Atlasville, 09 Sep 2004
Just back from a 5-day break. Some years ago before they’d all departed to live and work in London I’d promised my three children, all well-travelled in South Africa, that I would take each of them to an African location of their choice. Of course, they all left before I’d made good on that promise. As my daughter was visiting from London we’d arranged to fit in her choice of destination, so off we went to Zambia for 4 nights in Chundukwa River Lodge on the banks of the Zambezi just 25 km upriver from the Victoria Falls.
Armed with a brand new, and my first digital camera, I hoped to get some good bird photos. However, while the camera was great for landscape shots, trying to use the zoom for bird shots proved to be a bit of a hopeless exercise.
We crammed in as much as we could into the short time available. After a morning flight from Johannesburg to Livingstone we spent a couple of hours on a boat on the Zambezi finishing with the traditional sundowner – no African safari is complete without a good sunset!
The next morning it was off to the Victoria Falls to see them both the traditional way on foot and also from the air. This was my 5th time at the Falls and having seen them from both the Zambian and Zimbabwean sides I still think that Zambia’s Eastern Cataract is the best view. However if you want a really spectacular view try a microlight flight over the falls. Batoka Sky in Livingstone offer both microlight and helicopter flights. I’d had a pre-breakfast scout around the camp and added 3 lifers with Brown Firefinch, Brown-backed Honeybird and White-browed Coucal.
Then it was back to Chundukwa for a late picnic lunch on Chundu Island directly across the Zambezi from Chundukwa. It is actually in Zimbabwe, but no customs and immigration here. After a leisurely lunch with our Chundukwa guide, Kobus, we walked around the island to do some birdwatching. Despite being only 1 km long and an average of about 150 m wide we managed to tick off 69 species in only 90 minutes! These included 2 lifers with Schalow’s Turaco and Orange-winged Pytilia, while Half-collared Kingfisher, Collared Palm Thrush, Yellow-bellied Greenbul and Jameson’s Firefinch were other notable sightings.
Next day was a little less time-constrained. While my daughter relaxed at Chundukwa and then went for an elephant ride at the neighbouring property I was collected for a day of birdwatching in the miombo woodland around Livingstone and along the gorges below the Falls. Another 2 lifers in Tinkling Cisticola and Ayre’s Hawk-Eagle, and it’s always good to see the likes of Retz’s Helmetshrike, Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird and Greater Honeyguide.
Our last full day was a game-viewing drive in Chobe National Park and a boat trip on the Chobe River at Kasane in Botswana. This involved a 55 km road transfer to the Kazungula ferry (there is talk of a bridge here), where we took the ferry as foot passengers, to be met by our guide on the other side for the 10 km drive to Chobe Safari Lodge in Kasane. Kazungula actually sits between the triple-point junction of Zambia, Botswana and Namibia and the triple-point junction of Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, which are only 150 m apart. You can stand on the ferry and see 4 different countries!
On arrival at Chobe Safari Lodge we boarded a boat for the river cruise. If you are worried about hippos then don’t go on this cruise. Our boat sported a sizeable dent from a hippo attack! The boats allow you to get up really close to the game, whether this is elephant, buffalo, hippo, crocodile or the many birds to be found here, such as Slaty Egret, Long-toed Lapwing, Squacco Heron, Purple Heron, Coppery-tailed Coucal, African Spoonbill and many African Fish Eagle.
After lunch at the Lodge we headed off for our game-viewing. At this time of year Chobe National Park is parched, coming out of the dry winter season and awaiting the rains, so most of the game, particularly the elephant (Africa’s biggest population) and buffalo, migrates north to the lush surrounds of the Chobe River. Our game-viewing drive therefore concentrated on the road along the banks of the Chobe. From a birding perspective this proved to be a good move as I added another lifer, Bradfield’s Hornbill. Highlight of the drive, though, was three lionesses trying to separate a hippo from her calf. Unfortunately they all disappeared over the river bank so we never knew the outcome.
We successfully navigated the ferry crossing on the return leg, slightly apprehensive about the heavy trucks aboard, as less than a year previously an over-laden truck had caused the ferry to capsize resulting in 18 deaths! After a last night at Chundukwa we flew back to Johannesburg, but not before I’d had an African Finfoot (lifer) cruise serenely past right in front of my chalet.
