Gorongosa July 2024 - Uma jornada na selva

[mungopark]

A recent pique in interest in this special corner of Africa got the wheels in my brain turning.  Mozambique, mostly know as a beach holiday destination, was once a safari Mecca, especially for big game hunters.  Having read a dozen or more titles about its storied natural history of yesteryear, it was always in the back of my mind as a future potential travel destination.  
 

Enter safaritalk, and more especially Tom Clode from @Pictus Safaris, with his enticing trip reports, and my mind was made up - Mozambique would enter into the equation for my next safari destination.  
 

Confronted with an array of options,  I elected to combine it with a trip to the most excellent Liwonde National Park in Malawi (whose trip report I will do separately).  Who better to organize such a trip than @Pictus Safarishimself, given his obvious love for and knowledge of the park.  I realize, Tom, that you’ll be reading this report and feel free to add anything you wish along the way.

 

The nitty-gritty of the trip I will include in my Liwonde trip report.  Sufficeth to say that I spent 4 awesome nights in Gorongosa Wild Camp, and could easily have spent 4 more and not run out of things to see, do and experience.  
 

As for some teaser photos to peak y’all’s interest, nothing would be more fitting than Lycaon pictus, seen in abundance in this most special paradise.

[mungopark]

As mentioned in my report on Liwonde, just prior to the start of my trip I was informed by Tom that our flight from  Nampula in Northern Mozambique to Beira had been cancelled.  He made alternative arrangements for us instead to fly from Nampula into Maputo on a red-eye flight, overnighting there in a hotel and then getting an early flight into Beira.  Well, half-way through my stay in Liwonde he found out that that flight too had been cancelled.   LAM airlines was doing their best to ruin what had until then been a splendid trip <insert swear word of choice here > 

 

Working behind the scenes, Tom was able to come up with a radical solution - we would drive the 900 or so kilometers from Liwonde to Gorongosa!!!  Bidding a sad farewell to Mvuu and Liwonde, we headed out on our somewhat impromptu road trip.  Nearing the border with Mozambique, we began to enter an area of Malawi full of  beautiful large inselbergs, a geographical feature which would continue for the first hundred kilometers or so into Mozambique.  Crossing borders by land is always an interesting proposition.  Expecting the worst and hoping for the best, we got neither.  All documents in order, there was only so much red tape the  border agents could use to delay our departure from Malawi and  subsequent entry into Mozambique. 

 

Finally having made it though, we crossed the border with much celebration and fanfare and continued on our way to our overnight lodgings in Tete.  The Tete Palm hotel was an oasis of peace in what seemed like a very lively and chaotic city.  Room, amenities and food were all to my liking.  What's more, the had a nice selection of beverages that we were able to purchase for our remaining road trip, including Guarana soda, the unofficial national beverage of Brazil!

 

The next morning, we were up bright and early to be on our way before local traffic heated up.  Imagine our horror on finding our right rear tire completely flat.  A spare was put on and we left Tete without any clear idea of when or where to get our tire patched.  We eventually found a somewhat (by my standards) sketchy looking place by the side of the road kind of in the middle of nowhere that repaired our tire in record time, which was both a pleasant surprise and a rebuke of my initial impression of the place.  

 

Since crossing the border, about every 100 km or so we had to pass through a police checkpoint, where invariably bribes were demanded.  Rather than an upfront demand for cash, the strategy was to ask for a "drink".  "Give me a drink",  " I need a drink" or some such variation on the phrase was spouted by bored-looking policemen as they leered into the vehicle and demanded our passports.  Feigning ignorance, we would occasionally reach for one of the beverages we'd purchased at the Tete Palm hotel and offer to quench their thirst.  On at least one occasion they took us up on the offer!  At first I was amused but after the fifth or sixth time, after already being tired of riding in the car for so long and resenting the delays, it became annoying and tedious.  There was never really any attempt at extortion and I don't want to give any kind of impression that it was threatening in any way, but it was an unfortunate and sad reality of road travel in that part of the world.

 

Anyways, moving on we eventually reached Chimoio for a rendezvous with our next driver who would continue on to Gorongosa.  Our destination was finally within reach! 

 

 Preferred by 10/10 thirsty policemen!

 

 

 

 

Edited August 16 by mungopark

[mungopark]

We met our next driver in the parking lot of a grocery store at around 1:00 pm, where he'd been waiting since the early morning.   He was Mozambican and our vehicle had local plates, so we were mostly able to avoid getting hustled.  And along the way we got to listen to some nice Angolan and Mozambican pop music to help pass the time!

 

We finally arrived just outside the park and I was able to get my requisite photo in front of the sign - a must for me on every trip.

 

 

To enter the park you drive through a sort of buffer zone, not entirely bereft of animals, but more exciting for its showcasing of all the different types of habitats and ecosystems that will be on offer in the park proper - open glades, dense woodlands, almost rainforest-like jungle, and much more!  Then we are here!  Through the actual gates and into the park HQ, where many of the guests also stay (the fenced in area also includes public campsites and a lodge).  But not us!  Transferring vehicles yet again, we are off to Gorongosa Wild camp and, en-route, enjoy our first game drive in the park!  Ok - boring stuff is over now.  Thanks for reading up until here - now lets get on with some actual wildlife!

[mungopark]

Prior to booking my trip, I had a wish list of animals I really wanted to see in each of the two parks I was visiting.  For Liwonde, it was cheetah, black rhino, sable and then pretty much everything else would be a bonus.  For Gorongosa I had high hopes to see wild dog (well duh) but also oribi and, most of all, Lichtenstein's hartebeest!!!  I have an extremely soft spot for the hartebeest - so grossly underrated and overlooked, yet so unique!  Without too many spoilers, Gorongosa delivered in spades everything I wanted to see and more.

 

Fresh into the park, we drove through the area known as the sand forest, spotting red duiker (albeit briefly) along the way.  Then our guide casually asked if we wanted to see the wild dogs, which was kind of unnecessary since they were already there right in front of us!  One other vehicle joined us for probably two minutes and then drove off, apparently unimpressed or in a hurry.  So five minutes into our visit and already a dog sighting in perfect light and all to ourselves.  Gorongosa magic!

 

 

 

This was a family without pups but several subadults.  They were very active, lolling about in the grass one moment and play fighting the next moment.  They eventually fanned out and began to hunt ...

 

 

 

 

 

We ultimately stayed with them until they dispersed.  What an auspicious start to my visit to GNP!!!

 

 

Edited August 17 by mungopark

[Kitsafari]

what an awesome welcome, and reward for the long roadtrip! 

[mungopark]

@Kitsafari  definitely agree that we were well rewarded for our efforts (or  should I say the driver’s efforts and @Pictus Safaris ‘s efforts since I did nothing but sit in the car and watch the world go by).  Still more to come!

[michael-ibk]

A great start to you report, really looking forward to see what Gorongosa had in store for you. Your Dog welcome present mirrors my own, basically the first animal I saw in the park last year.

Edited August 17 by michael-ibk

[mungopark]

@michael-ibk Seeing them right away helped take some of the sense of urgency from subsequent game drives and let us just enjoy the park and all it had to offer without having to be goal-oriented 

Edited August 18 by mungopark

[mungopark]

We continued our drive to wild camp, getting fleeting glimpses of bushpig, hartebeest, waterbuck and nyala, as well as red-necked spurfowl and hooded vultures.  Arriving in camp late, we enjoyed some fireside conversation with a few other guests who were present and then sat down for a nice al fresco dinner.  I got to try my hand at photographing the cosmos with my phone, with pretty pleasing results.  Then we had our post-prandial night drive , in which we saw sengi, several mongoose species as well as civet and genet.  

 

 

Thus ended my first (partial) day in Gorongosa.  Quite the successful one, having already seen wild dogs as well as several ungulate species new on the trip.  But this was all just a small sampling of the great things to come over the following days!

 

Before continuing the narrative, I'll just a brief description of Wild Camp.  Located in a central area of the park, it felt very remote and we hardly ever saw any other vehicles the whole time we were there,  The camp looked out onto a meadow with a small waterhole contained therein, which during our stay attracted a lot of waterfowl, including ibises, herons and storks as well as waterbuck, warthog and a mongoose or two.  The tents were simple but adequate and the bed was super comfy.  The room came equipped with a fan, which I did not need during my stay.  The is a flush toilet behind the tent, and a shower consisting of a canvas bag with a control valve that they would fill with heated water at your request.

 

Meals were all taken al fresco, usually at a table overlooking the waterhole.  The food was very good, the drinks even better, and the company best of all!  During downtime between game drives, there was plenty of game and birdwatching to do.  There was the requisite resident bushbuck who daily graced us with her presence.  Interesting insect life abounded and there were plenty of trees with great potential for birding, if that's your thing.  The game vehicles were open and very spacious, superior to those used in Liwonde.  All-in-all I can't recommend highly enough staying there if a visit to Gorongosa is in your future!  

 

 

[mungopark]

The following morning we decided to visit the Western portion of the park, a drier savannah-type area popular with ungulates.  We were well rewarded for our efforts, with multiple sightings of oribi, southern reedbuck, wildebeest (subspecies anyone??), waterbuck, nyala, bushbuck, kudu and Lichtenstein's hartebeest, plus a very unexpected and special sighting.  Animals were not at all skittish, and sightings were as long as we wished them to be.  And best of all, not another single vehicle all morning!  Pure safari bliss.

 

Oribi were everywhere, though since they were frequently the height of the grass, getting a clear unobstructed photo was challenging.

 

Wildebeest were a very welcome addition to the game drive, as I had been led to believe that finding them may not come easy. 

 

 

 

Interestingly, in Gorongosa it almost seemed like it would conjure up whatever it was we were looking for.  For example, on one game drive I Told tom that I really wanted to see crested Guinea fowl.  Not ten minutes later, without looking for them, they were encountered.  This happened time and time again to the point that it became uncanny.  And so, on this game drive, after vocalizing my desire to see Lichtenstein's hartebeest, we found them straightaway.

 

 

Without wanting to sound too nerdy, I am fascinated by the hartebeest.  Ever since reading about the ill-fated bubal hartebeest as a child, I had a strong desire to see hartebeest in their natural environment.  Last year's trip had afforded some time with the red hartebeest in Namibia.  This year I would get to spend time with Lichtenstein's hartebeest, named after an early 19th century traveler in the Cape Colony named Heinrich Lichtenstein.   It was great to see them in all their glory here in Gorongosa, especially after only enjoying a fleeting glimpse of them in Liwonde.

 

 

But more and  more antelope to come!  Kudu, although less common here than some of the other antelope species, were much easier to see here than I think anywhere else I've been on safari.

 

 

Not to be outdone by their Tragelaphus cousin, nyala were very common and very photogenic as well!  This nice male here stopped to pose, resulting in one of my favorite photos of the trip.

 

 

 

Continuing with the Tragelaphus theme, a cape bushbuck, shy but willing to stick around just long enough for a quick photo.  I'd seen two splendid males crossing the road on the way to camp the night of my arrival, but they were too elusive for photos.  Therefore I was pleased in the extreme with this brief sighting.

 

 

What self-respecting Gorongosa report would be complete without a few dozen waterbuck photos?!  Here is my first of what will probably be multiple entries!  How nice and symmetric!

 

 

We had all these sightings and more before even stopping for tea.  We found a nice small waterhole to stop for a break, discovering on our arrival a dead female (I think it was female, but maybe Tom can correct me) reedbuck which looked quite fresh.  There were no markings of violence and we surmised perhaps death from snakebite or some other form of poisoning may have been to blame.

 

And after tea, we had our best sighting of the morning.  TBC....

 

Edited August 31 by mungopark

[mungopark]

Moving on from our morning tea, and already seemingly surfeit from having seen so many different ungulates, we came upon a sight which was an unexpected delight - a large herd of sable antelope out in the open, seemingly relaxed and unperturbed by our presence.  I had already seen sable on this trip in Liwonde, but the sightings were challenging due to intervening foliage, skittish animals, suboptimal lighting etc.  This Gorongosa sighting was my best sable sighting I've had thus far on safari.  There were animals of different age and sex, and all good photographic subjects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a good 20 minutes or more enjoying this herd.  It was a great way to end our first morning drive in GNP.

[TonyQ]

Great sightings, beautiful creatures and beautiful photos 

[mungopark]

Thanks @TonyQ!  It was great to see so many species on a single drive.  Gorongosa felt very much like a true untrammeled wilderness, full of surprises! 

[mungopark]

After our productive morning drive we returned to camp for a delicious breakfast and a siesta.  I amused myself by watching the wildlife out in front of camp, birdwatching etc.  After a late lunch we went to see the pangolin rehabilitation project at HQ, as described quite nicely in a trip report by @michael-ibk.  The pangolin was adorable and it really was enjoyable to see one up close.  There were several guests from Montebello Lodge there also seeing the pangolin and the encounter went something like this: 

 

Limpo (the staff holding the pangolin) describing the project, their daily routine etc. and then asking if anyone had any questions.

 

Lady # 1  "Can I hold the pangolin?" 

Limpo "No"

Lady # 2 "Can I touch the pangolin?"

Limpo: "No"

Lady # 3 " Can I touch it if I just use a few fingers?"

Limpo "No"

Lady # 1 " Do you have any pangolin scales lying around that I can touch?"

Limpo "No"

Lady # 2 " Can I please just touch it.  I'm a teacher, you know, and the best way to learn is by touching."

Limpo "Answer is still no"

Lady # 3 " How do pangolins have sex?"  

 

 

And so it went.  What a pleasant way to spend the early afternoon.  To and from the HQ we had mini game drives and saw waterbuck, baboon and other more typical fare.  Returning to camp for a quick bite, we were soon off on our afternoon game drive, my first full afternoon activity in Gorongosa.  Pictures forthcoming!

[mungopark]

For our afternoon game drive we headed north, towards the famed Lion House.  We encountered numerous antelope species yet again, including oribi, nyala, kudu, hartebeest and waterbuck.  

 

What a handsome antelope the nyala is!

 

 

 

Not to be outdone by her mate, the female nyala are also very photogenic - almost giving out "bongo" vibes with their rufous coloring and white stripes

 

 

Since I love hartebeest, need to include at least one more photo of the same...

 

 

Oribi in a little bit better setting, though I think my camera was still focused on some strands of grass, causing the photo be slightly out of focus.

 

 

 

Since I've been somewhat neglectful of birds in this trip report so far, here is a photo dump.  while the birds themselves are spectacular, the photos are not.  But at least this is a small sampling of what we saw.

 

 

 

One highlight of this game drive was seeing a troop of blue (Sykes) monkeys jumping through the trees and generally enjoying themselves.  The animals were backlit and dappled in shade, so my photos were all of poor quality, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the sighting.

 

 

 

We came to one of the smaller waterways that branch out from lake Urema and got to see crocodile and some nice scenery.

 

 

 

There wasn't much action going on once we reached the Lion house, but from a historical standpoint it was still cool to have seen it.  We were alerted that there were elephants nearby and we made a beeline for the area in question, but when we got there they had gone into the tall grasses and could not be located.

 

Our guide then decided that since the drive had been relatively quiet in this sector, that we instead head for a nice sundowner location at the site of a former village which has numerous large baobab trees. We were close enough to see the trees when we noticed another vehicle there - we think from the other upmarket lodge Muzimu.  this made us change our minds, instead retreating a bit to another grouping of large baobabs that we could enjoy all to ourselves!

 

It was a very pleasant spot to end the day.  it had been a very enjoyable and productive day, with many excellent sightings.  but it was only a brief taste of what was to come over the next few days!!!

 

As a companion photo to my ethereal (my nice way of saying shi**y) nighttime marsh mongoose photo from my Liwonde stay, here is a pic of a trio of bushpigs that came out from the baobabs at dusk.

 

 

 

Wonderful end to a wonderful day.  But much much more wildlife action to come!

Edited August 28 by mungopark

[Geoff]

A very interesting safari. Some excellent sightings so far. That 900 K drive sounded like an adventure in itself.

[mungopark]

@GeoffThanks for the comment.  The roadtrip was definitely quite the adventure and made my visit to Mozambique that much more memorable!

Edited August 29 by mungopark

[mungopark]

The night drive after our baobab sundowners was productive.  We saw side striped jackal (newly introduced into Gorongosa, according to our guide.  Tom had not seen them in GNP before), white tailed and marsh mongoose, civet, genet, porcupine and greater galago.  Nice way to end the day.  The next morning was to be the start of a series of wonderful sightings that would last until the end of the trip.  Here's a cellphone pic to give you all a nice "taste" of what is to come in this trip report.

 

 

 

That night we heard lions roaring near camp.  Leaving for our am game drive, we headed towards a flat soda area that the lions loved to frequent.  Nothing doing, we moved on, expanding our search for the lions and whatever else we might find.

 

soon enough we had our first real sighting of elephants in the park - and a breeding herd no less.  They were on the road 50 yards or so ahead of us and we gave them space, expecting at any minute a shrill trumpet and a decided charge.  Instead, the herd kind of ignored us and moved off into the bush where we could on partially see and photograph them.  

 

 

 

Moving on, we soon found what we were looking for - lions!  And not just lions, but lions on a kill..... with cubs..... and all to ourselves!  Honestly, it just doesn't get any better than that.  Here are just a few snapshots from the encounter.  Later if I have time I'll post more.

 

There were two male lions - brothers perhaps?  The one at the beginning of this post chomping down on the waterbuck steak had had his right forepaw surgically amputated by park veterinary staff after getting it caught in a gin trap.  He seemed to be doing ok healthwise, probably because this guy (seen below) was helping bring home the beef!  What a great lion sighting to start the day.

 

 

 

 

 

As promised, there were cubs - muito fofinhos!!!

 

 

 

Mum was not far away, and hankering for some bush breakfast.

 

Edited August 29 by mungopark

[offshorebirder]

I love those Nyala shots in the previous post - Bongo vibes indeed!

[mungopark]

@offshorebirder Gorongosa is a great place to see these less common antelopes.  They are very photogenic and it's so nice to see such an interesting example sexual dimorphism.

[mungopark]

We spent 30 or so minutes with these lions.  They were in thick bush so we had to try to get as close as possible to actually see them.  Too close for comfort apparently, as the female growled and charged our vehicle, startling our tracker who was perched in the seat attached to front bumper and prompting us to make a quick retreat.  Not charged by the elephants but charged by lions - Gorongosa was just so full of surprises!

 

As promised, here are few more shots of the lions I managed to get during the encounter.  It was a the highlight of our morning drive.

 

  

 

 

 

 

Edited August 31 by mungopark

[mungopark]

We slowly began wending our way back toward camp.  It became slightly overcast, curbing the heat and extending our animal sightings through the morning.  The major contributor to the rest of this, and on previous and subsequent drives, is the waterbuck.  Much has been written in the Gorongosa subform of ST about the extreme proliferation of this animal within the park.  While it's true they were omnipresent, it never really felt like they were there to the exclusion of everything else. If you took a typical East Africa park and substituted the impala for the waterbuck, you can get an idea of how they presented in GNP.  After a while I suppose I kind of stopped noticing them, but there were times when I could not resist photographing them.  Tom suggested that I could create a 12 month calendar - The Waterbuck of Gorongosa.

 

While not 12 photos, here are a few of my favorites from the first few days.

 

 

 

Edited September 1 by mungopark

[mungopark]

For our afternoon game drive we decided to try and reach the shores of Lake Urema, to the north of camp.  It was going to be a bit of a drive, but in the end it was a successful game drive on many levels.  Similar to @michael-ibk we had a great bush pig sighting.  The images are quite cropped, but still it's maybe as good as you can hope for with this elusive species.

 

 

Moving on, we had a great sighting of a beautiful female nyala...

 

 

Then, the further from camp we got the more new sightings we had.  Our first (and only) buffalo in the park!

 

 

We began to find elephants both singly and in groups.  Many of them were relatively far off, and we gave them space, but it sure was great to  see this iconic species in what was surely once one of its strongholds in southeastern Africa.  We did find this accommodating bull who was not in the least alarmed by our presence.

 

 

We saw a very large herd with the sun setting behind them, enjoying them enough for a few quick snapshots and then we were off, racing against time to try and get to the lakeshore before dark!  along the way, we had our one and only charge by an elephant, seemingly at random as we were driving along the track minding our own business, but since we were already going kind of fast the would be attacker had to eat our dust!  

 

Arriving  in the nick of time, we had sundowners watching the birdlife.  There were huge flocks of some kind of smaller bird, maybe in the 1000's, flying out over the lake.  And what's more, there were even flamingos!  Migrants from further north, we were told that it was pretty unusual to see them here this time of year.  It was too dark for photos, so I don't know if they were great or lesser flamingos, but it was a special sighting nonetheless.

 

This was a wonderful way to end a day full of excitement and wonder.  But the best was yet to come!   

 

 

Edited September 6 by mungopark

[Atravelynn]

I learned a new word:  inselbergs.  So that's why you posted a giant pic of a soft drink can, along with wild dogs.  Looking forward to reading the rest.

 

[mungopark]

The beginning of my final full day in Gorongosa started out in a spectacular fashion.  Out of bed before 6:00 am, we were soon on our way.  Not far out of camp, while still kind of dark, we encountered a male lion who was roaring for his companions and walking in a Westerly direction.  He walked into some thick stuff, and we circled around to wait for him on the other side.   Positioning ourselves, we waited patiently.  Instead of a lion emerging out of the bush, we were treated to sounds of thrashing and shaking foliage, shrieking squirrels in the trees above, and shortly thereafter, high pitched squealing.  The lion had found much more than just a short-cut.  He had found some breakfast!

 

 

The lion would tear at his victim (whom we could never really see very well), pause for a moment to roar, and then go back to savaging the warthog.  Soon a lioness and some small cubs came from the opposite direction, apparently having heard that bacon was on the menu that morning.   

 

 

Tired from having thoroughly incapacitated the poor warthog, the male lion sat down to take a break, letting his mate pick up where he left of.   Behind the male lion in this first pic is the bush in question.

 

 

Into the bush went the lioness, followed shortly by multiple drawn out squeals.  The cubs were also keen to sink their teeth into some pork chops, and they in turn disappeared into the bush to try their hand at killing.  As a testament to their hardiness, the warthog continued to squeal for 10 minutes or more.  The big male, the female, and the cubs all emerged from the bush licking blood from their mouths, alternating resting and mauling.  

 

 

At some point during the gang murder of the warthog another vehicle from camp had joined us.  half-way through they apparently received word about a wild dog sighting, and took off.  To stay with the lion family or go after dogs - what a difficult question!  Either way you win!  I decided to stay with the lions family for a bit longer, waiting for the sun to come u[p and provide better light for photos.

 

 

All-in-all we must have spent a good half an hour or more enjoying these lions.  Eventually I could sense some urgency in the vehicle that we should not miss out on another opportunity to see the wild dogs, and I acquiesced to our leaving the lions behind to try to "shoot the moon" and go for the dogs.  Did we succeed?  Stay tuned....