Knockers Diary
by: Richard Knocker on 11/03/2008 (nduara loliondo)
Dear all
Just back from a turbocharged few days in Piyaya - phew! We started off with 4 nights in Nduara Loliondo, in its beautiful temporary location in the eastern part of Piyaya. Things have been rather more exciting than usual of late, in that there has been jostling for position among the different stakeholders in the area - far too boring to go into. The long and the short of it however, is that, for the first time ever, it looks as if there is official recognition for the importance of eco-tourism ventures in village lands surrounding National Parks. This is a major breakthrough.
Anyway, the highlight of our Nduara stay was undoubtedly the spectacle of Ol Donyo Lengai, regularly vomiting great grey gouts of ash 20,000' into the sky, some 40 kms to the East. The camp looks straight down a long valley towards the volcano, so we had awesome views every day. There was a layer of ash over most surfaces each morning, and some of us suffered from minor eye irritations, but this was a small price to pay for an amazing show.
Other highlights: a fine evening's fossiling in a nearby river valley. The plain is part of the Olduvai system, so there is an abundance of fossils here. Of particular interest was John's find of a fossilized elephant vertebra perfectly preserved in a tower of eroded volcanic stuff, with an assortment of teeth and bone fragments nearby. Oh, and we spent a morning scaling Nasera Arok, the granite monolith in the Gol Mountains, an adrenalin rush that was rewarded in this instance by a pair of lanner falcons cruising on the gusting winds at the summit.
Breakfast calling. Lekima, our Maasai companion, called us up the kopje to watch an elephant feeding not far away, so it was decided that, after eating, we would leave the car and walk over to get a closer look. Easier said than achieved, as it turns out. Approaching the spot where we thought the elephant to be, we nearly tripped over a couple of old bull buffalo snoozing under a bush. Cue comic scenes of frantic hand signals and elaborate slow-mo high stepping as everyone got a good view before backing quietly out so as not to wake the sleeping beauties. Everyone agreed that it was a good adrenalin blast to kick off with.
A couple of minutes later, there were 3 lion on a nearby kopje. This posed the interesting conundrum, having a had a good view, of how to back out WITHOUT tripping over the aforementioned buffalo. Luckily, the lions spotted us and melted away into the bush, thus sparing our efforts. Next was a huge herd of elephant - and I mean huge. There were at least 150 animals in the bush on the far side of the gulley. As we got close, there was much peering over shoulders, to ensure that we kept our exit clear. Quite enough for one morning, so we turned and headed for home.
“Le...le... leopard!”, just as the cat flowed down from its perch. I missed it sadly, but several in our party got a glimpse. Lunch was heaven - we perched on a flat kopje, with bedrolls in the shade nearby so we could sleep off the excitement. Our mobile camp, meanwhile, had been set up in a short way to the west. It was in a fabulously wild and woolly location, and – even better – we had it all to ourselves. Next morning saw us on foot again, walking along the Lamanaa River(the Maa word for 'Meander').It was much less of an adrenalin walk than the day before, although we did get close again to a dozy bull buffalo. We also had a fleeting view of a crocodile, my first ever in Piyaya, as well as a python fast asleep on a branch. Plus the usual birds and immense variety of turds of course.
And then the grand finale: we thought a sundowner would be a fitting end to our Piyaya stay, so we duly set off for a favourite kopje that evening. On the way, we spotted a herd of elephant, so hopped out and snuck up for a closer view of these peacefully feeding pachyderms. Exhilarated, we found we still had time for our sundowner, so off and up the rock we went, for a stiff G&T, several groups of elephant, a herd of buffalo feeding peacefully down to the river, and a pair of hunting lion. What a sight. I mean, who needs fireworks?
See you on safari,
Cheers Richard
Chada Katavi Diary - Feb 2008
by: Peter, Anita and all at Chada Katavi on 01/03/2008 (chada katavi)
Dear All,
Sorry about being a little late with our news from the wonderful world of Katavi. What with the closing of camp for the season we have been running around a little.
Well, it seems that with the rain falling regularly and the grass getting taller the lions of Katavi seem to have taken to the trees!! During January and the beginning of February, our game drives had regular sightings of lioness, cubs(not always very elegantly) and even males up in the trees. Not just above the ground but high up in the canopy. It appears at one point a lioness was coming into season and her beau followed her up into a Sausage tree (Kigelia Africana) where he looked very uncomfortable, but managed to keep his balance and close tabs on her. One of our guides, Phillip managed to take some excellent pics, of which one is seen above. Well done Phillip!
We had one sighting only of the 5 wild dogs during this period as they headed out along the edge of the Katisunga plain. All seemed in good health and intent on filling their stomachs as soon as the opportunity arose.
With all the rank vegetation it has been a great time to study the small things such as insects and spiders. The variety of Dragon Flies is absolutely amazing as they fly around in their hundreds hawking for mosquitoes etc. The variety of web weaving spiders in the tall grass is astounding with all shapes and sizes seen.
We will be at Chada until the middle of March, then off for a bit of a break and will return in time to open camp in May. We look forward to being back in the bush to greet all in the new season.
All the very best
Peter, Anita and the Chada Team
Greystoke Mahale - Feb 2008
by: Anna on 29/02/2008 (greystoke mahale)
Its raining in Mahale. Where has the dry season gone?
All is wet, drops are falling from leaves, to leaves down to the ground; even the trees themselves seem to rain. Water is everywhere. Streams are now formidable rivers flowing from the top of the mountains and, looking back from the lake, giant waterfalls look like tiny scars cutting the escarpment.
The vegetation is so thick that the forest looks completely impenetrable from the shore. Who could think that so much is happening now, right now, in this fortress. Creepers crawl up in strange shapes around the trunks strangling the trees and vines are falling down from the top of the trees right to the roots.
The atmosphere is probably as magical as it have ever been, probably even more. Its now when you discover what else this magical forest has to offer. No sound or movement can be predicted. What you think is a tree, ends up being a huge vine when you get close. The word jungle as we imagine from our children books is reality here, not just something from our imagination. Mahale is in essence the 'lush tropical jungle'. And when the forest allows the sunshine to come through its shelter in streams of light, it appears even more magical.
Sand Rivers Diary - January 2008
by: Rob & Storm on 19/01/2008 (sand rivers selous)
Dear all
7 months have passed and “Tis the season to be Jolly”!!!
December, as always, is the countdown to Christmas!! The lodge has been extremely full, and Kiba Point has been full steam ahead. We’ve had lots of honeymooners, lots of families, and lots of people recovering from a hard year worked in the city of London!!
Ishmail, one of our waiters, injured his hand this month. He somehow dropped a glass and cut his hand open pretty badly. With me almost fainting at the sight, Rob and Ross very calmly got the trauma kit out and proceeded to sew him up, sans any anesthetic! The patient never flinched once. The hand healed beautifully and he is back at work and raring to go.
On the game front we managed to sneak out once to see an amazing lion kill. The way they had taken the giraffe down was incredible. In the chase, her legs must have given way beneath her and she must have collapsed belly down. We think she had suffocated and as a result was left in the seated position. The only way the lions could get to her underbelly was to dig a hole around her and therefore slide down to lie and feast. A crazy thing to witness, as from a distance all you could see was a sitting giraffe and on closer inspection you could see her head bobbing up and down, only to then notice that a pride of lions were feeding on her.
Coming back from leave in November we stopped in Dar es Salaam and bought my favourite game….30 SECONDS!! And it has been a hit!! We have had a lot of very festive evenings resulting in guests feeling very relaxed and pulling a few games out of their hats as well.
All too soon it was Christmas. The day was a lot of work, preparing for 27
people at Sand Rivers, as well as 9 over at Kiba. For Christmas Eve celebrations at Sand Rivers, we enjoyed a lovely bush dinner. We had a
traditional barbeque/braai with lots of local flavours. It was a huge hit.
Christmas Dinner was celebrated under the stars on the sandbank next to the
lodge. It was a lot of work to setup, only for the rains to come at the very
moment we took guests down to the beach. After lots of wishing and hoping and very, very fortunately after only two short drizzles, the rain moved on. It was spectacular though because the lightening was still very active and an amazing experience to watch while having dinner. We had a traditional English Christmas, including hams, turkeys, and mince pies made by Rob himself!!!
Before the New Year was upon us we, we decided to venture on a game drive one last time to bid 2007 in the Selous “Farewell”. We saw absolutely nothing for the first hour, and were about to give up when we came across a dead stump habituated by a family of dwarf mongoose. The light was already poor so our photos did not come out that well, but to sit and watch the incredible energy and social interaction of these tiny little creatures was simply a privilege. It was in that brief moment that we were reminded why we have chosen the path we have and why we have embarked on this journey in the first place. The African wilderness is a true wonder and we are so honoured to be a part of it.
But home sick we still were over Christmas and we thought of you all. We trust you had a wonderful time with your families and friends. Happy, Happy
New Year to you all and may 2008 be filled with endless moments of happiness and memories that will last you a lifetime.
All our love
Rob and Stormy
