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Tales from Tinga: A Safaritalkers Safari to Zakouma


michael-ibk

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Well I have just caught up on the last 4 days worth of postings and what a brilliant report this is turning out to be.  Loving the multi person narrative, so much fun to read.  The pictures of the river with all of those amazing birds are just incredible.

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gatoratlarge

I also remember the G&T's from the night before @pault---some of the best I've ever tasted!  Might have contributed to the general grogginess or memory loss the next day but in our defense, things happened really, really fast!  I think Doug would tell you that the goal especially at Zakouma is to get to a vantage point to observe the elephants and watch (downwind) and then extract yourself without the elephants even knowing you were present. 

 

Those trees down on the road weren't due to the path less traveled---they were due to the large mega-herd of elephants in the area knocking them down to have a nibble and then leaving them in their wake...we could hear the trumpeting elephants from the vehicle and the sounds of many large beasts making their way through the bush....they sounded agitated as most elephants I've encountered elsewhere in Africa can be nearly silent, these were quite noisy and vocal.  I just thought perhaps this was (sadly) the constant state of alarm in which this mega-herd must live considering the rampant poaching in their not-too-distant past...PTSD perhaps?  

 

At any rate, my recollection is that we piled out of the vehicle to try to catch a glimpse of the elephants and soon the bush became quite thick---probably too thick for comfort for Doug.  Up ahead we watched as a mother elephant appeared and her baby---they stood still for a moment taking in their surroundings before moving forward.  The background was filled with trumpeting elephants and soon after things get quite blurry---Suddenly a female elephant comes crashing into view! She came not in a straight line but a "Flying J" circling around for maximum drama and effect, crashing through the brush---this would be terrifying under ANY circumstances even in a land cruiser but on foot you very quickly realize that a running elephant can make up a lot of ground in short order!  I saw giant ears and heard her shrieks of disapproval --- everyone began to run!  I had been rolling some video but of course cut it off before her charge :(

 

The problem was that we began to run away from her wrath but were we running into the rest of the herd??  Elephants came into view not just from the front, but now from the side!  Doug stood his ground which was impressive and we followed the guard to safety, hearts pounding!

 

I'll just add this video to the report---it at least captures the mood at the moment (panic!) and a few of the elephants do make the frame---we were in good hands but a good reminder that anything can happen in the bush and elephants are not to be trifled with:

 

 

 

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That is one very angry Mummy. Glad you all survived.

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michael-ibk

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Well, I confirm that G&T had been enjoyed quite intensely the prior evening, mainly because we were told to mix them ourselves, and let´s just say a bar wouldn´t really make good profit from our Gin to Tonic ratio. :-)

 

If you look closely you can see me in the picture in the background on the right, looking up to some tree. That´s because a Giant Kingfisher was perching there, allowing me a relatively close approach. Very happy about that, never really had gotten good sightings of them. What a good start to the day, really, what could go wrong today?

 

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Paul is correct in saying that there were a few nice birds on the way indeed - like this Vieillot´s Barbet, another new one for me.

 

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The light seemed to be slightly (just slightly) better than the days before but there was still a lot of dust in the air.

 

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A beautiful Brown Snake Eagle let us approach quite closely before it took off.

 

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Oh well, and then the fun started! We were all very excited to finally see Zakouma´s elephants, they are after all pretty much the raison d´être of the park and its success. Yes, they were pretty agitated, there was a lot of snuffling, rumbling and trumpeting going on but I honestly do not remember if I was concerned about that or not. Probably not, we were going there with one of the rangers who told me he´s seeing them several times a week, and then there was Doug who I fully trust, so I guess I did not think too much of it.

 

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Unlike Paul I have zero recollection of one bull making a mock charge and stopping. I just remember all of them sort of gliding through the thick bush, drifting away rather than towards us and I think I was slightly annoyed because it was just too hard to get a focus through all those twigs and branches.

 

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But I distinctly remember four Elephants suddenly trotting towards us, one of them followed by a young calf, trumpeting loudly! Did I go "Oh shit" then? Not really.

 

Photography will really be the end of me some day because I have to admit my very first reaction was "Cool, finally they are getting out, now we are gonna get good crisp pictures in focus, wonderful."

 

Fortunately that first impression only lasted for a splitsecond and yes, that was when "Holy shit" really sank in. I turned, grabbed Andreas who was still standing and ran. I am sure I was already in my best "Whatever you do don´t look back and just run, at least outrun Paul" mode when I heard Doug behind me apparently standing his ground and shouting at the Elephants. Oh well, to each his own, nice knowing him.

 

It´s true that i was stupid enough (no argument there) to pick up Paul´s lenscap, I actually saw it falling down and just instinctively picked it up. Really not a clever thing to do, but apparently my brain is hardwired by now to always pick up camera stuff in all and any kind of  situations. I might admit (just this once) that my sense of priority could be considered just a tad questionable and not totally sound . 

 

So unlike Paul´s take on things in my memory we were all running already when Doug got cross with his Elephants, and I´m curious to learn what Jane´s version of the situation is. Andreas did not even realize that they were running towards us, he still had his camera up and was trying to focus on two different Ellies farther away when I grabbed him and told him to run.

 

Doug and the ranger were quite baffled about this whole incident and unsure what had upset them so much. These Elephants are monitored closely by park staff all the time and therefore also used to people on foot close by, so who knows. Maybe they had been that concerned because they were not able to see us well in all this thickish, just observed something trotting through the bush and were not sure what it was and to make of it - yes, listen to Michael the suicidal Elephant expert, I know it all! ;)

 

Anyway, when we could breathe again and were in the relative safety of our car we discussed what to do for the remainder of the morning. Well, there was just one logical thing to do after almost being trampled to death by a stampede of angry pachyderms, and so Doug suggested: "Let´s go try to find the Elephant herd again, shall we?"

 

Of course, what a good plan! B)

 

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Edited by michael-ibk
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michael-ibk

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Doug was hoping that the herd would come out of the forest to get a drink quite soon now so we checked out some of the places they apparently favour according to our ranger. First spot - nada! We still heard them but it was clear they were moving away from us now. We drove further South when we heard some noise relatively close again. Doug had the car stop, we waited patiently and then, yes, a bunch of them was crossing the road in the distance. Clearly suspicious of us, they did not linger and soon were invisible again.

 

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We waited and waited, hoping that they would relax and maybe, hopefully get out into the open again but it was not to be. A Hoopoe tried to distract us.

 

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And this Kob seemed to be jealous of the Elephants, here he was posing and saying "I am a very interesting and pretty animal as well, forget about these bad-tempered grey monsters and take a picture of me."

 

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When we had to accept that the Elephants were gone (again) we moved on and stretched our legs at a beautiful stretch of the Salamat river.

 

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When Doug pointed out a tiny little bird pretty far on the other side away naturally I had to run along all the riverbank to get a picture of it - an Egyptian Plover, a very cool lifer for me.

 

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Similar to my comrades, this Waterbuck simply could not comprehend my fascination.

 

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Down South was the only part of the park where we saw palms - a pretty area.

 

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Originally, when we were still supposed to pitch our own tents (instead of using the Nomad stuff) Doug had planned to camp here. Would certainly have been a nice place as well.

 

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It was already 11:00 when we turned around and headed North again.

 

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Banded Mongoose. Yes, rubbish photo. They are incredibly skittish here, nothing like the tame cuddly pets seen in the Mara. Once they see the car they bolt - fast!

 

After a while we encountered a couple of Elephants crossing the road again. We were actually reasonably happy with these few sightings, at least we had seen Zakouma´s most famous inhabitants and so could call the day a success. And personally I was really looking forward to spend the afternoon at our lovely flycamp spot.

 

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michael-ibk

But it was not over yet. We stopped. Again we could hear, feel that unmistakable rumble that goes through your whole body. They were close again - where? The riverbed was not too far from the road, and we peeked something through a small opening.

 

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Doug went out to get a better picture of the situation. After a while he reemerged from the bush, and waved at us, signalling to get out of the car and join him. Sure, after our morning experience, that made total sense to us, why not try to approach this hypernervous bunch of multitonners on foot? I really wonder why none of us seemed to oppose that idea, even Nam Wan joined us for this. So, did we run into a second disaster here?

 

We did not. We had the privilege of experiencing pure safari magic instead, one of these complete moments of perfect peace and beauty.

 

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At first we just watched through the branches. Then we descended lower and lower into the riverbed, carefully, trying to be quiet, and this time the Elephants did not mind. We sat there and smiled.

 

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I don´t know how it was for the others but I was deeply touched. Cannot really explain, I had not felt that way in the morning when we had had a few sightings (much too close some of them).

 

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Now I could not help remembering the history of this herd, being poached almost into extinction, going through all kind of traumas an Elephant can experience, being so stressed that they even stopped breeding, losing an entire generation of young Elephants because of the terrible situation they were in, not really living, just surviving - few of them.

 

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And here they were, a happy herd, and oh, how wonderful to see them drink, interact, babies suckling at their mothers´, youngsters splashing in the water, young bulls fighting, all having a good time. Elephants doing what Elephants should do. It felt like a miracle.

 

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I checked my photos, we did watch them in the riverbed for not much more than ten minutes but it felt much longer, probably because it was such a rewarding and beautiful experience, especially after our failures in the morning. Soon they were gone, the magic of the moment with them, and the riverbed was empty again.

 

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And only logical that when we finally got back to the car and finally moved back to camp we were so exciting talking about the experience that some more of them would cross the road. :-)

 

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So, that was our Elephant morning. We had really managed to pack all sort of different Ellie situations in it, didn´t we?

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@pault @michael-ibk what a terrifyingly beautiful picture you guys have painted of those two encounters. A stunning day and those river shots of the elephants are gorgeous. 

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offshorebirder

Glad things worked out with the angry Elephant(s) - what an electric experience that must have been!

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Seniortraveller

I love a story with a happy ending.?

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SafariChick

I just need to back up to the morning of our "Elephant Day" because my comrades have left out a minor detail.  When we all got up after our night of fly camping, and were at the table having breakfast, we all were saying how well we slept and how delightful it was fly camping there. Nam Wan jokingly said "we should just stay here the rest of the week!" Doug then said "Well, if it would be ok with them, would you like to stay another night?" We all said "yes, sure!" So Doug went to talk to Bonvenue/Bienvenue (Paul you have now convinced me it must be Bienvenue if he really said it means Welcome! Just must be my bad ears hearing how he pronounced it) and within about a minute or two he was back saying that Bienvenue said sure, no problem! We were thrilled! Although most of us had not brought any change of clothes, I hadn't brought a new pair of daily contact lenses and had thrown out the old ones thinking we'd be going back to camp (I would wear glasses for the morning game drive I thought), etc.  We did ask Bienvenue if he could try to retrieve a few things for us from camp (I think @pault needed a camera battery and I needed my contact lenses) and he kindly did so and I think we retrieved those at lunch time.  So when we set out to find the elephants, we knew we'd be coming back to the fly camp later which was exciting. Unfortunately, we'd arrived in the dark and it was still barely light and cool when we left after breakfast so I didn't think about the fact that I left my Kindle Paperwhite e-reader in my tent - and yup, it got fried and no longer works. :-(

 

In any event, the others have told about the first elephant encounter. I just remember as we walked along after leaving the car that we walked for about five minutes - not that long but when you are needing to retreat OUT for five minutes due to an upset elephant it sure feels long! And I remember seeing glimpses of elephants along the side of us through some thick bush but far enough away that it didn't feel concerning. I'd been on foot very close to elephants with Doug in Mana Pools so this didn't feel too worrisome. 

 

In my memory, as soon as the elephant started charging and trumpeting I feel like Doug said "Let's go" and we all started half running/half walking very quickly. I wasn't really even aware of what Doug was doing as he was at the front, so now at the back as we retreated.  I feel like I had in my head that maybe we were going to retreat to a safe distance and still try to stay with them (now that seems insane) but it was made clear to me quite quickly that was not the plan! You can hear me breathing hard in the video Joel posted (the only higher pitched voice as Nam Wan had stayed in the car) so I don't know why Paul said he could see me moving but I wasn't getting closer ha ha - I was trying to get out of there, that's for sure! Once we got out and were debriefing, @michael-ibk said to Doug of Doug's conversation with the charging ele "It's a good thing she spoke the Mana Pools dialect!"  ^_^

 

It really was absolutely delightful to see the eles later in the water. I agree with Michael's sentiments, I felt kind of emotional seeing them so relaxed and happy also. Since our only experience of them had been in a state of agitation earlier that morning, it was lovely to see them just being normal regular elephants, splashing in the water, little ones lying in the mud, and having a grand old time. Just a wonderful experience. I also thought it was longer - looks like maybe 15 minutes from my photos, (not to quibble with Michael) but in any case, a joyous, quality sighting that we were very happy and grateful to have had.  Here are a few photos and a video:

 

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That was very interesting. I deliberately avoided looking at Joel's video until after I wrote up what I remembered and this time I stuck strictly to firm memories.

 

The most remarkable thing is how all the trumpeting was edited out except for when we were first charged.  It is true (easy to remember now) that there was a lot of noise before that but that was not related to us I think. We obviously wouldn't have gone in if it had been. So, as Jane and Michael mentioned, there was no alarm at first and my memory of me being (likely with Doug) the first to get very concerned is probably accurate. I also started evacuation (to the ranger and tree) before anyone else moved, that is why others remember exiting together - we did, but only because the ranger and I had to wait for them and nobody else (perhaps Joel - I don't really remember what he was doing, so I guess he was doing what I expected and very much wanted, which was coming) reacted to the initial allons-y (which it must have been although I only registered allons).  I was and am still amazed that Jane, Michael and Andreas did not register severe alarm earlier ( and we are talking seconds here). I thought our bodies were still hard wired for that kind of thing but I guess not. In any case, like I said, my shameful thought at the time was not "Come on you idiots...." but "Well I have the ranger, gun, tree and all of you to shield me..... Come on you idiots."

 

Seriously though they were remarkably cool.

 

Doug was very brave (like he had a choice, poor guy) and stayed focused on the elephants, and I believe (I did have a view at that point when they started to retreat and I was already a few meters away) he really did stop or slow the charge... although I still think there was a bit of mock in that charge and wonder, given that the elephants were trumpeting and crashing anyway, whether she/ he was really all that interested in us. Something I was glad not to find out,

 

The video is well on the way out so you can imagine it was even more alarming a few seconds prior. Doug still shouting at those eles though - got to feel warmth for the man.

Edited by pault
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madaboutcheetah

Fly camping sounds a lot of fun ........  The charging elephants not so much, but, I know you were in good hands with Doug!  We had to dodge some dodgy looking Elephant herds in the mopane in Mana a couple of years ago (no charge that time, we stayed away that they couldn't smell us) ....... 

 

The more people that visit Zakouma, the better for the park ...... Thanks for the report!!! :);):)

 

 

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Thanks for the reminder that our schedule got amended "by request" @SafariChick. It could indeed have got confusing if we hadn't pointed that out. The fly camp was such a highlight for Nam Wan and I, although I never did get the battery charger (or the Canon camera, for which I had a fully charged battery) and had to really carefully manage batteries over the two days, which was a bit frustrating. After the briefest period of normal service, a shortage of photos has resumed. 

 

Michael and Jane have covered the rest of the morning well. There we were asking to do it again please Doug - education surely does not correlate with intelligence.

 

It took quite a while to find the elephants again - a number of hours I am fairly sure, and there was more planning, some trails that went cold and some doubling back involved. It seemed that we were not going to be wholly successful in getting a really good sighting and then we struck gold, already well described above. In the end it seemed to be a mix of good planning, sheer luck and the ability to quickly spot an opportunity when it presented itself.

 

Planning a likely place to intersect with the elephants.

 

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After that it was kind of walking day. Actually it was really hot in the morning and we were just stopping for a break I think, but Michael was going to wet himself if he didn't go to get a closer look at a bird  he had spotted - and nobody was averse to stretching the break out a bit, so in the end some of us went down the bank and then that turned into a little wander.  There was very little to see, but as Michael mentioned it was an idyllic little stretch of river.

 

We must have been fairly late back to camp for lunch - but not that late as remember we were having very early starts, and after lunch was siesta time. Everybody lay down and napped on mats laid out in shade, close to the water (but far enough away from the crocs) except for Michael and I, who were mainly shooting at birds flying over the water. A flock of Carmine Bee-eaters had occupied a tree on the opposite bank and were diving in to drink, joining the always-resident Red-throated Bee-eaters and Pied Kingfishers, among others (Michael will likely name them all so best I don't try). It was pretty nice, although it got very hot and I was handicapped by not being able to shoot at maximum speed out of fear of running down the battery.

 

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Whoever said birding wasn't fun? ^_^

Edited by pault
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I decided to nap later, as my last battery had run out, although I still had half a charge in the battery on another, less sporty camera. Michael continued working on his tan. The afternoon plan was a walk out of camp along the river, across it to the other side, back and repeat. Jane passed in favour of waiting for the night drive but the rest of us went and it was a really pleasant but unremarkable walk. What a lazy day.

 

About an hour in we were coming down to the river to walk along the bank when Doug and I (who happened to be at the front) spied a buffalo on the bank. Doug motioned us to retreat and led us up to a place where there was a high bank, above the buffalo, who turned out to have a friend. They became aware of us and literally dived into the water to escape this unexpected appearance of humans above them. That was worth one of my (I imagined) few remaining shots. Once they achieved the safety of the other bank they turned and faced us down, looking quite alarmed and then very annoyed.

 

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Meanwhile, up on the bank something whistled past my nose and hit me on the shoulder with a splat. Rain? Sap? No, a baboon or monkey (I never caught the culprit) had decided to fish out a little present from his rear end for me and encourage us to move on. Smelling very fresh now, I suggested we take the hint and we did.  It wasn't a great walk in terms of what we saw, but it was a fine walk in terms of atmosphere and in the context of the day. It was hot, hot, hot in Zakouma now, but as the sun fell, it cooled a little and the walk got nicer and nicer - at least until the sun disappeared behind the dust. Nam Wan and I skipped the night drive for a sundowner by the water, although we went a bit easier on the gin that evening. The mood was so good Michael even made a point of telling us we hadn't missed much with the night drive and I told him he hadn't missed anything with the sunset either. He may even have had a shower (I know I did)

 

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Edited by pault
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fly camping was wonderful and I'm not one bit surprised you all opted for a second night. Three cheers for AP for being so generous and kind to allow it. it's this spirit of magnanimity and willingness to share the incredible wildlife and bush life with its guests that wins AP a deep sense of appreciation which can only benefit the organisation not only in terms of goodwill but in monetary rewards over the long term (I hope!). 

 

what a magical and amazing time you all had watching the elephants. what a privilege you had. I am very envious that the elephants granted such a great audience for you all. I hope Nam Wan enjoyed it @pault !

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michael-ibk

Please ignore this, nothing to see here, move on. (Tried to insert some pictures via Ipad but can't seem to make it work.)

 

 

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Alexander33

I am thoroughly savoring this report, with its multiple narrators and different perspectives. 

 

First, the market scene was really interesting. Good for you, @SafariChick, for picking up that knife (dagger?) as a souvenir. That’s the real thing. I’m a little envious — and I’m not even into weapons. 

 

Thanks to @gatoratlarge for posting that video of the elephant encounter. Not that the narratives weren’t compelling, but in this case, a (moving) picture (and sounds) really were worth a thousand words. Yikes!

 

Whether it was “stupid” for @michael-ibk to retrieve that lens cap or not, it sounds like you were having enough camera drama, @pault, that a lost lens cap on top of everything else might just have been enough to take you over the edge. You never know. Really sorry to hear you lost photos from the start of the trip — but, hey, that also gives you a certain license to embellish when and where you wish. :D

 

BTW, that’s a great photo of the Red-throated Bee-eater from your morning in camp, Michael. 

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Game Warden
9 hours ago, pault said:

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Time to revive this topic with this wonderful image :)

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gatoratlarge

So I'll try to move us into the next day (spoiler alert: lions coming) by saying we had another great night fly camping---I believe I even slept through the "alarm" for the first time and had to scramble to keep up with the pack.  More good food, more strong drinks, more popping and growling and splashing from the crocs and fish making their escapes...

 

A couple silhouettes for @GameWarden from our initial drive to Fly Camp: :) 

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With such prolific wildlife of all kinds at Zakouma I think Doug was a bit annoyed that we had only glimpsed the lioness and cub and missed the leopard altogether (damn tree cucumber!) when he knew how healthy the lion population is in the park...or maybe he just wanted to show off his tracking skills, but the next morning when we spotted fresh lion tracks, we went off road for a bit and began finding lions the old fashioned way.  It wasn't too long before we saw a gathering of vultures hanging around in a couple of trees and we knew we were about to hit paydirt!

 

We spotted a lioness and then a male and my memory may be shaky, another lioness?  I believe they had taken down a buffalo but again the memory is fuzzy (too many G&T's??) alas the light wasn't particularly good and they were resting in a tough spot of dense undergrowth but our lion drought had ended and would only increase in the coming days!

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I'm not looking at my journal at the moment but I also think we began to notice how many large herds of roan -- 40 or 60 strong we would encounter on occasion.  Zakouma continued to show itself as most special...

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SafariChick

I just have one photo of @pault at the lagoon by fly camp that I wanted to throw in here

 

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and @michael-ibk will put in some more from around camp when he can but for me, I will move on to Day 5 now too.  Seems to be a theme of this report that the group members remember some things slightly differently from each other! I remember that morning of Day 5 somewhat like Joel, but I recall it taking a lot longer before we actually found the lions.  Given that we probably left camp no later than 6 a.m. and maybe closer to 5:30 (though this WAS the morning Joel overslept a bit, I had forgotten but he jogged my memory), it WAS a long time before we found them because my first lion photo was a little before 8 a.m. 

 

Doug's tracking was really excellent, and we followed tracks for a long time, til we finally turned off the main track we were on and onto a VERY bumpy dirt which made us have to drive very slowly.  We were driving slow enough that Doug got out and walked along looking at tracks, and it was so bumpy that Michael asked Doug if he could get out and walk with him as the bumps were hard on his back.  Doug agreed and it was really a better idea to walk than stay in the vehicle!

 

So finally after a lot of hard work by Doug, and by us too sitting in the bumpy car, we finally came upon the lions with what remained of a carcass - a photo for those that are interested:

 

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It was already quite hot as I recall, and the lions (yes I think it was two lionesses and a male) were panting and trying to stay in the shade. I remember sitting around for a while hoping they would come out. But other than a walk from one bush to another, they weren't out of the bushes much, and I didn't get terribly good photos but I will post a few that I got:

 

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Eventually, we decided at least we'd seen some lions, though it was not the greatest sighting, and we would leave them to their shade and get out of this hot, mostly desolate, bumpy area of the park. (I am not quite sure where we were but I wrote down from what Doug told me later that when we saw the lions, we were on an area of the map that looked to be near a spot called Foundouk Chargune if that means anything to anyone!) For the drive back out to the main track, everyone but me decided to walk instead of drive! I was afraid I would be too hot walking but in retrospect, I think it was a wise choice for those who did it. African massage can be taken a bit too far at times!

 

The rest of the morning was fairly uneventful as I recall. My photos show some running-away-roan (might be good for the Show Us Your Bums thread but others will have better roan photos for here!)  and a few more miscellaneous sightings such as:

 

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and some nice saddle-billed storks which I always love seeing but rarely can get decent photos of. This time at least I caught one catching a meal (though I'm sure Michael and Paul will have sharper photos!)

 

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That's about all I can recall from that morning, and I know we went back to have lunch and I was very excited to take a 'real' shower after 2 days of fly camping having bought no change of clothes!  (one of the benefits of staying at Tinga).  

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SafariChick

That afternoon, we had an appointment to go see the Zakouma Headquarters and have a little presentation about how they monitor the elephants - I believe it was at 4 p.m.  But we set out a bit earlier and on the way, Doug said let's just stop by this waterhole to see if anything is going on. Lo and behold, we see three lionesses just lyin' around out in the open. It made me laugh because we had worked so hard for the sighting of three other lions in the morning and after that could barely see them half hidden in the bushes - had we only known we could see these three so easily maybe we would have not bothered with the other sighting - but obviously you never know what will happen on the next drive and you are happy for whatever you see! 

 

 It was still hot of course and they looked like typical lazy lions. We did think, hmm, these ladies don't look like they're planning on doing much - but then again, we realized these were probably the Tinga pride that hang around not too far from Tinga, and which Leon had told us we just missed two other mornings (He'd seen them near camp both times but we'd missed them as we'd gone out TOO early in the morning apparently!) but where were the cubs? This pride was made up, we knew, of three lionesses and nine cubs of slightly different ages. Could they have stashed the cubs somewhere because they were planning on hunting? they sure didn't look like it. And there was a hartebeest on the other side of the water coming to drink, they didn't look very interested. Anyway, we couldn't stay as we were expected at the HQ so Doug said we'll come back after our presentation at HQ, don't worry, nothing's going on, they'll still by lying here when we get back. Humph!  Here is a photo of the lionesses:

 

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So we went over to HQ and first met Linie, who I believe is in charge of community relations or something of that nature.  We gave her the tents and sleeping mats we'd purchased and brought with us to give as a donation to the park for the rangers to use. I also brought some pencils, colored pencils, pens and paper for the local children and a couple of deflated soccer balls and a small pump.  Linie was very appreciative and said that the kids have a soccer (football?) game every day and they were using the generator to pump up balls, so this would be a lot better!  Then we met Jerome who gave us a presentation of all that they do to monitor and protect the elephants. I don't want to say too much, and they asked that we not post any photos we took in there as they understandably want to keep their operations somewhat confidential in terms of not sharing in a public forum. But suffice it to say that their operation is impressively sophisticated and I can see why the elephants have recovered so well, and have been having babies again.  

 

After the presentation, we all wanted to have a group photo with our special scarves that Nam Wan had given us, and we all had to have them on our own cameras so this took a few minutes. Michael posted one in the initial post of the report, but here is one from my camera because that was so long ago and you all may have forgotten!

 

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After this, I asked whether I could use the restroom at the HQ and as I came out, Doug was telling me to hurry. I wasn't sure why we were in a hurry but as we got back in the car, he, and more to the point, Sulemon (our driver) explained. I hadn't realized it but when Sulemon dropped us off at HQ, Doug had asked him if he would go back to the waterhole and watch to see if anything happened. Well, boy had Doug been wrong when he said it looked like the lions were just sleepy and not going to do anything. When Sulemon got back, he watched the three lionesses attack and kill a hartebeest! Wow we thought, can't believe we missed that - and I had a combination of that thought but then also the thought that as exciting as it is I am not sure I really would have wanted to see it. I have seen a kill before and of course it is not pleasant. But we thought at least we can go back and hopefully see them eating. So we rush back to the waterhole, and what do we find? A dead hartebeest and ... no lions!  

 

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(this was taken from the other side of the water from where the hartebeest lay, I am just zoomed in as far as my little camera will go)

 

So we say well now what? We assumed the lions had gone to fetch the cubs, but it was really odd, I had never seen a kill left all by itself and I'm not sure if the others had either - and not a single other animal was around. It was a very odd feeling sitting there waiting while watching this dead hartebeest.  Well that was at 4:50 p.m. and within about 15 minutes, the lionesses began to return with all nine cubs in tow! Here are two short videos, the first of the lionesses first coming back onto the scene:

 

 

and the second of them beginning to dig in to the carcass 

 

 

I wasn't sure how good my photos would be as it was already after 5 p.m. and my bridge camera was having to zoom all the way in to get close-ups of the lions so I am glad I took a couple of videos as it always helps me remember the scene so well.

 

But here are some photos also. Before they went to the carcass, the lions all seemed thirsty and went to drink

 

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when they at last went over to begin eating, the light was not on them and they were farther away also so my photos deteriorated. 

 

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but I got a little lucky with the light on this last one

 

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One thing that was odd was that when they all returned, we counted all nine cubs that we'd been told the pride had. But one of the lionesses seemed to think one of hers was missing. She would not go to the kill and keep walking back in the direction they'd come from and calling and calling for it. I don't know how long this went on, but finally after what seemed a long time, she came back to the kill and realized it was there after all and they had a nice greeting! We figured maybe it had scampered off on the way to the kill and she didn't realize it had gotten ahead of her and was there. Phew!  

 

This was just a magical sighting. I couldn't believe we had it all to ourselves. It was really incredible to me that we were the only ones there and could just sit with these lions while they ate and drank and observe their lives in the wilderness like this.  Truly one of my favorite safari moments ever.  We stayed until it was too dark to see anything any longer and headed out feeling we'd had a fantastic afternoon!

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Thank you all so much for sharing your wonderful stories and photos of Zakouma. Its very interesting to read different recollections of the people, places and sightings of this safari and the photos are amazing - the birds, lion cubs and the 'surfing' buffalo, to name just a few.

 

I can't begin to imagine how frightening the elephant charge must have been on the ground - I found it alarming from the safety of my armchair! What a great adventure and I'm so glad that you all recovered sufficiently to go searching for the eles so soon after this experience.

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gatoratlarge

My pics are somewhat repetitive but I'll add a few.  The "control center" was pretty cool to see and while they've lost some elephants to poaching in the last few years they haven't lost a single ounce of ivory.  The Mamba anti-poaching forces are able to react so quickly that the poachers have had to abandon their efforts.  It makes sense that if they (poachers) aren't able to retrieve the ivory that ultimately it's not worth the effort and risk and it ceases.  Very impressed with the dedication and the people of African Parks --- they are heroes to me.  I hope they are able to extend the protection of elephants beyond the park boundaries as it's not fenced and there's still significant risks to elephants once they leave the confines of Zakouma...

 

I've seen several unsuccessful hunts by lions but oh to be Salumon, our driver!  He's the one that spotted the leopard run across the road while our eyes were laid upon that @$&*!!! wild cucumber! and it was Salumon that left us to keep an eye on those lazy lionesses!  What I wouldn't give to have seen the ambush!

 

As Jane said, how weird to come back and find the place abandoned but for the carcass of the hartebeest...and how cool to see the lionesses return with their cubs trotting behind!

 

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Messy eater!!!

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At park HQ about to get our briefing---I don't think this gives anything away but I will take it down if someone thinks so.  This is not the control center that I think contains sensitive information.

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Bit busy so the others will have to work harder... I'll get the cushy "fill in the gaps" spot for the next couple of days.

 

That pic looks totally safe to me @gatoratlarge and your description of the visit sounds about right too. It really was very interesting and impressive seeing how they monitor and deploy.

 

Missing the lion hunt AND the leopard........ we are just failures aren't we?  

 

@SafariChick thanks for the nice picture of me taking pictures of the bee-eaters - well I guess that is what it is. I could play snap with your pictures again - we must have been side by side I guess. And they came out really nice - not sure mine are any clearer at all - well, unless we blow them up to wall size!  And sorry for ruining your video soundtrack a bit. 

 

Snap! Could hardly get closer could we?

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Do you remember how filthy the smaller cubs got from crawling into the carcass to feed! I thought that was rather cute. Light was very low by then though - getting dark. There's more wonderful stuff from that kill (or I thought so) but it's too late for me today - just popped in to see how things are going. Maybe @michael-ibk or @AndMic remember too? :)  The quelas? And there was more bird action too I thought.

 

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I missed the stork taking the catfish. Seems like I was shooting this at that time for some reason....... kind of an odd shot....catfish might have been better!

 

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Or maybe I was quela watching again?

 

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I'll also try to remember to explain why the picture at the beginning of the report is the way it is. It's not as straightforward as it might seem.

 

One last cub.... never too many eh? Pity the reflections weren't better, but the lions weren't going to walk any further into the mud for us. Closest I got was this....

 

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Oh and that gratuitous extra cub shot.... although hopefully Michael will have some more... well I am sure he will.

 

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