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CHIAWA CAMP NEWSLETTER
July
2007
 A
warm hello to all of you from the
fabulous Lower Zambezi where, and I
must apologise, the season is
already half way through and this is
our first newsletter since the
rains! Very poor form I know but it
has been a busy and generally very
good season so far.
Where to begin … we will start with
the new faces at Chiawa Camp! Craig
fell in love with a super girl but
who did not share his passion for
the bush and so he has moved back to
SA and is working in a more urban
setting – he is missed but has been
replaced by Conny Maunz who
spent the last 3 years managing an
eminent lodge in the South Luangwa
and who is doing a fantastic job of
keeping Chiawa Camp ticking happily,
efficiently and splendidly as we are
used to.
 Joe
& Barbs are now working up in Uganda
and have been replaced by Mike
McColl and Liza Senekal both of
whom hail from South Africa and come
with excellent credentials. Mike has
immediately settled in and already
has clicked with Chiawa’s leopards,
racking up dozens of fantastic
sightings. His partner Liza is an
incredible chef and has taken
Chiawa’s renowned meals to new
heights.
 For
old returning friends and for new
ones, we are sure you will all agree
that this team at Chiawa is
absolutely fantastic. We are also
pleased to report that Boaz
has returned to Chiawa after a two
year sabbatical in the Kafue – he
found 3 leopards on a kill the other
day and has been doing a great job
of giving our guests the best of
times in the bush. With three new
lion cubs, at least one new leopard
cub plus the usual suspects there is
plenty of action.
And not only in the bush – Paul
led a canoe trip last week behind
waterbuck island where the lucky
group not only encountered a pride
of lions snoozing on the river bank
but also zebra, kudu, waterbuck,
magnificent bird life, crocs, hippos
and finally a massive bull elephant
that came down to drink right in
front of them. The excitement of the
guests on their return and over
sundowners was palpable, listening
to them chatter away about their
experience and comparing photos on
the backs of their digital cameras.
And then on a walk in Chiawa’s dry
riverbed a couple of weeks ago Paul
recounts a scene where they
encountered an old Dagga boy buffalo
having a stare down with a bull
elephant whilst under the relaxed
but watchful gaze of a pride of
lions – Paul remains convinced there
must have been a leopard in on the
scene somewhere, perhaps up one of
those lush Mahogany trees.
We congratulate the tall,
baritone-voiced Lackson Tembo
who earlier this year passed with
distinction, the intensive
theoretical and practical Lower
Zambezi canoe exams – some of you
may remember him doing his practical
training last year. Well this
morning he got a fantastic leopard
sighting with accompanying sawing
sound track, on his canoe trip
behind Waterbuck Island followed by
an monitor lizard jumping off a
branch and into the canoe to hitch a
ride- exciting times!!
 And
Daniel passed his Walking
exams this year meaning that Chiawa
Camp has an even stronger and more
diverse guiding team than ever.
Other than me, we have six pro
guides on staff!
Oh yes, I forgot to
mention Chiawa’s new trainee guide,
Scott Cumings, who has taken
to imitating every animal noise in
the bush, squealing with delight and
tracking the camp’s elephants,
frogs, lizards and even the
occasional snake to the point of
hyper-ventilation on the part of all
parties including his parents – we
can’t believe he is already 18
months old.
At
Conservation Lower Zambezi last
week we introduced Scott to Zamma
the four month old orphaned elephant
being cared for there – magic
memories! Chiawa Camp has provided
milk powder and assistance in caring
for Zamma and continues its much
needed support to CLZ – this year we
are leading a membership drive for
the organization by selling Annual
Family Memberships to our guests and
in so doing, not only automatically
entering them into a year-end raffle
with the opportunity to win two
donated nights at Chiawa Camp for
two guests, but also to c ontribute
to keeping the Lower Zambezi
protected to the very best of our
ability. One very generous guest
this year has already pledged
$30,000 over the next three years!
Donations to CLZ are tax deductible
in the USA so if you wish to help
please go to the website or email me
directly! As we do every year in
conjunction with SidEcole, the Swiss
charity, this year we also donated
school uniforms and stationary for
130 Grade One kids in the local
rural schools.
(Pic:
Rocco Morelli)
Exciting news for the Lower Zambezi
– for many years Chiawa Camp has
been lobbying for a black rhino
reintroduction program (the once
plentiful creatures were locally
wiped out in the 1970’s) and today a
feasibility study has commenced
under the auspices of CLZ, the
Zambia Wildlife Authority and WWF so
watch this space. Speaking of
rhino’s, one of our good friends
David Back, in honour of his 50th
birthday, is raising funds for
rhinos around the world and says he
will be arranging some fun
fundraising events in London – if
you would like to know more please
go to
www.artillery.co.uk/Horny@50
 Changes
in camp itself, we demolished our
old Honeymoon Tent and replaced it
with Superior Tent III and it is an
incredible tent with his & hers
washbasins, a roll top bath, massive
King size bed and outdoor shower all
with fantastic views of the Zambezi
River, the dry riverbed and the
escarpment – book it now to avoid
disappointment!
Two weeks ago guests
in the Superior Tents got to watch,
from the comfort and safety of their
verandahs, 10 lions devour an impala
and warthog at the river’s edge in
the middle of the day.
The plunge
pool we have managed to finally sort
out and it is now aqua-clear as
opposed to Zambezi green. New soft
furnishings around camp, a new cane
furniture suite and 3 new game
viewing vehicles have been added to Chiawa meaning there are now 6 game
viewing vehicles, 3 boats and 6
canoes – as well as a new generator;
all have been bought to make the
Chiawa experience even more
enjoyable, flexible and reliable
than ever before.
 The
game viewing has been super exciting
this season so far and it looks like
our record year of leopard sightings
of 2006 is on course to be broken –
two new leopards have shown up as
has a new cub and we are fortunate
that we have at least 7 leopards
habituating in the vicinity of camp.
Mike got some great footage the
other week of a leopard pulling down
an impala and then, the week before,
witnessed a lioness snatching a
young waterbuck in front of them and
in broad daylight. Guests who have
traveled to Africa a dozen times
before, left Chiawa some days ago
after a three night visit in which
they encountered the same three
leopards thrice and then a mother
and cub last night – not to mention
having had great fishing, a pride of
lions with cubs and then finding
lion tracks all over camp this
morning. There have also been
sightings of serval, wild dog,
aardvark and dozens of honeybadgers.
(Pic:
Rocco Morelli)
And for you twitchers, how about two
clear and confirmed sightings of the
Mashona hyliota, said not to occur
in the Zambezi Valley?
For the anglers or fisher folk, it
is looking like it will be a great
season with the fish already well on
the bite which is a lot earlier than
usual for this time of year. The
tiger are already taking the fly and
some very chunky 14-15 pound tigers
were caught last week over just a
couple of days. Not to mention the
camp’s all time vundu catfish record
being broken in May thanks to a
whopper of about 80lbs!
 There
has also been a lot going on at Old Mondoro, most good but some sad.
Many of you will know of the
accident where Roelof sustained
substantial burns to his body. No
one else was hurt and Roelof is
making a safe and full recovery with
no disfigurement however his skin is
now in a delicate state whereby it
cannot be exposed to bright sunlight
and dust for another two years or
until fully healed. This means that
Roelof will not be able to guide for
sometime although fortunately Helen
and Roelof will both remain at Old
Mondoro through the 2007 safari
season, and if all goes well
medically for Roelof, even longer we
hope. Old Mondoro’s marvelous guide
Levy will be supported by guides
from Chiawa and Sausage Tree until
we can find another guide to station
full time at Old Mondoro or until
Roelof can start guiding again.
 At
the time of writing they are taking
a short break in South Africa and we
are very pleased to have the lovely
Katie Flevill who is doing a super
job of relief management and hosting
at Old Mondoro – she has been of
invaluable help and took to the not
insignificant task immediately and
one would already think she has been
there forever.
We have also made a few improvements
to the camp which we feel will help
take it to the next level, starting
with redesigning and rebuilding the
lounge/dining area, making it a
little more stylish and spacious,
adding some timber decks and a
beautiful cane furniture suite. The
rooms have also been modified
slightly, each now has its own
timber viewing deck out front
opening onto the incredible views –
these improvements have added a
whole other dimension to the camp
whilst still remaining true to Old Mondoro’s bush camp roots.
 Finally,
we now offer canoeing at Old Mondoro
meaning that activities available
are the spectacular walks, day &
night game drives, game viewing by
boat and canoeing, making Old
Mondoro the perfect extension to a
visit to Chiawa Camp or even as a
stand alone destination in the Lower
Zambezi!
From an administrative point of view
we have updated the Chiawa Camp
website so please take a look around
it for the latest photos and
information – note the new visa laws
whereby visa-fee waivers are only
available for guests staying in
Zambia for14 days or fewer. Links to
the official immigration website as
well as current weather and time
have also been added to our website.
That very briefly sums up a very
busy few months and we leave you
with one final piece of exciting
news – Lynsey is pregnant again and
Scott’s little brother/sister is due
early January. We will keep you
posted!
All the best from the growing Chiawa
Camp family,
Grant
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