Ebb and Flow, ebb and flow in SLNP

[Kitsafari]

The next morning is our last at Mchenja. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed our time here and had great sleep. And there is always something happening in this camp and in the river in front of us.

 

I wondered as we moving out of Tafika, if we made a mistake in making Mwamba our last camp. The three previous camps are all next to the Luangwa River, where permanent water ensures there will be animals in a dry season. Mwamba Bush camp is next to Mwamba River but it is totally dry. Well, I reason, we’ve seen a lot of the big cats and the big buffalo and elephants and hippos and crocs, so we should sit back and enjoy the small things and whatever Mwamba throws at us, even if it is quieter. With that thought, we begin our last Mchenja drive.

 

It is back to our leopard as the Canadian couple joins us. It is their first safari to Africa that started with Lower Zembezi before they come up to SLNP. It is rather uneventful. We return to see our leopard in the tree, still posing nicely for us,altho it turns bashful at one point and runs down to hide inthe tall grass.

 

 

still mine

 

 

[Kitsafari]

The drive up to Mwamba takes quite a journey through the guineafowl plains and then through Lions Plains. I’m sure I’ve missed out other areas too. We pick up another couple from their short walk, and the six of us plus Simon make a pleasant game drive to our last camp.

 

 

saying goodbye to the frog in our bathroom

 

 

last sunset at mchenja

 

 

rednecked francolin

 

 

swainson's francolin

 

 

[Kitsafari]

An unusual sighting (for me!) that I have to mention is the African gymnogene harrier hawk. I’ve never seen such a bird of prey, not even documentaries. The raptor, grey in colour and averages about 60cm in length, gets its prey from tree holes. It can bend its legs into holes at 150 degrees angle or backwards, thanks to double-jointed knees. It is omnivorous. It flies from hole to hole, its body almost parallel to the tree.

 

 

 

 

 

Another first is the African barred owlet or barred owl. It looks like a baby owl, but its average size is only 20cm. It’s a tough photo target, flitting from tree to bush to tree and because it is small, all of us have a tough time locating it, except for Simon’s seasoned eyes. Simon chases it around a bit but gives up after a while.

 

[Kitsafari]

There is a bunch of vultures quarrelling over something on the banks. So many of them are on it that we can’t see clearly what it is. 3 hyenas with swollen bellies are fast asleep but one wakes up and lops up the banks. We find out later that it is a buffalo carcass. The buffalo somehow damaged his leg and could not walk, an easy target for the hyenas which started eating the poor beast alive. Oddly, or luckily for the hyenas, the lions are unaware of it and it is a meat bonanza for the hyenas and vultures.

 

Before we know it, we are at Mwamba.

 

 

[Kitsafari]

a few pictures before we leave Mchenja. In addition to the streak of leopards we see, we love bumping into the elephants. they are all calm and never charged us at any time. they are so cool.

 

 

 

not quite Boswell...

 

 

framed by the forest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

they look so cute - pink as a baby

Edited November 16, 2014 by Kitsafari

[Safaridude]

Phew, that's a lot of action! Love the elephant chewing photo. Looking forward to Mwamba, as I thought it was a phenomenal bush camp when I stayed there.

[graceland]

@@Kitsafari, what an adventure at the "fill-in" lodge. You never know what Africa surprises await. First, loving the vid of elephants playing in water; always brings a smile to my heart seeing an elie happy as they've been through and will continue to go through so much heartbreak.

 

The procession - how cool; as generations stroll past ending with the cub...and so close to you car. I suppose there is no one around to reprimand film crews for thinking only of the shot they will get, and not the wildlife nor other vehicles they are obviously disturbing.

 

Sweet leopard shots in the tree, and who doesn't love an elie in camp!

 

Thanks for sharing this; as in the beginning with Mana, I could not quite picture the camps and areas of SNLP. I'm getting an idea now!

 

Super...

[Marks]

One excellent sighting after another! There was quite a lot to see in the river.

Nice job on the harrier hawk with outstretched wings.

[Atravelynn]

"saying goodbye to the frog in our bathroom"

 

You do that too?

 

That croc on croc video was very interesting. I suppose a meal is a meal.

 

Between the crocs, the birds, the bathroom frogs, it's just non-stop!

[Kitsafari]

Phew, that's a lot of action!

@@Safaridude, Mchenja was just a preamble....

Edited November 17, 2014 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

I suppose there is no one around to reprimand film crews for thinking only of the shot they will get, and not the wildlife nor other vehicles they are obviously disturbing.

 

Sweet leopard shots in the tree, and who doesn't love an elie in camp!

 

Thanks for sharing this; as in the beginning with Mana, I could not quite picture the camps and areas of SNLP. I'm getting an idea now!

 

Super...

 

 

@@graceland Alec did complain to the boss at one point as they looked like they had taken over the hide during drive times. I think if he saw what we saw during the drive, he wouldnt have hesitated to drive up to them to tell them off.

 

Ellies are wonderful aren't they? they can be so destructive and yet they can send such good energy. I'm getting fonder of them after this trip.

Edited November 17, 2014 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

@@Marks thanks for following and the kind words. I may have spam you guys with too many videos! and i think my account of that sly clever African fish eagle steal from the crocodile was so disjointed that I didn't provide a fuller picture! it was the high point of my stay at Mchenja.

[Kitsafari]

@@Atravelynn I'm glad i am not the only person to whisper a goodbye to all the animals as I leave!

[Atravelynn]

Forgot to mention that genet standing tall from way back. Very meerkat-ish. Did you intentionally try to get a variety since you used Remote Africa, Shenton, and Carr camps? Whatever your strategy, it paid off bigtime!

[TonyQ]

@@Kitsafari

You certainly had a good variety of sightings on this trip. Lots of leopards, and always great to see elephants. And the lions by the river

The crocodile eating crocodile video is really good (also horrible!) - I suppose there is a reason they have survived 50million years

Interesting also seeing the fish eagle dash in to steal part of the fish.

 

I look forward to your last camp

[ZaminOz]

Such romantic elephants in the river lah!

[ZaminOz]

Wow you had some great sightings in and around Mchenja. That area of the park is fantastic for lions!

[Kitsafari]

@@Atravelynn we wanted to stay in one area but have a variety of camps to see what each offered. we sure have no regrets at all!

 

@@TonyQ thank you. i'm finally going to start the last stretch soon.....this has been a really long one.

 

@@ZaminOz it was really a Big cat fest in SLNP

[Kitsafari]

Mwamba – Ebb and Flow, Death and Life

 

There was time only on my last day to jot down a log, dated:

 

sept 26.

 

It’s another hot dry afternoon. A sleepy time in between breakfast and a late lunch. I'm just back from the hide, leaving H there waiting for the male kudu to come down to the waterhole.

 

The warm wind picks up behind me and blows some relief to my back. The birds are singing, and ahead of me, near the hide the yellow baboons are chasing each other again, screaming as they flee from their tormentors.

 

The gully in front of the chalet is bone dry, one of many gullies that are dried up or drying up inland. It’s the Mwamba River, waiting patiently for the rains that are promised for November. it is like that now in late September in SLNP - it is so dry that a thick cloud of dust hangs over the entire Lusaka to SLNP region, murky pink layer as you fly through that to land in Mfuwe. The cloud stretches as far as the eye can see.

 

It is the last full day we have on our 12-day safari to SLNP. It is also very quiet. What an extreme contrast to the eventful past 2 days. It has been a most eventful safari. At least twice, I faced the question of how dignified can one be at death's door? When one is old or terminally sick, and has no more value to the society, and there is no one to turn to, how painful and alone can one be if you get left behind? It is what it is - is that not it in the animal kingdom? You get on with it.

 

And so, we come to this.

 

[Kitsafari]

This is really going to be detailed. I need to come to terms with whatever still remains in me so please bear with me. Thank you all for reading along for so long, and being so understanding!

 

Just before we arrive in Mwamba, we bump into Patrick returning from that camp. He has told us a day earlier that a buffalo was brought down at the Mwamba waterhole, and today he tells us that the dead buffalo is still there, and so is the lion that had brought it down. Hence, the waterhole is now completely out of bounds.

 

We find out why when we reach camp. The day before a guest was in the hide and as he lifted his camera to the window, suddenly a pair of large lion paws was on the window sill. The guest dropped his camera and scrambled out of the hide with the guide who was in there with him.

 

The male lion is the brother to the Mwamba male. He had mange for a few years but in recent weeks the mange had gotten worse. He was treated by Zawa (with South Luangwa Conservation Programme and Zambia Carnivore Programme) but the condition deteriorated and weakened the lion which has become skinnier. He detached himself from the pride and has hung out at the waterhole where game comes to him.

 

Somehow he found strength to battle the dead buffalo. When he couldn’t kill it, he dragged the buffalo to the waterhole and drowned it. But he didn’t eat it. Instead, he attacked one of 2 resident hippos at the waterhole, taking a massive chunk of meat off the back of George, leaving the poor hippo in a really bad shape as it left the spine exposed.

 

[Kitsafari]

When we get into camp, it is very calm. We continue to walk in and out of our chalet, and sit out in the deck. It is peaceful. Lunch is usually served at the deck but we decide to have it at the main area as it is cooler and you get to see more. A couple of bushbuck comes up close to the mess area to nibble at the bushes (that is why I said earlier that they are not shy, somehow they seem more habituated to humans in SLNP). The baboons are not far behind. We sit quietly and watch them.

 

Then suddenly they flit away as the staff comes up with our huge lunch boxes. The boxes look big and tough and are heavy! To keep those hands of baboon and vervet monkeys off our lunch. Meals at Mwamba are nothing fancy, just some pure delicious home cooked food.

 

[Kitsafari]

Alec, who manages the camp now, will be our guide. Our vehicle mates are a lovely couple ZandM, while Vicson the other guide shepherds two other single guests. We have decided to go to the baobab forest for this evening’s drive, and since I love baobab trees, I’m very much looking forward to it. Alec warns it’s a quiet drive as there are few game sightings along the way, but it will be a lovely one.

 

So we start off at 5pm after afternoon tea for which we gather on the green banks overlooking the dry river. Just nearly 10 mins after we set off, the radio goes off. Alec quickly turns the car around; the sick Mwamba lion has launched an attack on another buffalo at the Mwamba waterhole. Just at that time, a bateleur sits tantalising on a tree, close to the road - a beautiful specimen posing for us. Bateleur? Or Lion? Bateleur or Lion?

 

Alec continues to fly down the road (as quick as he can drive). He turns off, drives down a gully, up on a bank and we see a herd of buffalo all turned at one direction. Vic is already there with the other two guests, parked directly opposite the Mwamba waterhole, and all eyes are drawn to the Mangy Lion hanging upside down with his mouth clamped over the buffalo’s nose.

 

[Kitsafari]

When you video or take a picture of an event, your brain takes over. You will look at the picture, try to ensure the focus is on the event, that everything is clear, and that the surroundings are captured as well. As I look through the viewfinder, all I see is the blood dripping from the buff’s nose onto the lion. The lion’s head is all covered in blood, and in a flash I take it all in – the lion is weakening, his bloody mouth clamped onto the buffalo’s nose is loosening, his paws flail valiantly to get a grip again, his thin body lifts up and down as the buff moves his head up and down, his starving vulnerable belly exposed to any attack.

 

And suddenly I see him - a once mighty hunter, proud and majestic, still young and in his prime, struck down by a disease and all at once he becomes frail and hungry and all he obeys is his instinct to kill his relentless enemy for sustenance.

 

Just a minute of taping, I turn to H and signal I can’t tape anymore. I am sobbing away but I cry into my shoulder, not wanting to disrupt the others’ intense concentration on the battle. There is silence. Only the rustling sounds of the lion’s back rubbing against the earth as the buffalo pulls at him. Each viewer watches, empathising with both buffalo and lion. Each time the crowd gasps, I turn for a quick glance.

 

The exhausted lion releases his hold, the buffalo tries to gore him with her horns, he lays flat and at that moment, I turn away not wanting to see if it happens. Somehow he finds such strength in him, and makes a leap onto the buffalo’s back. But his claws soon slip and his bite is shallow. his head slumps against the buffalo as the lion catches his breath. He slides down the buffalo and the prey throws him off.

 

He lies flat again, unmoving, and we all think he’s gone. Another buffalo joins the female buffalo as both try to gore him, but the wily lion stays flat on the ground so the horns can’t catch the flesh.

 

Then the paws are swapping the female buff and he’s up again with his teeth on the buffalo’s nose. Until his weak grip gives way. The lion and buffalo face each other for a long while. I will the buffalo to go up the bank and rejoin her herd. I will the lion to stop fighting and regain what little strength he still has. He growls annoyed, frustrated. The herd moves off slowly, stepping away and then turning around to look at the lion. He sits up and looks as the herd retreats. Alec decides to move off; our vehicle leaves him be.

 

Edited November 21, 2014 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

here are a couple of videos. it took me a month before I could view these tapes.

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]