under the sun, all panting desperately side by side with
the occasional snarl and growl, the scotching midday heat was beating on them mercilessly, but both parties where
not willing to make the sacrifice. The next morning we went back and saw that the reptile had eventually won,
there was a deep drag mark leading into the water, and you could see the small craters in the mud where the lioness'
paws had dug deep, trying desperately to retain her kill. By then she and her cub had left and the only
creatures remaining were the hundreds of vultures and Marabou stocks scattered amongst the
nearby trees, they had been patiently waiting for almost three days, but had picked up
nothing.
The birds soon drifted off in the thermals, in search for another sight where another animal somewhere, had to die in order that others may survive, as such is the law of the wild. Another bit of crocodile action was seeing a ten footer swim off with a baby hippo in it's jaws whilst the pod looked on helplessly. It was too late for any of them to rescue it. On a quiet afternoon we did a half day hike into the Mountain range in search for the lime spring up in the Chorochoro river. We came across two elephant breading herds, klip springers, a male leopard, a troop of baboons and scattered droppings of Otters on the rocks near the small pools. We walked along the extraordinary calved river where clearly the geological forces had collaborated to create a beautiful display of exposed granite rocks and boulders. In the middle of the river bed we photographed a big lime rock that had fosilised leaves imprinted clearly into it, you could see the intricate details of the leaf's veins and structure. When we eventually found the spring we soaked ourselves under it's six feet high water fall and proceeded to fill our water bottles with its pure and unpolluted water. Around the spring and along the water fall, was evident signs of how the fosilised leaves we had come across had formed as the ferns and other vegetation around it was coated in lime. You could see stalactites at the bottom of the falls that had formed over the years. This is a place to hike with very keen naturalist who are fit and can withstand the heat and the thousands of blood thirsty tsetse flies that seem to own the mountains. With the recent Rhino survey, it has become fact that we have at least four wild Rhino within our operating area and that is excluding the five, two to three year old babies that are part of the programme Rhino being re-introduced into the wild. We have been fortunate to see the resident female and her calf often, and yes, we have managed to stay out of their way, lest one must make for a tree with great haste. Sightings of Western banded snake eagles have increased, and we have already had Egyptian geese in the area with two young chicks which is considerable early. The fish eagle chick in the Chura mouth is now fully fledged and we see the adults flying above the camp tutoring the juvenile bird to catch fish. The sound of big flocks of white faced ducks have become a pleasant sound. We've seen more African Jacana chicks and with the few nests that we've observed, they have survived well. The level of the lake has now dropped about five feet since May this year, exposing a lot more of the old flood plain, and that has become a haven for warthogs and herds of impala. The buffalo are slowly coming back, but the effect from the high waters will be evident for some time as the predators have wiped out most of the calves of the remaining small groups. One hopes that nature will perform it's miracles of reviving the herds and getting their numbers back up, no doubts it would be at the cost of another animal, in this case perhaps the prolific concentrations of predators in the area.
Top of Page
November 2000 - Matusadona
The very little rains of the month have given rise to a lovely forrest of lush green colours, mixed with the conspicuos lilies and wild flowers that have come up. The game has become scattered with the availability of water, but the quality of the area's wildlife has remained consistant. Taking advantage of the wet ground which makes tracking wild life on foot ralatively easier, we've walked a lot after lions, rhino and spent lots fo time walking amoungst elephants in the now dense vegetation that offers one more cover from the subjects. The best walk being one where after watchng the four baby Rhinos which have become habituated to human beings, the serious stuff followed, where after spending some time on fresh Rhino tracks we found the Famous "Jane" who has now linked up with her four year old calf, that was followed by the birth of a now late 8 month old calf, who fell to predation by a leopard. We watched these two crash through the jesse flattening down what ever bruss they encountered on their paths. They could only be second to the elephant in the impact they have on the flora. After satisfying our thirst to see the prehestoric animal we started to make our back to our vehicle. Just as we were back tracking we encountered another Rhino, it was a bull with a very noticeably sharp front horn and a short stubby second one. We were only a few feet away from him when he jumped up to his feet and bolted off without the slightest hesitation,thankfully in the opposite direction. We have also found two Rhino bulls one in the Chura river and the other in the upper Mbizi area, which we do not recognise and hence new to the area. So in total we seem to have sighted about 6 different wild Rhino. The first young Impala of the season seen was in the Chura. It's mother desperately avoiding it going to the water's edge, where the reptiles of the rivers linger waiting, always ready to welcome an opportunity of an animal that makes that terrible mistake. Two new prides of lions has pulled into the area all near the Gubu river. One consists of three lionesses, one cub, and one male, the other is one lioness and four one and a half year old cubs. We have seen them twice tossing over an impala carcass and a kudu carcass. The elephant bulls are still hanging around and seem to be coming down to drink at buffalo bay area. it has become a common sight to find two or more bulls swimming with bodies totally submerged and enjoying the freshness of the lake. The bream and tiger fishing has improved this month, perhaps due to all the incoming small rivers supplying the Lake and also the increased insect life. After a mid afternoon's couple of hours bream fishing, we've ended up with a whole busket full of fresh fish.
Birds seen are a flock of five black egrets, a pair of painted snipes, western banded snake eagle, pearl spotted owl and spotted eagle owl. There is a sudden increase of Egyptian Geese and most of which are swimming around with their chicks. The Hobby falcons and Golden Oreals have pulled in towards month end. We expect to see more of the smaller birds of prey in the month of December.
November 2000 - Chikwenya, Mana Pools
The wild life this month has been exceptional for as long as I have worked and known Chikwenya . We have had a complete broad spectrum of wild life from big game, to predators to bird life. The lions of the area have become rather lazier as they have not had to kill too often. The reason for this is that the number of Hippos that have died in the area has been shocking. So these big cats have gone and salvaged the carcasses and claimed them as their own. The one time we had a total of three Hippos die within a space of two days. Those sights soon became vulture restaurants which were a sight to see when eventually the lions abandoned them living the vultures and Marabou stocks to dispute over the decaying remains. There are one or two of the cats that have continued to slaughter out of the resident herd of buffalo which probably amounts to about one hundred and fifty animals. Every lion that you see in the area has a bloated stomach and so have not wondered off too far making themselves available for our keen visitors to look at and take photographs. A male leopard paid the camp a visit and hung out in the area for a while, and always in a much relaxed attitude. That was a bonus because the whole camp eventually had a chance to see him. In our evening escapades, we have seen a lot of night life from large grey mongoose, to a white tailed mongoose, loads of porcupines, serval on Chikwenya island, honey badgers and a number of wood owls. On a river cruise the one afternoon, we were at the bottom of Chikwenya island when we encounted a herd of three hundred elephant swim across the river and onto the island. It was like watching a movie. The string of large grey shadows against the disappearing sunset, was continuous as they swam across the river and blended with the Albida forest on the island. It was not just the sight of the giants but the sound of the bowl waves, which sounded like the tidal waves of the ocean, except with the trumpeting and growling sounds of the elephants. We have decided to name a pack of seventeen wild dogs, "The Chikwenya pack" They have been in and out of the area, but their best hunting ground seem to be out flood plain. They will hunt and chase impala through camp and sometimes stop right in camp to snoop around the tents. One afternoon we thought we would spend the entire afternoon together with them and drove around unobtrusively watching them move around, interacting and occasionally having an interest at the waterbuck or the impala in the distance, admittedly we were secretly hoping we could experience some action. The alpha male was the only one who seemed to be keen on a chase but the rest of the pack kept on moving, until he just decided he was going ton break away. From what seemed to be a relaxed chase, he broke out into a full chase at a herd of impala amongst the acacias, where close to the river, he ran a female impala down and within seconds there was no sign of life from the poor antelope. He proceeded to nibble on it. It was quite strange because in the mean time the rest of the pack showed absolutely no interest in all this. They moved straight on, and when he felt they were far enough, he ran off after them. We soon heard sounds of begging pups as he approached, and automatically he started to regurgitate and feed the seven puppies, that are now a few months old. Soon the colours faded and as it became darker, the pack moved and faded into the darkness. The only thing that marked their path was the snorting impala and the barking kudu in the distance, for that day, their excitement was over.
The bird life has been superb. On average when one goes out looking,we have been able to get Narina Trogons almost on every birding excursion. Infact there is patch of forest where if one spent at least two hours looking, you are almost guaranteed them. Right behind camp we have scored on the well sort after Angola Pitta. We had four sightings of the bird within a space of two days. One of those sightings was them as a pair. We were hoping that there would be nesting in the area, but we haven't seen them again, which would mean perhaps they were a pair in transit and had stopped along their migration path. They certainly can't have gone too far. So the search continues...Whilst we've been out fishing we watch African skimmers flying over the water. There is a flock of three birds and another of four that we see often. We are also starting to see more painted snipes and the first for the area we have spotted a black bellied Khorhaan on the island.
On the fishing side, the biggest Tiger fish we have recorded was eighteen and a half pounds. The bream fishing remains to be outstanding, going out just before sunset and picking up enough bream to feed the entire camp has been the order of the evenings. The most unpleasant and blood rushing experience was on a walk when one of the guests saw a heap of sand about fourty yards away, which had been dug by an aardvark. She asked what that was from as it was in the middle of a patch of black cotton clay soil. I proceeded to explain to the lady, and at the same time approaching the sandy area. We were about fifteen feet from the sight when a horrid black serpent slithered around the holes as though in search for some rodents. When it saw us, it stopped probably for a fraction of a second whilst we froze dead still. That second seemed like an hour, it was a eight foot black mamba. We very quickly aborted the idea of learning about the aardvark and gave that area a wide berth. Needless to say there was silence thereafter and every little rustle we heard in the bush, was followed by nervous twitches, then followed by laughter.
Top of Page
December 2000
The level of the water remained fairly constant as the lake has received some of the water from the occasional flooding of the incoming rivers from the escarpment. The incoming water has changed the colour of the water in the lake and with it, it has brought in food that seems to have excited the fish. So bream fishing has improved dramatically and has somewhat gained popularity as an activity. The lions and black rhino of Matusadona remain to be the animals that give the park it's wild legendary reputation. A night without the roaring sound of lions roaring to each other sometimes two or three different prides calling. The pride that we call the "Chura Lions" which consists of four boys are in constant dispute with two other mails in the area. The Chura has been alive with predator activity, and amongst it all is has been surprising that the leopard that we hear in that little valley has stood his ground and can occasionally be heard at night sawing away in between the calls of the bigger cats. The sight of big herds of impala grazing with their newly born "bambis" scattered casually along the lake shoreline paints a picture of peace and tranquillity, mean while in it's rawest form of savagery the predators of both day and night linger to devour, at the first opportunity. We have seen crocodiles swimming away with young calves, lions fighting over scraps and remains of mother impala whilst young calf attempts to flee off with the rest of the herd, but lagging behind. As beautiful and peaceful as the wilderness is with it's prolific wild life, it also carries such harshness, cruelty and sadness, such is the law of the wild. With the help of the rains during the course of the night, rhino tracking has become very fascinating, as the fresh morning tracks of the beasts give them away, in-printed on the soaking ground. Most of the elephant breeding herds have moved towards the mountains, the few remaining buffalo also making for the hills. We are still seeing some good elephant bulls that characteristically for the area seem to carry some good looking ivory. As though it were an everyday ritual, at about mid morning as the sun starts to scorch the earth, they come down to their favourite mud spot and bath in the slushy mud, soaking themselves completely. The birding has improved in the last two weeks having more visitors come in. We had our first sighting of a colony of European bee eaters on the 27th December, white storks on the 19th, woolly necked storks on the 20th and Broad billed rollers late November/early December. Literally in the last week of December the Chura river has become Trogon city(Narina Trogon (one of the very well sought after birds by keen bird watchers). Taking a walk in the river bed you'll hear them calling in the riverine vegetation.We've had a few sightings of them there and also in the Shenga river. Golden Orioles and yellow spotted nicators have become common sightings. Being on the water and having unpolluted night skies, we have had awesome nights where we have seen electric storms brewing in the distance around us. The lightning, lighting up the waters, showing the ghostly images of the dead trees standing in the water. They have been very spectacular with most visitors thinking it's the most amazing flashes they ever saw. With the rains, the critters have risen from their darkest of places, hence the "fascination" of the insect life has provided some of the most humorous moments to ourselves and our visitors.
Top of Page
