Old Mondoro Newsletter Nov. 2006
OLD MONDORO |  |
END OF SEASON NEWSLETTER, | 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
