End of 2007
And so another safari season, or
for the rest of you another
year, has come to an end and
what a time it has been. Writing
this from the near frozen climes
of Scotland the Lower Zambezi
already seems a long time ago
and yet it was only a little
more than a week ago when I left
with the rain coming down in
torrents, the insect life alive
and well, and the reconstruction
of our lounge and dining areas
well underway.
Even Dave & Jenny have taken a
well earned break and are in
South Africa and Swaziland
visiting family with my brother
Kevin, his wife Janet and their
children.
It
has been a year of amazing
sightings with incredible
experiences for our many guests
– one of the most interesting
involved an amazing kill in
November where the large pride
of lions including Douglas
pulled down three buffalo in one
hunt and the following evening,
with so much food available, we
were watching Douglas feeding on
one buffalo whilst a leopard and
her cub fed on another in the
bush nearby.
Usually
one would not have expected the
leopard to even have had the
courage to try this on alone
however she got away with it and
was well rewarded as a
consequence – as were our amazed
guests and
guides.
This was just one of 253 lion
sightings at Chiawa Camp this
year. Speaking of Douglas he
continues to be under pressure
from the beautiful trio of male
lions that come from the Old
Mondoro part of the Park – in
fact in my last newsletter of
2006 I wrote of these incursions
and wondered whether Douglas
would be back in 2007 but he was
here in full force more
magnificent than ever and gave
us some amazing times including
roaring VERY loudly next to our
night drives on a few occasions
giving us all goose bumps and
our lucky guests memories to
last a life
time.
Whilst knowing that his
inevitable and almost certainly
necessary deposing draws near I
find it hard to not hope he
sticks around longer – I have
many memories of him, one in
particular comes to mind of him
walking in the moonlight showing
nothing but a silent black
shadow gliding past my tent
after which he belted out some
roars in camp giving everyone
lots to chat about over Chiawa
Camp’s infamous Amarula
flavoured oatmeal porridge by
the fire the next morning.
And then there were the leopard
sightings – by coincidence 111
of them in 2007 of which our
delighted guests enjoyed a
number of sightings, like the
lions, from canoe and boat as
well as on foot and of course by
vehicle. We saw leopards mating,
sleeping, eating, killing,
frolicking, hunting, being
hunted (by baboons – see my
previous newsletter!), climbing,
licking, sawing (a leopard calls
in a saw-like fashion), sniffing
the tyres of a game viewing
vehicle and yes, last but not
least, an attempt at sniffing
the leg of a guest whilst in the
“suicide seat” on a game drive.
A little close for comfort and
our vehicle moved on before the
leopard (Mrs Tembo) joined in on
the rest of the game drive.
The sightings really have been
too many to mention – an amazing
sight of huge crocodiles
twirling and gulping on a dead
hippo at our feet in front of
camp however comes to mind, as
does seeing a new born elephant
still covered in goo; the
amazing giant stick insect that
turned up in camp and then on
Lynsey’s shoulder … I have since
been reprimanded for putting my
pregnant wife through such a
time,
which
reminds me that Scott’s wee
brother or sister is due anytime
from now but most likely early
January. Exciting times but be
sure we will let you know when
it happens!
The fishing turned up some great
action with 98 tiger fish over
10lbs caught and released this
season, the largest weighing in
at 18.8lbs and a 14.5lb tiger
was also caught on fly – an
impressive feat. The largest
vundu catfish was 78lbs
including 9 monsters caught over
40lbs. Saying that fishing is
never easy and we have to work
hard at getting these results –
we are proud to say that Chiawa
Camp was recently acknowledged
by one of the USA’s most
prestigious fishing outfitters
as being “the best fly fishing
camp on the Zambezi”.
The additional vehicles at
Chiawa Camp this year proved to
be very successful offering our
guests the ultimate in
flexibility and reliability and
our third Superior Tent proved
popular too so in 2008 there
will be a 4th
Superior Tent as well as a
completely rebuilt lounge/bar
area and dining room, all with
timber decks – work is in
progress but has just been
stopped until next year when the
rains respite and the rest of
the work will recommence mid-Feb
and be completed, all things
being equal, in time for our
reopening mid April 2008. We
will not be reinventing the
wheel but expect improved
quality, style, atmosphere and
ergonomics.
In closing off this newsletter I
would like to thank you all for
making this, yet again, Chiawa’s
most successful safari season
ever – without you we would not
be able to make Chiawa Camp as
special as it is and the finest
safari experience in Zambia; nor
could we do as good a job as we
do in helping conserve this
beautiful but fragile corner of
Africa. In particular we would
like to acknowledge some of
Chiawa’s most loyal guests, and
whilst many of you have returned
more than once, we have the
likes of Uda Eggen from Germany
or Ivor and Margot Phillips from
the UK who have visited
something like 17 times each – I
think we have all lost count!!
I also must thank the fantastic
Chiawa Camp team of 2007 many of
whom are pictured below – they
kept our guests safe, happy &
entertained and we wish them,
with you a merry Christmas and
successful new year.
We can’t forget the Old Mondoro
team headed up by Roelof and
Helen who too had one heck of a
year and the following link
takes you to their end of 2007
newsletter. Well done and thank
you to all of you.
With
that I bid you adieu until next
time – look after yourselves,
each other and the environments
in which you live and work.
Best wishes,
Grant, Lynsey, Dave, Jenny and
the Chiawa Camp Family.
Click for Old Mondoro Dec 2007
News
