Lunar Rainbow

Belated Happy New Year every one! I spent mine at Victoria Falls, bearing in mind, as I always do, what a wise Russian friend told me long ago. "You end the year the way you begin it."

There was a full moon on the 31st which meant that the falls were open to visitors hoping to catch sight of a lunar rainbow. A group of us who stayed at Waterberry Lodge, a peaceful and unpretentious place on the banks of the Zambezi River, left for the falls after sunset armed with champagne and cameras. The clouds slowly cleared. With help from Photoshop this is what the rainbow looked like. Back at Waterberry, we enjoyed a late dinner and afterwards sat around a camp fire listening to the territorial snorts of hippos. On New Year's Day, a fine sunny day, I returned to the falls to photograph the falls' solar rainbow. The picture was taken looking across the gorge into Zimbabwe, a country which shares the famous falls with Zambia.

10-03-2010

African Skies

I am adding a new category to MTT's safari priority list (on the homepage), which is a very important one for photographers: African skies. On a continent known for its big skies, and outstanding sunrises and sunsets, Zambia emerges as the clear leader, especially now during the rainy season when cumulus clouds swell and expand vertically until they look like the aftermath of some mighty explosion. Which is what happens later when these gorgeous towers of billowing white become darkened thunderheads and unleash a sudden, short, always dramatic downpour. I took these "sky" pictures at my home as a late afternoon storm was building, another at sunrise on the Zambezi River at Livingstone's Waterberry Lodge.

10-03-2010

Zambia's Emerald Season Safaris

Those of us who live in Africa love the wet season. Life-sustaining rain restores the dry and brittle bush to its green glory and ragged and thin wildlife to sleek good health. Many animals are breeding. Many migratory birds have arrived from their wintering grounds. And then there are those incredible green season skies and passionate rain showers which freshen the world until it sparkles.

Admittedly, the rainy season makes going on safari more difficult. Here in Zambia, the accommodations of South and North Luangwa National Park close at the end of November to wait out the rains and the Luangwa River's seasonal flooding with the exception of a few lodges like Robin Pope's Nkwali and Norman Carr's Kapani.

But going on safari isn't impossible in Luangwa during the wet season. You go by boat. Norman Carr's Kakuli Camp is accessible by boat and is therefore the only bush camp in the park that remains open. All game viewing from Kakuli must be undertaken by boat as well, or by foot. It is not possible to get around by vehicle. Offered between mid-January and early April, Norman Carr calls this green season travel its "Rivers and Rainbows" Safari. Please watch for my review of it in the next newsletter. I am heading to Luangwa again at the end of February.

10-03-2010

Birding in Zambia

This is the time for birders to come to Zambia. In the Southern Hemisphere this is summer. December 21st was our longest day of the year. While Norman Carr's "Rivers and Rainbows" Safari focuses on river travel, scenery, and wildlife as well as birds, it also offers safaris around its Kapani Lodge which concentrate only on the season's prolific bird life. Each safari is lead by a guide well schooled in ornithology and passionate about birds as only bird people can be.

I continue to be distracted by the bird life in my own backyard. Over Christmas, I had a pair of Schalow's turacos (also called louries) stay for several days around a large tree at the rear of the garden. It is remarkably difficult to get a good view of these birds no matter how carefully you stalk them. They are furtive birds, leaping from heavy foliage to heavy foliage. Only when I saw them in flight could I appreciate their magnificent coloring – indigo, purple, Kelly green and with very red under-wings. My other current sightings in the garden include the African paradise fly catcher, the African golden oriole, the Arrow-marked babbler (very social and noisy), and the very handsome male Violet-backed or Plum-colored starling.

10-03-2010

The Drought of 2009 in East Africa

I was in Tanzania in early January where I met with Maasai friends who related their experiences during the drought which gripped East Africa's Maasailand during the latter part of 2009. This drought was the result of minimal rainfall during the "short" rains that typically start falling in December and the failure altogether of the "long" rains of March and April. Maasai walked further and further afield in search of pastures; some walked as far as the Indian Ocean Coast. (Kenya was affected as well. Several weeks ago, I passed Maasai grazing their animals in a patch of green near Nairobi's international airport. "Some Maasai haven't returned home yet" I was told by way of explanation.) Many of my Tanzanian Maasai friends lost hundreds of their cattle. They reported that many young Maasai among them committed suicide when their animals died of starvation. As the drought took hold, Maasai were advised to sell their cattle when they could still receive a fair price. But the Maasai are loath to sell their animals and for those who couldn't bring themselves to do it, the value of their cows was reduced to nothing. I compare this reluctance to sell in the face of worsening conditions to the hesitation we feel trying to gauge market conditions – sell our investments or hang onto them?

10-03-2010

Mama Tembo's Herd

I have started my own cow herd in Tanzania. To date, I have three animals. A Maasai friend is looking after them for me. Like the Maasai, I will have to learn how to gauge conditions and decide when to hold or sell, especially now in the face of global warming and the increased effects of the four year El Nino/La Nina cycle. This herd serves as my bank account from which I can draw the funds when I receive a request for help from Tanzania – when someone needs medical care or school funds for instance.

Should anyone wish to contribute to my herd (the price of a cow begins at 150 to 200 USD depending on its sex and age) then please email me.

10-03-2010

MTT Launch of CongoWildlifeAdventures.com

The remote Central African parks of Nouabale-Ndoki (in the Republic of Congo) and Dzanga-Ndoki (in the Central African Republic) offer intrepid travelers Africa's latest wildlife adventure – the world's only habituated Western lowland gorilla families; high concentrations of wild gorillas and Forest elephants, and an opportunity to meet the Ba'Aka, an indigenous people who are the foundation of the Congo Basin's conservation programs.

Mama Tembo Tours Inc makes visiting Nouabale-Ndoki and Dzanga-Ndoki that much easier with the launch of Congo Wildlife Adventures, a ground operation based in Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo, which facilitates park tours using Brazzaville as the entry and departure points. This new venture serves both tour agencies and travelers wishing to travel privately. CWA is headed by Max Mviri Bwily, a Brazzaville native and former member of a gorilla habitation team, which makes him uniquely qualified as your guide into the forest kingdoms of the Western Lowland gorillas.

10-03-2010

New programs in 2010: Walking with the Kenyan Maasai

MTT has teamed up with leaders of Loita, Purko and Laikipia Maasai, among others, to bring you unique opportunities to get off the beaten path in Kenya. We stay at simple eco-camps operated by Maasai, learn firsthand about Maasai culture, and walk from one to five days with Maasai warriors, fly-camping along the way. The length of the hike is entirely up to you. There are many options for customizing these programs. We walk in such areas as the Loita Hills, Laikipia, and the Transmara, the extensive land around the Maasai Mara Reserve and the dispersal grounds for its wildlife where there are a lot fewer visitors than in the more famous reserve itself. The best time to undertake this travel is the dry season, June through September, with July and August as the very best choice of months since this is when the wildebeest migration is typically in the Mara and Transmara. I'm very excited about a safari which allows us to arrive in the Maasai Mara, at migration time, on foot.

Please see Itineraries on the website for details of these new programs and also for additional information on the Maasai leaders with whom I now work.

I am undertaking a recce of the Laikipia camping/hiking program in early September 2010. I will take a small number of guests with me. If you are interested please email me.

10-03-2010

The African Elephant in Trouble

After reading this painful news from my friends at Tropical Ice, Nairobi, Kenya, you can register a complaint or voice your concern by joining the forum on the Cites website: www.cites.org/forum/forum.php

TANZANIA APPLIES TO CITES FOR IVORY SALE TO JAPAN
We at Tropical Ice would like to think that if there is one thing our visitors take away from our walking safaris in Tsavo, it's an understanding, and an awareness, of the plight of the African elephant.

Since 1989 when the elephant was placed on Appendix 1 of the endangered species list, there have been constant battles between the southern African countries of South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe against the east African, west African and north-central African countries over the sale of ivory to Japan, China and Taiwan. These battles have taken place within the confines of CITES (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species).

During the years following the upgrading of the elephant to Appendix 1 when it became illegal to sell ivory internationally, elephant poaching virtually ceased across the African continent, and badly depleted elephant populations increased. Pressure however, from the southern African countries continued unabated, with CITES, in recent times, relenting to allow these countries occasional "one-off" sales to Japan and Taiwan. Each of these sales was followed by an immediate surge in elephant poaching across the continent, with Kenya and Tanzania taking the brunt of it.

In March there will be a CITES meeting in Doha, and we have just heard that Tanzania intends to apply for a one-off sale of its ivory stock-pile to Japan. A glance at the statistics of elephant poaching across Africa during the past twenty years leaves no doubt that these sales open the doors to increased poaching; the figures are indisputable. Given the weaknesses of CITES, and its propensity for allowing these "sales" to take place, and the fact that it will probably allow Tanzania its ivory sale to Japan in March, it's worth looking at the current state of elephant affairs in Tanzania as we lead up to the Doha conference.

Huge numbers of elephants are presently being slaughtered in southern Tanzania, particularly in the Selous Game Reserve.

- Six tons of ivory have recently been seized in Namibia.
- 608 tusks were recently seized in Japan.
- Eleven tons of ivory were recently seized on their way from Africa to Japan and Taiwan. DNA testing has shown that they originated mainly in the Selous region of southern Tanzania.
- Ivory trafficking between Africa and Japan has doubled in recent years. The small numbers of big seizures suggests a high level of organisation behind the scenes.

The Tanzanian government has said that it needs this ivory sale to Japan and Taiwan "to augment conservation efforts". When we look at the hard facts of what is currently happening in their biggest wildlife park - and the biggest elephant region in the world - this all seems rather dubious. It is worth taking a close look at the present management efforts in the Selous:

- The Selous has registered a recent record of tourists, with park gate revenues standing at 400 million shillings.
- In the last few years Selous tourist lodges and camps have increased their revenue from 2.3 billion to 6 billion shillings.
- Selous park entrance fees have risen 200% in the last year to US$75.00 per day (the most expensive in Africa).

AND DESPITE ALL THIS, POACHING IN THE SELOUS HAS INCREASED BY 400% IN THE PAST FEW YEARS.

The amount of money Tanzania will receive for their one-off sale of ivory (89,848 kgs), to Japan and Taiwan is miniscule compared to what the Selous is already making. If Tanzania required any proof of the consequences of this impending ivory sale to Japan it could check a clear fact:

IN 2008 CITES ALLOWED SOUTH AFRICA A ONE-OFF SALE OF 102 TONS OF IVORY TO JAPAN AND TAIWAN. POACHING IMMEDIATELY ESCALATED IN KENYA AND TANZANIA AS A RESULT OF THIS.

We in Kenya are concerned about this development, and our worries are more than just moral grounds; we share two crucial elephant parks with Tanzania: Amboseli and Tsavo. Elephants in these important regions frequently cross the borders between the two countries. Amboseli elephants have been shot in Tanzania where a hunting block exists on the edge of the border. In Tsavo we lost fifty elephants to poachers in the past year. In summing up, there is absolutely no reason why Tanzania needs to sell its ivory to Japan and Taiwan. There is simply no economic justification. As the Selous statistics show: the more money the region makes out of its wildlife, the greater is the increase in poaching. This suggests a mismanagement problem, and is also suggestive of massive corruption within the Tanzanian government, and its wildlife conservation bodies. Should we read into this that the benefits of this one-off ivory sale will extend no further than Tanzanian politicians' pockets?

If the future of this magnificent species lies in current preservation, it is critical that we make our voices heard now before CITES meets in Doha this coming March.

10-03-2010

Going, Going, Gone: Big Cats

10-03-2010

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