Here we go with our review of the first camp we visited on our trip.

Warning: It's a love affair, not only for the wildlife we saw, the setting, our accommodations, but, not least, Chiawa's staff.

The pics I've posted for now are all with our digital point and shoots cuz the slide film on which I took all the telephoto shots are still not back. I'll add to and update the photo site later. Since the digitals are only a max of 114mm equivalent, I did some cropping on some of the pics.

I had quite a bit of anxiety over logistics upon our arrival in Zambia--e.g. visa waivers, internal flight confirmations, etc., but, between Rocco and direct contact with the camps we would be visiting, I had printouts of just about everything. Turns out none of them were needed.

We were greeted on arrival at Lusaka by Chiawa patriarch, Dave Cummings, and logistics went perfectly. The only minor glitch (through no one's fault but British Airways) was that my fly rod didn't make it (In the future I'll only carry four or five piece rods that will fit in my luggage.

Dave took all the claim check and flight info, but, even after several follow-ups over two weeks, even he could not crack BA's inefficiency.

There were only three of us on the flight via a Zambian Airways Caravan to the air strip adjacent to Chiawa . Our bags were not weighed, but I would have just paid the modest excess baggage fee if they had been.

Chiawa has a max of 16 guests with a staff of 32. We were given the Cheetah "honeymoon" tent (I hesitate to use the word tent, since even the bath is more luxurious than those of most high end homes. WE watched impala, warthogs, hippos, and even lions from our deck. I can’t comment on the other tents, though.

Barbara and Craig are Chiawa's managers, and are both thoroughly professional but also seemed to have an extra sense in anticipating our wishes before we even expressed them.

I guess we were very lucky because Ruth and I were the only ones on most of our drives and walks with the exception of a few outings with honeymooners Andrea and Adam from L.A. Paul and Joe traded off as our guides. They gave us a bit of a safety talk, a preview of what we might see, and how the drive would be conducted, particularly emphasizing care would be taken not to do anything that would influence the animals' behavior, or give predator or prey an advantage. This respect for the game was clearly of foremost importance, and was evident particularly on night drives when we encountered hunting lions and nervous impalas. It was also brought home again, a few days later, in stark contrast, when we went out on a night drive at Sausage Tree Camp in which the guides communicated little, rushed along stampeding herds of elephants sending them off shrieking in fear and anger, and harassed hunting lions even to the point of following so close to a female she was forced to run to avoid being hit.

A leopard with two cubs and an impala kill had been spotted in a tree before we arrived and we drove toward on our first night drive. Well before we arrived, we could hear sounds of movement, snarling and roaring and when we got closer we could see a pack of hyenas, yelping, circling the tree and jumping as high as they could with mom leopard glaring down and growling. The cubs would occasionally peak out, but were mostly buried in the foliage. The scene played on for about 10 minutes, until mom leopard made a break to another nearby tree. Paul said it was to divert the hyenas attention. It must have worked, because the hyenas finally gave up and slinked off. We then found the larger of the two resident prides in that area, the pride of nine, on the hunt. The count isn’t technically quite correct since Douglas, the lone male (his buddy, Dan was killed by a buffalo last year) shares his time between the pride of nine and the smaller pride of five (also counting Douglas) on the other side of Chiawa. Between the two prides we had good lion sighting on virtually every drive. On our walk with Joe, we followed fresh lion tracks until we lost them in the rocky swale near Chiawa, and then found the smaller pride the next morning within 200 meters of our tent.

We returned to where the leopard had been the next morning but she was gone and so were the cubs and any sign of the impala. We were concerned for the cubs’ safety, but Joe said that we would have seen some sign of a fight if the hyenas had returned.

We next encountered the pride of nine feeding (or trying to) on the carcass of a hippopotamus. They had been able to get a bit of meat around the head area, but were stymied by the hippo’s thick skin. They finally gave up and laid in the shade, Douglas off to one side until joined by one of the females, while the rest of the pride groomed and played with each other. The cubs, four of them, didn’t look like they were doing very well--especially compared to the fat cubs of the smaller pride that we saw later.

We encountered them again that evening, only a few minutes after they had killed an impala. Not much meat for nine hungry animals. They were playing tug of war with the still intact carcass, but it took only a few moments before Douglas took the bulk of the kill. The females seemed to be getting a few bites, but the cubs really looked forlorn going from one adult to another tryimg to get a scrap but receiving little more for their efforts than snarls and cuffs. Douglas seemed more patient than the females, but still didn’t share. In less than 10 minutes there was nothing left of the impala except a bit of skin.

We also fished for tigerfish (they look like a cross between a pirhana and a striped bass, and fight like a mini-tarpon). I was fly fishing, and, even though Ruth is not a fisher person, she came along, catching the biggest fish. Naturally. We had sundowners on the boat and watched the sun set over the Zambezi. Beautiful. Another afternoon we had a wonderful canoe ride through a side channel to the Zambezi.

We also had champagne brunch on the river, a night time bbq over a fire set in a dry river bed which featured traditional Zambian foods, along with less exotic bbq’d meats. Our guides not only knew just about everything possible about the bigger animals we were seeing, but we really appreciated the attention to the small critters, birds and plants. One of many highlights was the giant baobab tree which is hollow inside and home to hundreds, perhaps thousands of bats. Shining a flashlight into the cavity provided one view, but reaching in and taking pictures with the digital camera really opened up an amazing world to us. We also were able to view a small python hiding inside.

Hmmm. Sorry, I'm still a little new at this report writing on fodor's. I pasted the copy I had written in Word, then did considerable edits at this site, including providing the link to the pitures. For some reason, when I hit "POST MY REPLY" none of the edits, nor the link were included. So, I will have to try again. Please forgive.

Jim

Excellent sightings, especially lots of predator action at Chiawa. I'm looking forward to the photos. I may have missed it, but in which park is Chiawa?

Please let me know if you can get to the link to the photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/steeliej...tOct2006Chiawa

It's the first time I've tried this, and when I try it, Picasa recognizes me as the one who uploaded the photos, givng me total access to editing, etc., so I do not know if you can see the photos, or if you see them in an uneditable version.

Chiawa is in the Lower Zambezi National Park. If you decide to go there, I also urge you to spend time at Old Mondoro Bush Camp which is jointly operated by Chiawa and
Sausage Tree. It can accommodate only eight guests and is quite rustic compared to Chiawa, but it was a most amazing experience for game viewing up close and personal and the camp managers, Helen and Rulof (who is also the head guide) are real treasures. I'll be writing about Old Mondoro in my next report.

Jim

Jim - I think you and Ruth (and I) had a very similar trip. I look at your photos and they just bring eerything back... Craig and his flashlight ;-) the special dinners, canoeing the Inkalange Channel...I think you have photos of the same lion cubs as well. And when you mention Helen and Roelof, Barbs and Joe, Craig, Victor, et al.. man, its just makes me want to hop a plane back there right now! What a place, eh?!

:-)

Thanks, and yes I can open the link to your photos, but I need more time than I have now to look at them. Thanks for sharing.

I mentioned it before, and I will say it again. Writing about our trip and going through photos produces mixed feelings. Mostly the happiness of reliving the trip through writing about it and viewing the pictures, but also sadness that those wonderful places and people we met are half a world away. Also some new sadness that Rocco, who I had never encountered before this forum, and still have never met, and who made our trip of a lifetime possible has gotten caught up in a mess that is not (okay, maybe a little) of his doing.

I do wish that my completely edited version of our stay at Chiawa had gotten through, but since it didn't, I'll just try to reconstruct the close.

I would highly recommend Chiawa, from the setting on the banks of the Zambezi, the accommodations, the food, the game, and the staff. All the way from the owners, Dave, Jenny, and Grant, to Craig and Barbara, the managers. James, our fishing guide, Paul and Joe, our guides on walks, canoeing and drives. And the rest of the staff. Joe and Paul were extremely knowledgeable,and always respectful of the wildlife. One more example. On night drives, Paul would sometimes stop the Land Cruiser, turn off the engine and light, and we would just listen to the night sounds in the darkness. That produced our second leopard sighting, when Paul heard it softly gruntng and coughing as it marked its territory.

As Ruth said after only our first day, "I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a unicorn next." It was very soon after that Ruth saw her "unicorn." Actually better, because the massive bull greater kudu that stepped into view had two, not one, spiraling horns that would put the horn of a unicorn to shame.

Anyway we WILL be back to the Lower Zambezi and Chiawa. But, next, Old Mondoro, plus a few more comments about our brief stay at Sausage Tree and our eventful trip to Old Mondoro by canoe.

Hi,

Sorry for the delay in getting more pictures posted. These

http://picasaweb.google.com/steeliej...aAndOldMondoro

are a selection of scans from slides from our stay at Old Mondoro and some more from Chiawa.

We also stayed one night at Sausage Tree Camp, which is located between Chiawa and Old Mondoro.

Sausage Tree was the one place that we found disappointing. I had suggested going there, because I wanted to fly fish for tigerfish. As it turned out, Chiawa provided all the great fishing I could have hoped for.

Some of the problems we had at Sausage Tree were small, but when you are repeatedly promised certain things which are not delivered, the annoyance builds.

It was the night drive where our experience at Sausage Tree escalated from annoyance to, frustration. We had just come from Chiawa and our guides had been safety conscious, communicative, knowledgeable, and respectful of the game. Our Sausage Tree guide did not give us any of the precautions about being quiet, not standing up, etc. And, there was very little communication about what we were seeing, night time game habits and patterns, or telling us, as the guides at Chiawa had, that they would make sure that no advantage would be given to predator or prey when spotting with the light.

To the contrary, he rushed along, our spotter's light dwelling on the animals and sending groups of elephants running away shrieking in anger and fear. And when a lioness was spotted hunting, another Sausage Tree vehicle close by tailgated her, forcing her into a run.

At that point our only other experience had been with the guides at Chiawa, but we then went to Old Mondoro Bush Camp where we stayed for three nights (we were able to get an extra night there and cancelled going back to Sausage Tree for our final night) where our guide's behavior was also expert and respectful of the wildlife. And then on to Luangwa River Lodge where the guiding was also wonderful. The contrast between the disappointing experience we had at Sausage Tree and the other camps was most glaring. And, the price we paid per night was certainly no less.

Other people we talked to at Sausage Tree seemed to be satisfied. Perhaps were were considered an afterthought, because were staying there only two nights, one each, before and after Old Mondoro.

Anyway, I thought it appropriate to share our experience at Sausage Tree, because it positions itself as a luxury camp and is priced as such.

Enough.

I will get back to our wonderful stays at Old Mondoro and Luangwa River Lodge soon. Promise.

Jim

Jim
Some nice images there. How did you find the reach of the 300 + 1.4 tc on your film SLR?
My wife and I are off to Zambia (7 nights Kaingo + 5 nights Puku Ridge)late Sept '07, also booked thru Rocco. I'm taking the Nikon D2Hs (DSLR) and 300 f/2.8 VR + 1.4 & 1.7 tc, 70-200 f/2.8 VR and 17-55 f/2.8 and a borrowed spare DSLR body (essential). Can't wait!
Cheers
Marc

Jim - some great shots and you captured the beauty of the Zambezi valley. I will somehow have to include it on my next Zambia trip. Some of my favorites include:

The bats inside the boab tree (I also attempted this shot on one of our walks without any success).

Serval - this board full of wonderful big cat shots, but I have not seen a really good clear serval shot until this one.

Canoe Trip on Zambezi- Two great shots - your wife with her "croc" friend and the elle crossing.

Tiger Fish- That looks a crossbred striper and dracula!!

Sundowner/Sunset - Glass against the African sunset really has me staring at my frequent flier mile tally, caluculating how long it will take me to return!!

Fred

Nice pics, Jim. Thanks for sharing. I particularly liked the elephant with the flower on it's head. All your pictures are good, though......

Hari

Your photo sequence really captured the safari experience. I assume the canoe pix of Ruth were pre-upset. You have some good perspectives in your animal closeups. Thanks!

Thanks for the kind comments re. the pics, Marc, Fred, Hari. That means a lot to me. Yeah, I was pretty happy with some of them, but when you take over 1200 shots (that was just on film and not counting well over 1000 with the digital P&S's), a few ought to turn out, eh?

As for the serval, we had several brief sightings on the trip, but that one was really amazing. Ruloph, our wonderful guide at Old Mondoro, said that he'd never had a sighting as good as that. He spotted it in the distance, and rather than the usual melting into the grasses, it decided to walk right up to our LC and sit down for a bit before continuing its hunt.

I originally thought that this trip to Africa would be our one trip of a lifetime there, and then it would be on to other places. Ha! I can just see the knowing smiles on your faces.

Marc, if I did the math right, you have almost double my "reach" with the fine glass you are taking. That 300mm f/2.8 is an especially nice lens. I chose taking Canon's f/4.0 because of space limitations (we traveled BA right after the restrictions for one brief case-sized carryon were put in place). Also, I was concerned about being overloaded on our game walks, because I like to carry two bodies at the ready, one with the tele, and the other with the wide angle zoom.

Doesn't the D2H have a crop factor of 1.5? So, the 300mm with 1.7 tc you will have a reach of 765 mm. Whew! That will be awesome for small critters like birds, but there were situations in which I had trouble tracking moving objects in my viewfinder even with 420 mm total. I got pretty quick at taking off the TC and putting it on again.

I'm really itching to make the full switch to digital, esp. for those low light/night situations so I can bump up the ISO and also for the instant feedback. I just had cheap low res scans done for posting on the net, but it's a hassle and the cost adds up--and I still haven't done the South Luangwa pics yet.

If I want to do high res scans, I'll have to get a dedicated film scanner. I'll be doing that eventually anyway, but, beyond addl expense, it's gonna be really time-consuming.

I love Canon glass, and I have lenses for my old film gear from 20mm to the 500mm F/4.5 L lens. It takes awesome pics, but the equivalent 500mm autofocus IS lens is over $6.K, and it's a load to haul around. Still, some day...

I think Nikon has jumped ahead of Canon, though, on semi-pro digital SLR bodies with its D200. Canon's 30D and 5D are very good, but I'll bet by next spring there will be a next gen with active dust control, and even higher res. And that's when I'll jump.

Thanks again for the compliments.

Jim

Thanks Lynn (hope that's right).

Yes, there was definitely a different atmosphere surrounding us post-hippo, although Ruth really did recover (at least outwardly) more quickly than I. I do have a pic of her sitting on the bank right afterward, smiling, but it doesn't do justice to the fact that she's muddy and soaking wet. I took one quick shot from my canoe just behind her as her canoe went over and the hippos crashed off to the other bank. An out-of-focus picture of trees and sky.

Jim

Sorry, hippo-singular--scary enough.

Jim
There'll be no looking back once you go DSLR! Especially with the D2Hs/D2Xs,D200 and their Canon equivalents, the noise factor at iso up to 1600 coupled with excellent software such as Noise Ninja or Neat Image makes shooting in low light a whole lot easier.
I wouldn't wait for any extra increase in MP's, hell my D2Hs is ONLY 4.1 MP and leaves the D200 for dead in image quality IMHO. MP's aren't everything (unless cropping is your thing). Small file size means a lot too! Plus I'll never need to create images any larger
than 20 X 13 inches.
Just my 2c.
Cheers
Marc

Welcome back... what a wonderful report to come back to from my own trip. Haven't had a chance to look at photos yet but have been enjoying your report hugely...

Lovely pics - looking forward to more. Thanks for captioning them too - definitely adds to the viewing experience.

Hi kavey,

Thanks. Being the first time I've done a trip report here, I wasn't sure if the captions were a good idea, or maybe too much. So, on my latest pic post (scans from slides, I was more selective and just let the pictures do the "talking." Curious as to what you think is better.

So you had several serval sightings?! (Say that 3 times fast) Wow.

We've all been there with that once in a lifetime trip mentality.

Any thoughts on the next one?