ISSUE 9 - OCT - DEC 2017

TRAVEL & LEISURE

ZAMBIA OCT - DEC 2017 | EDITION 9

THE KAFUE

Jewels in the Crown

A REMOTE AFRICAN SAFARI Know Your

AFRICAN WILDLIFE

CAMP ZAMBIA

Mukambi Safaris offers three magnificent camps in Kafue National Park, one of the largest areas of unspoiled wilderness.

Each camp has its own character and style in different areas of the National Park, making them completely....unique by nature.

We offer attractive packages where you can visit all of our three camps.

Unique by Nature

Mukambi Safari Lodge is overlooking the Kafue River and is the gateway to Kafue National Park.

Fig Tree Camp lies in an undiscovered part of the park on a Shishamba River lagoon. It is the only camp in a range of 30 km!

Mukambi Plains Camp has 8 beds available in a classic bush camp on the famous Busanga Plains.

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TRAVEL & LEISURE ZAMBIA / OCT - DEC 2017

CONTENTS Features

The Kafue - Jewel in the Crown 06

By Tyrone McKeith

Camp Zambia 22

By Bruce Ellender

The Livingstone Memorial

By Nicky Dunnington-Jefferson

A Carbon-Conscious Future

By Sheena Carey

26

Toka Leya Supports White Rhino Conservation 12

By Wilderness Safaris

Know Your African Wildlife: Wild Dogs

By Edward Selfe

28

Education Sponsorship: Kaingu Safari Lodge 13

By Rick Schulz

Education Against Extinction

By Katherine Johnston

Zambia: Adventures in the Bush 14

By Arjan Mulder

Zimbabwe’s Save Valley Conservancy

By Leslie Nevison

A Remote African Safari

By Sarah Kingdom

Five Minutes With Boaz Chizuwa

By Andrew Muswala

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18

29

32

36

Advertisers Index I.F.C.

Mukambi

21

Remote Africa Safaris

01

The Victoria Falls Hotel

21

Croc Valley Camp

03

Ndole Bay Lodge

21

Mama Tembo Tours Zambia

05

Mfuwe Lodge

24

Edward Selfe Photography

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Proflight

I.B.C.

Chiawa Camp & Old Mondoro

B.C.

Zambian Ground Handlers

Letters Greetings TLZ, I enjoyed reading through your magazine! It has interesting and helpful information to get to know Zambia. Thank you for the copies.

Marjorie Turcios Chicago, USA Greetings TLZ,

Greetings TLZ, I love the inside cover. It’s a great reminder that I want to visit a lodge with the elephants coming through the lobby. My daughter and I would have never known about this unique occurrence if it were not for National Geographic channel and thus reminded by your magazine.

I didn't toss the magazine. It presents me with a host of options to do the next time I am in Zambia We do find the magazines helpful for us. We love how the magazine provide new and it is now in my Zambia travel file. That is an information on products and changes in Zambia. The stories and photos are great accomplishment. and it helps keep things fresh in our mind.

Bryce Phillips Dan Chaknova Fort Worth, Texas Safari True, Redwood City, California, USA

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TRAVEL & LEISURE ZAMBIA

“An area of unsurpassed beauty” The words of David Livingstone when he first saw Lake Tanganyika in 1867 still ring true 150 years later...

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TRAVEL & LEISURE

A word from the MD ZAMBIA Publisher Safari Magazine

Editor & Managing Director Andrew Muswala andrew@zambiatravelmag.com Sub-Editor Ceri Putman ceriputman@googlemail.com Nicky Dunnington-Jefferson Nicky.dj@sky.com Layout and Art Director Gemma Beardsall gemmakb@hotmail.co.uk Consultant Jo Pope popejo@gmail.com

Subscriptions ads@zambiatravelmag.com +260 977 308 711 / 0967 173 796

Welcome to edition nine of Travel & Leisure Zambia.

Travel & Leisure Zambia celebrated two years of publication last month and we have seen considerable growth during this time. And we are now happy to announce that renowned Zambia-based travel writer Sarah Kingdom has just joined us.

There is no more vital way to appreciate Zambia’s wilderness than to feel it beneath your feet. And no better place to do just that than in North Luangwa National Park. A walking safari here is not only about a big game quest with a list of sightings to tick off – it’s much more about how you see it than what you see. And you meet the wildlife on its own terms (p18).

We hit the trail with Tyrone McKeith into Zambia’s greatest national park, an area of wilderness as vast as a country. Find out in Jewels in the Crown (p6).

One animal that is very interesting to spot is a wild dog or painted wolf. Edward Selfe takes a closer look at this splendid creature in Know Your African Wildlife (p28).

Also in this edition we explore the Livingstone Memorial at the burial site of explorer David Livingstone (p10), talk to Boaz Chizuwa (p36), discover some of Zambia’s camping spots (p22) and peep behind the scenes at a safari lodge (p14).

And finally we go across the border into Zimbabwe to see what this beautiful country has to offer (p32).

Letters

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We would like to hear from you. Please send us your comments to andrew@zambiatravelmag. com for inclusion in the magazine. Please note that letters may be edited for clarity or length.

Contributors Leslie Nevison, Bruce Ellender, Jen Coppinger, Sheena Carey, BioCarbon Partners, Arjan Mulder, Katherine Johnston, Tristan Vince, Tyrone McKeith, Edward Selfe, Nicky Dunnington- Jefferson, Royal Geographical Society, Sarah Kingdom, Remote Africa Safaris, Rick Schulz, Kaingu Safari lodge, Wilderness Safaris Submissions We welcome editorial and photographic submissions to the magazine. Accompanying images should be sent in high-res jpg and maximum 3MB in size.

Please send a synopsis of the proposed article to andrew@zambiatravelmag.com for consideration.

Printers New Horizon Printing Press Plot # LUS/9815/H Kafue Road, Lusaka, Zambia

Copyright Copyright © All right for material appearing in this magazine belongs to Travel and Leisure Zambia and / or the individual contributors.

No part of this magazine may be reproduced either without the written consent of the publishers or with due acknowledgment.

On the cover

Martial eagle in the Kafue National Park Photo credit: Gilmour Dickson

THE KAFUE

Jewels in the Crown

By: Tyrone McKeith Photos: Jeffery & McKeith Safaris

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I

t may be difficult for you to visualize the Kafue. In the Luangwa, for example, one may envisage a broad, sandy, winding river with elephants crossing and hippos snorting. In the Lower Zambezi you might conjure up images of the escarpment, ana trees and lots of elephant. But what about the Kafue?

A perceived lack of identity has long been the park’s downfall, but it has also meant that it retains an air of mystery, and perhaps the unknown.

When you speak to safari goers, many have been to, or at least heard of, ‘the Kafue’, sometimes just ‘Kafue’, but when delving deeper we find that these people have either visited only one area, or only visited many years ago, at a time when things were very different to the Kafue we know today.

More often than not the area referred to is the Busanga Plains, a vast shimmering wetland in the North-Western sector. It is indeed a world-class wildlife destination – a prominent jewel in the crown of the Kafue, if you like.

However, the Kafue does not start and end at the Busanga Plains – there are many more ‘jewels’ to be found.

Kafue National Park is immense, and when taking into account an area of wilderness as vast as the size of a country, there will, of course, be a great variety of habitat types and an associated diversity of wildlife and birdlife; it is this variety that makes the Kafue so special.

The Kafue River is not only stunning but also a great place to look for predators such as lion and leopard.

The Kafue is often compared to better known and more visited areas, but it must be appreciated for what it is, in its own right. What can be found within the park’s boundaries is incomparable and unique. While in the Luangwa one may find large concentrations of hippo, the Kafue may present you with smaller, more widely-spread pods. In the Kafue we could see hartebeest and roan antelope, while in the Luangwa perhaps not. No one park is the same – and importantly no particular area of the Kafue is the same. For instance, the Busanga Plains are as different to the Kafue River or Lake Itezhi-Tezhi as the Kafue is to the Lower Zambezi.

Arguably, each area of the Kafue could be its own ‘park’ due to its special TRAVEL & LEISURE ZAMBIA

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The ‘green’ season in the Kafue is a special time and exhibits an unrivalled vibrancy of colour.

characteristics. The areas around the central Kafue are rocky, with massive granite kopjes (outcrops), the river a series of rapids, channels and gullies, possibly best viewed from a canoe.

The area around the Busanga Plains is vast, flat and wet – not a rock in sight or a flowing river. The Kafue River itself varies, and its wide stretches of open water are strewn with hippo and swimming elephants in the dry season. The Nanzhila Plains in the south, somewhat reminiscent of many of Africa’s better-known wildlife areas, serve as a phenomenal seasonally inundated grassland area – a true wilderness. The central northern KafElephants often swim across the Kafue River in the dry season, a spectacle not restricted to the better-known wildlife areas of Africa.

ue is a world-class habitat for walking safaris, with a huge diversity of plant, bird and wildlife of its own. And the list goes on and on.

Currently, more people are choosing to visit the Kafue, often combining it with other destinations in Zambia such as Livingstone or one of Zambia’s other 20 national parks.

Many travellers are also choosing to dedicate their time purely to the Kafue, enjoying the park in its entirety.

Access is simple, with airstrips found throughout the park, and Proflight Zambia is offering a four-times-weekly flight service beginning in 2018. Al-

ternatively, the central Kafue is easily reached by road from Lusaka.

If you have previously been to the Kafue and feel as though you know it, we encourage you to take another look. Wildlife numbers are bouncing back, tsetse fly can easily be avoided, and top-quality camps and lodges are offering world-class wildlife experiences with top-class guiding.

The Kafue continues to transform and never fails to impress, so there is no time like the present to pay it a visit and experience the beauty of the Kafue National Park for yourself.

Here Lies a Great Heart

THE LIVINGSTONE MEMORIAL By: Nicky Dunnington-Jefferson Photos: Nicky Dunnington-Jefferson

B

eneath the sod, entombed in a foreign field, rests the heart of a truly great man: David Livingstone.

A magnificent mpundu tree (Parinari curatellifolia) used to shade the site of the interment, but the tree is long gone. However, in the precincts of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) in London, part of this tree has been preserved and is on display; I pass it every time I visit the Society.

It is inscribed with the words: [Dr] Livingstone May 4 1873 followed by the names of his faithful African attendants. The words were carved into the bark by Jacob Wainwright, another loyal African follower, before the explorer’s embalmed body was carried carefully to the coast for shipment back to England.

In 1899 Mr. Robert Codrington, Deputy Administrator for Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), was assigned the task of assessing the rapidly decaying tree.

He decided that the section bearing the inscription be dispatched by ship to London and thence to the RGS. Above this artefact hangs a photograph of the tree in its full glory – but how different the site looks now.

I visited the Livingstone Memorial site last year accompanied by my guide, the esteemed Zambian artist Quentin Allen. It is easy to reach and not far from Kasanka National Park, off the D235 on a reasonable dirt road – look out for green railings. However, if you’re not looking carefully, you might miss the off-road sign to the memorial. The entrance fee for nonZambians is a hefty US$15. We were greeted by Barbara, a charming lady and knowledgeable guide, with Clare Pettitt’s book Dr. Livingstone, I presume? She took us first to what is alleged to be the site of Livingstone’s

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actual death aged 60 on 1st May 1873, in a hut in Chief Chitambo’s village. A plaque marks the spot.

The missionary and explorer was travelling south with his followers through the swampy Bangweulu region of what was then Northern Rhodesia. After crossing the Lulimala River, with their leader very sick and weak, the party arrived at Chief Chitambo’s village. Livingstone was unable to go on. I quote a statement: 1 ‘When the people arrived they used the huts in the village. They made a house of cloth, a tent, for the Bwana. It was a tent but smaller than the District Officer’s’. Livingstone died that night, and was found kneeling by his bed in the morning, on his knees in a praying position – but not under the mpundu tree.

“Livingstone’s powerful spirit lives on”

Livingstone’s heart and viscera were buried where the mpundu tree once stood. The statement continues: ‘In the morning they carried the Bwana’s body to a Mpundu tree where the Monument is now. They carried it on a large flat iron plate. Then they pulled out his stomach and heart and lungs and put them in a hole in the ground near the Mpundu tree. Then Chitambo called all his villages to bring food and they brought meal and goats and chickens and the Bwana’s people mourned for three days’.

There is still a mpundu tree here, an offshoot of the original, and nearby

1. The two quotes are taken from a translated statement made by Lupoko, a headman, and certified by T.S.L. Fox Pitt, District Commissioner, Mpika, on 30/10/1936. Lupoko was a young boy when Livingstone arrived in Chief Chitambo’s village in 1873. Statement courtesy of the Shiwa archives, by kind permission of Charlie and Jo Harvey.

stands the monument to Livingstone, built in 1902 from burnt brick covered in smooth cement. A bronze cross surmounts the obelisk and the main body is embedded with bronze tablets.

One of the tablets informs that on 1st May 1973, exactly 100 years after Livingstone’s death, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, the then President of Zambia, led a gathering here to honour the memory of ‘the Father of Zambia’.

Chief Chitambo’s village, known as Old Chitambo, has been relocated for many years. Native dwellings and many trees are gone from the site, leaving a cleared space in which the plaque and obelisk stand. There aren’t even benches to rest upon. Barbara is very keen for an Information Centre to be established and for the area to be made more visitor-friendly.

As I stood by the memorial plaque to Livingstone, simply inscribed with the details of his birth and death, I was suddenly overcome with emotion. Not wishing to appear this way in front of Quentin, I turned away to compose myself. Later in the day, as we were discussing our visit, I confessed. He told me he had felt the same. History’s hand had touched each of us on the shoulder.

Livingstone’s powerful spirit lives on. This extraordinary man broke the bounds of human endeavour to follow his beliefs and to spread the message of Christianity and freedom to a benighted continent still in the throes of slavery, which he called ‘an immense evil’. His geographical discoveries are legendary and his words spring to mind: ‘If you have men who will come if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all.’

Above, left: One of the tablets embedded into the main body of the Livingstone Memorial. The words of the inscription at the bottom were carved into the trunk of the original mpundu tree pictured in the Royal Geographical Society image.

Above, right: The Livingstone Memorial is situated in a cleared area now known as Old Chitambo. This was the original site of Chief Chitambo’s village, where Livingstone died.

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Responsible Tourism

Toka Leya Supports White Rhino Conservation

By: Wilderness Safaris Photos: Wilderness Safaris

W

ilderness Safaris Toka Leya Camp in Zambia is firmly committed to supporting the Department of National Parks and Wildlife’s (DNPW) white rhino conservation programme in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, which recently saw its white rhino population increase from nine to 10 animals, when a baby rhino was born in February this year.

Toka Leya is committed to Wilderness Safaris 4Cs ethos of Commerce, Community, Culture and Conservation

The DNPW Zambia is tasked with the vital job of constantly monitoring and safeguarding Mosi-oa-Tunya’s white rhino population. Wilderness Safaris supports the DNPW through the monthly provision of fuel for vehicle patrols and water for their camps, and raises the profile of their conservation efforts by offering its guests the opportunity to join their scouts on a rhino-tracking experience. This activity enables guests to support the conservation of this vulnerable species, while learning more about white rhino behaviour during a truly up-close-and-personal experience, under the guidance of an experienced DNPW Zambia scout. Guests depart the camp by vehicle in search of rhino, and will then track and observe them on foot.

‘As pioneering leaders of authentic and sustainable ecotourism in the Zambezi region, we are deeply committed to the protection of Vulnerable and Endangered species, such as the white rhino,’ says Petros Guwa, Wilderness Safaris Zambia’s service co-ordinator. ‘Affording our guests the opportunity to join us in supporting this critical cause has not only bolstered anti-poaching efforts, but also raised

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awareness of this precious and highly threatened species.’

In addition to being committed to Conservation, Toka Leya is also dedicated to the other 3Cs that make up the basis of Wilderness Safaris’ 4Cs sustainability ethos – Community, Culture and Commerce. Toka Leya Camp has minimal impact on the surrounding environment as a result of sophisticated back-of-house innovations that ensure a light eco-footprint. Hot water is provided through solar geysers, while waste water is processed in a water management plant which, once treated, is used to irrigate plants in the camp’s greenhouse and nursery. Additionally, all organic waste is processed by a worm farm and used as nutrientdense fertiliser for the tree-planting project.

Since December 2014, over 3,000 indigenous tree saplings have been planted in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, all of which were germinated and nurtured by Toka Leya’s staff in the camp’s greenhouse and nursery. Guests are invited to plant an indigenous tree of their choice themselves, leaving behind a permanent legacy and playing a role in the reforestation of the Park.

‘All of these initiatives form part of our sustainability ethos of using the 4Cs to conserve the environment, while at the same time ensuring that local people benefit directly from this process. Toka Leya guests can meet and interact with the communities that we support through our nonprofit partner, Children in the Wilderness, which focuses on educating the next generation of environmental leaders from rural villages,’ added Guwa. ‘Learning about different cultures can shift people’s perspectives when it comes to their own lives, which forms part of our vision: to conserve and restore Africa’s wilderness and wildlife by creating lifechanging journeys and inspiring positive action.’

Responsible Tourism

Education Sponsorship: Kaingu Safari Lodge By: Rick Schulz Photos: Kaingu Safari Lodge / Safari Magazine

W

e, at Kaingu Lodge, firmly believe that the two major ways we can benefit and help develop the communities around the lodge are to provide employment in a district where there a few opportunities, and to provide some education options for the local children.

Our local Itumbi Primary School, at Chief Kaingu’s village, now provides a basic teaching curriculum to 300 children in an area where previously there were no opportunities due to the distance from any major centre.

The school was built as a joint venture between the community, Kaingu Lodge, and generous donations raised by a guest, Ms Connie Walvis and the Wild Geese Foundation.

Connie worked closely with Tom Heinecken, a previous shareholder of Kaingu, to raise the necessary funds and build the new three-classroom school. The government now pays for three teachers and Kaingu Lodge pays for two at the school.

Many of our guests over the years have provided further cash and educational material. Allyson Hankin, a school teacher from Australia, raises money through second-hand book sales and makes an annual pilgrimage to Kaingu. She prioritises the Itumbi School’s wish list and purchases what she can, along with Joseph Kaloza, a teacher from the school. In addition, in partnership with English guests John and Renata Gunn, and Keith and

Bev Musgrave from Rota Tank, we have been able to supply water to the school and chief’s village through a solar bore pump and distribution system.

Over the last three years, with the help of generous donations from Linda Doughty, also from the UK, we have extended our programme by providing scholarships to four girls to attend the Itezhi Tezhi Secondary Boarding School with the opportunity to complete year 12. These girls all showed above average ability and dedication at junior levels and are making every effort to capitalise on their opportunity. The next step is to extend these scholarships to tertiary level.

Our next project is to provide solar powered tablets, containing the Zambian curriculum in seven languages, to several, and eventually all, of the classrooms. Two teachers have already been trained in their use, through iSchool Bambisana, who developed the tablets and are rolling out the programme. We hope to furnish two classes within the next two years.

Zambia’s challenges can sometimes appear overwhelming, but just because you can’t solve them completely does not mean that you should not try to make a difference, however small. We have been very lucky to have guests and friends who share this philosophy.

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Z A M B I A

Adventures

Cars are waiting for the guests who come by boat from the lodge.

Luxury safari tent.

And yet there’s only a canvas between me and the lions...

in the Bush My ‘tent’ at Mukambi Safari Lodge. Hippo’s around.

Here safari means real adventure. Mukambi Safari Lodge is not fenced.

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Edjan van der Heide and his wife Robyn

By: Arjan Mulder, Travel Writer, The Netherlands Photos: Arjan Mulder

Z

ambia is pure – the real Africa. Here, going on safari is not like visiting a zoo. Here I sleep between lions and time simply does not exist. At night roaring lions and grunting hippos keep me awake, I enjoy a proper African sunset, and an elephant crosses the huge Kafue River. Come, let’s experience the true Africa.

ney begins. I’m from Holland and I only know Edjan from the ‘phone, but he is proud to show me his property. He explains, ‘When we arrived 15 years ago, the lodge did not offer much.

In the meanwhile we have three bush camps, a 60-man staff, and a community school for 80 children. We are completely solar powered and our own airport strip is almost ready.’

‘We escort you to your tent. You cannot walk alone at night,’ he warned us. I asked, ‘Is it really so dangerous here?’ Edjan replied, ‘Mukambi Safari Lodge is not fenced, so the wildlife runs around here. Even in the daytime lions are spotted between tents and chalets. You must always be alert and know what you should and should not do. Occasionally a We wonder what time they will come to pick us up, but my crocodile comes… But even with our children, nothing has Indian travelling companion gets it - time is stretchable here. ever happened. Not even when one of them went mad and Or, as is said, ‘We have the watch, they have the time’. Zambia spent a whole day in the bush.’ I get the message. This will be belongs to those countries in Africa where travel is still an real adventure. Mukambi Safari Lodge is not fenced - game is adventure, where a plan easily changes and where people everywhere. and wild animals share the country together. Zambia is literally in the middle of Africa, a little south of the equator. The It’s dark. I’m in my tent. Suddenly I’m sitting up straight. big five live here - but not behind a fence. Zambia - where I The cloth of my luxury tent vibrates. Just two metres away experience the quintessential Africa. from my pillow, a roaring lion makes it clear that this is its place. My whole nightmare from Kenya 30 years ago comes Zambia - lions in the lodge back. Then, in a tent at night, I was almost crushed by ten elephants. It is not necessary to be afraid, nothing happens, ‘Welcome to Mukambi Safari Lodge, where I have lived for 15 but apparently, in Kenya, I have been properly traumatised. years with my family,’ says Edjan van der Heide, who has just The next night I preferred to sleep in a stone cabin. You picked me up from the airport with Dutch punctuality, and never know... we travel to his Mukambi Safari Lodge in four hours. Mukambi is located in Kafue National Park, the largest non-encloZambia - where safari is still a real sed wildlife park in Africa and larger than the Serengeti in Tanzania. ‘Our lodge is located in an area with thirteen lions, adventure dozens of hippos, and elephants. This is how you live along an African river,’ he tells me. In this nature reserve, my jour- ‘I will wake you up at 5.30 am,’ indicates the night watchman

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Hippos are curious. But also the biggest killers in Africa!

when he brings me to the cabin in the evening. With a bright flashlight, he keeps an eye on the environment - he knows what’s going on around here. The game drive starts at 6.00 am the next morning. We go by boat to the other side of the river, where in the dawn two Land Rovers are ready and waiting.

Edjan explains to us, ‘We do two game drives a day, in the morning and in the evening, each taking three to four hours.

During the day, much of the wildlife sleeps. The rainy season is just over, so we cannot get everywhere. A game drive in Kafue National Park is still an adventure. It is not like in the enclosed parks, where wildlife is crowded in high concentrations and vehicles are driving in single file. Our wildlife area is as big as the Netherlands. The wildlife is shy and behaves naturally.’

I’m lucky: we soon see elephant, hippo, puku, kudu, gazelle and waterbuck. Then suddenly the Land Rover stops. The ranger carefully searches the area and then jumps out of the vehicle. ‘It’s safe, we’ll have some coffee here,’ he says. He’ll know! I do not feel completely calm, because a week before,

a ranger was scared by a lion nearby. But the coffee tastes good in this cool morning. In the water, ten hippos are curious about me. ‘They feed on the shore, but only at night. They will not come out of the water now,’ the ranger assures us. That’s great, but I stay alert. Black mambas are also around...

Zambian learning experience

After four days at Mukambi Safari Lodge, sleeping between lions, I realise that men can live very well with wild animals.

Neither needs to live behind a fence. Of course, that is the safest for people. But if you know what to do, if you can ‘read’ the animals and if you observe the rules, it’s good. No guarantees, but traffic in Zambia is more dangerous. People are not a prey for lions - they are not behind every tree looking at us. It may be for me the most intense experience of this trip.

Otherwise, I would not have started my hiking safari three days later...

About the Author: Arjan Mulder is a travel writer living in The Netherlands. His travelling and writing are motivated by untouched nature and inspiring cultures worldwide. Personal experience and emotion are leading in all his writing.

He also is a staff member at the University of Applied Sciences in Enschede.

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By: Sarah Kingdom Photos: Remote Africa Safaris

AA Remote African Safari

frica’s Great Rift Valley extends down into north-eastern Zambia, and it is here that the Luangwa River has, over millennia, carved a uniquely beautiful landscape. This is an area of pristine wilderness. It is the country’s elephant stronghold and also home to Zambia’s only black rhinos; in addition it supports one of the highest lion densities in the region. And we had come to Mwaleshi Camp, one of the most remote bush camps in Africa, to explore this amazing place on foot.

North Luangwa is a vast tract of land, covering 4,636 square kilometres and offering one of the last truly wild experiences in Zambia. Although it had been declared a Game Reserve in 1938, North Park, as it is commonly known, was not open to anyone other than the Game Department for more than 30 years, until in 1972 it eventually became a National Park. There are no permanent lodges and the only way to visit the park is through one of the few safari operators licensed to conduct walking safaris.

A walking safari in North Luangwa is the ultimate way to experience such a remote location. This is a place for total isolation, providing intimate, personal involvement in one of the last great wildlife areas on the continent. I have been going on safari in Africa for over 20 years and I have never had an experience to match the days we spent in North Luangwa. The bush is very different when experienced on foot. You are suddenly intensely aware of every slight noise or rustle in the undergrowth; and bird sounds, the alarm call of puku and impala, and the occasional roar of a lion or trumpet of an elephant sharpen your senses. On a walking safari you see so much that would normally be missed from the inside of a safari vehicle on a traditional game drive.

Our first night in camp was one of those real ‘Out of Africa’ experiences - shower water heated over a fire, drinks while seated in chairs overlooking the darkening river, dinner

Breakfast on the Mwaleshi river

by lantern light, and the noises of the bush continuing around us. When we got back to our tent the beds had been turned down and mosquito nets firmly secured over them – a welcome touch.

We drifted off to sleep listening to the sound of elephants tearing down branches and munching on vegetation very close by.

A typical day’s walking safari in North Luangwa starts at about 5.00 am.

We were woken with a jug of warm water and, after a quick wash, coffee and breakfast around the campfire.

At 5.30 am we set off for what would be about a five-hour walk. Taking off our shoes, we crossed the shallow, but surprisingly chilly, Mwaleshi River, our eyes adjusting to the growing light. We walked on, watching the wild world awakening around us.

We had been walking for a while when we saw a hyena on the opposite bank.

She was quite probably pregnant as her stomach was pendulous, and she lay lazily on the cool sand. She was unconcerned by our presence, presumably because of the river between

us. We spent time watching her; and she watched us back.

Shortly after leaving the hyena, we came across some Cookson’s wildebeest (one of the Valley’s endemic subspecies), and then a lone bull elephant walking along the opposite bank. We followed along on our side of the river, until he reached the spot where we had been planning to cross.

At this point he found a tree laden with fruit and paused for a snack. We were not about to disturb him and waited our turn. It wasn’t too long before he finished and came down to the river to cross to our side. As we were on foot we decided to back up a fair distance and wait. When the bull got halfway across the river the wind changed direction and he suddenly smelt us, stopping still with his ears waving wildly and his trunk up scenting the air. Ultimately deciding we didn’t seem too much of a threat, the elephant continued across the river, eventually vanishing into the thick vegetation.

Returning to camp, and after lunch TRAVEL & LEISURE ZAMBIA

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and a siesta, we set off on a three-hour afternoon walk. This time we headed upstream, venturing into places we hadn’t been before. As the sun started to set, we ended our afternoon’s walk up high on an embankment, with two elephants enjoying a dust bath immediately below us. They were both completely oblivious of our presence – a lovely way to end the day.

Dinner that night was in true safari style: wine and a three-course candlelit meal on the banks of the river.

We could hear prides of lion roaring on all sides and the occasional startled trumpet of an elephant across the water. The moon and stars shone above us, and we heard mysterious splashing sounds in the river as animals waded across under cover of darkness. The 5.00 am wake-up, eight hours of walking, and the knowledge that we were rising again at 5.00 am the following day sent us to bed before too long. Lulled to sleep by the sounds of the lions and distant hyenas, we fell rapidly into a deep sleep.

The 5.00 am wake-up seemed easier the next morning, and after breakfast we set off for our final walk in the park. This time it was a short drive, and then a walk through the riverine forest down to the Luangwa River which forms the border of the Nation-

The best home made bread

al Park. Huge pods of hippos wallowed in the water below us, and a few brave fishermen sat on the opposite bank, outside the confines of the park, mending their nets and cleaning their catch.

Reluctantly we had to leave the hippos and the park – we had a long journey home ahead of us. Half way to the park exit we rounded a corner to find a spectacle for which North Luangwa is famous: a huge herd of buffalo, numbering in their hundreds – the perfect sighting to end our safari.

It is worth noting that North Luangwa

is only open in the dry season, from June to October, and the camps are rebuilt every year to ensure minimal impact on the ecosystem. Access to the park in the wet season is virtually impossible We stayed at Mwaleshi Camp which is owned and operated by Remote Africa Safaris.

Bookings: reservations@remoteafrica. com Website details: http://www.remoteafrica.com/mwaleshi-camp/

Excellent walking guides

About the Author: Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, before moving to Africa at the age of 21, Sarah Kingdom is a mountain guide, traveller and mother of two. When she is not climbing, she also owns and operates a 3,000hectare cattle ranch in central Zambia.

She guides and runs trips regularly in India, Nepal, Tibet, Russia, Turkey and Uganda, also taking travellers up Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro numerous times a year.

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Privately guided road safaris include all the Zambian adventures you miss by flying

MT Cheza, MTTZ’s Lusaka Guest House Start your safari in the city w w w.MTTSafaris .com +260 (0) 962 831 707

CAMP ZAMBIA

Watching the antics of a hippo pod from the Kanunshya campsite at the confluence of the Mwaleshi and Luangwa Rivers

By: Bruce Ellender Photos: Jen Coppinger

T

he benefit of non-consumptive wildlife tourism to local communities in the Luangwa Valley was realised early on in the mid-1950s when Chief Nsefu, encouraged by Norman Carr, set aside a piece of land for the preservation of wildlife called the Nsefu Game Reserve. Chief Nsefu was amazed that photographic tourism was popular enough to provide him with significant income and benefits resulting from protecting a piece of land in his chiefdom.

The Nsefu Game Reserve was incorporated into the South

Luangwa National Park in 1972 and, being a state entity, the benefits of wildlife tourism now went to the state rather than directly to the local communities. Communities, however, continued to benefit through employment opportunities provided by tourist camps. Unfortunately, as the human footprint in the Luangwa Valley expands, so do the incidences of human-wildlife conflict, both in the national parks and surrounding game management areas. It is both the wildlife and the Valley’s human inhabitants that suffer as a result; solutions are therefore needed to promote conservation and custodianship of natural resources in the Luangwa Valley. An obvious move towards finding a solution is to provide the local communities with a vested interest in protecting the bountiful wildlife with which they have shared the Luangwa Valley for centuries.

REKINDLING COMMUNITY-BASED CONSERVATION

IN THE LUANGWA VALLEY

Facilitating communities to realise benefits from wildlife-based tourism is a concept that Camp Zambia aims to promote as a means of ensuring communities and wildlife continue to prosper in a mutually beneficial relationship that can sustain future generations. Camp Zambia currently facilitates three community-owned sites in the game management areas surrounding North and South Luangwa National Parks. The situation of each of the camps is spectacular. In the south, Kalovia Camp is approximately 20 kilometres north of the Nsefu sector of South Luangwa National Park, with access to the spectacular Changwa Channel, an area of the Luangwa River that is home to some of the highest hippo densities in Africa and an incredible carmine bee-eater colony on Kalovia Island. Common night sounds around camp include the rasping call of leopards and the cries of thick-tailed bush babies.

Chikolongo Camp is situated in close proximity to Mano Gate in North Luangwa National Park. This is a beautiful camp in the riverine forest, on the edge of the crystal-clear escarpment reaches of the Mwaleshi River, and is the ideal campsite situation for day trips into the North Luangwa National Park. Other options are to relax around camp and enjoy the tranquil sounds of the gurgling stream, or, in the hot months, to bathe in its cool waters while enjoying some fantastic birding. Specials in this area include the elusive Narina trogon, Pel’s fishing owls and racket-tailed rollers.

Kanunshya Community Camp is situated at the confluence of the Mwaleshi and Luangwa Rivers. This is a truly wild

e campsit Kalovia ark P l Nationa

part of the Luangwa Valley and sightings of lion, leopard, buffalo and elephant are common.

The situation of the three camps creates an ideal trip for a complete Luangwa Valley experience. Many of the lodges in the Luangwa Valley are not affordable for much of the local market. Camp Zambia is therefore a package that not only creates employment and injects funds into local communities, but provides affordable access to the remote wilderness surrounding the North and South Luangwa National Parks.

For intrepid campers looking for a truly remote bush experience, the Camp Zambia community camps are an ideal way to explore the Luangwa Valley. Campsites can be booked in advance and there is the option of booking the entire site for a more private safari experience. Drive-in campers are also welcome; however, there is a chance that the campsite may have been fully booked and so we suggest you enquire about availability in advance.

Facilities offered by Camp Zambia are simple and rustic but adequate and functional, serviced by incredibly enthusiastic staff. Annually, the community members and staff rebuild these camps using traditional methods and natural materials. Available facilities at each campsite include a fire place, a table, benches and a flush loo; camp staff are also available for cleaning dishes. Following a luxurious hot open-air shower, listening to night sounds while enjoying the glowing embers of a mopane log fire is the perfect end to a day on safari.

Camp Zambia community campsites are operated on behalf of the community by Remote Africa Safaris and may be booked by emailing reservations@remoteafrica.com. For more information please visit www.campzambia.com.

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African Wattled (Plover) - now renamed as a Lapwing The largest African Lapwing. Usually found near water or on grassy plains. At a distance it looks un-excitably brown but through binoculars it is a remarkably beautiful bird with delicate black mottling on the neck, yellow and red wattles. The body covered with soft brown, black and grey feathering and a distinct white spot on the wing joint. It occurs across East, Central and parts of Southern Africa. A very vocal bird when disturbed and will readily engage and drive off intruding raptors. Feeds on insects, seeds, worms.

Photo by Gilmour Dickson

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Hi Lizzie,

Interview

Give us your perspective on your up bringing?

I was born 48 years ago in Kaoma, Western Province. I started school at the age of seven years and went up to grade seven due to luck of finances by my parents to pay for my school fees. After dropping out of school I then started selling vegetables, which my father used to grow at home, at Kaoma market.

Four years later, after dropping out of school, I got married and I have three daughters.

When did you start your catering career?

It all started in the year 2000, though I did not start directly as a chef. My journey to this career in short was like this. I first found a job as a sales lady at a place called the Tobacco Board of Zambia (TBZ) which is just after Kafue National Park. I worked there for eight months, and there was a white man called Robin Bask who was building a lodge in Kafue National Park and wanted people to go and work there.

He came to TBZ to look for people to help with the building and I joined him. My first job was to cut grass and clean it - this is the grass which was used for thatching. After the building of the lodge was finished I then started working as a room attendant, then I was moved to the kitchen where I worked as a waitress for one year.

I then started working as a kitchen helper - cutting vegetables and washing dishes - and it was whilst working as a kitchen helper that I started learning how to cook.

What first brought you to Kaingu Safari Lodge?

Firstly, it’s a beautiful place and I had always desired to one day work here. Our former manager used to come to the lodge I used to work for before, and he would always request me to come and join Kaingu Safari Lodge.

How was it like on your first day at work?

I was scared, as the first day I reported, I came to cook for eight guests on Christmas Day. What do you love most about your career?

I love baking cakes and I can make different types of cakes.

What’s a typical day for you like?

I work for eight hours. I start at 0700 hrs and go for a break at either 1200 hrs or 1400 hrs, depending on the time guests are having their lunch. I then report back for work at 1700 hrs to prepare for dinner and knock off at 2100 hrs.

You have worked here for 13 years now, what’s the secret?

Firstly, I enjoy working here at Kaingu Safari Lodge. I have a very good working relationship with the managers as they are very good to us.

I would also urge my colleagues in the industry that moving from place to place in a short space of time is not good for their career. What is important is to develop a good relationship with your managers. I am now building a four-bedroom house in Mumbwa which will be complete next year in 2018, and all the financial resources I am using to build my house are from my salary.

Fact File Name: Lubinda

Mukumbuta

Nickname: Lizzie Position: Chef Company Name:

Kaingu Safari Lodge Country: Zambia

TRAVEL & LEISURE ZAMBIA

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LOWER ZAMBEZI NATIONAL PARK LEADS THE WAY TOWARDS A

Carbon-Conscious Future

By: Sheena Carey Photos: BioCarbon Partners

F

or those lucky enough to have been on safari in the Lower Zambezi National Park, dinner chat is full of sharing and comparing views of wildlife and big cats sighted. It is rare, while on a game drive or watching the sunset on a motorized boat, that we stop and think of the carbon cost generated by fuel and food production. Taking a moment to reflect, it seems that the tools we use to immerse ourselves in, and appreciate, the natural environment – and the local people with whom we share the adventures – are the very things that challenge their continued existence.

A look at the facts illustrates why achieving carbon neutrality in the Lower Zambezi National Park is such a big deal.

The region’s deforestation rates are 11 times higher than the national average. The region has an exceptionally high poverty rate with 85 per cent of the regional population living on less than US$2 a day. The area is home to some of Africa’s most charismatic wildlife, including elephants, wild dogs and other threatened species. The Lower Zambezi National Park is part of a globally significant conservation area which also includes Mana Pools, the core of UNESCO’S World Heritage site. Typical of Africa, the Lower Zambezi National Park is a place where beauty intermingles with the

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threats poverty provides. Given this, a solution needed to be found.

Inspired by efforts to achieve carbon neutral national parks in the US and the UK, Zambian private sector tourism leaders collaborated with those calling for global climate action and humanity. This set the stage for the entry of Biocarbon Partners and the REDD+ Project. The combination of passion for wildlife and conservation, and the desire to give back to those most susceptible to the adverse effects of climate change, provided the drive to reduce deforestation whilst at the same time helping to promote livelihoods and resilience for those most vulnerable – the community.

Aptly put by a member of Biocarbon Partners, ‘You cannot tell people to stop cutting down trees – you need to give something back.’

To the stakeholders, preserving the Lower Zambezi’s last remaining indigenous forest seemed a good place to start, for both the preservation of indigenous species and carbon neutrality. The choice was made and 39,000 hectares now known as the ‘Rufunsa Conservancy’ was ring-fenced, its location on the northern boundary of the national park providing a natural buffer zone between park and metropolitan.

Crucial to the success of achieving carbon neutrality was community involvement. Communities were educated about climate change and became authors of their own

r e d i s In

Patrol and Protect our Forests

Your

Deforestation happening on community land, near to Rufunsa Conservancy that is protected by the LZRP.

where those in the know go

Charcoal traveling on the Great East Road

fate. Recognising the monetary value of forest protection, for each hectare preserved the community receives ZMK2, amounting to approximately US$165,000 per year.

Responding to livelihood concerns, beehives have been distributed, conservation agricultural practices taught and a clinic and a school have been built. In a major turnaround, communities have their own forest management teams patrolling and protecting their part of the forest.

In essence, ‘the carbon market’ provides a cost-efficient mechanism for the achievement of aspirational goals. By using the carbon market, entities can offset their emissions.

Arguably, in the case of the Lower Zambezi, not only can tourism concessionaires take pride in their part played by achieving the world’s first ever carbon neutral national park; in addition, communities can celebrate their part played as protectors of the ecosystem and agents for their livelihood change.

Forests protected by BCP in the LZRP in Rufunsa Conservancy

As trees become the currency, Zambia’s tourism leaders become the buyers. Think of the carbon footprint a lodge can fuel through its use of diesel, flights, employees and guests.

Tourism concessionaires take responsibility for the carbon emissions by buying enough carbon credits to ensure there are no greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations.

And it doesn’t end there. Each year an auditor comes from the Verified Carbon Standard Programme to verify that carbon emissions generated are being offset by the number of trees.

TRAVEL & LEISURE ZAMBIA

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Know Your African Wildlife:

Wild Dogs

Sightings of wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), also known as Cape hunting dogs, painted dogs or painted wolves, are among the most sought-after by safari visitors. This is partly because they are interesting, charismatic and extremely beautiful animals, and largely because declining numbers have turned them into a rarity in many areas.

If there is one characteristic that typifies wild dogs, it is their ability to run. Their hunting technique – of pursuing prey over long distances, rather than ambushing it – is unusual among predators and results in packs moving large distances each day in search of food.

In South Luangwa, pack sizes tend to range between eight and 20 individuals. They are intensely social creatures, spending time resting, hunting and playing together. They are co-operative breeders: only the dominant (alpha) pair in the pack will breed, and the subordinate dogs assist in raising a successful litter of pups.

They take a variety of prey, but favour small antelope such as impala and puku, working as a pack to split the herds and cause maximum confusion. Often, one dog will catch an antelope and the others will quickly join to assist. Since they’re near the bottom of the carnivore hierarchy, they feed extremely rapidly, stripping a carcass in minutes. After a successful hunt, all the dogs return to the den and regurgitate lumps of meat for the alpha female and the pups.

After a productive denning season, the introduction of the pups can swell the pack size by as many as 10. At this stage, dispersal groups – often, but not always, formed by yearling dogs from the previous litter – separate from their natal pack and seek opportunities of their own. In searching for another pack, these dispersal groups can travel large distances, sometimes even to other National Parks.

African wild dogs are making a real comeback in the Luangwa Valley, thanks to the concerted efforts of the Zambia Carnivore Programme and Zambia’s Department for National Parks and Wildlife.

There are now more than 170 individual dogs in the Luangwa system – this year’s denning season will add many more to that – and we see them almost daily. We hope this trend continues as their conservation status is Endangered.

I hope you enjoy your safari in Zambia!

By: Edward Selfe Photos: Edward Selfe For more in the ‘Know Your African Wildlife’ series, visit: www.edwardselfephotography.com

By: Katherine Johnston, Communications Manager, Save the Rhino International Photos: Tristan Vince

S

chool pupil Emmanuel is dressed up as a wildlife ranger, wearing camouflage trousers and an oversized jacket. In one hand he’s holding an old defunct radio, long-since upgraded, and in the other a ‘spotter sheet’, where he and his classmates can record all the animals, trees and plants they’ve seen on their first ever trip to North Luangwa National Park.

Emmanuel’s three-day visit to North Luangwa is the highlight of an award-winning education project, Lolesha Luangwa – meaning ‘Look after Luangwa’ in Bemba, the local language spoken in this region of Zambia.

The project works with children aged 11 to 14, living near the borders of North Luangwa National Park. They are here with their teacher, Mary, and are hosted by Conservation Education Officers Michael Eliko and Cephas Chota, who are employees of North Luangwa Conservation Project, the partnership between Frankfurt Zoological Society and the Zambian Department of National Parks & Wildlife who protect the park.

EDUCATION AGAINST EXTINCTION In Zambia’s North Luangwa National Park, local children are learning to love rhinos

As part of the Lolesha Luangwa programme, children are taught a curriculum of conservation education at school, with support from Michael and Cephas who visit with laptops and projectors to give fun-filled interactive lessons. The curriculum covers a whole host of important conservation topics with immediate relevance to North Luangwa.

Lessons focus on water hygiene, sustainable forestry, which types of snakes are dangerous or harmless, safe ways to fish and many, many more.

Beyond the practical, children are also taught an appreciation of the wider ecosystem and how each individual animal or plant TRAVEL & LEISURE ZAMBIA

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plays its role in a delicate balance. In a set of four special rhino lessons, Michael and Cephas go into local schools and explain the history of the now Critically Endangered black rhino in North Luangwa, the threats which led to their extinction in this area, why these majestic animals were reintroduced to their habitat and how we can protect them.

Lolesha Luangwa began in 2003, to coincide with the first translocation of black rhinos to North Luangwa National Park. The conservation team in North Luangwa knew it would take more than high security and habitat protection to ensure that the species would never be poached out again, and so developed an education programme to inspire children to want to protect rhinos. Children aged 11 to 14 are old enough to understand the complex messages and to relay them back to their families and friends, creating a ripple effect across their communities to inspire them to support rhino conservation, and to feel a sense of ownership and responsibility for wildlife.

ranger for the day, David, who was keeping an eye out for any potentially dangerous wildlife.

The children ticked off all the animals and the footprints they saw, and excitedly wondered if they’d spot one of the most elusive – a black rhino.

The next morning we all piled into the Lolesha Luangwa safari truck and drove the children up to the anti-poaching Command and Control Centre. Here they met valuable role models – rangers, drivers, electricians and all the many other people who play their part in protecting North Luangwa – opening their eyes to the many job opportunities in conservation.

And to top off the whole experience, that evening, Hugo, a male black rhino, slowly made his way through the bush in search of fruit from the sausage tree on which to feed. His observers, holding up their binoculars to get a better view, weren’t the usual safari-goers; they were Emmanuel and his friends having the experience of a lifetime.

“After all, how can you love something you’ve never seen before?”

The visit to the park is usually the first time any of the youngsters have been away from home.

To break the ice, they all had their faces painted whilst Michael quizzed them about their chosen animals. Inside the newly refurbished Education Centre, surrounded by beautiful views, they put on plays acting out the roles of rhinos, poachers, rangers and a judge. Will the rhino be killed for its horn? Or will the ranger catch the poacher? Is the judge going to grant bail – or give a hefty sentence? Emmanuel, in his ranger kit, wasn’t going to let anyone get away with killing a rhino on his watch and neither were any of his classmates.

In the afternoon, we went walking through the bush with our

North Luangwa’s black rhino population is growing. The future of Zambia’s rhinos will one day be in the hands of children like Emmanuel, growing up in North Luangwa right now. That’s why we need to teach them about conservation, and show them wildlife at first-hand. After all, how can you love something you’ve never seen before?

It costs just £40 to take a child to North Luangwa National Park to see rhinos and meet rangers for the first time. Visit savetherhino. org to donate towards our Education Against Extinction appeal to help more children visit North Luangwa.

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Across the border - Zimbabwe

ZIMBABWE’S SAVÉ By: Leslie Nevison Photos: Leslie Nevison

I

prefer dogs to most people. A wild dog sighting while on safari is therefore as close as I come to a religious experience. I am not the only one who reacts this way. My guests cried after seeing wild dogs in Zimbabwe’s Savé Valley Conservancy.

My guests and I were in Savé to see wild dogs. We knew there was a pack denning on the Chishakwe Ranch, one of

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the 14 private concessions which comprise the conservancy. We planned on going to the den the following morning with researchers from the Lowveld Wild Dog Project, which is provided housing and logistical support by Chishakwe.

Mark, Chishakwe’s exclusive guide, suggested a game drive to the waterhole for sunset. I was out of the vehicle fiddling with camera settings when Josiah, Mark’s scout, said softly, ‘The dogs are coming.’ After 20 years of safaris, there are no sweeter words to me than ‘The dogs are coming’.

Four adults and a 10-week-old pup appeared through the brush at the far end of the pan. We stared at each other

Across the border - Zimbabwe

VALLEY CONSERVANCY from across the water. The pup’s mother trotted forward to study us more carefully, stopping metres away. She gave a low growl. The anxious pup whined, calling her back. It was then that I looked up to see my two guests hugging each other in the back of the safari vehicle, one comforting the other who was in tears. Bless them – guests’ understanding of such a magical moment does not come any better.

We had sighted a different dog pack. The denning pack had 10 much younger pups and, as we learned over the next few days, seeing them was far from easy. We had to forget silly preconceptions that all we had to do was park the

vehicle next to the den, while we snapped the best photos of our safari careers of pups tumbling in play. These pups were barricaded in thorny brush next to a high river bank.

Their dens had been switched three times in the last few weeks after each was invaded by hyenas and lions, wild dogs’ enemies. By the time we arrived, the adults, who were denning for the first time, had learned from earlier mistakes and were taking no chances. The den was impossible to access. But, like the iconic roar of lions in the African night, the sound of crying pups was satisfying.

And, since nature is gracious to those who are patient and accepting (or so I imagine), on our last night wild dogs TRAVEL & LEISURE ZAMBIA

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Across the border - Zimbabwe

hunted impala in the dry Chishakwe River just below our rooms.

The Savé Valley Conservancy is not your typical Southern African safari destination. Located north of Gonarezhou National Park, the Savé River Valley started life as a collection of cattle ranches. Drought and tsetse fly made cattle untenable. In the 1980s, the owners joined together to form the Savé Valley Conservancy, a 3200-square-kilometre area, into which once eradicated wildlife was re-introduced. (For a sense of Savé’s size, compare it with Gonarezhou National Park’s 5000 square kilometres, Zimbabwe’s second largest national park.) Zimbabwe’s land reform programme became the next challenge for the conservancy, from which private owners are still emerging with varying amounts of confidence in the future. Many of the conservancy’s concessions have subsisted on hunting revenues, but others like

Chishakwe hope to forge a path through tourism. Currently, Savé is home to all member species of the Big Five, and one of Africa’s highest densities of wild dog.

The Savé Valley Conservancy and Chishakwe Ranch are my new favourite destinations, and not just because of the increased chances of sighting the dogs. The conservancy is pretty bush, with kopjes and baobab trees, and scenic spots for relaxed picnic lunches, sunrises and sunsets. Activities include game drives, guided walks, night safaris, black rhino tracking, birding, fishing, and relaxing by the pool and campfire. The wildlife is skittish but this must be expected where hunting is permitted close by. Only one group of guests is accepted at a time. You don’t feel like the paying clients of a safari lodge. Rather, you feel like the privileged house guests of a close Zimbabwean friend.

About the Author: Leslie Nevison is the director of Lusaka-based MTT Zambia Ltd, the East, West, Central and Southern African specialists. There is a possibility to see wild dogs all year round in the conservancy. Wild dog denning season runs from June through August. www.MTTSafaris.com / leslie@MTTSafaris.com

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Across the border - Zimbabwe

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35

Interview

Five minutes with...

BOAZ CHIZUWA

Guide - Chiawa Camp

Meet Boaz Chizuwa, the first Zambian guide at Chiawa Camp.

When did you join Chiawa Camp?

I joined Chiawa Camp on 22nd June 1999.

How did you join Chiawa Camp?

I knew the Cummings family from late 1970s; they used to come to Musungwa Lodge in Kafue National Park over weekends, mainly for fishing. I came to Lower Zambezi National Park on 1st June 1996 and was working for Tongabezi as a guide/assistant at their camps in Lower Zambezi National Park - Sausage Tree Camp and Potato Bush Camp, now called Old Mondoro. I worked for them for three years.

I then joined Chiawa Camp on 22nd June 1999 as a guide and I have been a guide here for 18 years now.

What has been your career highlight?

Towards the end of the 1980s, when I was a spotter at Kapani Lodge, Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth, came to South Luangwa National Park for a holiday and I was his spotter during the game drives.

I was also among the first guides to be licensed here in Zambia under Norman Carr, and we had examiners like Robin Pope, Phil Berry, John Coppinger, Evans Mulonda (ranger from the then National Parks and Wildlife) and Daudi Chimbali, who was warden for National Parks and Wildlife.

What do you love most about guiding?

I love birds, and sitting and watching the animal behaviour.

What do you look for in a client?

Generally guests vary; some come to see lion and leopard, others birds, others from insects to flowers. I love a guest who loves to know and learn about everything on safari.

When you are not guiding, what are you doing?

I love reading guiding books and making sure my car is in good order.

Have you won any top awards?

Not me as an individual but as Chiawa Camp guiding team. We won the best guiding team in Africa for 2016.

Any final words?

I would like to thank the late Norman Carr for training me and the Cummings family for giving me this opportunity to work for their camp.

edwardselfephotography.com

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