December 2002

The 2002 safari season has come to an end and what a fantastic season it has been. Chiawa has had a busy year, Old Mondoro opened in style, and we have had lots of wonderful and interesting sightings.

 The rains came early this year around November 6^th, which started with just a few light showers and then built into a tremendous rainstorm one night, raining heavily for five hours. Of course the animals are now in their element and enjoying the cool wet weather after a hot, dry October. After watching a couple of elephant bulls trampling through the camp’s muddy paths we saw more than 200 elephants of all different ages crossing from Waterbuck Island – all enjoying the river. Following the elephants are now the dung beetles – the first ones of the season are emerald green in colour, seen in pairs, rolling balls of dung over each other and  into the bush to be buried.

 We have been witness to some superb game and bird viewing this year. Some of the more notable bird sightings included a couple of flocks of flamingos along the Zambezi, feral pigeon, purple gallinule, a pair of Narina Trogons plus a few other individuals, ox-peckers pulling out tufts of hair from an unperturbed buffalo bull for use in their nests, a Gabar goshawk tearing open nests of white-browed sparrow weavers and gobbling up 3 chicks, swallow tailed and Bohms bee eaters.

 The fishing has also been superb this year with numerous tigerfish in the 16-19lb range, and even one 20lb fish! Lord & Lady Loram from the UK caught, over a 10-day period, 148 fish … in excess of 10 lbs! This does not include the huge numbers of smaller fish. The strict catch and release policy that Chiawa Camp has been implementing for the past twelve years has finally paid off – the Zambia Wildlife Policy have now made it law that any species and all fish caught in the Lower Zambezi NP must be released – a great coup for conservation.

 Wild dog sightings at Chiawa experienced a large leap in the right direction – 19 different situations compared to last year’s 12 sightings. Particularly encouraging are the arrival of litters of pups with each of the Park’s known two packs – 10 pups with the Chiawa pack and 7 pups with the Chakwenga pack. What a privilege to witness the pack’s pre-hunt greeting ceremony with all the dogs, pups included, twittering and working themselves up into an excited melee – and all captured on video.

 Our leopard sightings were simply unbelievable this year – 153 sightings compared to last year’s 75! We have yet to explain this phenomenon but everyone enjoyed it nevertheless. The sightings included a female with two cubs around camp and a mating pair of leopards in Chiawa’s driveway.

 On one of our last game drives of the season we found one of the lionesses from Tag’s pride hidden under a fan palm with four cubs suckling. Many of you will know that Stumpy did not return this year, and he’s been replaced by two young males, one of them an impressive full-maned blond, who has been doing the “lions share” of procreating - we assume he’s the proud father! As usual, the lions around Chiawa Camp continue to provide us with much excitement – indeed 281 sightings this year.

 So, herewith some of the more memorable events of the 2002 season – who knows what’s in store for 2003.

-          An inexperienced lioness trapping an unamused large grey mongoose under her paw in soft mud. Surprised upon being so severely admonished by the mongoose, the lioness lifted her paw and the mongoose made good its escape.

-          16 wild dogs chasing off, nipping and pestering a petrified, squealing hyena.

-          4 lionesses engaged in a tug of war, over a waterbuck they had just killed, with 8 huge (4m plus!) crocodiles. Upon our arrival the crocs bolted for the Zambezi, one biting the back of the game viewing vehicle en-route, another charged under the vehicle and temporarily became stuck before it too bit the vehicle and slithered into the river. Great excitement for all concerned – especially for Peggy in the “suicide seat”!.

-          A breeding herd of 70 elephants in Old Mondoro … between tent 1 and tent 3!

-          A pair of honey badgers and a serval fishing catfish out of a drying lagoon.

-          A male baboon challenging and fighting a female leopard after it had caught and paralysed the baboon’s buddy. Eventually the baboon left, after which a hyena unsuccessfully tried to snatch the (now dead) baboon from the leopard before it hoisted its prey high up a winterthorn tree.

-          Watching the two new male lions to the Chiawa area slowly kill two buffalos trapped in the mud of a drying lagoon. The crack of the one buff’s neck being snapped was audible across the lagoon.

-          Counting 32 fish eagles, 11 saddle-billed storks, and about 150 marabou storks fishing for catfish in another dry lagoon.

-          Seeing leopard kill an impala, then being chased off by six hyenas who in turn were chased off by 8 lions.

For those of you who wish to purchase Francois d’Elbee’s magnificent photographic journal of the Lower Zambezi, the Bush and Eye, please go to the link on our Conservation Page

 A heartfelt thank you for your tremendous support this year – we wish you all a fantastic festive season and 2003!