The game has been particularly exceptional in it's quality as opposed to
it's quantity. There has been a few highlights, most of which have been on the
walking expeditions, lending the area it's reputation as "walking
country" It was early morning as the sun struggled to seep through the
scattered grey clouds that seemed to hang over for a few days following the
showers of rain earlier in the month. Unlike
the Zambezi valley, the air had
a slight chill. We were hot on fresh rhino tracks when the grating of sticks and
twigs echoed through the combretum jesse which is typical
Rhino territory. It was the chewing and feeding of the Black Rhino which can
sometimes be heard over 400m away. After spending half an hour
observing the prehistoric looking beasts we started making for East where we
thought we heard the grunt of a lion. We couldn't have moved more than 20 paces
when we picked up the shapes of 2 male lions stalking
the very Rhinos we had been watching. After an intimidating growl
from the cats they turned and ran off disappearing beyond the endless
combretum.Yet on another fine morning, we were almost on our bellies crawling to get that
extra inch further to see the herd of Buffalo approach the lake shore in a
small picturesque bay. Within 40 yards of the animals, we sat in a thicket of a diamond leafed ucleii. The atmosphere was filled
with sounds of bellows which sounded like cattle in a kraal next to the
sounds of hooves cluttering in the shallow waters as they moved further
into the water in an effort to drink the cleaner and undisturbed waters.
Unbeknown to the herd the sly reptile of the Zambezi waters approached
deep down below. At the speed of lightning there was a mighty splash and the
Buffalos spooked, backed off staring intently into the water as
an individual from within sounded a bellow of agony. All this happened
so fast and before we new it a young Buffalo cow limped away from the shore and
disappeared into the rest of the herd. In the shallows lay a
Crocodile which when I looked through my old Nikons 7 x 35's, I could almost
swear his face was full of disappointment. The nights at the lodge have been
filled with the sounds of Lions and Hyenas serenading in the hills. a night
without the whooping call of the Hyena or the roaring sound of the big cats has
become most unusual. Early in the
morning we awake to the sounds of lions calling and giving
themselves away to us as to where to find them on the walks. It has become habit
to go tracking them every other day that Rhinos and Elephants are not keeping us
busy.
In conclusion on our walks and also having visitations at the lodge by the
famous well-known "Karonga" bull who is an enormous elephant carrying
huge poles of ivory on either side except sadly having broken the left one half
way down. Catching him fast asleep balancing his head
on his right tusk pegged into the ground like a shepherd with his staff
was the thrill of one of our walks.
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Eclipse 2001
For two years now, I had been hearing people talk about the total solar eclipse that was to occur on the 21st of June on the year 2001. I never quite understood what all the fuss was about even after seeing a Lunar Eclipse early January this year. The lunar eclipse was impressive, but in my opinion it didn't seem like it was something that people should travel half way around the world to come and see - after all it was only going to last for about three and a half minutes.
Eclipse is a Greek word meaning, hidden, forsaken, or deserted. Three months before the Lunar Eclipse was to take place, the excitement became very intense as we made preparations and plans on the ground. More people started to talk about it and in fact, I was tasked with setting up a small rustic tented camp for eight guests in the Ruckomechi area which is on the Western side of Mana Pools National Park, along the legendary, wild Zambezi River.
In two days we had our little fly camp erected and ready for our visitors. By this time, I had attended one Eclipse Talk, listened to a Lecture by an Astronomer, and I had done a lot of research from books and other literature that I managed to find from various people. I felt as though I was "Eclipsed" out with information and just hearing everyone around me talking about the event. I was by this time more than convinced that this had to be a phenomenon that was well worth it. I soon realized how fortunate I was to be in an area were I was going to see a total Eclipse, and more, I was going to be in an area rich with wildlife allowing me an opportunity to observe it's effect on the wild life around me.
At this point in time, it was very difficult not to share the same excitement, as did the people that talked about it two years ago. It was now very clear why people traveled all over the world to see eclipses. I heard of people that had seen six Total Eclipses, some from out in the Ocean aboard a ship, in the Polar Regions, in Mexico, and in Cornwall.
On Thursday the 21st of June, everybody gathered their equipment by 12;30 PM, and started to set up their cameras on their tripods, fix and glue the special ultraviolet filter paper on their binoculars and camera lenses. The combination of the silver filter papers on their equipment and everyone wearing their Eclipse Glasses made the scene look like something out of the movie "Star Trek" or some other science fiction movie. One thing that had been very evident was the very strong and consistent Northeasterly wind. By approximately 1:43 PM we witnessed what is referred to as first contact, which is when the moon took its first bite at the sun. If you took off your Solar Glasses, you could not notice any difference in the light or the atmosphere. Everybody marveled at that sight, but that was the beginning of a truly amazing event.
By 2:00 PM I started recording the temperature and it read 31,9 degrees Celsius. Even though it was windy earlier, the heat had also been intense. We had been seated in the shade of a huge Rain Tree. A quarter of an hour after I had recorded my first temperature, it had dropped by two degrees Celsius. Having moved to the open, we all sat along the bank of the Zambezi River, some sipping on ice tea, and some on gin and tonics and eating from a delicious spread of food. We all waited sharing our expectations and observations. We could see and hear hippos serenading in their pods, Red-billed wood hoopoes cackling away, ground hornbills oohing and aahing like a tribe's-man playing a big African base drum. So much seemed to happen around us. About three-quarters of the way from first contact to second contact, we saw flocks of Egyptian geese coming together in their large flocks squawking as though to go and roost as they would normally do at dusk. You could see the insects of the night rising from the ground flattering their inconspicuous wings against the slowly fading light, the midges joined them, and soon the atmosphere was filled with the sounds of mosquitoes buzzing along the river marshes.
Following that was the sweet, aromatic scents of wild basil and vlei spice, rising with the warm air as the cool air descended. At 3:00 PM the temperature had dropped a further three and a half degrees. By this time, the wind had died down and the water in the stagnant pools was calm and flat as a mirror. We very quickly rushed to the table set below our Rain tree, where we had a table cloth set on flat ground. We observed the dappled light, which was in the shape of crescents, shaped like the sun was. The gaps in the trees acted like pinholes and cast light patches in the shapes similar to that of the now obscured sun. The light was grey and the only time I had seen and experienced this, was in the middle of a bush fire, when it's dark choking smoke filtered the harsh sun. Soon we saw Baileys beads. With the moon having the biggest Mountains and deepest valleys than earth, the last bit of light shines through those valleys and the mountains, breaking up some of the light, giving irregular spots around the sun, that effect around the shadowed moon gave the picture of a circle of beads that an Astronomer by the name Bailey, once described.
Next we saw what looked like a beautiful Diamond Ring, which is the stage when there is the last tiny bit of sun left at the last spot and with the glow of the approaching corona all the way around the moon giving a diamond ring effect. The atmosphere further darkened to a darker grey and it gave an eerie feeling about it.
Totality occurred at about ten after three o'clock and darkness was bestowed upon us. From the time of the Diamond Ring, it seemed as though some invisible person stood above us with a dimming switch, and had very slowly but steadily robbed the light from day. As soon as it got dark everyone removed their Eclipse glasses and looked into the awesome sky that had the rotting sun. You could see the corona; it was like a sunflower in full bloom, but with a black core. Through my binoculars I could see at one o'clock of the moon, multicolored strobes of rosy flashes shooting from the sides, followed by another at eight o'clock of the moon. These were hot gases on the surface of the sun exploding and disappearing into the darkness. With so much happening, it was hard to concentrate on one particular thing. The piecing whistle of a Pearl Spotted owl and the grunting of hippos broke the silence. The Red-billed Wood hoopoes and the Lilac breasted rollers that were flying above us soon came to a sudden halt in what appeared to be complete disarray and utter confusion. I turned a full circle round to see the sky, and it was lit up with some of the brightest constellations and other planets, the brightest being Jupiter not to far from the "rotten" Sun. On the horizon, shades of lilac, reds and blues blended in the sky fading into each other. Totality was for a little more than three minutes, and the "invisible" man turned the switch, and we had sudden daybreak. We had another opportunity the see the Diamond Ring and Bailey's beads but this time round, the space of time between third and fourth contact was a lot faster than between the first two. The birds soon appeared to behave normally and the insects soon went quiet again.
It brightened up very quickly as the sun gave more light and the calm waters soon showed life. The temperature had dropped by at least six degrees Celsius by totality, and after the Eclipse it warmed up by five degrees. We had full sunlight for another hour with the sun unobscured before the sun set for it's second time in the same day.
I spoke to a number of people after the Eclipse, and everyone equally saw extra-ordinary behaviors from animals such as baboons climbing up and down as they would at their roosting sites, elephants suddenly stopped feeding and bunching up together as though in the protective manner and other birds equally disoriented. What some of us did not see were the shadow bands that occurred at totality, which were shadows racing on the ground cast by the shadow of the moon. It was described to me as being similar to racing shadows from fast moving clouds on a night of full moon. Speaking to a few local tribes-man, I learnt what this was interpreted as to the very traditional and superstitious people of Africa. It meant that, there was going to be a drastic change in the world, whether it was bloodshed in the form of war, leadership change or famine across the entire world. One mother locked up all her kids in the house, including herself, in fear that they would all go blind and they could not come out until the sun had set that night. It was referred to as "Kuwora reZubva" which is Shona meaning the rotting sun.
For me, this experience was beyond words, unexplained awe of beauty. I cannot compare it to anything I have ever seen in the short time that I have lived. To be so fortunate as to experience something that is said to only occur on an average of once every four hundred years in such an ideal place and perfect weather conditions for that duration, is more than any gift that any man could give you. Having given you that statistic, we will again be fortunate to see one again in Zimbabwe on December 4, 2002, even though totality will be for half the time of this last one. Experiencing an Eclipse is an all or nothing experience. A partial Eclipse or being in an area of something like 98% of totality was once described to me as, buying a ticket to a world famous once only concert. Then on the day, you get to the door, you hear the music from outside, hand your ticket in, and then leaving thinking that you have experienced the concert. This concept you cannot appreciate until you have experienced a Total Eclipse.
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August 2001 - Our Safari through Wild African Savannas
I was very excited to hear about my safari which I was to lead with
three guests, and it was to take me through some of the most remote
places of Africa, most of which I had spent some time in the past.
After a short briefing the night before in Victoria Falls, we left by
road to Hwange National Park. We started our drive about mid morning and
stopped by for a picnic lunch just outside the Park entrance. I was soon
filled with excitement returning back to what I refered to as my "old
stomping ground", Makalolo/Linkwasha area. As we entered the park we
were greeted by several herds of Giraffe drinking mid afternoon, with
their legs wide spread whilst the rest looked around wearily and with
great caution. The sun was over head and the temperature was brewing at
about 105, It was the typical dry heat of Hwange. We encountered
countless herds of wildebeest, Zebra, elephant and the "handsome" pigs
of the bush some totally covered and baked with the black mud to keep
themselves cool from the scotching heat. Summer has announced it's
arrival early.
Our second night we were parked at Samavundla water hole, we were
totally surrounded by over a hundred and fifty elephants at one stage.
Sounds of growling elephants in conflict soon filled the atmosphere as
they desperately fought for space to the clean drinking water. Clouds of
dust kicked up by the wild life lingered above the trees and with the
haze from the seasonal bush fires sitting above the horizon soon gave
birth to a golden orb sunset which turned to blood red before
disappearing beneath the horizon. As we were driving back to our little
bush camp, a pair of green eyes tucked behind a termite mound caught our
attention. With our red filtered spot light we approached the animal and
were pleased to find the eyes belonged to a very obliging young female
leopard who let us watch her for a good number of minutes before she got
up and walked off towards the water hole after she had stretching
herself a few times. She was off for her nightly wonderings.
The following day was a full day trip starting with a drive to Makalolo
plains, where we spent about an hour watching a relaxed pride of five
lionesses. Cameras did not stop that morning, but we had just begun. By
about mid morning we had arrived at Ngamo flats and for as far as the
eye could see, there was a number of animals. This place was like an
animal farm, at any one time we could see Eland, Giraffe, Buffalo,
wildebeest, Zebra, baboons and many bird species which included three
different species of vultures, Kori Bustards and Ground hornbills. We
had heard reports of White Rhino being in that area, so we took off in
search of their tracks. We came up to an old dry pond where the historic
giants had walked. With much excitement we did not waiste any time to
start tracking them. The tracks weaved and meandered meaningless as
though they had "eaten of thy Mountain Cabbage", but the animals
obviously had a plan, it was two White Rhino. We were very fortunate as
it was hardly ten minutes and we spotted two huge grey bodies under some
tall Camel Thorn Acacias. The big twitching ears gave them away, and the
ox-peckers flew off from their heads and up into a nearby tree with loud
shrieks. We worked with the wind and managed to get within twenty feet
of them whilst they lay fast asleep under the shade. We could hear them
sigh with deep breaths as they lay comfortable next to each other, in
the mean time we were dripping with sweat which was probably a result of
the heat mixed with fear and excitement. We managed to slip away without
being discovered and alarming them.
Our Hwange stay was complete and now we were on the road to Busi Camp in
Chizarira after an hour's flight. That afternoon we walked to a nearby
ox-bow called Chimbova which was a little ways from the Busi River. We
didn't find as much wild life but it was painted with evidence of
numbers of elephants, buffalo and other antelope. This park had good
hiking stretches set out for us. The following days we walked up north
of our camp up to a hill with a lonely Pod Mahogany. From this hill we
had a wide view of some open plains where we could see breeding herds if
elephants, a couple herds of Kudu, impala and a big troop of Chacma
Baboons. After walking to the Crocodile Rock Pools, we set back to our
little bush camp dodging breeding herds of elephants in the impenetrable
Acacia Ataxicanther. We bid farewell to Chizarira after a picnic
breakfast at Mucheni view point which blew our minds. It has the most
awesome "world" view of the Mucheni river gorge. Our sign of good Omen
was further reinforced by a pair of Black Eagles that gracefully came
by, soaring above at our eye level, showing off their magnificent black
plumes occasionally turning to display their flashy white backs.
Now it was Matusadona, which brought back so many memories of walking
into the biggest Elephant tuskers I have ever seen, and the scariest but
most loved memories of Black Rhino tracking adventures. We were
determined to find them, and we did. The first night was a little
difficult to sleep as we had two separate prides of lions roaring their
lungs out on either side of the camp. For keeping us awake, we went out
tracking them the next morning and saw one of the big males who gave us
a soft growl, it was a growl of acknowledgement that he was there and
that he was aware of us. We did not take time to argue with him. Walking
after two wild black Rhino the following day was the start of our day.
Very few experiences in the bush will beat that one of being a few yards
from one of Africa's most respected endangered wild animals. Their
extremely curious nature and short temperament separates them from the
rest, not to mention the great power and strength behind the heavy
armored tanker. Our special treat was hiking up to the most sacred of
mountains, Matuzvi-adona on the Maronga river up the Chorochoro lime
springs. The area flourishes with wild animals that have seen very few
people as they are off the beaten track, the place boasts of endless
forests of petrified wood, fossils of dinosaurs, leaves embedded and
fossilized into huge rocks of lime and magical pools with cristal clear
waters. One cannot resists swimming with the fish, cooling off to escape
the oppressive heat of the Zambezi Valley.
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