Bush Pigs & Bandits

On Friday morning we left camp at 6:00 am with the idea of searching for Bush Pigs. They are fairly elusive but we were determined!!

I couldn’t complain too much about the early start, especially with this type of view…..

…or this one as the sun came up….

Our guide for this part of the trip is Bredger, an American who works here for part of the year and in the US as a policeman the rest of the year. This particular fact is VERY important as the story progresses!!

Bredger’s truck is not a double cab so typically he and Michael share the cab and I sit on the back and enjoy the views!! It is amazing what great photos you can get as you slowly drive thru various areas….

I have to say here that I LOVE my iPhone!! These photos are almost impossible with a DSLR but I could just point and shoot with my phone!!

As the sun rose, I found myself enamored with the shape of the Palmetto leaves and I took LOTS of photos. I will do a separate post about that!!

Our tracker was Vashko and he did a marvelous job of protecting me from branches and vines that would have hit my head as we traveled……

He also steadied me when we hit particularly BIG bumps and I flew all over the back of the truck!!

I started out sitting completely on my butt with both feet on the floor but quickly learned that it was easier if I propped one or two feet up on the roll bar and pushed back into the seat….

But, in some cases, even that wasn’t enough!!

In 2021 I wrote a post about truck sitting including all of the good AND bad parts….

Truckin’ it!!

But back to Friday!!

This area has large “dips” in the land that are called Pans. They normally have water somewhere in the center and can have large open spaces as well as tree and brush areas.

These areas are normally overflowing with animals, but as we drove, we saw VERY few. Bredger actually commented that something was wrong.

As we drove, we would often come to dead-ends and it was Vashko’s job to make a way…..

It was amazing to see how quickly he could carve out an area just using his machete.

THEN IT HAPPENED…..

Vashko and Bredger spotted 6 poachers running away from the truck, one carrying a long spear (used to kill the snared animals…..not us)!!

Bredger immediately kicked into full police pursuit mode and we flew over the ground. After 10 seconds, he realized that if he hit a bump at this speed, I would be thrown out of the truck so he slowed to a respectable pace.

When we arrived there was neither hide nor hair of the poachers. We scouted out a bit to see if we could find their camp but finally decided to leave it to the professionals.

When Vashko isn’t working with Bredger, he is part of the Anti-Poaching team of Coutada 11. Bredger radioed into the Anti-Poaching headquarters and Vashko gave them all of the lowdown.

He also took several large palmetto leaves and put them in the road as a marker.

A bit later we ran into one of the anti-poaching patrols……

….and they were given all of the data as well.

We never did see many animals, but these three Hardebeasts were gamboling about…..

….and the Lillies were a beautiful distraction…..

So that is the excitement of ONE morning in the bush….more to come!!

Michael and I love to travel and see new parts of the world and then I love to take those memories and turn them into quilts!!! I hope that you enjoy traveling along with us!!

Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a single trip!!

TAG…..you’re it!!

A few days back, I wrote about the Pangolin reintroduction project that Zambeze Delta Safari has undertaken, and I introduced you to their FIRST Pangolin.

They plan to release him soon and need him to be tagged so that they can follow him to learn more about where he goes on the property and what he does.

Friday was dubbed “Pangolin tagging day” and we were thrilled to be there!!

These are the two tags….one is Satelite and the other is VHF……

In my mind, they look awfully big for the little guy but I was reminded that he is only about half-grown right now so he will grow into them!!

Then there were the tools…..

YIKES….poor little guy. This looks like a bad dentist’s office!!

They brought him out in his crate and we all oohed and aahed!!…..

….and then the work began!!

Willem set him on the “operating box”……

…and Tamar covered his head with a towel to help him relax in the dark…..

The trackers were being placed at the base of his tail….ie where it attaches to his body. Doing that means that his range of movement will not be affected at all.

Once a decision was made as to which scale they would work on…..

….Rye went to work with his drill. Remember that the scales are much like really thick fingernails so he would not be feeling any of this!!

A spoon handle was placed under the scale……

And Rye drilled thru the scale until he hit the spoon….

The result…..a PERFECT hole!!

A flat disc with a bolt soldered to it was placed underneath the scale, with the bolt sticking up thru the hole…..

Then the tracker was placed on top of the bolt……

….and tightened with a ratchet wrench…..

One down….one to go!!

The second tracker was quickly fitted and the “surgery” was over!!

When they took him for his evening walk, they were thrilled to see that he didn’t act any differently from before the trackers were attached.

I have NO idea how they figured out this process but it worked without a hitch, and I can’t wait to get reports of this little guy wandering in the Marromeu complex of Mozambique!!

I know that I am so blessed to get to witness events such as these and I hope that you enjoy them too!!

Michael and I love to travel and see new parts of the world and then I love to take those memories and turn them into quilts!!! I hope that you enjoy traveling along with us!!

Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a single trip!!

The BIG cats

On Wednesday we spent a good part of the day in the air…..looking for lions and cheetahs!!

The lions are part of a reintroduction project from 2018 where 24 lions were moved into Zambeze Delta Safari. They have done well and now, 5 years later, there are over 80 lions in the area.

Michael and I climbed into the back seat of a tiny helicopter, with the front occupied by our pilot, Mark Haldane, and the “lion whisperer” Willem Briers-Louw. Willem had looked at the satellite data early that morning and had a pretty good idea of where we would find the pride.

Mark lifted off and, after a few minutes of hovering to ensure the balance of the aircraft, he took off skimming across the landing strip and heading for the trees. That initial forward thrust is THE most exciting part of the trip!!

We skimmed across the trees…..

As we neared the map coordinates for the pride, Mark slowed the copter and Willem started working with the antenna that would help him find the exact area…..

When Mark and Willem spied a Warthog kill, they knew that the lions were VERY close.

Then there was the cry….”THERE THEY ARE!!!”…..

It was a magical experience to watch the lionesses move around in their natural habitat, with the cubs close by their sides!!

The cubs were so cute, all covered in mud…..

WOW….what a morning!!

But that wasn’t the end of the fun!!

In the afternoon, we were in the air again, this time with Mark at the controls and Tamar Kendon on the tracking antenna…..

Searching for the cheetahs was much harder than the lions because they are more solitary cats and don’t spend time in large groups. Thus we were looking for AN individual rather than a big group!!

Also, the cheetahs tend to stay under the tree canopy so you have to “encourage” them to show themselves. Unfortunately, photographing them was almost impossible as they didn’t stay in the clearing for very long! And, Mark and Tamar didn’t want to stress them out so we didn’t hover and circle the way that we did for the lions.

Our first sighting was a Mama with two cubs. We saw one of the cubs but the other one never came out.

We headed for the next set of coordinates (about 13 kilometers away) and this time I was the one to cry “There She IS”. It was thrilling to see this gorgeous female gliding thru the long grass and that view is forever etched in my memory.

Our final conquest was to find a big male. We again traveled for about 15 minutes before sighting the big guy. By this stage, I had given up on trying to photograph the cats, but Michael suggested that I try one more time. Unfortunately, we were starting to move away from the cat so I just pointed the phone in the general direction and clicked away.

I GOT him, but just barely…..

Sighting the lions and cheetahs was one of the main purposes of this trip so it was great to do both in one day. It is very encouraging to know that both of these re-introductions are doing so well!

As for the helicopter flights…..they were exciting. All of the doors were off and this was my view as we hovered….

Also, with the doors off, there was lots of wind and it was pretty chilly, and my new hairdo was interesting…..

but…..it was WELL worth it!!

Michael and I love to travel and see new parts of the world and then I love to take those memories and turn them into quilts!!! I hope that you enjoy traveling along with us!!

Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a single trip!!

Taking the pangolin for a walk

First of all….what is a pangolin?

A pangolin is a spiny anteater that is native to Asia and Africa. It looks like this…..

Unfortunately, they have the dubious trait of being the most trafficked animal, surpassing elephants and rhinos.

Why are they so valuable?
The animals are trafficked mainly for their scales, which are believed to treat a variety of health conditions in traditional Chinese medicine, and as a luxury food in Vietnam and China. In Africa, pangolins are sold as a form of bushmeat, for ritual or spiritual purposes, and used in traditional African medicine.

The Mozambique government is cracking down on the trafficking but they needed someplace to send the pangolins that were discovered.

Enter Mark Haldane and Zambeze Delta Safaris!!

They agreed to helicopter to the areas where the animals were found and bring them back to the Delta.

When we were visiting, they had received one smaller pangolin and were rehabbing it and waiting for it to gain a bit of weight before it was released.

Since they are nocturnal animals, they sleep during the day and scavage for ants/termites during the evening. Since the researchers don’t want to lose the animal as it feeds, they take it for a 3-hour “walk” each evening!!

Michael helped to lift it out of the cage and place it on the ground. It reacts similarly to an armadillo in that it curls into a ball to protect itself. In this photo, it is slowly uncurling…..

For the next hour, we followed along behind the little guy as he foraged his way thru the brush….

Pangolin Walking

In one sense, it was akin to “watching paint dry” but there were other compensations….

We were in the Mozambique bush and the sky was magnificent…..

It had been a full day and we were treated to an amazing appetizer at dinner….

The presentation was gorgeous with the fried noodles and vegetable relish. The chunks are bit of fresh fish that had been flown in that morning……YUM!!

It had been a busy day, with airplane and helicopter flights, Cheetah feeding and Pangolin walking…..what a life!!

Michael and I love to travel and see new parts of the world and then I love to take those memories and turn them into quilts!!! I hope that you enjoy traveling along with us!!

Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a single trip!!