Niassa National Reserve 2021 & 2022

[Ant Kaschula]

I'll try to keep this short and sweet but having not been active on this forum for a very long time, I thought to quickly get on to see/read any reports on Niassa.

 

I can't recall the exact details of who posted a fairly lengthy report from 2018 or 2019 but much of it seemed rather negative/scathing of why visit the area as it is so remote and expensive to get to and there are no endemic or unusual species there that one can't see elsewhere blah blah blah.

 

Either way, having recently returned from my fourth trip to Niassa within the last 18 months (August 21, December 21, July 21 and November 22) and having had the opportunity to extensively cover large parts of two concessions (Luwire and Chulexi), as a relatively well travelled and seasoned guide (been to Zakouma six times, owned and operated a tented camp in Gonarezhou for twleve years and being in the saddle annually guiding safaris to around half a dozen countries), I can confidently say those two areas constitute some of the most dramatic and beautiful landscapes I have seen anywhere in Africa.

 

The number and diversity of wildlife and birdlife that we encountered stands as good, if not better than many other of what are regarded as some of Africa's top protected areas. More importantly in each case we virtually had the entire areas to ourselves, something which in this day an age is becoming increasingly difficult to find.  Both concessions had healthy numbers of all of the charismatic species and on a week long trip in July 22 we notched up the  following mammal list - Lion (2 sightings), Leopard (1 sighting), Wild dog (4 sightings of 4 different packs), Spotted Hyena, Porcupine, Large Spotted Genet, Slender Mongoose, Banded Mongoose, Yellow Baboon, Vervet Monkey, Bush Hyrax, Bush Squirrel, Scrub Hare, Klipspringer, Common Warthog, Bush Pig, Bushbuck, Greater Kudu, Reedbuck, Waterbuck, Hippopotamus, Elephant, Buffalo, Grey Duiker, Livingstone's Suni, Lichtenstein's Hartebeest, Niassa Wildebeest, Johnston's Impala, Roosevelt's Sable, Livingstone's Eland, Boehm's Zebra.

 

These areas are spectacularly beautiful - "Africa's Yosemite - but in almost complete privacy" - are virtually pristine wildernesses and whilst there are some local people living within them and deriving a livelihood off the land, it is absolutely an connoisseur's safari experience. I cannot recommend it more highly to those who truly 'get' the value of pristine wilderness and where nothing is guaranteed - for guaranteed sightings go to the Kruger Park, Serengeti or Mara - but there too you're guaranteed to have a lot less freedom and a lot more people.

 

Oh yes, and on the birding front the area is one of the few places where one has an equal chance of seeing Taita Falcons and has recently been "discovered" as one of the last remaining strongholds for this species.

[Atravelynn]

Thanks for your comments and opinions on this area along with the list of sightings. I must admit I did not know where it was and had to do a bit of research.  "Niassa Special Reserve (NSR) is located in northern Mozambique, with its northern boundary the Ruvuma River bordering Tanzania."

[inyathi]

@Ant Kaschula

 

Great to get a bit of an update on Niassa, thanks for posting.  

 

I think what you read, wasn't a trip report, but something I wrote, in response to a discussion on hunting, in this topic Conservationists pass major bill, I focused on the cons rather than pros of Niassa, to illustrate why in my opinion Niassa will struggle to attract significant numbers of tourists and thus if the entire reserve was given over to photographic tourism, and all hunting ceased, it wouldn't likely generate sufficient income to run the entire reserve. It was a slightly frustrated response, to someone talking about Niassa, who I felt didn’t know what they were talking about, because they hadn’t been there, Lugenda Lodge had recently closed and only a year or so before I wrote my posts, I’d been in Katavi NP in Tanzania and was aware that its most expensive camp, Palahala had recently closed, I assumed in both cases this was due to insufficient guests. I was trying to make a point, about the challenges of operating photo tourism in remote areas, I didn’t want to suggest Niassa isn't well worth visiting, just that it will only ever receive fairly small numbers of tourists, I don’t want to put anyone off going, I'd be very happy if more visitors go there armed with cameras and not guns and would love to be proved wrong and discover that those conservancies catering for photo tourists are making enough money, but I’d be a bit surprised if they are able to fund all of the conservation work from tourism, I'm sure there's still a good bit of donor funding. Had I written a proper trip report, I'd have taken a much more positive line, because Niassa is a wonderful place, with good wildlife as your observations illustrate.

 

I know that a lot has happened in Niassa in terms of conservation since my visit in 2006, game populations must have increased fairly markedly, I was interested to read recently, that that a total of 47 Buffaloes, 65 Niassa Wildebeest and 65 Zebras had been captured and translocated to a new national park called Gilé in 2013 and 2018, this park is in the northeast corner of Zambezia. This would suggest that there are many more animals in Niassa now, than when I visited.

 

I hope that some here, will be tempted to visit Niassa and perhaps someone will write a proper trip report, I don’t plan on doing that, as my trip was 16 years ago, but I did quite recently upload my photos to Flickr, they do at least show what a stunningly beautiful place it is, apart from Ennedi where I was in February, it is hard to think of a more remarkable African landscape.

 

Flickr Mozambique: Safari para a Reserva do Niassa

 

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by inyathi

[optig]

@Ant KaschulaI really wish that you'd organise a safari to Gorongosa and Niassa. I would undoubtedly go. I also know other people that would be interested but they have been 

unable to visit Niassa due to recurring Renamo activity. There is also the problem that there isn't a good lodge to stay in Gorongosa National Park.

[Botswanadreams]

4 hours ago, optig said:

There is also the problem that there isn't a good lodge to stay in Gorongosa National Park.

 

Being out in an exiting wilderness area is like coming out of your comfort zone. I thought you like fly camping. You need a place to put your head on a save place during the night and something nice to eat and drink. that's all. 

[Africalover]

On 12/2/2022 at 7:04 PM, Botswanadreams said:

 

Being out in an exiting wilderness area is like coming out of your comfort zone. I thought you like fly camping. You need a place to put your head on a save place during the night and something nice to eat and drink. that's all. 
Exactly 👏👍

Exactly 👍👏

Edited December 4, 2022 by Africalover

[lmSA84]

@inyathi- thanks for sharing your flicker photo album link. Fascinating landscapes that I never knew existed   

[wilddog]

Hello there @Ant KaschulaGood to see you posting. Many of us know of you, even if we have not met. For me it was the early days in Goners when you had the first camp there. 

 

I found your comments on Niassa fascinating. Many of us would give our 'eye teeth' to spend time in an area with few people. And finding the animals, when they are less prolific, is always enjoyable IMO.

 

I hope your post will encourage others to give it a go.

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by wilddog