February 2010
Now that the festivities are over we are back to work as usual and very busy we are too. We have had unprecedented requests for travel and September is going to be huge month! Obviously we are delighted but this only makes up for the months of June and July whilst the soccer World Cup takes place and it is almost impossible to get accommodation as so much had been block booked by the organisers and price gouging is rife. We have come across some outrageous quotes and I have had to inform those clients that asked that we cannot countenance these prices so we will not book. This seems to be occurring at the locations near the matches and many game lodges are playing with a straight bat and not increasing their prices at all. Savanna have made no changes at all which is really good news. In essence therefore, we are happy to send guests on their normal safaris over this period but we are not interested in paying these super hyped prices for World Cup accommodation.
There are some fantastic specials that have become available recently and we are happy to field enquiries for these. Victoria Falls Hotel has a four night stay and pay for three offer that is well worth considering. Chiawa/Old Mondorro Camp in the Lower Zambezi in Zambia also have a seven night stay for the price of five with a minimum stay of two nights at each camp. This is magic place and I would encourage careful consideration again for anyone planning a safari this year.
Special Invitational Trip 2011
With regret I think that this trip will have to put on the back burner as we have simply not had enough expression of interest to do it. We need at least 16 people to make it viable and so far we are well short of this. If however you are interested than let me know as I have until the end of February to make arrangements with the lodges. It would be a terrific safari.
Postcard from Zimbabwe by Hilary
A leisurely breakfast beneath the laburnum, now luminous in the early morning sunshine, gives us the kick start we need for our drive to the Hide in Hwange.
As we trundle along in the air-conditioned comfort of a plush velvet seated people mover, we gaze over the tinderbox dry landscape, punctuated infrequently by the odd green tree which is winning the battle for survival. The little weaver-bird colonies, with nests hanging like raindrops, break the monotony of the bare branches. By January the annual rains should have reinstated the green mantle of life though such transformation is difficult to imagine now.
Our vehicle slows to a halt at a makeshift toll-gate on the ordinary road, manned by a couple of “uniforms”! They have erected a tent on the side of the road to shelter from the strengthening sun. Our guide informs us that the proceeds collected will go into consolidated revenue (bit like Australian roads!) Nevertheless since the road quality is good, indeed better than expected, we cannot whinge. Not far away we are amused by the sight of a worker attired in overalls reclining in a wheelbarrow – looks like little will be accomplished today!
In the space of a few kilometers the landscape changes completely, now both sides of the road are lined with more resilient colour-saturated vegetation. We follow a fence line for miles - it marks the boundary of property now “owned” by one of the Government ministers who profits richly from the proceeds of hunting concessions granted in respect of the property.
Fresh new eyes soak in the passing panorama, noting with interest the multitude of little thatch-roofed communities dotting the landscape. Old Rhodesian eyes follow the remains of the strip road as memories of a bygone era, when this was a land of plenty, creep through from the recesses of consciousness. Perhaps now is the time to lay some ghosts to rest in the corpse of this once fertile and productive land.
Hwange town appears, in our quick drive through, to be merely a collection of tumbledown huts. However Hwange Colliery Company, around which the little town developed, provides housing, shopping, recreation and all other facilities for the locals. Just outside of Hwange we are stopped again – this time it is a police checkpoint. Licence and registration checks are apparently good excuses to collect money. While the officials’ attention is diverted by us we see a somewhat less than roadworthy vehicle complete a 180 degree turn on spying the checkpoint – they’re obviously planning to live to flout the rules another day!!
Just before we enter the Hwange National Park we stop at a roadside stall to allow John to purchase two Baobab pods for US$1 each. Breaking them open reveals the soft powdery contents, known as cream of tartar. As we wait for the crew from the Hide to meet us at the rendezvous we enjoy the sweetish, refreshing fruit of this curious upside-down tree (baobab). Then I’m off with the camera to photograph more of these wonderful fireballs (as if I didn’t get enough at Vic Falls!)
Our hosts arrive to collect us not long after our arrival at the meeting point in a converted truck. The body-hugging seats on “top of the world” in the back of the truck are surprisingly comfortable. As we bounce along the corrugated road with the warm dry wind as a constant companion, a sable antelope crosses our path, black, sleek and beautiful. It is easy to understand why many believe that they are the most magnificent antelope in Africa. Sir William Cornwallis Harris, explorer and trophy hunter, described the Sable thus “Clad in their black attire like the chief mourner at a funeral . . . with all the pomposity and self-importance of village billy goats . . . so brilliant an addition to the catalogue of game quadrupeds - so bright a jewel amid the riches of zoology". As quick as he appeared, the sable vanished into the bush as an eagle, which we identify by its distinctive “tight-rope-walker” flight as a bateleur eagle soars above. This is a good start to our Zim game exploration.
As we wend our way past a forest of camel thorn acacias, its contorted branches crowned with evergreen leaves and cicadas chattering in the background, we come upon a giraffe with her calf. What magnificent, graceful creatures they are, perfectly balanced on their spindly legs with their heads reaching for the heavens and eye-lashes to die for! They stand in quiet contemplation of us, as they tease the nutritious leaves from the thorn-studded branches. After a 16 month gestation, the offspring must be very welcome though its entry into the world, via a fall from a standing mother, must be traumatic, albeit required to encourage it to take its first breath. Not far away we are lucky enough to notice a kudu bull with spectacular twisting horns. I say lucky because even though they are huge creatures, their markings are such that they blend so easily into the surroundings like the image in a 3D puzzle. As a contrast to the still, camouflaged kudu, a flighty little steenbuck crosses our path, a bambi-look-alike with his big thumb-printed ears. Just a moment and this cute little dwarf antelope is gone, normally long before the camera is ready, but this time, I’m ready!
Our attention moves to a flock of steppe eagles, busy raiding the numerous termite mounds. There must be 7 or 8 of them, gliding so effortlessly through the air. It seems that the ripe termite pickings have brought them here in force.
Peeking out from under dense foliage, we encounter thatch-roofed tented camp known as the Hide as the midday heat encases us. The cool damp facecloths with which we are greeted are very welcome even if they offer only momentary relief. There is plenty of time before lunch for a chat and a refreshing drink in the open-fronted lounge which overlooks, what appears to be a very busy, waterhole.
As we gaze at the bustling bird-life around the waterhole, the tuxedo wings, white bibs and sombre gait of the marabou storks lead me to enquire as to which bird is regarded as the undertaker of the bush – yes you guessed it – the marabou! We count over 100 who have gorged themselves on frogs and flying ants to such an extent that they are too heavy to fly and so they just mill around like a crowd of travelers at a railway station.
An appetizing lunch of tilapia (bream) with lemon butter sauce, galette potatoes and a variety of vegetables and salads is served at the most enormous, highly polished, teak table I have ever seen, which seems to seat 20 people, based on the count of chairs, though the term “chair” is much too diminutive a description – they are more like thrones. We introduce ourselves to the four other Aussies currently in residence. They are being ferried around by one of their number’s Uncle Alan, a lifetime resident of Zimbabwe, who wears an air of despondency like a cloud. We eventually manage to attribute this to a combination of his “traveler’s tum” and his hankering for a past heyday that can never be repeated.
The Hide is a member of the prestigious “Classic Safari Camps of Africa” and accommodates about 20 guests in large comfortable tents. Each tent has a donkey boiler to heat the water though there is adequate grid electricity and we are pleased to note an electric fan (though no air-conditioner) – now why didn’t we remember to bring our sarongs – it’s not as if we didn’t know we might need the cooling comfort of a wet sarong to drape over our overheated bodies. We, like the game we have come to observe, try to avoid the afternoon heat and recline beneath a couple of wooden leopards prowling across the bed-light shades.
All too soon it is time for afternoon tea and indeed time to test my resolve not to put on any weight during this trip by resisting the tempting fare constantly on offer on safari! We climb aboard our “truck” as the suns rays are softening enough to omit the sunscreen lotion. Our first stop is to wonder at the little lily-trotter’s ability to “walk on water” (well, lily leaves to be exact) thus earning it the alternative title of Jesus bird though its proper name is jacana! Another curiosity about the lily-trotter is that it is the female who maintains a harem of up to 4 males and it is the male that takes responsibility for incubating the eggs and nurturing the young.
We are on the lookout for newly born impala calves who generally appear around the start of the wet season. To maximize survival, impala mothers tend to give birth around the same time and can prolong gestation for up to a month if conditions are harsh. They can also spontaneously abort if an anticipated drought is likely to prevent the survival of the offspring. Young impala are ideal prey for the smaller predator such as the jackal and yet again I pray that I will not bear witness to a kill. What I love about our trips to Africa, as distinct from the wild-life programs on TV with their life and death dramas, is the ability to observe at close-quarters the day to day activities of the animals like the fluent movement of the elephant’s trunk as he sniffs the air to assess the visitors, the incongruous thin, high-pitched bray of the zebra which always makes me laugh, the cute but seriously ugly, stocky little warthog scurrying away with their antennae-like tails.
We are on our way to one of the waterholes, kept going during the dry season by windmills maintained by friends of Hwange, a group established in response to heavy mortality during the last drought. We catch a rare sight of a kudu standing in the open, in the still smouldering remains of a fire-break width of scrub licking the mineral-rich soil – I guess even kudu need their vitamins and minerals! Exposed and no doubt feeling extra-vulnerable out of his usual wooded habitat, he watches us carefully, ears rotating. We leave him in peace and move on to “Kennedy 1 and 2” waterholes as three, post-dirt-bath, elephants move off to complete their 150 kg of foraging for the day.
Just after we disembark a huge elephant is spotted advancing in our direction, or more accurately, in the direction of the waterhole - so it’s back into the vehicle for us. Now the question is whether he is flapping his ears to cool himself down or to express his displeasure at our presence adjacent to the waterhole.
About 10 yards away, the bull stops to study us and decide if we are friend or foe. His trunk prods the air for our scent, he moves slowly past us, ears still flapping though not aggressively, it seems we have passed the inspection. He strolls off to the water hole to drink copious amounts after a few trunk-cleansing sprays. Moving slowly to the other side of the waterhole, he sprays himself and lumbers off to continue his day-long meal. Time for us to make tracks too back to camp.
A surprised little mongoose scurries under the nearest bush on our approach. As we drive through the lengthening shadows, we come across a small breeding herd of elephants. Our guide explains that the matriarch organizes one of the herd to help deliver new-borns, after which the infant is introduced to the matriarch who in turn introduces it to the rest of the herd. A lone giraffe stands in the clearing, still and stately, observing the progress of this noisy animal, of which we are a part. The high-pitched yowl of the black-backed jackal warns of nearby lion.
After dinner at the unbelievable teak table, beneath a candelabra of strategically punctured ostrich eggs, we sit in post-prandial bliss watching the, now lighted, waterhole as an elephant strides slowly but deliberately to the source of the water and suitably refreshed strolls softly, silently into the night amid a frog chorus. Time for us to pack it in too as we are on the move again tomorrow.
Join me again in the next issue of the message stick for more Zimbabwe reminiscences.
News from Savanna Private Game Reserve
(With thanks and acknowledgement to Paddy Hagelthorn and the staff of Savanna)
December has been an incredibly hot and humid month. Although we haven’t had the rain that we had in November, we have had enough to keep the dams full and the grass growing and the bush is looking magnificent. The animals have responded to this wonderfully lush time, so everything is fat and flourishing. The impala lambs have done exceptionally well this year and, judging by the herds, we estimate a 40% survival rate so far. When you look at the grand scheme of things, this is an incredibly high percentage. The wildebeest have also done very well and continue to keep producing calves, though their survival rate will undoubtedly be much less than that of the impala.
With this heat and humidity the rhino, elephants and buffalo have taken every opportunity to get into the dams and pools, which has provided us with some wonderful viewing of rhino wallowing, elephants swimming and playing and the buffalo herds crowding into the very small pans that are dotted around in the wet season.
Mambiri and her cub have provided us with incredible viewing this month, especially as she has left her cub on several occasions for up to 5 days while she patrols her territory and hunts for the family meal. This has made viewing of the cub exceptionally easy, as the cub has been positioned in one place for long periods. Also, as it is alone alone, the cub obviously gets bored and provides us with some spectacular antics as it plays amongst the undergrowth to amuse itself. There have been several occasions when we have found Mambiri moving the cub to a kill, which has also provided spectacular viewing.
Shangwa and her cub have also been seen on a regular basis, even though the Savanna rangers do not see much of her because Mambiri has been on hand in the South, which has made far easier viewing than tracking to the river. What is interesting is that Shangwa’s cub’s eyes have remained blue. We mentioned this when the cub was first sighted and we expected the eyes to change, but this has not happened.
It has now been confirmed that Makubela definitely has cubs. We are not sure how many there are, but viewing of these should start happening soon. We also believe that Hlabakunzi, Metsi and Xikavi are all pregnant and should be producing cubs within the next month to six weeks. This should give us a real baby boom in the leopard department and consequently we hope for exceptionally good viewing of cubs in the near future.
The lion population has started to increase, even though the Ximungwe female only has one cub. We are not sure how many she had initially, but only one has survived. This cub is moving with the pride at a very young age and I believe that there is very little chance of it surviving, as the mother will probably not invest three years of her life for one cub. We are still not sure whether the other Ximungwe females are pregnant, even though four of the Mapogo have been in close attendance with this pride the whole month. There has been virtually no mating, so we can only hope that the females are now pregnant.
One of the Ottowa females has produced four cubs which are being viewed on a fairly regular basis. She does keep them very well hidden in the Sand River, but has brought them out a few times. These cubs are totally relaxed with the vehicles and it is wonderful again to have lion cub viewing which has been missing for a while.
wildebeest in the open grasslands. This was a wonderful spectacle to see, as many of the wildebeest have calves at foot and there were a number of zebra foals. At this time of the year these species are incredible mobile and it was not long before they had moved out of our area, leaving only pockets of small herds remaining on our clearings.
The cheetah continues to make regular visits to Savanna but seems to have taken to spending a few more days on our property than usual. This male cheetah tends to move onto the open grasslands and lies in the tall grass which makes it fairly difficult for us to find or view him. However, in the early morning or late evening, he comes out onto vantage points to look for potential prey and also other predators, providing us with excellent viewing.
The wild dog has also been very evident this month and we have had regular viewing of them right up in the north of the Sand River. This is a long trek for the Savanna vehicles, but to see wild dog is always worth it. They have made a number of kills and in fact this group of six have often killed two or three young impala a morning. We can only hope that this pack will den in our area, which will provide us with regular sightings. It is every photographer’s dream to get shots of wild dog pups.
For those of you who do not know, Savanna supports an orphanage just outside the reserve, that has over 1200 Aids orphans. This year we organised a Christmas party for them and each child received a Christmas present from Savanna. They put on a little show for us and I cannot tell you how heartwarming it was to see the joy in these children’s faces when they received their presents and had fun at their party. We all feel that this support is really important and are very proud to be involved with it. Thanks to all those who have donated clothing, shoes and other items for this worthwhile cause.
We also had a staff party that was very well-received and a lot of fun was had by all. The party was preceded by a soccer match between the barmen and the maintenance department.
Close
That is all from me for this month. I hope you enjoy the Zimbabwe story as much as we enjoyed being there.
Happy Safaris!
John
61 (0)2 4984 9747
61 (0)411 749 627
jma@destinationsafrica.com.au
www.destinationsafrica.com.au