Gorongosa & Anvil Bay - a Bush and Beach Safari in Mozambique

[michael-ibk]

 

A new dawn. We decided to spend the morning around Lake Urema.

 

 

Good morning Mr. Kudu, looking great today!

 

 

At first it was extremely hazy but not as grey and gloomy anymore.

 

 

 

White-browed Coucal, annoyingly without a white brow here in the South.

 

 

 

 

Red-necked Spurfowl. A much more interesting looking variant of the species.

 

 

Good old Guinea, a fixture of any safari drive almost everywhere.

 

 

Not too much going on in the forest but we very much enjoyed the beauty and tranquility of the area. Saw a couple of Banded Mongoose here but they kept to the Gorongosa Mongoose rule - Run Forest, Run!

 

 

Ground Hornbill is a species in trouble. We did see them quite regularly but Doug told us he used to see groups of five or more in the past, now it's down to three.

 

 

As we approached the lake shore we left the forest behind us. Lots of Waterbuck, Impala and Warthogs on the plains.

 

 

 

Black-bellied Bustard, a female here.

 

 

And finally a nice adult male lion. About six years old, Richard told us.

 

 

That collar looked uncomfortably tight. Richard said he would notify the guys responsible of tracking, I hope they did something about it.

 

 

Always good to get a photo where the collar is not so prominent. It was already pretty hot, the Lion went straight into a nice bush and very clearly would stay there until it would get cooler. Also he did not look too relaxed about us so we decided to move on.

 

[michael-ibk]

 

I always enjoy being close to water so I asked Richard if it's possible to get closer to shore. There are not too many places where that can be done.

 

 

Blacksmith Lapwing

 

 

Now in January all of this will be under water again of course. According to MapsMe we were almost in the middle of the lake here.

 

 

Spoonbill

 

 

Jacana

 

 

There were lots of Skimmers flying around but really far, far out. There was a bit of a peninsula closer to them but it was impossible to get there with the car. The mud is very soft and unstable. So I had almost resigned to the fact that this would be it for my Skimmer photos this trip. Almost, Doug knows how much I love Skimmers, and there was of course a simple solution to my problem - walk there! There was a small water channel to cross, and stupid me thought we could keep our shoes and just jump it. But Doug just laughed at my idiocy, that was really not an option, because no matter where we would cross we would always sink in knee-deep. So it was shoes off, and go barefoot through the mud! Which was actually quite fun to do, the mud and water was pleasantly cool, and surely all the 1000s of Crocs in the lake had better things to do anyway, no? And we managed to get a bit closer to the Skimmer action.

 

 

 

 

Cleaning our feet was a much more complicated issue. We had to get rid of the mud quickly before it dried in the heat. Jimmy helped with several water bottles.

 

 

I'm used to getting down and dirty on a Doug MacDonald safari but this was a new level!

 

A few more bits and pieces from the drive back, or rather to Chitengo:

 

 

The voice of Africa!

 

 

My friend, the Hoopoe.

 

 

Namaqua Dove

 

 

 

Stierling's Wren-Warbler, a lifer for me.

 

 

Martial Eagle

 

 

Edited January 31 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

So why did we go to Chitengo (park HQs)? They run a Pangolin rescue center, and we had an appointment. We still haven't seen one in the wild, so this was a very good opportunity to see one at all. And we really enjoyed it tremendously. One of the vets was happy to show us one of fosterlings.

 

 

Awww, what a fantastic animal. Right now they were caring for three Pangolins, and the Dr. told us they have taken in more than 110 animals by now. From the (apparently not updated) Gorongosa homepage:

 

Pangolins are considered to be the most trafficked mammal on Earth. Their populations being under siege due to a burgeoning traditional medicine market in the East.

Each year, our rangers rescue multiple pangolins from poachers and/or traffickers operating in Central Mozambique along border areas with Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. In most cases these pangolins are still alive and require post-trauma treatment and rehabilitation, and in some severe cases may require hospitalization. This led us to establish Mozambique’s 1st pangolin rescue program and we have since rescued and treated over 60 pangolins.

Once the team receives these pangolins they are secured under 24/7 guard of trained rangers, closely monitored, and treated daily by skilled vets and keepers. Once healthy they are released in to secure locations to live out their lives in the wild. Some tiny babies we receive remain in our care for over a year, that is how dependent they are on maternal care.

Towards understanding how effective our rescue efforts are, and evaluating our release and rehabilitation strategies, it is imperative that each pangolin released is closely monitored for condition and survival and we achieve this is through satellite technology that allows us to re-locate each pangolin routinely and assess their transition back in to the wilderness over time.

 

 

Given their diet it's not that surprising but I had not really been aware of how long their tongue is.

 

 

Their carers accompany the Pangolins on their feeding excursions every day. It would be even nicer coming along for something like that, in a more natural surrounding, but I don't think that's something the park offers. There is no fee for the Pangolin "Meet & Greet" (we donated but were not asked to do that), so it does not seem the park sees this as a business opportunity.

 

 

But no complaints, just seeing a Pangolin was a trip highlight for us, we were grins all over.

 

 

 

The Pangolin was not shy at all. We were not allowed to touch it but it bumped into me once and also in Doug's mobile when he was taking a video.

 

 

 

The whole thing did not last more than 15 minutes or so. We were really happy to get this experience. Still smile thinking about it.

 

Afterwards I tried to do some birding on the premises but it was too late (and much too hot) for that now.

 

 

This was probably the hottest day we had, and Doug suggested we make use of the pool. I think we were in less than a minute after that, and never came out again.

 

 

Well, except for one or two birds of course.

 

Edited January 31 by michael-ibk

[madaboutcheetah]

What an awesome pangolin experience !! 

[TonyQ]

What a good job they are doing for the Pangolins.

It looks like a great experience. They are wonderful animals.

[Ginny]

@michael-ibk  So interesting to see the pangolin photos.  That that tongue is amazing!

Thank you for posting these pictures.

[michael-ibk]

Thanks @madaboutcheetah, @TonyQand @Ginny.

 

Yes, the tongue was really fascinating. I also was suprised that they are bipedal at times, very interesting to see.

 

 

Edited February 1 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

During lunch break I tried for some birds again. Ranger Jeremiah came with me and we had some nice talks. No doubt he was convinced I was stark raving mad for looking for birds in the heat but he really got into it and pointed out everything he could see to me, including every Bulbul and Dove. But there were also some nicer ones.

 

 

This Yellow-breasted Apalis posed perfectly.

 

 

And always good to get a Broad-billed Roller, not as easy in Southern Africa as their cousins.

 

 

Not sure I have shown our car yet, so here it is. Good classic safari vehicle. The only downside was there was little legroom in first row. Not a problem for me, ever since my back going downhill I enjoyed the luxury of sitting in the front next to Richard. And even in the open car the AC had at least a bit of an effect. The weather had deteriorated again during lunch, we were back to grey in grey. But no chance to get grumpy about weather after our lovely morning, and we also enjoyed an incredibly delicious chocolate cake before going on our afternoon drive.

 

 

Soon we smelt something really horrible. A cadaver surely, and after a while we found it in the high grass. A dead Waterbuck. Strangely it was almost intact, nothing was feeding on it. Even the Vultures were keeping clear of it. Not sure what was going on here. Talking about carrion eaters, we never saw any Jackals. I'm sure they must be around but no trace of them. According to the 2018 aerial wildlife count they are rare. Eight of them were introduced in March 2023. A clan of six Spotted Hyena was brought to the park in 2022. Apparently they had cubs, so the reintroduction was succesful. We did not see them. Another carnivore I haven't mentioned yet is Cheetah. A less happy story with them. Four were brought in IIRC but all have disappeared, one was killed by a Bushbuck.

 

 

A nicely posing Black-chested Snake-Eagle.

 

 

 

Only birders will get why I am posting this photo. An exciting sighting for me, a Pallid Honeyguide.

 

 

I think this is a Red Bush aka Red-bellied Coast Squirrel but stand to be corrected.

 

 

A lonesome Wildebeest.

[michael-ibk]

We caught up with the Wild Dogs again. They did not look too well-fed today, and maybe we'd see some action.

 

 

Not for a while though, they were quite happy doing absolutely nothing.

 

 

But after a while they woke up and started to fool around.

 

 

 

 

"Steve, really, in front of the guests!! Is that really necessary?"

 

 

Cut it out, will you!

 

 

Lovely to see the kiddies have fun.

 

Edited February 1 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

 

But then playtime was over, suddenly the pack switched into a much more determined mood - things were getting serious now. Hunting time!

 

 

Well, not everybody was happy to stop playing.

 

The pack disappeared into thick bush where we could not follow them but Richard did his best to stay nearby. At one point the Dogs flushed out two Bushpigs about 100 metres behind us. The Pigs speed was impressive. I guess having a bunch of bloodthirsty killers on your heels does that to you.

 

They got away, but not everybody was that lucky. A little later we heard something squealing like hell. Over in a few seconds, and then one Dog came out with a big bloody piece of something piglike (Warthog or Bushpig), ran straight to the pups and threw it down in front of them. Oh wow, they were over it like they had not eaten for weeks!

 

 

 

 

The adults were making sure they were eating properly.

 

 

 

This was just a snack though, the pack continued their hunt. They made some half-hearted attempts at some Waterbuck but never really came close to getting something down. It was almost dark now, and all of this was happening very quickly and distantly, so no photos. We were offroading now, and of course it was not easy keeping up with them. Richard did a great job.

 

 

After a while the Dogs seemed to give up. Most of them cooled down. It was already past six now, and night had fallen. Would we like to stay? There was still sufficient moonlight for them to get something. We were unsure but ultimately decided to give it another 15 minutes or so. Good decision!

 

Five minutes later the Dogs moved into a small patch of woodland. And what do you know, all hell broke loose. Next thing we saw was a huge adult Waterbuck running out, with four or five Dogs having their teeth on its back and flanks. And all of them were joining in now.

 

He is down, he is down! Waterbuck down!

 

Warning - the following videos are really not nice to look at. This is one of the sightings you would never see in a nature documentary. Too raw, too painful. The Dogs don't care about killing their prey, they start eating when they have it immobilised. Still quite a quick death for a small animal like a Warthog, an Impala or a Baboon. But they had brought down a really big Waterbuck stag in his prime, a huge animal.

 

And the poor thing did not die easily. I wish I could say he was not realizing he was being eaten alive. I wish I could say he went into the light quickly.

 

But he did not. I think his agony lasted for more than five minutes. He was bleating in pain. And every time he stopped I so wished that that had been his final breath, that his battle was over. But so often he started again. His cries of pain cut though us, we winced every single time. And now we could see and smell his raw flesh, see his intestines. The most archaic sighting we ever had, and to be honest I'm not sure I ever want to see something like it again.

 

I think he finally passed out towards the end of the second video.

 

 

 

It was much easier to admire the sighting and the hunting skills of the Dogs when the poor thing was finally dead. We had a beer and watched the Dogs feed for another 10 minutes or so. Richard even (smirkingly) offered us a few Samosas. Uh, no, thank you, not this evening, we're fine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not a sighting we will forget anytime soon.

 

On the way home we had one more cool sighting (for mammalwatchers at least) - a Marsh Mongoose, my first photographable one!

 

Edited February 1 by michael-ibk

[janzin]

Very cool to see the pangolin video, and indeed I had no idea they had such a crazy long tongue! What a neat experience!

 

And yes I get the lure of the Honeyguide--hard birds to find! I've only seen one once, on our first trip to Botswana and that was the Greater Honeyguide.

[janzin]

oh and while I was posting that you added the dog videos. I will skip watching those; we saw something similar in Botswana (will come up in my trip report at the end) and it's not something I ever want to see again. But you did a great job describing it, and the gut-wrenching emotions (no pun intended, ugh.)

[JimS]

The photos capture the atmosphere and the action really well. I've not seen the dogs before, but hope I'll see some in SLNP this year... however, I've seen a few videos of a successful hunt and saw how brutal they are. Usually that's offset knowing it's a quick death. A lengthy one like this must have been really tough to experience and I can understand you not wanting to repeat it. I'll just hope the dogs in Zambia stick with smaller prey that can be dispatched swiftly!

[Zim Girl]

Incredible dog sighting with the waterbuck.  I watched the videos, fascinating but pretty hard to watch.  You are really willing the poor thing to die quickly.

[ElenaH]

excellent trip report, Michael (like always ;-)

very informative! I was gone through city sightseeing with a really great interest! I liked tain station a lot :-)

The park Gorongosa looks very wild and different. Did you meet some other game drive vehicles? It looks like it is the best place to photograph and film wild dogs.

Stunning bid photographs! I have never seen some of the species! Very nice!

[ice]

to give some perspective to the wild dog kill. For starters, they can't afford to wait until their prey is dead, in the shortest possible time they need to eat as much as possible, because enemies like lions and hyenas are never far away. Same for cheetah: I've personally witnessed +/- 25 cheetah kills from start to finish and whenever there is more than one cat involved, they too open the body long before their prey is dead. Even lions do it, I've seen it and there are tons of videos on YouTube, showing the same behavior. 

[John M.]

4 hours ago, ice said:

to give some perspective to the wild dog kill. For starters, they can't afford to wait until their prey is dead, in the shortest possible time they need to eat as much as possible, because enemies like lions and hyenas are never far away. Same for cheetah: 

   Yes, cheetahs gave me examples of eating at leisure v eating in haste on my very first two days of safari long ago.

[offshorebirder]

I am very jealous of the Marsh Mongoose sighting @michael-ibk - thanks for sharing that photo especially.

[Kitsafari]

Interesting that the adult male lion  is spotting such a sparse mane. is that typical of the male lions in the park or did that collar add stress to the lion? that collar really looks tight on him. I remember male lions in south luangwa also had sparse mane but this one is particularly absent. 

Awesome sighting of the marsh mongoose! i've never seen one. 

and a wonderful experience with the pangolins - they're just such a fascinating species but sad to hear that illegal poaching is rampant in those countries. 

 

I also wonder if the huge success of the dogs has affected the success of cheetah hunts? 

Edited February 4 by Kitsafari

[Peter Connan]

Wow!

What a place!

Why oh why won't they allow the rabble like me in?

[BRACQUENE]

A very wild place indeed Michael with those dogs and that Marsh Mongoose that will stay in my memory ! 

[michael-ibk]

Thanks everybody!

 

On 2/2/2024 at 3:06 PM, ElenaH said:

Did you meet some other game drive vehicles?

 

Very rarely. Maybe one or two per drive, nothing more. And sometimes none at all. Of course this was really late in the season, so it will be a bit more earlier. But just a bit I would assume.

 

On 2/4/2024 at 2:15 AM, Kitsafari said:

is that typical of the male lions in the park or did that collar add stress to the lion?

 

Sorry Kit, really don't know. Something within the vaults of my memory seems to tell me this was discussed but if it really was I forgot. And this was the only fully adult male Lion we saw I think. As mentioned before we were not really looking for them.

 

On 2/4/2024 at 2:15 AM, Kitsafari said:

I also wonder if the huge success of the dogs has affected the success of cheetah hunts? 

 

Good question. I was only told three Cheetah "disappeared", so I'm not sure what happened to them. I would assume they had been collared. The fourth one was killed by a Bushbuck. I'm not sure how much the Dogs hunts would really affect them, given they are mostly active mornings and evenings. And Cheetah are effective daytime hunters. Certainly no shortage of prey for both species.

Edited February 8 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

Next morning we had an ever earlier start than usual - we got up at 03:30! And not for safari, we had decided to do something different and go to Mt. Gorongosa. Partly just for the sake of diversity, partly just because it sounded cool to be on Mount Gorongosa and partly because there would be different birds there for me. The upper zone of the mountain (above 700 meters) was made part of the park by the Mozambican government in 2010. The road going there, however, is not inside. We had to leave the National park, pass through the rural area outside and then follow the N1 to the North until we left that one again and used a dirt track up the mountain. It's a really long drive, about 3 hr 30 one way.

 

 

Glimpses of the small settlements outside the park.

 

 

 

The main road. Pothole after pothole, careful driving is essential here. Just after sunrise the sun disappeared immediately, and the clouds became darker and more threatening. A risk we had decided to take, the weather forecast had been indecisive. Luck was not on our side, it started to rain, just drizzling at first but soon stronger. Again we decided to try our luck and hoped it would clear up. We had come all this way after all. But not today. When we finally reached the end of the road it was still pouring down. We waited half an hour but ultimately had to resign this was it - we were right in the middle of a raincloud. So what to do?

 

The stupid thing of course, venture out in the rain. I wanted my Green Oriole. And we had come all this way.

 

The path up the mountain is probably pretty easy when it's dry but not it was very muddy and very slippery. We had to cross a few creeks and were always relieved when nobody fell in!

 

 

 

Our tracker / assistant guide Lucky was a great help. A very nice and bright young man, I'm sure he has a good guiding career ahead of him.

 

 

The coffee plantations. It was a bit sobering to hear what people are earning from a hectare, not much more than EUR 300,-- per year apparently. Really not much when you consider what we pay for a coffee bag.

 

 

 

Not easy to see much - or anything - in this weather.

 

 

But stubborn as birders can be I really wanted to get my target. Andreas, Doug and Lucky wisely waited outside the forest (where the track became really difficult). But Richard and me soldiered on.

 

 

Ah, the joy of being a birder. What could be better than be soaking wet, freeze, strain your neck by staring at treetops, have leaves fall into your eyes and rain drizzling into your nose?

 

Well, at least our efforts paid off, found the main prize. Green-headed Oriole is the one every birder wants to get here. A very localised montane species. Actually not too difficult finding one, and in good weather they would have been quite photographable. The day being what it was this is what I got. They tend to stay high up, not making this any easier.

 

 

But I got it, mission accomplished. Normal people will never get the joy of entering a lifer into the ebird list.

 

 

 

Livingstone's Turaco at least has a distinctive silhouette.

 

 

Andreas was entertaining himself with plants in the rain. Easier than birds in the rain.

 

 

Common Waxbill.

 

Edited February 8 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

After we had managed coming down without anybody breaking any bones we really deserved some lunch. The one waterfall where they had planned to do that was no option, Richard said it would be much too dangerous. So we drove down the mountain and he found us a nice spot.

 

 

 

Everything is better when you have something tasty to eat.

 

 

Especially with a beautiful view like this.

 

 

Always love seeing Weavers weave.

 

 

Black-throated Wattle-Eye

 

 

A Mountain Wagtail hiding in plain view.

 

 

We had a long way to get back. It was a relief to see the mountain was still trapped within the raincloud, so we did not have to think if it would be feasible to go back.

 

 

It's a beautiful fertile area out here, and we even got some very welcome glimpses of sun as we left Mt. Gorongosa.

 

 

Richard impressed me again with this birding skills. I had told him Red-winged Prinia would be a lifer for me. He heard one while driving at speed, brought the car down to a screeching halt and there I had my bird!

 

 

 

 

African Goshawk

 

 

Vila Gorongosa. Here we were checked by the police. Very thoroughly, they were really hoping to find something. Fortunately we had been told to bring our passports. They did not seem to be all that happy they had nothing on us, and grudgingly told us we could move on.

 

 

 

 

We got a better look at the small settlements away from the main road. The level of deforestation here was depressing.

 

 

 

 

Even this beautiful tree, one of the last big ones, is doomed to die. Note they cut away the bark at the base.

 

 

Back in the park. We were short on time, so really did not stop for much.

 

 

Red Duiker

 

 

African Cuckoo-Hawk, the second of the trip.

 

 

Duelling Waterbuck

 

 

And our first photographable Lichtenstein's Hartebeest.

 

Finally made it back to camp a bit after 18:00. A very long day! Obviously the weather could have been a lot better but no regrets. Despite the conditions this had been a very interesting side adventure.

 

There are plans for a flycamp on the Mountain which would certainly be a good idea. The mountain area is beautiful, and it would be nice being there at first light.

[pedro maia]

I really want to go to Gorongosa and your TR is giving me more reasons to go there, but it won´t be this year.

 

Many great sightings, the pangolin is too cute, but the dogs are the highlight for me, although I´m not sure I would like to see that waterbuck beeing eaten alive, those are really harsh images.

 

It´s a pity that Mozambique is such a poor country, I don´t think we Portuguese did a very good job there and the civil war surely didn´t help.