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OLD
MONDORO
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END OF SEASON
NEWSLETTER,
NOVEMBER 2006
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Golden Banded Forester |
Baby warthogs the
size of my hand, disappearing in elephant footprints when
they run after their mothers, and the first impala lambs
have arrived, signaling the coming of the rains and the
beginning of new live in the Zambezi valley…
It also signals
the end of the safari season for us and it is like waking up
from a dream realizing that it is all over… but what a
dream!! Imagine dreaming of paradise, full of colours,
sounds and smells and creatures big and small living there
to complete and fulfill the picture of what must be one of
the most beautiful and enchanting wilderness areas on our
planet.
And what a year
we had sharing this with the guests of Old Mondoro!! We had
a very busy and successful safari season with some amazing
experiences and sightings.
Walking
 The
highlight for me is not a sighting but an activity… walking.
Walking through the floodplains with big winter-thorn trees,
herds of buffalo, elephants, birds… following the Chakwenga
River towards the escarpment… and climbing the escarpment,
the noises, the smells… sitting down with guests watching
elephants bath, drinking, bulls sparing and stretching for a
winter-thorn branch.
Having
a curios warthog come and inspect us, hearing a narina
trogon calling…a buffalo herd of 400 crossing inner circle
and you can smell them, the dust, hear them, and they come
close to check you out with noses in the air trying to smell
you…coming across three male lions lying
 in the winter sun,
wild dog running past you, early morning, busy hunting,
sitting down with a female leopard unaware that you are
there watching her drink and chase birds, startling a young
eland bull, a bushbuck male braking its cover…a orange
breasted bush shrike, bru-bru, chin spot batis, oriole, puff
back shrike, pearl spotted owl, Senegal coucal and fish
eagle all talking to you at once…stop...can you hear the
lions roaring…?
water
monitor eating croc egg
 Serval
We had them
sleeping, walking, listening, hunting, eating, sitting and
almost climbing into the vehicle…this beautiful secretive
and elusive cat really posed for pictures and is very
rewarding to observe, we saw one hunt and eat 3 mice in less
than 10 minutes using those big ears and the pounce to catch
its prey…serval behavior at its best in no less than 36
sightings
Wild dog
One morning on a
walk we spotted the dogs running just behind camp busy
hunting impala, I radioed Levy who was out on a drive to
come back and try to get a
sighting of the
 pack…
what he stumbled across was the wild dogs chasing a female
leopard of a fresh impala kill and then eating the impala at
lightning speed!!!! There are two puppies in the pack, and
we had some good fun with them chasing the vultures at the
carcass.
Lion
“The boys” as
they are known (3 male lions), really came to the party with
all three roaring like rolling thunder, waking us up at
night.
One morning I was
awaken with a different call… from the staff at their
quarters… they cannot start work…the boys and a lioness had
killed one of the resident
camp buffalo bulls 5m from their rooms and are busy feasting
on their breakfast !! Needless
 to
say we had to move the buffalo to a save distance, with the
lioness looking very puzzled and following the half eaten
buffalo to where we left it for them in the shade to eat.
The three males
turned into a strong coalition hunting mostly buffalo,
impala and zebra, and patrolling a large territory between
the Mwambashi and Mushika rivers, a stretch of 25km of
valley floor staying mostly on the flood plains.
We also saw them
taking an impala from a male leopard and trying, take note,
trying to eat a porcupine. They trapped our big resident
male leopard in a tree for a whole day sitting in the sun,
while the boys were rolling around in the shade, it seems
they like that, for Levy found them one night trapping 3
leopards (male, female and cub) in two trees.
Mating lions is
always a sight to see and with the oldest male mating with
one of the resident females we will hopefully have some lion
cubs when we return. We think she has given birth and is
still hiding the cubs in the long grass near the Mushika
River.
Leopard
A leopard speaks
for itself, but this season definitely belongs to the
leopards. Not
 mentioning
the lion leopard interactions we had and the female
performing for us on a walk, we had two males fighting in a
big winterthorn tree, we had a spectacular mating pair, a
male and female feeding of the same impala in a tree, two
sightings were our resident male took away a baboon from a
female, a beautiful leopard cub, and the list goes on…we
even saw a leopard leisurely strolling along the Zambezi
river bank, from the boat, during a afternoon boat cruise!
But… nothing
beats tracking them on a night drive, switching of the
engine and listening… listening for that rasping
call…listening for a kudu barking, impala
alarming or baboons going crazy at the
sight of the silent assassin… and then spend some time in
finding them and when you spot them after the search, it is
magic!!! And even if you don’t find it, that rasping call,
that kudu barking in the dark of night…magic
On a night drive,
we watched kinky, our resident female leopard with a 8 month
old cub, drinking at a small waterhole and then followed her
walking, pausing, listening… hunting.
 She
spotted some impala and we switched of the red light to wait
and to listen. We sat quietly and patiently waiting to hear
some sounds of the impala or the chase. After about 30 min
of waiting and nothing happening we switched on the red
light and could not see her, disappointed I started the
engine and headed for camp. As the spotter sweep with the
light, we saw kinky, with a burst of power and blistering
speed cover about 8m and taking down a male impala, all in
the red light… amazing… my, and the guests on the vehicle
first leopard kill, something we will never forget, what a
sight and experience!!!
Birds
Some very good
birds were two sightings of secretary birds, witch is very
rare for the area. Narina trogon, also very rare, appeared 5
times on walks, what an amazing bird?
 Painted
snipes, pennant winged nightjars, broad billed rollers,
black and thick billed cuckoos, ashy blue-grey flycatcher,
African skimmers, red winged pratincole and black eagle were
among some excellent bird sightings. We also monitored two
giant eagle owl nests with the little white balls of fluff
peeking out of the nests.
Double
banded sand grouse
 Canoeing
So, yet another
exiting and thrilling safari season has come to an end, and
sitting hear in camp, typing, I can already not wait to see
what the creatures of the lower Zambezi will amaze us with
next year…
But
the excitement is not over yet, adding to it, next year we
will have canoes to explore this magic river from a
different height and angle. There’s some very good chanels
and islands just outside from camp to canoe, and with Levy a
fully qualified canoe guide we are ready to enjoy this very
special experience that the river has to offer.
You will just
need to come, and see and experience it for yourself!?
Hope the rest of
the year will be a good and happy one, and may 2007 even be
better!
Thank you to
every one who where our guests this year, sharing with us
this special corner of Africa.
Greetings
Roelof & Helen
Schutte
Old Mondoro
Bushcamp
April May June 2006
Old Mondoro Newsletter
January 2006
Old Mondoro Newsletter
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