Chindu Island

July 24, 2008
Mr. Conlley, owner of Antelope Park, purchased land on an island in the middle of the Zambezi just outside of Vic Falls. The name is Chindu Island and he is planning to build a five star resort on the property next year. In the meantime our little road trip group had an opportunity to camp on the island. I use the word “camp” very loosely. You see, we were served our dinner that evening on china. Get the picture? We drove through the national park for about forty minutes passing all kinds of game. My favorite… a herd of seven giraffe including a baby who could just about fit under its mom’s legs. Our van or min-bus as they are called was pulling a small trailer that held our luggage and some supplies for the island. The roads through the park were more holes than road. One item I did not bring on this journey that I wish I would have is a good support bra. We were only the second group from Antelope Park to stay at Chindu Island and our instructions were to follow the main “road” to the end and wait for the boat to pick us up. Several “ends to the road” were identified. The road completely disappears. Our driver, guardian, and friend Aaron takes the mini-bus, trailer in tow, all through the bush chasing off a herd of kudu to reach the edge of the water. Somehow we manage to find our “parking spot” and a bass-fishing-type-boat zips across to retrieve its skeptical quests. All skepticism disappears as we approach the shore. Steps are built into the white beach hill and are lit with candles to lead our way. On the landing I notice a fire ring… with a bamboo bar! I’m going to like it here! Our tents are spacious and cots comfy. There are even flushing toilets and showers in their own tented enclosure. After a sunset cruise and a dinner Rachael Ray would approve , we gather around the fire before retiring to our waterfront accommodations. I chicken out on taking a shower as I keep having visions of the baboons grubby little hands (that was for your Baz) reaching under the shower tent and grabbing my feet. I’m put to sleep that evening by the songs of the hippos…. directly outside of my tent. We wake early and are taken out for a sunrise cruise. Who needs a five star resort? I like Mr. Connelly’s property just the way it is now.

Crossing the Border to Botswana for the Day

July 25, 2008

Not far from Victoria Falls is the border of Botswana and one of Animal Plant’s most featured game parks, Chobe. How could I be so close and not pay a visit? The rest of my fellow travelers felt the same way… so off we went with passports in hand to spend the day at Chobe National Park on safari. Before arriving to the park we passed a small town. It was very clear we were no longer in Zimbabwe. There were no lines at the banks, all of the stores were open and shoppers were exiting with bags stuffed with goods. The real surprise was waiting for us in the park. Wildlife everywhere… and in large quantities. You would just see one hippo, you would see hundreds of hippos, same with eles, stable, crocs…. Oh My God, the Crocs! The highlight had to have been the performance by the eles. After a beautiful game drive around the park and along the beach, we were dropped off at a dock to board a boat for a safari lunch cruise. The boat would take us straight up to crocs, hippo and buffalo. At one point, a herd of elephant decided to cross the river as we were passing. They swan directly in front of our boat. I could have reached out and touched one of them. As they were making their way across, a few were playing by trying to push each other and squirt one another with water. What a show. I really think they were showing off. Another special treat was spotting wild lions. We all agreed that Chobe exceeded our expectations. This little taste of Botswana has me looking forwarding to coming back in a couple of months to experience Maun and the Okavango Delta. The Delta has a lot to live up to after Chobe. I look forward to the comparison.

Victoria Falls

July 22nd
After an overnight stay at camp Miombo near Hwange National Park, we hit the road around 7:30am and head for Victoria Falls. The journey takes about two hours. When we are about 30 kilometers away, the powerful spray from the falls can be seen in the distance. Our excitement builds. As soon as we arrive to the lodge, we throw our bags in our rooms and pile back in the van to head to the falls. From the lodge we can hear the thunder calling us. The charge is $20 to enter the park and hike around to several viewing points. Here we are at one of the Seven Wonders of the World and there is no line to get in. As we walk through the park and approach the first view point, we only pass a dozen or so visitors. We turn the corner of the path and I lose my breath. It is even larger than I imagined. The sheer force of the water creates such a thundering sound you can feel it vibrate inside your body. For a moment I can’t move. I just stare in complete fascination. Selfishly, when I begin taking photos I’m thankful that there are not hundreds of tourists competing for the same memory that I’m trying to capture. A few view points along the path I can see the Zambia side of the Falls…. limited view and hundreds of tourists crammed in trying to take photographs. Fools. Their intimidation and ignorance of Zimbabwe has allowed me to have a more personalized experience. One I will cherish for the rest of my life.
On a more adventurous note, I was so energized by the power of the falls that I decided to white water raft down the Zambezi. THE #1 most challenging rafting destinations in the world. Our group hit about 20 rapids in about four hours. To raft the entire Zambezi takes three days. Our guide said most people drop out on day one. Did our raft capsize? Hell, yeah. I am now an official member of the Zambezi swim team… and proud of it! Nyumi Nyumi (Zambezi River God) was with me and I safely completed the trip. I bought the DVD (a friend of mine from Australia is making a copy and sending it to my house) and the capsizing is caught on film. Am I turning into an adrenaline junking? All I know is I am looking forward to the Nile in Uganda.

Hwange National Park

After leaving Matopos National Park, we headed to Zimbabwe’s premier game park, Hwange National. A few Kilometers before we approach the park gate we begin to see giraffe, kudu and baboons. We also spot signs that elephant have been down the same road. Remember… I’m a pooh expert now. As we pass through the gate, I’m reminded that Zimbabwe is not the country it use to be. The government does not, cannot support the National Parks. Tourist who once use to come from all over the world to view the spectacular wildlife and nature of Zimbabwe have chosen to go elsewhere for many reasons… unstable economy, lack of resources, political instability, etc. I have been safely tucked under the wing of Antelope Park. It’s privately owned and very well managed. Hwange, not so much. Just through the entrance gate are a series of guest cottages. They are surrounded by a large, empty parking lot. The cottages are run-down and vacant. The scene reminds me of a ghost town. Scattered throughout all of the cottages and the parking lot are troops of baboons. Enter a scene from “Planet of the Apes”. As we drive around the park we pass a few dried water holes. I start to worry. Nathan, our guide explains that there is a fundraising project underway to pump water into all of the pans. This use to be done by the government, now it is being done be private citizens and non-profit groups. At the end of our safari we park next to a large, filled water hole. There are two male elephants competing for territory. Then, just as the sun begins to set, a large herd of elephants appear from the forest behind the bush and make their way to the pan. It has to be one of the most beautiful images I have ever seen.

Hwange National Park

Face to Face with the White Rhino

I’m back from a week long road trip with our final destination being one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls. Between the park, which is based in Gweru, and Vic Falls which borders Zambia, Botswana and Namibia further west, we had planned overnight stays at two National Parks. The first, Matopas specializes in protecting the endangered black and especially white rhino.

Several years ago I remember attending an event at the Baltimore Zoo. It was a fundraiser not only for the zoo, but for the white rhino. It was at this event that I learned how poaching had put the white rhino on the endangered species list. They were being hunted and poached for their horns. Some cultures believe they contain healing ingredients. White rhinos are much larger than black rhino so this is the species that was seeing the greatest decline.

My new friends at Matopas National mean business when it comes to wildlife conservation. They don’t mess around. They make it very clear what can happen if you are caught pouching. Upon entering the park there is a large sign that reads “If you are caught or suspected of pouching, you may be shot”. Yeahoooo! I like these guys! I can hear my friends at Passport Health in Sacramento cheering with me as they read this!

Our guide Andy loved his rhino. He was not only owner of Black Rhino Tours; he was a member of the anti-pouching team. Andy reminded me a bit of Steve Erwin, The Crocodile Hunter. He was passionate about wildlife and would rather be nowhere else than in the bush. Thanks to Andy, I am a pooh specialist. I can now tell you the difference between white rhino and black rhino pooh. I can also tell the difference between rhino and elephant pooh. I can also point out giraffe pooh and tell you if it came from a male or a female. Are you impressed yet?

Andy had us pile into his safari truck. He sat in the passenger seat while his business partner drove. Not long after we passed through the main entrance, the truck came to a stop. We all looked around with wide eyes. Nothing. Andy got out of the truck, crouched low to the ground and examined the tracks he had spotted. Slowly he stood up and looked to the right. Our eyes followed. Nothing. He got back in the truck and motioned for the driver to go off to the right. Slowly we crept along. Once again, Andy jumps out and performs his same moves. Our eyes are glued to his every move. He then says, “Everyone out of the truck”. WHAT?? Andy has found some fresh tracks. The truck cannot make it through the trees to where the tracks lead so he wants us to follow them on foot. Andy reviews some safety precautions with the last one being “as long as you can out run the person next to you, you’ll be fine”. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry considering most of the people I’m with are half my age.

One by one we follow Andy in a line. After about a five minute walk, we spot them. Three male, white rhino. My heart is racing with excitement. Slowly, Andy leads us closer and closer. And then it hits me. I am standing 25 feet away from an animal that I not only attended a fundraiser for, but at one time was known to have less than 100 inheritance on this entire planet. The white rhino has been upgraded from “endangered species” to “near threaten”. They are magnificent.

Feeding the Big Boys

Meet a few of the Studs of the Breeding Program: Arthur, Casper and Mufasa. Believe it or not, they are real sweet hearts; however, I wouldn't come between them and their meat.

Meet the Three Ss

May I formally introduce you to Sango, Swahili and Sahara, or as they are also affectionately called, “The Ss”. This motley crew just celebrated their nine month birthday. They are the youngest cubs at the park, but hopefully not for long. Rumor has it that Lulu is knocked-up and expecting to give birth any day now.

It’s amazing how they have changed in just the few weeks that I’ve been walking with them. My first walk with the cubs was mass chaos. They practiced selective listening and where on their own agenda. Actually, it was the day of the run-off election and the lion handlers had off. They were not present for the walk and the cubs took advantage of their absence. It was sort of like how an elementary class behaves when they have a substitute teacher.

I went on a five hour walk with them yesterday and they were so well behaved. They were full of energy and very playful. Just think, one day little Sango will be the King of Beasts.

Hope you enjoy the photos.

Hard Lessons Learned in the Bush

I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to have spent the past week at ALERT’s phase II lion release site. The research facility, Dollar Block, is located just outside of Bulawayo. It is a 22,000 acre game reserve stocked full of wildlife. You couldn’t drive anywhere without seeing an animal of some sort.

Unfortunately, it is a controlled hunting camp. ALERT rents the research facility cottages and the several hundred acres (I need to confirm the exact amount) needed for the lions from them. Lions are not hunted at the camp and the land ALERT rents from Dollar Block for the lions that are in phase II of the breeding program has a boundary fence.

I was in a bit of a hurry when I left for the research facility. I didn’t have time to check e-mails or inform anyone back home that I was going to be unreachable for a week. You see, “in the bush” we have no internet or phones. We only had electricity about 60% of the time. Unlike Antelope Park, there were no back-up generators. On my first night, the electricity cut off shortly after dark, so we had a candle light dinner. I also had a candle light bath. You can always count on hot water. The water was heated by a wood fire and Intiny, the gardener and over all handyman made sure that the boiler fire kept going in the evening.

There are six lionesses in the phase II pride. Research is conducted three times a day; 5:30 – 7:30am, 12:00 – 1:30pm and 5:00 – 7:00pm. We look for the location of each lioness, their movement during the research period, social and aggression behaviors, stalking and/or hunting encounters and we identify the prey witnessed on each outing. The lionesses had been doing very well hunting for themselves; however, there had not been a sign of a kill in a few weeks.

On the morning of July 13, the full pride of lionesses were found anxiously pacing. They were obsessively focused on something just beyond the outside of the fence. Suddenly, Ashanti began scratching at the fence. Ticha, the lion handler who was part of the research team, stood on top of the truck enclosure to see what was causing such unrest with the pride. Using the night-vision spot light he identified the culprit. Stuck in the buffalo fence located about three meters from the enclosure was an injured, adult female impala. They seemed to be very determined to reach the injured impala. After watching for several minutes, the decision was made to drive out of the enclosure to check on the status of the impala. We park the truck approximately 50 meters from the impala and the pacing pride. When we get within 10 meters of the impala she forces herself up and begins to stager about before running a good distance forward. It’s at this time the group gathers to make a plan. We decided to radio Roy, the operations manager, to survey the situation. After capturing the impala with a wool blanket and looking at her injuries at a close range, Roy diagnosed the impala with a severely broken leg and major wire cuts in and around the mouth. She would not survive and it was best to put her out of pain. At this time Roy shot her in the head. He took her away in his truck to be cleaned and given to the staff. As for the lions, still no kill. As for me, a hard lesson learned in the bush.

Later that night we’re gathering around the table and I say, “Something smells good… what’s for dinner?” The cook smiles, “Impala”.

Midland Orphanage, Zimbabwe

Since around October 2007, my neighbors in Sacramento, the Nordbergs, have been graciously gathering children’s clothing for me to bring to Zimbabwe. The clothing has come from their children, nieces, as well as other neighbors. Their four year old son Owen has been very involved in this project. When they were done, they had collected over 80lbs of clothing. I brought this clothing from California to Maryland, where I picked up some additional donations from DiLeonardo family. They brought shoes and clothes from Ohio to Maryland with the assistance of Grannie Jeannie. In total, I now had 100 lbs. of clothes… with a few beach balls, cards, jump ropes and other fun stuff thrown together in two extra large duffel bags.

Even though the U.S. Embassy had posted a warning to not bring items of “aid” into Zimbabwe, I was determined to get these clothes to the orphanage. As you may have read in an early posting, I was questioned at customs about the duffels. I told them I was traveling from Zim to Botswana via overland and taking the clothes with me. They had no problem with this response and allowed me to pass through. Needless to say, I had quite a bit of luggage…. one personal carry-on and a rolling duffel and two EX-Large duffels for the orphanage.

I had been mentally preparing myself for the trip to the orphanage for months. So why is it my eyes welled-up with tears as soon as we pulled into the drive way? There they were, smiling and waving with excitement as if they had been waiting days for our arrival. There are about six of us from Antelope Park who have come to visit today, that’s all that could fit in the van.

As we pile out of the van, the children shyly approach us. Their clothes are thin, warn, and faded. It’s very clear to me that it has been a long time since they have received “new” clothes. Ben, our project manager, carries the two duffels into the head mistress’s office where I help her and another house mother sort the clothes into three piles: babies, girls, and boys. We take the piles into a large room where they are placed on separate tables. There are three house mothers, including the head mistress. They begin to hand out the clothing. The children stand around anxiously hoping their name is called. Older children begin dressing the babies with their newly acquired outfits. Even though they missed out on receiving something for themselves, they seem to have pleasure in dressing the babies in their new outfits.

I duck into the head mistresses office to blow-up the beach balls. Without the children taking notice, I begin to launch them into the courtyard. Bright colored beach balls are flying in the air and bounce off the walls as the children jump around and chase them with laughter. Then I introduced them to the age old American birthday tradition of Pin the Tale on the Donkey. Barbara, another volunteer and school teacher from California, helped me to organize the game. The children had a blast! During the game, a baby boy about a year old wearing one of Owen’s hand-me-down shirts crawled up to my leg and was reaching up for me to hold him. As I held him in my arms, he sucked his thumb and rested his head on my shoulder. He remained there for the rest of my visit. At one point I went to put him down because a little baby girl around his age was crying because a beach ball had just hit her. She wanted me to pick her up. As I went to put him down he started to cry “Mama” and held his hands up towards me. How do you prepare yourself for something like this? I decided to sit down so I could hold them both. As soon as I sat down, two other babies crawled up to me. I now had four babies sitting on and around me all wanting just to be held.

Some other volunteers came over to play with the babies; it was then that I met Sebastian. He is 17 years old and lives at the orphanage. He wrote me a letter and wanted to read it to me. The letter said that he knows God has sent me to him because he has been praying so hard for a pair of trainers so he can play soccer and now he finally has a pair (thanks to my friend Christen DiLeonardo and her family). Well, that did it. The tears started rolling down my cheek. I have never felt such competing emotions. In one way I was so happy that he now had a something he needed and had be longing for, but at the same time I felt deep sorrow. A simple pair of used trainers had been the answer to his prayers. He ask for my address, I wanted his in return. Sebastian may feel that God has brought me to him, but I thank God for bringing Sebastian to me.

Intro to Riding in the Bush

We’ve all gone, or at least had the opportunity to go horseback riding while on vacation. It’s usually one of those activities that you see while in the Caribbean or on a mountain retreat. As soon as you arrive a poor, old horse is brought up to you all saddled-up and ready, a saddle that has been on him for several hours because you’re the eleventh tourist to hop on his back. You’re put into a single file line and slowly walk along until the agreed upon time is over. I’ve enjoyed myself in the past, which is until I met Amanda, Antelope Park’s assistant stable manager and all around horse expert. I realized Amanda’s sincere passion for horses as soon as I met her on my first day at AP.

Three of us spent the morning with Amanda getting to know the 27+ horses and a brief bio. Some of the horses were brought to the park by farmers who had their land taken away or burn to the ground by the government. One of the many challenges AP is currently facing is the lack of food for the horses. The horses have not been fed in three days. They are currently being allowed to roam the park all night and at certain times during the day to graze, but they are in need of protein. This is something that is currently not available in Zimbabwe and the government will not allow to be imported into the country. Apparently they have located a farmer who has some sort of protein that can be mixed with molasses and will be able to feed the horses 1/3 of what they are suppose to eat a day for three weeks. Very sad situation.

After our intro, we were taught grooming… very therapeutic for both the groomer and the horse. Then came saddling-up the horse. I was using an African bush saddle (there is a proper name which I will need to get from Amanda). It’s basically a leather toilet seat. Doesn’t sound comfortable, but trust me… it is. I prefer it to the hard English saddle.

I was to put my trust and faith into hands, or should I say “hooves” of Jacko. So far we seemed to be getting along well. I climbed up on the saddle and we headed to the ring for our first, well my first, proper ridding lesson.

Amanda whipped us all straight into shape… “heels down, put them in line with your hips, hips in line with your shoulders, back straight but don’t arch it too much”. I felt like I should be wearing a tweed blazer, knee high leather boots and a braid in my hair. Amanda knows her stuff.

After lunch it was time for the real deal, a certified African safari bush ride. Amazing! Because the horses roam the park, the game are use having them around. When we approach them, all they see are the horses, not us. We were able to get up close to impala, wilder beast, zebra, vermin monkeys and antelope. What an unbelievable experience. Just riding through the bush and looking across the horizon was so peaceful and relaxing.

Couldn’t relax too long as we had a chance to practice our trotting. We needed to hurry back to take the cubs on their afternoon walk. It is their nine month birthday which means we begin a two week long process of capturing data on their behavior.