AFRICAN SAFARI NEWS

The good summer rains have meant a sea of grass across the Palmwag Concession and an abundance of plains game “hundreds of mountain zebra, thousands of springbok and plenty of oryx” and occasional sightings of lions which have colonised the area. Yet another new white rhino calf born at Ongava. This one was photographed by Riaan Compaan.

The Desert Elephant and Rhino Expedition in the Palmwag Concession is winning new fans. This unique Exploration follows a camel train across the concession, ending at the new Discoverer Hoanib Camp. On the latest expedition guests walked 90km in 4 days and saw no less than 11 black rhino as well as plenty of desert-adapted elephant, Hartmann’s mountain zebra and other game.

SEYCHELLES - NORTH ISLAND NEWS
For a few days in June, North Island closed its doors to paying guests to give a group of 36 disadvantaged Seychellois children the time of their lives. It was the first ever Children in the Wilderness on North Island and hopefully the beginning of many more! North Island staff teamed up with The National Council for Children, an organization on Mahe, to run the program, the only project of its kind in the Seychelles.

The mission statement was “through love, commitment and exposure to our environment make these broken children whole again” and as a councilor said, “it was 3½ days filled with laughter, the most incredible energy and endless learning for the kids and all involved.” The camp was opened by the First Lady of the Seychelles who stated: “North Island’s environmental philosophy and the National Council for Children’s living values program come together today to give us all an opportunity to reflect a bit more on what we want for our children and what our children want from us.”

It was the children, however, who put it best: “I thank you with love and happiness. Thank you for keeping me safe from danger and sharing your kindness with me. I am glad for me the friends I made on this island.”

ZAMBIA CAMPS UPDATE
Our two existing camps in northern Kafue National Park, Busanga Camp and Lunga River Lodge, both opened for the season at the beginning of June and have hosted guests while we put the finishing touches on Shumba and Kapinga Camps – both due to open at the beginning of July.

Despite the challenges experienced at the beginning of the construction process, the plains have dried out progressively and building has become easier. The camps are essentially finished and the game around the camps has settled down and adjusted to our presence. We are proud to say that negligible impact has been had on the environment of the two camp sites and we are confident that this is a special product.

Wilderness Safaris has employed eight scouts for active anti-poaching work in the areas around our camps and has also employed some 40 men from the communities north of the park (many ex-poachers) for the construction project. The attraction of employment has been such that some have walked several days to the park boundary before boating in makeshift craft down the channels of the northern Kafue River to arrive on site and ask for work. Such commitment deserves reward and we employed all those who arrived. The “boats” used were very original – one a piece of tree bark that supported three men for a two-day trip along hippo-inhabited channels!

Game viewing is impressive with large numbers of puku on the Busanga Plains complemented by healthy numbers of zebra, wildebeest and red lechwe. Hippo are numerous both here and in the Lunga and Lufupa rivers. More unusual species such as oribi, roan, sable and Lichtenstein’s hartebeest are seen regularly as are herds of buffalo. Leopard, lion and elephant are also being seen at Lunga, while recently a 3-hour drive between sites saw two wild dog packs (11 & 14), 3 cheetah on a kill and a female leopard!

CAMP UPDATES
Child policies (Botswana):
Abu Camp: Children 8 years and over are welcome at normal adult rates and are able to participate in all normal activities.
Abu Private Villa: Children of all ages are welcome and participate in all activities available at the Private Villa. The price is per villa regardless of whether guests are adults or children.
Seba Camp: Children of all ages are welcome at adult rates and are able to participate in all activities.
Jack’s and San Camps: Children from 4 years (no longer 8 years) and over are now accepted at both Jack's and San Camps with immediate effect. Please note however that a Private Vehicle and Guide must always be booked and paid for on all bookings where children between 4 and 8 years are included. Jack's will offer a 33% discount to children between 4 and 8 years if they are traveling in November, December, January or February (from March to October children pay the same rates as adults). Children at San Camp pay the same rates as adults.

Changes to Chitabe Trails:
- No walking trails may overlap
- The trails will operate 01 May to 30 September only
- The Trails can accommodate a maximum of 4 guests
- As before no children less than 12 years old may be accommodated on the Trails

Accolades...
Wilderness Safaris camps have been the recipients of various accolades: Rocktail Bay made the 12th position in The Observer’s list of the World’s 20 best deserted beaches; Vumbura Plains made it onto the Condé Nast Traveller’s Hot List for Africa and the world for 2006; and finally the quality and uniqueness of Pafuri within the greater Kruger National Park has been recognized by the UK’s Guardian newspaper who voted the camp in the Top Five Best Camps for the area.

WILDLIFE
Pafuri Wilderness Trails               Jump to Pafuri Camp
The Makuleke Concession in the north of Kruger is perfect for Wilderness Trails and last week saw the first trail being run in the concession for journalists and operators. It was a great success with highlights being 30 elephants seen from above while on a kopje, following a honeyguide to a beehive, nightly relaxed bushpig in camp, a Pel’s Fishing Owl along the Limpopo and an exceptional sense of wilderness.

Jack’s and San – the wet Kalahari               Jump to Jack's & San Camps
The summer rains have ensured that there is plenty of water still lying in the pans and this has resulted in the presence of hundreds of thousands of flamingos and plenty of other waterbirds breeding. The zebra migration is still in the Jack’s area in full force and, due to the abundance of water, is expected to stay until at least August or even September.

The alpha female in the Mowana meerkat troop is heavily pregnant and there have been regular sightings of aardvark, aardwolf and caracal. Best news of all is the discovery of a brown hyena den site close to camp where the cubs are rapidly becoming habituated to game drives!

July saw a slight drop in wind strength compared to last month, although the ocean has remained unsettled and at times very choppy. Strangely though, the visibility has gone from 8m to 15m, despite a constant wind, and even more strange has been the presence of a reverse current, which means that the current has been going in an opposite direction to that of the wind! Usually the wind blows from the south-east and the current is in a south to north direction, but of late we have had a north to south current. Water temperature has remained at a chilly 24°C. Some of the dive team who dive on a regular basis have been diving with a chicken vest and hood and we have had guests diving in a full suit with a short suit over it for extra warmth.

We have had some exciting sightings: a sea grass ghost pipefish on 'Sprat City', incredibly well spotted by one of our divers, the first flounder (sole) spotted floating across the sand at 'Twin Anchors' dive site and more nudibranches than usual. In addition, on one of our recent dive outings to 'Sprat City', as the divers descended, the skipper and deckhand on the dive boat noticed a local fishing boat hook a Tiger Shark not 10 metres away from where the divers had descended. The shark was pulled up to the boat and it came off the hook. The size was estimated to be 1.5 metres. From our point of view, it is hugely encouraging to know that a member of this species is on the plateau region, as the Seychelles has an active shark fishing and shark finning industry and this species has been forced into the drop off regions of Aldabra and Farquahr Islands. On the same topic, our boat maintenance contractor saw a tiger shark off Mahé recently, which is again exciting. White tip reef sharks are still regular sightings and continue to be highly active amongst the sprat shoals.

'Sprat City' is still the site to dive, with the active little sprats all over the place, the ever-excited blue spot kingfish giving constant chase, never letting the little sprats rest for a second. This in turn encourages the white tip reef sharks to move in closer and the entire region bursts with life at the blink of an eye. Three giant sleepy sharks have been hiding off North East Point and have surprisingly not shown their faces in the sprat action.

Whilst on a dive at 'Sprat City', a massive fulvie kingfish was spotted, tipping the 35kg mark. It was, by far, the largest kingfish that we have seen to date and it clearly commanded huge respect from the others in the shoal. An impressive-sized napoleon wrasse was also seen out and about on this dive site recently, which confirms our theory that 'Sprat City' rocks with life in the south-east monsoon season. The predator fish have been wild and yet again getting back to the kingfish family, it has been a common sighting to be surrounded by a massive shoal of these fish and on closer inspection, there have been four species of kingfish, the likes of fulvie, big eye, blue spot and golden kingfish, within the same shoal, all spending time together and all ranging in size. Surface action has been exciting all around the island, with fish chases everywhere, sailfish jumping clean out of the water, excited couta chasing this way and that and large shoals of milkfish just skimming the surface, in a hurry to be where the food is.

Along with all of this life, we have experienced the arrival of the seasonal jellyfish. In addition, plankton has been thick in the water and because plankton is weak, it uses the ocean current to drift. Some of this plankton is of the stinging variety, so we have had a little stinging here and there whilst out diving or snorkelling.

Spotted eagle rays have also been a huge attraction in front of the dive centre, playing in the shallows, floating and then leaping clear out of the water and splashing back down again. Sting rays have also been more frequently sighted, as have porcupine rays in the shallows off main beach.

Debbie Smith

May officially marks the beginning of the dry season; it means different bird species, more elephant encounters, change in animal behaviour and a scenic metamorphosis of nature. Impala Lilies blooming in the dry season with absolutely no leaves are a good example. Over the last three months the river has receded about 70cm or so, and no rain in the rest of the park means concentrations of animals close to the water with lush green vegetation restricted to this area. It's here where most of the sightings have been seen: next to the watercourses.

Some of the new bird species that have started to show themselves only in the last months include the following: African Skimmers, Pink-backed Pelican, Grey-headed Gulls, Black-winged Stilt, Spur-winged Lapwing, Half-collared Kingfisher, Miombo Blue-eared Starling, African Spoonbill, Crested Francolin and Livingston's Flycatcher. As a newcomer, I've seen about 10 new species - quite a change from working in Namibia. Apart from these species some of the other guides have had a few very rare sightings: Southern-banded Snake-eagle, Brown-breasted Barbet, Allen's Gallinule, Green Malkoha and Narina Trogon.

• The Selinda pack of wild dog has been very active this last month. They are back to using the CMU camp as their catch net for impala. One poor individual was chased into and smashed, the office window before becoming breakfast. They also cornered the old wildebeest bull, who is practically a camp resident, in the car park. He was too wise for their tactics though & saw them off.

• The poor francolins at Zibalianja are at their wits end with a dwarf mongoose clan that has taken up residence in their camp. These little guys are prolific nest raiders & as fast as the hens lay, so the mongooses steal the eggs.

• The return of the buffalo herds has been particularly welcomed by the Selinda lions. They have been seen following the herds hoping for a straggler or a weak individual to be exposed. Beef is back on the menu, but you have to catch it first!

• We welcome a new couple to Zbalianja Camp! Stuart Bell& Tessa Campbell will be taking over from Sam & Sean who move over to our CMU camp. Stuart & Tessa join us from Islands Of Siankaba in Zambia where they have been for the last two years.

• Selinda also has an addition to the management team - taking it to full strength. Zane Volker, who is no stranger to The Selinda, joins us on a permanent basis. We wish him a hearty official welcome to the Linex family.

• Once again lions have dominated the predator viewing over the month. The cubs are doing well; the males are sticking around (roaring in & around the camps frequently), & the lionesses are providing hunting action.

• The Trails team seems to be getting all the leopard action. Chris & his following band were stalking some distressed francolins in a bush, hoping to see a snake or genet, when they flushed a large male leopard. It is unsure who got the bigger fright.

• Morning coffee at Mokoba Camp was all action when a leopard cornered a troop of baboons in the tree above one of the tents. Eventually, the baboons decided to exit their retreat, en masse, in a shower of leaves, twigs & copious amounts of poo!

The August winds have arrived early this year gusting from the east, creating a dark haze on the horizon perfect for sunsets. Afternoons this month have been warm, temperatures reaching 27C but dropping to 8C towards the early morning.

Many of the plains game have gathered, forming large herds relying on the lush grasses that are being provided by the reseeding floodwaters. Water levels around Mombo are dropping seeming that we reached our peak a few weeks ago. This does not mean that the flood regime has stopped; we still are observing flood waters creeping into the remaining depressions of the island. These still waters create a mirror image of the beauty above, reflecting the palms and enhancing the winter sunlight.

The acacia nigrescens have started to flower, the first signs that summer is on its way. These flowering trees create a canopy of activity, attracting birds, monkeys and insects as well as a beautiful backdrop against the winter landscape.

Our developing wilddog pack was sighted a few times this month, they are looking healthy and it’s believed that the alpha female could still be pregnant. On one occasion we found the pack close to camp with three hyenas trailing them. All the dogs and hyenas had bloody faces; the hyenas had stolen the wilddogs kill. Whilst observing the dogs two nomadic male lions arrived on the seen, alerting the dogs which ran into the safety of the thick acacia. Not more than a few hundred meters down the road the giggling antics of the spotted hyena were heard; we sighted seven hyenas, presumably feeding on the remains of the dogs kill.

Interestingly the five wilddogs returned to their kill hoping to pick up a few scraps but the seven hyenas were too much of a challenge for them. Then, out of nowhere the nomadic male lions arrived on the scene asserting their dominance and power over the kill. The hyenas dispersed from the lions, disturbing a curious leopard who quickly took to the trees. So there you have it, mombo magic, five wilddogs, ten hyenas, two male lions and one leopard all in one scene!

The Moporota pride has two more additions to this ever increasing pride, now attaining a total of 15 cubs. These new additions to the pride total the pride to 24 lions. This pride still frequents the northern tip of the island, which is home to large concentrations of game, thus giving the lionesses the ease in raising fifteen cubs.

Many of the giraffe have gathered into temporary aggregations, thus giving the lions an opportunity to spook them into thicker vegetation, causing the giraffes to fall and slip. During the last week of July four giraffe were killed by lions.

The picture below shows one of the Mathata pride males feeding on an adult bull giraffe, picture two taken on the same day shows a lionesses from the old trails pride feeding on a giraffe.

All our guests that have visited us in the last few years, have without fail, been introduced to Jimmy, the female hyena. This “famous” hyena has starred in the Mombo cookbook and was known for her persistence in breakng into the Mombo Kitchen. A few months back she was evidently mauled by lions which left her with a broken paw, making life a little more complicated than usual in surviving out in the wild. In addition to this she had two cubs to look after. Due to these conditions Jimmy decided that her only way to survive and sire two cubs was to depend on the kitchen, the office, the laundry, water pipes, electric cables, doors, books, chairs and many more items. It was thus decided that it was time to relocate Jimmy and her cubs to a better place.

The wildlife department was called in along with Map Ives, Wilderness Safaris environmentalist, deciding that she be relocated. So…….Jimmy and her cubs were darted and flown off Chiefs Island to a Botswana Defence Force training facility close to the capital, Gaborone. We bid farewell to Jimmy whose stories will remain a great part of Mombo forever.

Just to give you a quick update on our leopard cubs: At present the Tortillis female has been seen with two cubs and the far-eastern pan remains with her one cub. Both leopards are doing very well considering the hyena, lion and baboon density at Mombo.

Two individual male cheetahs have been seen this month, frequenting the floodplains of our concession. We still await the arrival of a female cheetah into our area, although in order to raise a litter in the paradise of Mombo you would need a medal.

The August winds have arrived early this year gusting from the east, creating a dark haze on the horizon perfect for sunsets. Afternoons this month have been warm, temperatures reaching 27C but dropping to 8C towards the early morning.

We leave the month of July with Scorpio above our heads, as Jupiter sets to the call of the goliath heron.

GUEST FEEDBACK
“I will always tell everyone that Mombo is not the camp to miss”
“Just keep up the wonderful work everyone is doing”
“You seemed to have covered everything to make our stay unforgettable”
“leopard, lions, rhinos, cheetahs and lots more”
“this is a very special place”
“all was fantastic and the staff were excellent”
“the highlights were the leopards, up close and personal”