Wild-Wildlife

We chased monkeys away from our cabbage.  We drove the car around warthog.  We were awoken by hippos. We backed away from baboons. I chased monkeys away from our watermelon.  I wrestled a monkey for a kabob. My afternoon was dictated by a curious elephant. Our dinners were interrupted every night by hippos.  Our s'mores were stalled by a curious genet. I timidly watched the crocs in the river in front of our cabin. I was shocked to find a tree frog on my coffee cup. We rushed away from our campfire five seconds before an elephant walked up to it. I found this vervet monkey drinking a Fanta....

Chirundu is known as being one of the wildest places in the country.  Our interactions with the wildlife along the Zambezi were fascinating, fun, and -when I wasn't chasing them away from my dinner- as awe-inspiring as ever.  Here are some of the animals whose paths we crossed while relaxing in Chirundu…

Warthogs trot near the "road."

Monkeys, monkeys, everywhere!

Vervet monkeys wait to steal our food.

 

 

 

Elephants, elephants everywhere!

Tons of birds, all difficult to photograph!  Here a large heron sits at the water's edge.

Two fish eagles chat in the trees as they watch the river.

Crocodiles, crocodiles everywhere!

Here a genet keeps us company for a few hours just after twilight.  If you don't know about this rare, crazy cat/mongoose relative, look them up! The eyeballs of Teddy Ruxpin, head of a ferret, body of a leopard, tail of raccoon.  This guy sits twenty feet from us for hours, creepily curious.

Hippos lounge in the Zambezi waters until twilight...

when they munch grass and interrupt our dinners.

The night time pics are terrible, but you've never experienced the dark until you've been in Africa at night!

This is a giant elephant next to our campfire, I swear.

Between the hippos and elephant, we got about twelve complete seconds of  time next to the campfire! This picture was taken about ten seconds before a bull elephant came lumbering through.

Nightime in Africa may be dark, but it's never quiet.  Animals crawl, shuffle, snort, roar, and bang all through the night.  Sweet dreams, humans!

Zim-Zam: Tiger Fishing on the Zambezi River

The Zambezi makes a gorgeous but deadly border between the countries of Zim and Zambia. Teeming with hippos, crocodile, and an occasional elephant on commute to one of its lush islands, this river running through the Chirundu region is famous for its tiger-fishing.

Boats and guides can be rented by the half day or day, and bait is readily available at both the farms along the banks, as well as from small boats on the water. Here is husband Kurt and son Jonas with friends Jon and Nisse and our guide Alex on our first of three days on the water.

If ever you wonder why my hair looks messy in our Chirundu pictures....

The bait used to catch tigerfish is a fish slightly smaller than my hand, called “bream.” Here we stop to pick up a dozen bream and take a quick moment to step onto Zambian soil while we wait for the farmer to get them from his shed. We were surprised to find out the bream do not come from the river, but are instead raised on small farms near the shores. 

Local Zambian children are curious and friendly.

We visited during the slow season, but did not do too badly.  The hotter it gets, the more action there is on the river and the more active the fish are.  Famous tiger-fishing competitions occur in the region throughout the summer, attracting hundreds of fisherman and tourists.

All along the river the local villagers can be seen bathing and doing laundry.  (Took me forever to find one empty of bathers for a respectful photo!)  Spots like this have been built by the village as a safe communal place to do these activities.  The posts and thorn branches placed below the waterline prevent crocs and hippos from attacking people while they wash.

 

Here some children on the banks have a blast- sledding down the dirt hill on cut pieces of old plastic vegetable oil bottles.

Crocs are a legitimate concern. This is a famous photo re-posted by thousands on facebook… It is legitimate and was also taken in the northern part of the country. 

Hippos, though, are considered even more dangerous.  Here a group sunbathes in the middle of the river next to our boat.

These fish get to be up to 50 kg. (110 ponds) -huge!  Known for their large teeth and predatory skills, they are popular sport fish because they put up a tough fight and almost always jump out of the water once or twice during a catch.  Kurt’s largest, a 4.2 kg (about 10 pounds) was a fun five minutes of work.

In total we caught five fish: one each for Nisse and Jon, and three for Kurt- one of which was reeled-in in part by a proud three year old Jonas. Though I had an equal amount of fun, I was the only one with nothing caught... Good thing everything was catch and release by a new Zim law- we all walked away with empty hands and good memories.

Local fisherman use boats carved from a single tree trunk.

In these boats, fishermen and women use fishing line wrapped around empty soda bottles rather than rods.  The result is a beautiful intricate art learned over a lifetime of providing for one’s family.

Here we pulled up to a clearly exhausted mother fishing- baby on the back (called a berika), child in the front.  She was trying to provide for her family with about six feet of line and a hook.  Our guide Alex gave this grateful woman a package of hooks, a few bottles, and a container of line.

The art of tiger-fishing involves a great deal of patience. It is done where the river’s channels merge downstream of islands or downstream of joining tributaries.

 

The bream are put on the hook, and cast out to drift downstream, along with the boat- no bobbers or anchors needed on this river!

…Unless of course you are gaping at the surrounding wildlife.  Pictures of Chirundu’s incredible Zim-Zam wildlife to come!  Stay tuned…

 

The Road to Chirundu

“Chirundu” is a Shona word that means “people following each other in a line.” 

This notoriously hot region contains two of the five bridges that cross the Zambezi between Zim and Zambia.  Aside from being a through-way for supply trucks between the two countries, the region is famous for its wild-wildlife and its tiger fish-fishing.

 Here we prepare for our road trip.  Safe water and ten days worth of food jammed in the back, we are ready!

Heading into Chirundu means descending the high elevations of our capital city.  Coming down “The Escarpment” is dangerous, as this road is notorious for its treachery.   The views, though, are spectacular, and the climate is noticeably different at the bottom than at the top.  We watched a tanker pass an "abnormal load" vehicle at high speeds directly in front of us on The Escarpment and were reminded that there are truly some terrible professional drivers in this country.

At the bottom of The Escarpment is a tsetse fly check-point.  All vehicles leaving the Chirundu area are to go through a check to ensure the tsetse fly larvae are not carried out on cargo or passengers.  (When we left, our checkpoint was amusing.  We pulled up, rolled down our window, and the checker asked, "Any tsetse flies in there?"  We said, "umm, no?" and then he waved us on.  Thorough.)

Baobab trees line the road, spectacular giant trees that are nothing if not quintessential Africa.

Unlike our last road trip, this road has little livestock for which to watch.  It does, though, have a great number of baboons and other wildlife.

 When we arrive in Chirundu we pass the line of semis waiting to get over one of the bridges after entering Zim-Zam customs.  Our cabin is just a few kilometers more.

The welcoming committee greets us.