Chiawa Camp - Newsletter

September 2002

Greetings from Chiawa Camp. The season kicked off to a great start and is flying by – indeed we are already coming into the hot/dry season and just in the last few days we have noticed it getting much hotter. I am sure the new fans we installed will be a hit!

Old Mondoro is fully open and up and running now, and we have had rave reviews from the clients we have taken there so far. The area itself is outstanding and is exceptional walking country, right from camp.

Just recently on a walk from Old Mondoro we came across lions on a kill. They had killed a buffalo, and a hyena that had obviously tried to sneak in for a free meal and came to grief with a lethal swat from a lions paw.

The game viewing at that end of the park has proved to be very productive. We have seen a couple of prides of lion, a few leopards have been very close to camp, and lots of elephant in camp and on the islands just in front. One night just as we were about to start dinner we heard a leopard calling, which seemed to have come from right behind our kitchen. We dropped our forks, grabbed our flashlights and headed out on foot in search of the leopard. Unfortunately all we saw was the reflection of an eye and a flick of a tail as it disappeared into some “adrenalin” grass, but exciting all the same.

A visit combining a minimum of three nights at Chiawa Camp followed by a minimum of two nights at Old Mondoro (transfer between the two camps by boat – a unique 30km trip down the river viewing game en-route) cannot be recommended highly enough.

We have Kellie Leigh and her assistant Trish staying at Old Mondoro. Kellie is researching the wild dogs in the Park. Good news on the wild dog front, both of our packs are denning in the hills right now and one pack has been spotted outside the den with 11 pups.

Kellie would love to speak to any clients staying at Old Mondoro that are interested in the wild dogs and her project, and talks with her and Trish can be arranged. Talking of dens, we have two different hyena dens – one with two pups and one with five!

Not only have we been having great walks from Old Mondoro but also from Chiawa. On many of our walks we have come across lions, and usually lots of buffalos and elephants, making things very exciting. Yesterday’s walk found a leopard in a sausage tree relaxing near the Chiawa driveway.

The game viewing from Chiawa has been superb in the last 3 months. We have had lions galore and we have been seeing a huge increase in leopard sightings, especially our daylight sightings. We are pleased to be seeing more serval than last year too. Last month we had a lovely breeding herd of elephants full of Mums and young pass right through camp and were extremely relaxed, it was a wonderful sight.

Sky News TV paid us a visit doing a brief spot on Zambia and the alleged famine. Whilst there was no famine to film, they got some great wildlife shots, including Tag (the photogenic lioness many of you will know who is missing part of her right ear) with our resident young male lion (who we keep bumping into on our walks) roaring for the camera.

The Lower Zambezi lions are certainly in the limelight this year – take a look at Francois d’Elbee’s book “The Bush and Eye”, which he wrote while based at Chiawa in 2001. Gary Clarke’s (aka Old Dagga Boy) book which was also published earlier this year, “I’d Rather Be On Safari”, features a story on Chiawa’s Black Lions! If you need any info on these books please contact us or check on the internet.

Sky News included a smart feature on Conservation Lower Zambezi, of which Grant is Chairman, covering the organization’s successes in combating poaching. To help, we are asking our guests to please donate to this worthy cause at the end of their visits – check the website out at www.lowerzambezi.org

The fishing has been especially good for this time of year, lots of tigers over 10 pounds, a 16-pounder caught the other day by Richard M. from the UK, and of course lots of the smaller Bream and Chessa.

We are doing most of our transfers through Royal airstrip this year and this offers clients a different way of arriving at camp, by boat along the Zambezi river. This has been enjoyed by our clients and is a cooler option of transfer as temperatures rise.

And last but not least, Kevin & Janet are now proud parents of a baby boy Nathan born August 2^nd! That means Grant’s an Uncle, and Dave & Jenny are now Grandparents. We’re very proud!