Twala

I kinda missed posting this one.

Twala is a great place to go out for a pic-nic with kids, small orphaned animals (from squirrel to lions), a dam where to fish, and many friendly furry, scaly and feathery things roaming around, for the delight of the little ones. Great opportunity as well to follow some of them, outside bars. Gives a sense of wilderness. 

Tamed one do. 

 

Mana Pools Game Count

Every year, national parks and some conservation societies are organizing the count of the WILD animals in parks. I had the opportunity to go to Matusodona National park earlier in August, and Lou and I joined a group of happy counters for the Mana Pools Game Count earlier in Septembre. 

couldn't post the cartoons because I was in wilder Maputo right after.

These counts are organized by societies that are doing a tremendous and great job,... but seem not to be actively recruiting new members. Most of the members are friends of a friend of a friend. 

Everyone needs a friend. 

So last year a friend of a friend of a friend called Pat, had a neighbour who had a friend who was involved in the count. 

Pat is very social so he talks to his neighbour, probably sharing a glass of wine or two and talking about the best car on the planet, the land rover defender. From that discussion they spoka about the Wild, and from the wild about the game count. the friend of the neighbour, reaching the end of the bottle invited Pat to come. That is how new members are made.

Coming from the frozen plains of Marple Country, he was immediatly interested in joining in. Any opportunity is good to see something else than a raccoon or a moose.

He was then introduced and accepted as a full endorsed member by the Wildlife and Environment Society of Zimbabwe - WEZ for the fans of abreviations. 

Being a very social person, he thought that making a group to walk together was wise. He was right, as some of the WEZ members are very interesting caracters (who happen to also be from my -not so- distant family) who are strictly respecting the "drink enough" rule - fearing dehydratation more than they fear a rabid hyena.

So Pat and crew bravely went. And they really enjoyed it. So they decided to do it again. And to take the recruitment of new WEZers to a different level all together.

A year later, the guy gathered one massive crew of 6 groups of 6 (=36 people), and because there are not enough Canadians in Zim, he was not that picky about where the people came from. As long as they were friends of friends, you know. And I happen to be the dad of a friend of his son. Bingo.

We were from 14 different nationalities. 

We joined the 200 other counting fellows. Who were at first excited to see newbies, then a bit puzzled, then relatively wary to see so many new faces speaking with weird accents, but still pronouncing "Yes" in some heavy "Yaa" or  knowing how to appreciate good biltong . 

The organizers were lost in translation. The members of the society, speechless, not really sure how to deal with these.... FTs? 

And because Pat is a very social person, who likes good things, he managed and organized the 35 FTs in  Glamping... (Glamorous Camping for those uninitiated), Gourmet meals (with 14 nationalities, each had to out-do the other), wine and whiskey, but above all an incredible experience of walking in the bush, counting all the animals you could see: Impalas by the hundreds (that is the main reason why you should be over 14 to do the walks), elephants charging French runners or old bullies, kudus, lions on the hunt, and many others. Just amazing. 

And the group just chilled. It was completely amazing. You really need more Pats in the world, to put people together, have a Norse Viking to make a Mechoui, some Israelians to feed the planet, a Chilean and Guatemalan missis to prepare mexican food, and millions of other fun things. 

People really enjoyed each other's company, and talked (loudly) into the still night over GnTs and Wine and Mauritian Rhum and... I guess these substances don't only keep the doctor away, but also the hyenas. Good to know. Mental note. 

Funny thing as well, a fake swiss-greek, but real belgian who was in my group of happy walkers happened -obviously- to have been my senior of 5 years in college. And a scout of the 35ème BP. Same Same. I had to meet the guy in the middle of nowhere, reading a GPS and counting buffalos. Last time that happened to me I was sharing sushis in Kinshasa. Cannot wait for the next time.

Thanks for all who made that trip amazing, respect.

Next year I'm back there, for sure. 

(c) Yaron C.

(c) Yaron C.

Houseboat on Kariba.

Houseboat on Kariba, 

 

House boat on Kariba, a perfect title for a movie that can have tons of sequels. The principle is simple: bring a bunch of people on a boat, and let them float and mature  for a few days,  on a lake full of wild and dangerous animals. And add, as an option, some alcoholic beverages, swords and knives, a fishing rod or two, non-floating children, sun-cream, and kilos of biltongs.  

Depending on the proportions things can go horribly wrong, or beautifully right. For example: throw a non floating child in a crocodile infested lake when the adults are looking for another alcoholic beverage – that can go wrong- , but then add a fisherman and the child is caught and all is merry and good again. Yey. 

There is a story of a houseboat were things went out of hand. A group of friends, happy and jolly good fellows, went for a fishing trip on such a boat, nobody really knows what happened, probably some old frustrations and feud got back on them (most certainly about a girl or a guy on board who had a previous fling with one or more of the partners of the others and drunk eyed them inappropriately, or maybe about the exact size of the bream caught, or divergences on how to resolve Fermat’s problem, or something similar). All we know is that the boat now floats empty, and the people were never to be found. It’s a classic story, the ghost ship etc. but it could be true on lake Kariba. In a place where there is even a paddle steamer, anything can happen. 

Gorongosa

Gorongosa, yeah! 

Just the right time to post about Gorongosa it seems, since its top of the news. The army bombed and attacked the Renamo's paramilitaries there last week. The opposition kept some armed men in the district since the end of the armed conflict in 1992. Well it seems to be the end of that. They are out of the place and back shooting people on the road, attacking taxis, villages and creating a rotten climate of fear here. People are afraid that this can mean a new start for the civil war. Nobody wants war, memories are still strong...

Gorongosa is a district of Sofala, a province in central Mozambique, and there is one of the best national park/ nature reserve that can be found.
www.gorongosa.org
The national park is amazing but since Girassol hotels took over the management of the lodges, food and accommodation prices are outrageous, and clearly out of reach for the middle-class Mozambicans. the only way to go is to camp there, or to sleep 50km from the park. It is sad that wildlife conservation is reserved for luxury and wealthy tourists.   
Why Gorongosa worth the visit? Because you will drive within a short space in different ecosystems, from wetlands, bush, plain, fever tree, masasa or Ilala forests, tropical rain forest, mountains etc.
The different ecosystems are always showing something great, and are full of moving creatures.

I went there for two days in September, it was my earthday and my family was in Zimbabwe. So I borrowed a tent and a cooking device, packed a mattress, some food and drinks- mainly cerveja and jumped in my car, to get to the park gates before it closes.

I was driving sweetly until my tyre exploded. For no reason, no potholes, no stones, no dead goat no piece of scrap metal from the previous truck accident. The tyre was completely ripped. No big deal, I have a spare one and changing it shouldn't take too much time.
Or so I thought.
A couple of months before I moved my tyres around and put 2 new ones in the front. I did that in Harare, in a legit shop.
They screwed the nuts back too tight.
I completely broke two wrenches- a shiny one, brand new chinese quality - the seller warned me about the fragility of the utensil but I choose not to listen - and my other old one, who was, well, too old.
I broke 2 wrenches, and was sweating with only one nut off.
A guy came to help, I stopped sweating and started watching. He came to the same conclusion than me, went to fetch a third guy, with another wrench and a 2 meter pipe. It took the tree guys jumping on the pipe to enable to get the nuts off, and then change the wheel. Once the nuts were out it took 3 minutes to change the tyre.
It may seem as a detail, but in wild wacky Afrika, a tight nut-job can make all the difference between life and death. Always better to stay a bit on the loose side.
 I got to Gorongosa just on time and spend the two next days enjoying spending time sketching animals, spending time looking at them, driving little,... just taking time. Generally, when we go to nationals parks with the family, the balance between driving and keeping the kids entertained watching an animal is very narrow. If you drive too much they complain and your game drive will last 2 hours and see all your snacks eaten. If you stop too often they get into a fight and out of 4 children there will always be one who shout/ want to go/ wants to eat/ don't want to share.
So for a WE I enjoyed my own company. I need to do that more often indeed. It is incredible the amount of things to be seen when you do not drive. As well I had the great chance to be in the park when pelicans and African monarchs were there to rest, eat and be eaten.
 Oh and my tent has been attacked by a porcupine at night. I know it would have sounded better for me to say that I was surrounded by lions and hungry hyenas and that I had to defend my grilled chicken against wild and blood thirsty beasts, but it was not the case. I was sleeping and a porcupine' mouth noises woke me up, he entered my tent, then probably saw that I was not his type and decided to leave. It was good. When you lie down half sleeping, a porcupine seems very big. 

So I had a great time.
.
Here under some of the sketches done during the 2 days, trying to fit them all on one page. 
Done in Prismacolour and Unipen. My book (Seawright) is too old and its paper has become very very porous, incapable of holding water any more. So I have to draw dry. I bought 2 such  books ages ago. The first one I used 10 years ago in Benin, and the paper was great at the time. I have since seen that some inks have made their way through the paper of that one. bizarre. must be due to the humidity. And this book I have now is not able to deal with water or any wet thing.