OLD MONDORO NEWSLETTER

  End of Season     November 2007

 By Roelof Schutte

Africa in the raw…

How can you ever describe the colour of a setting sun on the Zambezi river, old winterthorn trees painted in soft orange and the river bathed in a flowing colour of gold, and the smell of six hundred buffalos mingled with the dust they stirred up?…how can you ever describe a breeding herd of more than one hundred elephants crossing the open Jeki plains through tall yellow grass, the drumming sound of ground hornbills in the morning when you wake up, and the thunderous roaring of three male lions when you lie in your bed?...how can you ever describe the rasping call of a leopard and the alarm of impala when you switch off the engine and the lights to listen, the anticipation and the hunt to find it?... how can you ever describe the call of a fish eagle, the strong smell of life giving rain on the wind, after a sweltering hot October day, and the Chakwenga river in full flood the next morning?…how can you ever describe the rising of a full moon, casting a red reflection on the water, or the stars on a moonless African night?

Every guest that has stayed at Old Mondoro since its humble beginnings in 2001 will know what I am talking about, and now in 2007 with the camp pretty much the same, another magical safari season has come to an end.

Let’s start from 2005, for those of you who can remember the lioness with the four male cubs, good news. They are all still alive and looking good, amazing! They were spotted regularly this season and again about 2 weeks ago just after they hunted a waterbuck, but only 3 cubs were with the lioness so the other one decided to go solo. The three Zimbabwe males are also still roaming the Mondoro floodplains and are hunting buffalo at their will… even 2 at the same time in one night!

The lioness with the two 8 month old cubs in the Jeki area are looking good and we saw her chasing away three hyenas from a warthog kill with great aggression and vocal persuasion. Some more good news is that the lioness that mated with 2 of the Zim boys must have given birth because she is lactating, but she hasn’t yet introduced the cubs to us…something to look forward to next season. Then, Douglas the male lion from the Chiawa/Sausage Tree area came to visit us close to Jeki, and killed a buffalo cow all on his own, what a brute! There were lions on walks, lions from boat cruises and even 4 lions drinking water right in camp one night…too many to mention here.

During the season serval were spotted 15 times, what an amazing cat! All of the sightings were good, clear sightings. On a night drive 1 week ago a female leopard (kinky) was spotted stalking and chasing a serval, which luckily managed to escape sudden death!

This was the year of the leopard though, with a record number of sightings for a 24 hour period, no less than 8 different leopards were spotted during 14 sightings, and this was unbelievable! The lucky guests returned to camp and named Boaz, their guide, “the wizard of OM” for spotting these cats! Out of the 14 sightings 5 were daytime sightings and 9 night drive sightings. The leopards were made up out of a female with 2 cubs on an impala kill, a young female and cub with an impala kill, a male and female on an impala kill just behind camp, close to the main road and the very impressive huge male leopard tyson! This is Old Mondoro magic at its best!! Leopards were also spotted 4 times on walking safaris; this is rare but an amazing experience.

Another impressive sighting of leopard and baboon interaction was about a month ago when Levi spotted a female leopard being harassed by a big troop of baboons during a morning drive. The female managed to run away and escaped the screams, shouts and angry male baboons with her life. The dominant male leopard Tyson (the biggest male leopard I have ever seen) arrived out of the blue. The now over confident male baboons foolishly tried the same tactics with this powerhouse male leopard and needless to say… got hammered. The male reacted like lightning and killed a big male baboon without breaking a sweat, I think that troop of baboons are still running and will think twice before picking a fight with the wrong guy again!

Helen and I also had a great 2h00 in the morning sighting with alarm calling impalas right next to our tent, waking us up. And what we saw kept us awake for about 40 minutes. Cautiously going outside with our flashlights we almost immediately spotted a leopard…it was Tyson. He walked through camp down the pathway towards no.3 tent and was joined by a young female. We were watching wide eyed…now wide awake. Not only did we have two leopards in camp, but two mating leopards! We watched them mating 3 times! We were just not sure if we should wake up the guests at 2h00 in the morning…it turns out they were awake in any case because of all the commotion of the leopards love making!

White tailed Mongoose

Large grey mongoose, which is rare in the lower Zambezi valley, made themselves visible 6 times on game drives during the season. One particularly good sighting during a night drive Levi spotted 2 large grey mongooses eating a third one, strange… but in Africa food is food and you take what you get when the going gets tough.

Nice bird sightings at the end of the season included, amongst others; Broad billed rollers, African cuckoo, Thick billed cuckoo, breeding Paradise fly catchers, a lot of Giant eagle owl sightings with young chicks at three nesting sights, and two beautiful Ospreys. The distinctive sound of the Woodland kingfisher, are also filling the bush with its call. 

Canoeing… this has become a very popular activity at Old Mondoro. There is no better way to experience the Zambezi River than from a canoe! Floating down stream through a maze of channels and islands crowded with an extraordinary array of bird species, Eagles, Herons, Lapwings, Storks, Snipes, Weavers, Darters, Cormorants, Bee eaters, Hornbills, Doves, Sandpipers… the list is non ending and you can easily see 100 species without even trying hard, and you get close, real close. Also close to Elephants, Buffalos, Waterbuck, Hippos, Baboons, Warthogs, Impala… the list is non ending and you might even see a leopard or a lion… all this with the minimum disturbance to the animals and birds. With silence, so that you can listen to Africa! 

Now I have to answer all the questions I asked at the start of this letter.

How do you describe it? You can not. You just can not! This is the Lower Zambezi Valley and you can not describe it, you have to feel it, you have to live it! This is Africa in the raw.

This is also a sad goodbye from me and Helen. We have been privileged to live in the valley since 2004 and Old Mondoro became our home and we loved it, we loved it with all our heart and will miss it with all our heart. As I am sitting here in camp, writing on the banks of the Zambezi River, we feel privileged to have experienced one of the last remaining wilderness areas which is the Lower Zambezi Valley, and in my mind one of the most beautiful and exhilarating places on earth, with all it’s got to offer. Like I said before, this is the best home one can wish for, with the best back yard garden in the entire world! And we lived it…and became addicted!

We would like to thank all our guests for sharing and experiencing this with us through the years, a lot who came back for a second, third, fourth and more times and that whom we became true friends with.

We would also like to express our thanks to Grant Cumings (Chiawa Camp) and Jason Mott (Sausage Tree Camp), the owners of Old Mondoro, for their support and hard work that helped make Old Mondoro the successful and popular camp it is today. And everybody in Lusaka who keeps the machine oiled behind the scenes: Alan Harkness, Dave & Jenny Cumings and the staff in the offices, without which everything will grind to a halt, thank you so much.

Kindest Safari Regards

Roelof & Helen Schutte, and the Old Mondoro team

(Ps: Please keep in touch, and may a leopard cross your path…)

12 July 2001.
Old Mondoro Bush Camp – a magical place where you feel you have arrived in the real Africa – hippos, birds, lions and hyenas just on your doorstep, elephants too. We feel very privileged to be the first guests and know all other visitors will have memories to treasure after staying here!
P.S We recommend the canoe experience – just fantastic!!
Susan & John King, UK

OM Guest Book: Safari Season 2007

This has become our favorite camp! 20 plus elephants in camp for lunch! And the hippos – and the calm, and the wonderfull staff! Perfect! We hate to leave… Susi & Jean Walrand, Nassau, Bahamas, July 2007

 

This place is magical! We could stay in tent 4 for the next several years and love every minute. Helen and her staff made us so welcome, the food is superb, the guides knowledgeable and entertaining. It was a fabulous 4 days. We will be back! Charlie & Cynthia Robinson , San Antonio, Texas, USA, August 2007

 

One of our best experiences in this camp while traveling to Africa for many, many years!!! Irene & Rolf Pluess. Oberneunforn, Switzerland, September 2007

 

A fabulous place: refreshingly simple in structure and approach, yet uncompromising in service and safari experience. Thanks to an extremely hospitable team – we will doubtless return! Chris & Susie McIntyre, Expert Africa, UK, September 2007

 

In a world of over used hyperbole Old Mondoro is truly exceptional. It has been a privilege to get some sense of Africa in the raw at a camp that is run with an easy (apparently effortless) style that is totally in keeping with its surroundings…thank you. Nigel, Kim, Daisy & William Binks, Barnes, London, August 2007

 

Outstanding! The highlight of our trip! Spectacular camp and setting, brilliant hosts. Fantastic guiding…thank you. Ian & Jane Greves, Dulwich, London, October 2007

August 2007 

September 2006

April May June 2006

January 2006