An Awesome Safari

[Kitsafari]

@@Bush dog @@mvecht thanks for helping to identify the birds! at least i got 2-3 right, right? i'll have to look closer and remember the differences between the peregrine and goshawk.

[optig]

After Pamushana Kit and myself went to Gonarezhou National park which personally I found much more to my taste. Please keep in mind that it only receives roughly 2,000 visitors who spend more than one night, almost all of whom are tourists from Zimbabwe,and South Africa who come to camp in their own 4x4s. Thus only 200 people actually stay at Chilo Gorge Camp which is located outside of the park or at Gonarezhou Bush Camp which is run by Ant Kaschula, and his wife Rawana. Ant is already considered one of the finest new guides in Africa. He has been written up by Vanity Fair,as well as Conde Nast Traveler. He's also a member of the prestigious Shackleton&Selous Society He also leads trip to other African countries I'm planning to visit other countries guided by him.

 

Ant is tremendously dedicated to conservation, He's particularly dedicated to saving the decaying baobab trees in Gonarezhou. He's ably assisted by Scott Pelly who passed Zimbabwe's rigorous licensing exams this year.

 

The advantage of Gonarezhou Bush Camp is that one can do game drives in combination with walking at your convenience. I also spent two nights fly camping which was great fun. One learns to truly trust a man when they depend on him in the bush. I think that Gonarezhou is one of the most beautiful national parks in Africa. It's quite underrated because it offers a truly wild experience. There are plenty of elephants. It is truly a great conservation success story.

Edited November 8, 2016 by optig

[optig]

Can someone please identify the bird in @@Kitsafari's photos? It's driving me nuts because I have simply no idea what it is.

[Seniortraveller]

Waiting impatiently to read about your experiences in Gonarezhou. Happy to hear that Scott passed his exams.

If I hadn't already had a trip booked, I would love to have joined you.

[optig]

Scott is a gentleman,and a fine guide in his own right. Please consider that under Ant's guidance he'll only improve. I urge you to visit Gonarezhou if you want one of the finest experiences available in the African bush.

[Sangeeta]

@@optig so pleased you are starting the TR. indeed i have Sangeeta to thank for the genesis of this trip. As mentioned in a different thread, I had been looking for a place to go - one of those remote paths that are not often trodden on. I had looked at Gona at one point but had been hoping to do it with Save Valley and Chilo but 1. dogs in Save were on the move in September and 2. to go to save/chilo i would have to fly into Harare, stay a night then face a long drive into Gona. Given that I have limited leave, I didn't want to stay where I didn't need to. That meant I had to stay in Pamushana to make use of the Buffalo Range flights (there's a minimum number of nights, and there must be other passengers or else you'll have to pay for 2 seats).

 

The other issue was that Ant does only group safaris but there was only I, me and myself. Will it work? somehow Sangeeta and Rawana managed to persuade Ant to give mex3 a chance and we would all pitch in to get me some companions. and the combo of Pamushana and GBC was born, Owen bought into the combo and two other ladies (such lovely wonderful ladies) from Zim would join us.

 

Now the combo of Pamushana and GBC will not work anymore. Singita is adamant that Pamushana guests who extend into Gonarezhou will not be granted a seat on the FedAir chartered flight from OR Tambo. as of now, I shall be the last person to benefit from it. If that is true, I think it is really arrogant of Singita to keep the Buffalo range flights only for its guests and staff. and not extend for the tourism benefits for all beyond Malilangwe into Gonarezhou or Save Valley, for eg.

 

If Singita's policy stays, there are at least two other ways to get into Gonarezhou - via Harare with a long drive down or a chartered flight into Gona.

 

sorry Owen, i've started rambling again....

 

 

Has she stopped yakking already?

 

 

It seems the safari gods have been listening to you, @@Kitsafari

 

Chilo Gorge just announced that for the dry season 2017, guests of Chilo Gorge will be able to fly direct from Johannesburg to the Lowveld, twice weekly.

 

Chilo Gorge guests will be able to book guaranteed seats on the Singita Pamushana Federal Air flight from Johannesburg to Buffalo Range, Chiredzi, Zimbabwe - where a Chilo Gorge Vehicle will be waiting to transfer you to the lodge.

 

Key details and conditions:

 

• Flights run on Monday and Thursday each week
• Chilo guests will be able to access these flights between : Monday 3^rd April 2017 to Thursday 28^th September 2017 (excluding Thursday 22^nd June to Thursday 6^th July)
• Flight time is approximately 1hr 45mins
• Hold luggage allowance of 20kg (soft bag or duffle), and 5kg hand luggage
• Minimum requirement of 2 guests staying at Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge (or Tented Camp) for 3 nights
• Transfer time from Buffalo Range International Airport to Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge is 1hr 45mins - this road transfer is complimentary.

So anyone considering the Lowveld could potentially do a few nights each at Pamushana, Chilo and GBC, or just Chilo and GBC theoretically. I think this is a great development and good on the Malilangwe Trust that they have now done this.

[marg]

@optig@Kitsafari...thanks fo much for your trip report. I feel as if I am back at Pamushana. Talenda is new but it is fun to see Aldrin and Polly in your photos. I am temped to go through my photos to see if any of the trees and roads are some in the same. The cheetah...male or female? One of the two brothers or one of the mother/daughter family?

[offshorebirder]

Just catching up on this TR - thanks for the dual-postings.

 

@@Kitsafari - I love the photo of the Magpie Shrike in post #10!

[Tdgraves]

Can someone please identify the bird in @@Kitsafari's photos? It's driving me nuts because I have simply no idea what it is.

Which one? I see a magpie shrike and an African fish eagle....

[optig]

@@Sangeeta @@Kitsafari I'm so relieved that Singita has decided to end it's arrogant and foolish policy to forbid any guests from using Federal Express flights from Johannesburg unless they were staying at Pamushana. I was prepared to implore Singita's management to cancel this proposal because I not only felt hat it was counterproductive,but also because I had told Ant,Scott,and Rawana that I sincerely wanted to help them in a ny way possible. I will continue to do my utmost to promote them.

[Kitsafari]

 

It seems the safari gods have been listening to you, @@Kitsafari

 

Chilo Gorge just announced that for the dry season 2017, guests of Chilo Gorge will be able to fly direct from Johannesburg to the Lowveld, twice weekly.

 

Chilo Gorge guests will be able to book guaranteed seats on the Singita Pamushana Federal Air flight from Johannesburg to Buffalo Range, Chiredzi, Zimbabwe - where a Chilo Gorge Vehicle will be waiting to transfer you to the lodge.

 

Key details and conditions:

 

• Flights run on Monday and Thursday each week
• Chilo guests will be able to access these flights between : Monday 3^rd April 2017 to Thursday 28^th September 2017 (excluding Thursday 22^nd June to Thursday 6^th July)
• Flight time is approximately 1hr 45mins
• Hold luggage allowance of 20kg (soft bag or duffle), and 5kg hand luggage
• Minimum requirement of 2 guests staying at Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge (or Tented Camp) for 3 nights
• Transfer time from Buffalo Range International Airport to Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge is 1hr 45mins - this road transfer is complimentary.

So anyone considering the Lowveld could potentially do a few nights each at Pamushana, Chilo and GBC, or just Chilo and GBC theoretically. I think this is a great development and good on the Malilangwe Trust that they have now done this.

 

 

 

That is fantastic news @@Sangeeta! Chilo Lodge really needs this boost and GBC's bushcamps dove tail nicely into a Chilo-GBC combo. GBC camps are at Chilo cliffs, but that is quite a distance to cover from Chilo lodge. the area close to Chilo Lodge is greener and just as beautiful.

 

I'm very glad that Malilangwe Trust (note i said the trust and not pamushana) has made the right decision for the good of the Gonarezhou national park and for the Malilangwe reserve. the FedAir flight arrangements are very complicated from what I learnt while there, so the move will hopefully boost more visitor/tourism numbers to that region's parks.

Edited November 10, 2016 by Kitsafari

[madaboutcheetah]

Can Gonerezhou be accessed from Harare? or even Vic Falls? @@Kitsafari? I'd like to avoid JNB as much as possible.......

[Kitsafari]

@@madaboutcheetah yes you can from Harare but only on roads. there is at the moment no scheduled flights from harare, although it makes sense for one as you can then combine one of the northern parks with the parks in the south rather than take the long drive down. Ant mentioned they had suggested it, but it's still up in the air (pun intended!). but if you have the luxury to take more days, you could drive down from Harare and break the jouney with a stay in Save valley (to see dogs among other things with SVC as @@Atravelynn and @@Sangeeta did) and then it's a shorter drive to Gonarezhou (either GBC or Chilo).

 

One thing I didn't think of was a chartered flight into Gona (there is an airstrip in the park and should be doable from Harare) which will probably work out to be far cheaper than staying at Pamu in order to use those FedAir flights. It was about 2 hours drive from GBC to Buffalo Range at a brisk pace, so it may be a longer drive from Chilo lodge.

[egilio]

my 2 cents: 4 is the same bird as 5, eastern chanting goshawk. Peregrine or African harrier-hawk don't have a white rump or white tipped tail feathers, or a darker patches in only in the hand of the underwing. Peregrine wings are narrower, African harrier hawk adults have a black band extending over the whole outer edge of the underwing, and juveniles are brown.

Also, it looks like the bush in photo 4 and 5 is the exact same bush! Might be the same bird using that bush regularly as a perch.

It's not a pale or dark chanting goshawk as it has a yellow cere and orange legs. Pale and dark ch have red cere and red legs.

I agree with the rest.

@@optig @@Kitsafari

 

 

I think the birds are as follows

1 Looks like an European Roller

2,3 White bellied Go Away bird

4 Not sure but does not look like a Peregrine

5 Eastern Chanting Goshawk

6 Helmeted Guineafowl

7 Yellow necked Spurfowl

8 Female Giant Kingfisher

Edited November 10, 2016 by egilio

[pault]

@@Kitsafari I barely recognised you horizontall LOL Thought the woman looked familair but din't think anything of it until you posted - then lplaced my head horizontal and there you are!! Great diea to gang up and make an otherwise impractical trip doable. I noted with interest the comment that chartering a plance may be cheaper than staying at Pamushana.

 

.(.. and all comments for @@optig too of course)

 

Really nice, varied sightings so far.. Very impressive

[optig]

I have to say that when I stayed at Pamushana I took advantage of their pay for 5 nights stay for 2 free nights deal.It made the trip far less expensive. I originally had to pay for 2 seats or else the plane wouldn't fly,but since there were other passengers on the flight from Johannesburg to Buffalo Range. I didn't have to pay for a second seat. Emily the assistant manager at Pamushana was very gracious about getting my refund for me;I didn't even have to ask her she brought up the subject. Singita returned the money immediately.

r

[optig]

As soon as one enters Gonarezhou you realize that your'e in one of the wildest National Parks in Africa. In Gonarezhou you can spend hours without seeing another vehicle and you appreciate that wonderful sensation of having this fabulous national park all to yourself. The Chilojo Cliffs are truly gorgeous and form a natural amphitheater, The baobab trees are enormous and one feels dwarfed by them. The pans are full of wildlife and birds. There were elephants constantly in our camp. I'll never forget when I woke up morning listening to a troop of baboons barking because a leopard had chased them up a tree. I didn't see the leopard,but I certainly herd it. It made me think this is why we all just love being out in the bush so much.

 

[optig]

As one can see the views from the Cliffs are just astonishing, I found Ant Kaschula to be much more than just a guide,he truly is a biologist, conservationist and a bushman all rolled into one. His ability to explain the environment in a holistic manner fascinated me. He's very honest and frank and explained to me that there's no such thing as elephant talking. What he said was that even elephants simply respond to the human voice because they instinctively believe that humans are superior in their environment. Another superb guide Japheth from Pamushana said that to some degree all animals do.

[optig]

Please note that Ant is assembling the skeleton of a dead elephant. He explained to me that all the tusks seized by the authorities and later destroyed comes from elephants which died natural deaths, I just read an article which I'll post later which says that practically all the ivory on sale now comes from elephants which were illegal hunted. We were joined by 2 lovely Zimbabwean ladies at Gonorezhou Bush Camp. I have to say that some of the best time on my safari was spent kidding and joking around the campfire with them;Ant,Scott and of course that intrepid sweet lady @@Kitsafari. As all who know her will say she's a real trooper!!

 

We spent two nights fly camping in two different sites in Gonarezhou . It was great fun, One truly learns to trust a man when you depend on him in the bush. i had to depend on Scott and Ant while in the bush. They are both fine men. We slept in mossie domes in bed rolls. I found this much more to my liking, To my complete and total surprise,I really enjoyed helping Ant and Scott move and set up things. I enjoyed making myself useful and I'm physically still strong at 55.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One can see by the expressions on all of us that we couldn't be having a better time. We all go on safari at the end of the day because nothing could be more fun.

Edited November 10, 2016 by optig

[optig]

I have to say that due to the efforts of Frankfurt Zoological Society,and African Parks the elephant population has been increasing quite rapidly. One is amazed at just how large they are and the number of big tuskers. Furthermore,the elephants are less shy as well as less aggressive. As we know that when an elephant population is restored after years of poaching,then the population of antelope increases. More antelope results in a higher population of lions,leopards,cheetahs, and wild dogs. Furthermore,it will also lead to an increase in hyenas.

Edited November 10, 2016 by optig

[optig]

 

I have to say that one only appreciates the sheer size of an elephant when they're on foot,and they are literally dwarfed by the elephant. It doesn't matter how many times that you've been on safari nor how many times that you've walked with elephants one still has the same feeling.

[Kitsafari]

Please note that Ant is assembling the skeleton of a dead elephant. He explained to me that all the tusks seized by the authorities and later destroyed comes from elephants which died natural deaths, I just read an article which I'll post later which says that practically all the ivory on sale now comes from elephants which were illegal hunted. We were joined by 2 lovely Zimbabwean ladies at Gonorezhou Bush Camp. I have to say that some of the best time on my safari was spent kidding and joking around the campfire with them;Ant,Scott and of course that intrepid sweet lady @@Kitsafari. As all who know her will say she's a real trooper!!

 

 

 

 

@@optig that's so kind of you! and that ipad sure took an overly flattering picture of a rather dishevelled me but such a good reminder of what a stunning background it was.

[optig]

I'm embarrassed again because I need the help of someone else to help me identify the birds in the first photo of the elephant in the pan. I identified one of them as a black-winged stilt. i believe that the white bird is a yellow billed egret. I need help identifying the large black birds because I have no idea of what they are. These photos were all taken when we were relaxing,and a herd of elephants came up right behind us. We had to remain still,but I never felt at all threatened because Ant knew so well how to handle them. The pan was just beautiful in front of us.

 

I felt that the views of the pans were just lovely. Ant told me that the pans in Zakouma National Park are particularly beautiful and just filled with wildlife. Well of course my considerable enthusiasm to visit Zakouma increased considerably.

Edited November 10, 2016 by optig

[Kitsafari]

I'll a little tied up with work at the moment so I'll wait till @@optig completes his review, thoughts and commentaries after which I can delve into more details on the rather interesting sightings we had.

 

and here's the video I promised of the battling nyalas. the testorone levels were so high at that time, that the passive impalas which were happily grazing in the background a minute ago, also started chasing each other.

 

Butting butts

 

Edited November 10, 2016 by Kitsafari

[optig]

Again I could use some help identifying the birds in the photos!!! I hope that the photos came out clear enough so that someone can assist me.