This post focuses on the elephants in Zakouma and their population recovery under the stewardship of African Parks. Once a stronghold for over 22 000 in the 1970s, the elephant population had been cut down by poachers to around 4 000 by 2002. Between 2002 and 2010 the park lost a further 90% of its elephant population to ivory poachers.

On invitation by the Government of Chad, African Parks signed a long-term agreement to manage Zakouma to protect the remaining heavily traumatised 450 elephants, conserve the park’s biodiversity and re-establish stability in the surrounding communities.

“Africa changes you forever, like nowhere on earth. Once you have been there, you will never be the same. But how do you begin to describe its magic to someone who has never felt it? How can you explain the fascination of this vast, dusty continent, whose oldest roads are elephant paths? Could it be because Africa is the place of all our beginnings, the cradle of mankind, where our species first stood upright on the savannahs of long ago?” ~ Brian Jackman

Perennial water sources in Zakouma National Park serve as a sanctuary for West and Central African wildlife, many of which are threatened within this ecoregion. Around 66 mammal species are found in the park, 16 of which are large mammals. Zakouma is home to a number of threatened or endangered species

The progressive recovery of the park’s elephant population is perhaps most clearest testament of the rehabilitation of Zakouma. Between 2002 to 2010, Zakouma lost 90% of its elephants where often multiple family units would be killed at the same time, and for one thing – their ivory tusks.

According to African Parks, in 2012, six of its rangers were gunned down execution style during their morning prayer in what is considered a reprisal attack by poachers. But because of the tenacity and persistence of the rangers between 2012 and 2014 not one single known elephant was lost to poaching inside the park.

Due to their sustained persecution until 2011, the elephant population in Zakouma is still very skittish and wary of human beings. As soon as the breeding herds sense the presence of human beings they flee in the opposite direction. On this particular morning we saw a small herd of elephants drinking and bathing in the Salamat river. Out guide, Doug MacDonald, cautioned us to be very quiet and tried to keep us downwind of the elephants so as not to alarm them.

We could just see the herd around a bend in the Salamat river so they could not see us. The wind direction, unbeknown to us, changed and from about 400 metres away the herd suddenly bolted out of the river into the gallery of trees lining it. This brought on a discussion about how sensitive elephant olfactory senses are.

According to the Tsavo Trust, an elephant’s trunk is a marvel of nature—a fusion of nose and upper lip, equipped with roughly 40 000 muscles for strength and dexterity. Yet its true superpower lies in its olfactory prowess. With approximately 2 000 olfactory receptor genes—five times more than humans and double that of dogs—elephants can detect scents at astonishing distances.

It was hard to believe that the elephants picked up on us by smell from such a distance because they could not have seen us. Elephants have poor eyesight, especially in bright light, with a range of vision of about 30 feet. However, they are adept at detecting movement, particularly in low light conditions, where they can sense movement at up to 45 meters. Due to the location of their eyes on the sides of their heads, elephants also have good peripheral vision.

Elephants can detect smells at incredibly low concentrations. One study found that savanna elephants can detect a target odour at 50 parts per million (ppm). Elephants’ sense of smell is significantly stronger than that of a bloodhound. Elephants have around 2,000 olfactory receptors compared to a bloodhound’s 800. Elephants rely on their sense of smell for various purposes, such as finding food and water, navigating their environment, and recognising individuals. Elephants can detect water sources up to 19 kilometers away using this incredible sense of smell.

Mid way into our Zakouma trip, Doug took us down to the southern section of the park where the rangers indicated we might be able to find a large herd of elephants. The first thing we saw was the dust created by the moving herd. We decided to approach the herd on foot through the trees at the edge of a large pan. The elephants quickly picked up on us and were off. We never got close to them and only managed a fleeting image of the herd moving quickly into a densely treed area. In minutes, the entire herd disappeared and we never managed to find them again. It is clearly going to take a long time for the breeding herds to become more comfortable with game vehicles and people.

Elephants communicate across long distances using infrasound, which are low-frequency sounds. These rumbles, generated by their vocal cords and feet, can travel for several kilometres, allowing them to coordinate herd movements, locate family members, and warn of danger. Infrasound is a type of sound wave that is below the audible range of human hearing, typically below 20 Hz. There is a growing realisation that herds of elephants may form network nodes which are linked by infrasound. The network may share more information about an extended area than we previously realised.

On the second day of our trip we went to the head ranger’s house to see several bull elephants sequentially drinking water from a hose held by a ranger. A BBC film crew were videoing this unusual interaction. We watched fascinated by how close the large bull elephants approached the ranger’s veranda to access the water from the hand held hose. We were so intrigued by the interaction that on our last day we went back to the ranger’s house to see if the bull elephants had returned for a drink of fresh water from the hand held hose.

It was very hot during the day so the elephants came to the man-made waterhole to cool off and get a drink of water. The bulls did not walk straight up to the house but rather cooled off first and on occasions the younger bulls pushed each other around, all the while accessing whether it was safe to approach the head ranger’s house.

A unique feature of the elephants in Zakouma is a group of large bull elephants that visit the head ranger’s house daily for a drink of fresh water. The water is pumped from a borehole. For years these bulls have been visiting the ranger’s house and this has led to the development of a man-made waterhole which attracts elephants and baboons alike.

“Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair.” ~ A.D. Ryan

Our guide Doug MacDonald who has been guiding in Zakouma since 2017 was the first that day to hold the hose to enable the bull elephants to drink clean water from it.

The most remarkable feature of the bull’s behaviour is the apparent trust that has been built up over the last decade. What makes it more special is the context. These elephants must have been among the many tramatised by the ruthless poaching over an extended period of over 40 years. A few of the bulls are still wary of people and remain somewhat skittish but take their cue from some of the older larger bulls.

The acceptance of water from a hand held hose was started by the head ranger and over time the level of trust by the elephants has grown to accept water from anyone holding the hose as long is they are quiet and make no sudden movements. There are times when two or three bulls can be within one to two metres of the person holding the hose. The next gallery of three images shows three members of our group – Ann, Maria and Sabrina – holding the hose enabling the elephants to drink clean water from the hose.

“I hope you have an experience that alters the course of your life because, after Africa, nothing has ever been the same” – Suzanne Evans

Not all of the bulls have learnt to turn up the tip of their trunks to accept the water. This does seem to be a learned skill.

According to a ‘Save the Elephants’ article, as recently as 1970, 300,000 elephants roamed a Texas-sized area that included southern Chad, eastern Central African Republic, southwestern Sudan, and northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Today, only small pockets of elephant populations remain, and they remain under threat but African Parks is doing a sterling job of rehabilitating Zakouma.

“The continent is too large to describe. It is a veritable ocean, a separate planet, a varied, immensely rich cosmos. Only with the greatest simplification, for the sake of convenience, can we say ‘Africa’. In reality, except as a geographical appellation, Africa does not exist.” ― Ryszard Kapuściński

For years, the constant fear of being hunted and killed had made the elephants too stressed to reproduce. But sustained protection and conservation efforts have brought the elephants back from the brink. They are breeding again – there are estimated to be over 750 elephants in Zakouma currently, and the population is predicted to reach over 1 000 in the next few years.

“The wildlife and the landscapes of Africa are iconic across the world. Those landscapes and systems have shaped every culture on the continent. If we, as African Parks, can leave anything behind it is a system of protected areas that African can always celebrate as being a gift to the world.” ~ Peter Fearnhead

African Parks currently manages 22 parks covering an area of over 20 million hectares across 12 countries in Africa. This is a non-profit conservation organisation using the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model to take on responsibility for the long-term management of protected areas.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

This is the second post showing a small selection of the birds we saw in Zakouma National Park in mid-March this year. Zakouma’s wildlife is like nothing I had ever seen before. Firstly, Zakouma is in the Sahel which is the gap between the Sahara desert and the tropical rain forests of the Republic of Congo and the Cameroon. Its location dictates you will see both different (to southern Africa) resident and migratory birds. Its location also dictates extreme seasonal changes with flooding in the rainy season and very hot dry conditions in summer.

“Jobs fill your pocket, but adventures fill your soul.” ~ Jamie Lyn Beatty

Being above the equator there are similar species with striking colour and physiological differences to the birds we see in southern Africa. There are also many unique species and many migrants stopping over on their way back to Europe and Asia. Because of our timing in mid-March we did not see many migrants as it was too early.

Besides new species and fascinating variations, Zakouma offered astounding congregations of birds around the drying pans and pools of water remaining in the Salamat river. In my 50 plus years of wandering through the African bush I never seen the size of bird congregations that I saw in Zakouma.

“One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.” ~ Henry Miller

Birding enriches my wildlife experience in the bush by adding another layer of observation and appreciation for the natural world. This encourages a deeper connection to the ecosystem. The deeper connection and more holistic understanding of wildlife and its habitat creates endless fascination and mystery.

This Abyssinian roller flew back to its hunting perch after having caught an insect. The gorgeous blue colours in the plumage of this species looks like a bright gem in the Sahel’s red/ochre coloured habitat. We had stopped to look at a small pride of Northern lions lying in the shade at the edge of the water in the Salamat river when this roller landed behind us.

The weather was obliging with sunny days though by mid-morning it was getting very hot, above 40 degrees centigrade which created heat haze, affecting photographic long lens focus. My camera’s “procapture” feature allowed me to shoot a sequence of this roller taking off from its perch. I always look for indications that a bird gives when it is about to take off from its perch but rollers and bee-eaters are tricky because their signals vary so much. Procapture solves this problem.

In the previous post I mentioned that Black-headed lapwings were common waders in Zakouma but this was only the second of two individuals we saw the whole trip. This lapwing species tends to be more active at night and in the crepusular hours. This species has a black head and wispy black crest, black bands across its neck and down its throat which make it conspicuous.

A typical scene looking along a long pool of remaining water in the Salamat river with its gallery of Tamarind, Acacia, Jackalberry and occasional Sausage trees. The banks of the river were lined with many waders which were fishing. In this section we saw Great egrets, Yellow-billed, Saddle-billed and Marabou storks, and Grey and Black-headed herons. There were Pied and Giant kingfishers sitting in the branches overhanging the water. There were also many Black-crowned night-herons both on the far bank and in the trees overlooking the pools of water.

While we were waiting for a herd of buffalo to come down to the river to drink, we watched an unusual gathering of Black-headed herons standing in a channel next to a sandbank which seemed to be an ideal place for many West African crocodiles to warm themselves. I have never seen this species of heron lined up like this in the water so assumed there must have been very good fishing in that channel.

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” ~ Jawaharial Nehru

We saw White-backed vultures in Rigueik pan drinking and bathing and every day we saw several Hooded vultures around the pool of water just below the staff quarters at Zakouma camp. Palm nut vultures can be seen in the southern section of the park where there are many more palm trees.

The Clapperton’s spurfowl is the only species of spurfowl found in Zakouma. Each bird species has a specific ecological niche within an environment. Zakouma’s ecological conditions do not seem optimal for multiple spurfowl species to coexist.

The afternoon we went canoeing, we came across a mixed congregation of White-backed pelicans, Black crowned cranes, Great and Intermediate egrets and Yellow-billed and Marabou storks. The afternoon sun illumed these pelicans beautifully. The pelicans were there because of the concentrations of fish.

On our way down to the southern section of Zakouma, our guide, Doug and driver Torgi, took us off road to a little known pan where there were thousands of White-faced whistling ducks. In amongst theses ducks, there were Spotted redshanks, Grey herons, Great egrets, Saddled billed and Marabou storks.

This was another interesting drying pan which had attracted many ducks and waders. The latter were fishing. The pan was lined with a gallery of large trees which must have hidden many raptors and kingfishers. We saw numerous Yellow-billed kites trawling these pans and pools of water.

“Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures.” ~ Lovelle Drachman

In the southern section of Zakouma near our “fly camp” we stopped to look at a new section of the Salamat river. On the far side bank Doug pointed out a single Egyptian plover. This was another “lifer” for me. It has striking colouration with a black crown, back, eye-mask and breast band. The rest of the head is white. The remaining upper part plumage is blue-grey, and the underparts are salmon coloured. This species eats invertebrates such as worms, molluscs, aquatic insects and small flies. It picks food from the surface and probes the damp sand with its beak for edibles.

On the same section of the Salamat river I saw an unusual interaction between a Water thick-knee and a pair of Spur-winged lapwings. Initially, it looked like the thick-knee was resting on the cool sand next to the waterline.

The lapwing on the left hand side began to move closer to the thick-knee. The thick-knee must have been judged the move as threatening and so responded causing the second lapwing to come to the aid of the first one. Despite the rucus it did not last long and neither party got hurt. The thick-knee moved away and the lapwings paraded side by side declaring victory.

Another pan filled with waders. There were many Yellow-billed, Marabou and Saddle-billed storks fishing as were Grey herons. In amongst the fishers were White-faced and Knob-billed ducks. It was a very quiet and peaceful scene.

“Live life with no excuses, travel with no regret.” ~ Oscar Wilde

Overlooking the pan from a discrete perch was a Lizard buzzard. It was waiting for sparrow, quelea and waxbill size prey to come down to drink. This is a small, chunky, greyish raptor with a distinctive pale throat spliced by a vertical black throat stripe.

One afternoon on our way to watch the Red-billed queleas return to a large pan to roost and drink, we found a pride of Northern lion lying in the shade on the cool sand. I was intrigued by the diverse mix of waders which were foraging so close to the lions. Great egrets mixed with Openbill and Woolly-necked storks, Black crowned cranes and Hammerkops.

A successful Great egret. It did not seem to fuss about the West African crocodile which was close by. The crocs did not seem too interested in the smaller waders but they did try to go for Great egrets, and Yellow-billed and Marabou storks while they were wading in the water searching for fish. I never saw a croc catch any wading birds.

Further along the gravel road to the queleas we again crossed the meandering Salamat river and judging by the number of Marabou storks there must have been good fishing in this pan.

After spending a night at the “fly camp” on the bank of the Salamat river, the next morning we were given a unique show by Little egrets and Hammerkops. Hundreds of these waders were flying above the water while dragging their feet in the water. Perhaps the dragging of feet in the water caused the fish to scramble and in doing so many swam to the surface.

Both Hammerkops and Little egrets were plucking fish off the water’s surface while flying. I have never seen this behaviour before. These waders were highly successful.

I have never seen so many Black-crowned night-herons as I did in Zakouma. This species is nocturnal but we saw many adults and juveniles sitting at the water’s edge during the day. They were also very active flying up and down the river during the day.

We saw many Pied kingfishers along the Salamat river. They were very successful fishers but with so many fish I was interested to note fewer Pieds along the Salamat than I have seen along the Chobe river in northern Botswana. I am not sure what the reason could be but I surmise it could be the extreme seasonality along the Salamat compared with the perennial flow in the Chobe.

A family tussle over landing rights. The male had a lot to say to his mate. Males have a double band across the breast, while females have a single broken breast band.

We saw a remarkable number of Marabou storks all over Zakouma. Given the numbers we saw very few tussles between them. This was probably because there was enough food for everyone.

On our last afternoon, we at last found a small flock of Northern carmine bee-eaters. This species is as colourful as its southern cousin. Its belly, neck and nape are carmine coloured. Its wings are a mixture of carmine and orange. Its head is blue-green and it has a black eye band.

In flight, the Northern species reveals a blue-green rump, and rosy underwings with black trailing edge. Carmines are usually seen in flocks and they breed in colonies in riverbanks.

It was very hot in the afternoon, well over 40 degrees centigrade. The carmines were hyperactive so needed to cool off by diving into the water. They are strong enough fliers to lift themselves out of the water and fly off with wet wing and body feathers.

On our last afternoon, after watching the carmines for about 45 minutes, we travelled down to another new pan east of the Zakouma Park headquarters. I never noticed at first but Doug, our guide, pointed out that the female Saddle-bill stork in Zakouma had yellow wattles under her lower mandible. The yellow wattles were smaller than those on the male. What was unusual was that female Saddle-billed storks in southern Africa do not have wattles under their lower mandible. The male’s colouring is the same as we see in southern Africa.

“It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

In the same pan in the late afternoon we managed to get reasonably close to a pair of Black crowned cranes without them walking away from us. They are stunningly beautiful cranes.

Again, at the same pan as the sun began to sink we saw more and more Black-crowned night-herons. The next two of images are of a juvenile Black-crowned night-heron. Juveniles’ plumage is very different to the adults and is brown and streaky and it has yellow eyes. Adults are pale grey overall with a black cap and back and their eyes are ruby red in colour.

As it got dark we saw flocks of hundreds of night-herons returning to this pan. It was too dark to photograph them but I have never seen so many. This juvenile managed to catch a relative large catfish. We did not wait to find out whether it managed to swallow it or not as we were distracted by a leopard which came down to the pan to drink.

A juvenile Black-winged stilt foraging in the shallows together with a Wood sandpiper.

We saw a few individual African spoonbills but never large numbers of them. They were also successful fishers. At birth, spoonbills have a short beak which develops into its spoon-like shape.

The African spoonbill forages by swinging its open beak side-to-side through the water. When something touches the beak, it snaps shut usually catching the prey. This species feeds on small fish, molluscs, amphibians, crustaceans, insects and larvae.

A cellphone video of the murmations of Red-billed queleas which returned to the pan to drink and roost for the evening. There was no way to count the numbers of incoming queleas but there were wave after wave of thousand and thousands of queleas coming into the pan over a period of around 90 minutes.

As you can see from the previous images there is a diverse variety of birds most of which are attracted by the abundant food in the drying pans and pools of water in the Salamat river. The numbers of waders in and around these bodies of water were incredible and like nothing I had ever seen before. Beyond their numbers, wonderful variety of shapes and colours there was fascinating physiological intelligence at work.

“Senses that seem paranormal to us only appear this way because we are so limited and so painfully unaware of our limitations.” ~ Ed Yong

The water in the pans and pools in the Salamat river was not particularly clear yet there were waders by the thousands foraging in the water. Waders have a specialised bill-tip organ with dense clusters of mechanoreceptors, called Herbst corpuscles, embedded in sensory pits within the beak bones. These receptors are highly sensitive to vibrations. When waders probe into wet sand or mud, their repeated actions create pressure waves. These waves are distorted by the presence of solid objects, like buried prey. The mechanoreceptors in the bill-tip organ detect these subtle changes in the pressure waves, allowing the bird to sense the location of prey even without directly touching it. This remarkable sensory adaptation called “remote-touch” in their beaks, allows them to detect vibrations in water and mud and in so doing locate prey that is hidden beneath the surface.

“It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realise the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realise how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn.” ~ Anthony Bourdain

There were many birds we saw which I did not get a chance to photograph which is why I will have to go back next year.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

I was part of a group who visited Zakouma National Park in mid-March this year. What an incredible place, experience and privilege. While many of the storks and larger birds were similar to those in southern Africa, all the smaller birds where different so many “lifers” were to be had!!

“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.” ~ Rachel Carson

Zakouma’s floodplains, rivers, marshes, and pans are valuable stopovers and breeding grounds for migrating birds, and the south-eastern wetlands form part of the Inundation Plains of Bahr Aouk and Salamat Ramsar site which is one of the largest in the world. Migrating birds typically stop over in Zakouma National Park during the dry season, from late November to late May or early June. During the wet season (June-October), the park is flooded and closed to visitors. The dry season is also when the park’s wildlife and birds congregate around remaining water sources, making it an excellent time for birdwatching and game viewing.

“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.” ~ Socrates

Red throated bee-eaters were as abundant in Zakouma as White fronted bee-eaters are in southern Africa. This species has beautiful colouring. It makes the typical melodious short trilling bee-eater sound and it seems to thrive in the heat which brings out all the insects.

At lunch time on our first day, with camera in hand, I was watching Tantulus monkeys cavorting in the large Tamarind trees in from of the dining area in Tinga camp. There was plenty of bird life in the trees but difficult to photograph. One speciality was a male Red shouldered cuckoo-shrike. Males are entirely black with a red or occasionally yellow-orange shoulder patch. Females have olive-gray upperparts and pale underparts with fine dark barring. Cuckoo-shrikes are neither cuckoos nor shrikes, but are so called because their feathers have similar patterns to those of cuckoos and their beak shape resembles that of shrikes.

Abyssinian roller. It looks similar to a European roller in colouring but has two long outer tail streamers. At first I thought I was looking at a Racket-tailed roller but the Abyssinian’s face and head are bluer and it does not have racket shapes at the end of its streamers. This particular roller looked to be perched on a tree stump just above a nest hole.

The Abyssinian roller is ubiquitous in Zakouma. This species of roller is found throughout the Sahel region. Like all rollers it is a perch hunter.

On our morning game drive to the Rigueik pan we came across this Long crested eagle on a dead tree trunk. It was scanning the surrounding area for prey. It did not seem too fussed about us close by but did eventually fly off to find a better view. Rodents make up to 98% of their diet.

A North African green bee-eater. It is small just slightly larger than a Little bee-eater and is predominantly emerald green with a black throat necklace. Like many bee-eaters it has a black eye band which presumably reduces the sun’s glare when hawking insects.

One of the birds I really wanted to see was the Abyssinian ground hornbill. It is one of the two ground hornbill species found in Africa and is the only species found north of the equator. Both male and female have black body feathers and both sexes have a blue eye ring. The adult male has an inflatable pouch of bare skin on the neck and throat which is red, apart from the upper throat which is blue.

Both the male and female Abyssinian ground hornbill have a large grooved truncated casque above their upper mandible. Various theories suggest functions for the casques of hornbills could include feeding, fighting, mating and species recognition. The casque is also thought to act as a resonating chamber to amplify their calls. Like the Southern ground hornbill this species makes a booming call which can usually be heard just before dawn when the air is cool and relatively denser which allows the boom call to carry further.

The female Abyssinian ground hornbill has entirely blue facial skin and a blue throat pouch. She is slightly smaller than the male but also has long eyelashes and a beige slanted stripe at the base of her upper mandible. The reason for the stripe is unknown.

Another special for this region is the Black crowned crane. It differs from its grey cousin with its charcoal neck and breast feathers. The darker appearance of the Black crowned crane emphasises its facial colouring and golden crown.

Both the Black and Grey crowned cranes have a golden crown at the back of their head and a small red gular pouch. Both species have white and gold wing panels. The Black crowned crane has red and white facial patches, while the Grey crowned crane has a white facial patch with a small red patch just below its golden crown. Both species have a luxurious velvet looking forehead.

In Zakouma you will see Black crowned cranes in their thousands, especially at Rigueik pan. They seem to congregate in the pan from mid-morning. The drying pan attracts thousands and thousands of birds from cranes to storks, herons, egrets, geese and ducks. Crowned cranes are omnivorous so must find abundant food in the pan and surrounding wetland.

“Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life.” ~ Wayne Dyer

Zakouma’s drying pans and pools of water in the Salamat river attract thousands of Spurwing geese. This species is so-called due to its prominent carpal spur. The male differs from the female, not only in size, but also in having a larger red facial patch extending back from the red bill, and a knob at the base of the upper mandible.

A few Spurwing geese which had gathered at a pan close to Tinga camp. Interspersed in the multitude of spurwings where numerous White-faced whistling ducks and Knob-billed ducks. These types of congregations of birds around drying pans at the end of the dry season is a feature and one of the many attractions of Zakouma National Park.

“Living the life that you love and loving the life that you live in the truest demonstration of abundance.”~ Lisa Nichols

A typical scene around one of the many drying pools of water in the Salamat river. An abundance of Yellow-billed storks, Great, Intermediate and Little egrets, Grey and Black-headed herons, White-faced whistling ducks and Black-crowned night-herons, Hammerkops and Yellow-billed kites. In the background were two Kordofan giraffe crossing the shallow pan.

At Rigueik pan, one of the three major pans in Zakouma, you will see massive congregations of birdlife all mixed together. Large numbers of Black crowned cranes, Yellow-billed storks, White backed pelicans, Marabou storks, Spurwing geese and White-faced whistling ducks to name just a few.

“On this journey through nature’s Umwelten, our intuitions will be our biggest liabilities, and our imaginations will be our greatest assets.” ~ Ed Yong

A closer look at the density of White-backed pelicans, Marabou and Yellow-billed storks and Great egrets all mixed together. We could not get too close so had to use long focal length lenses which made focusing tricky as the morning heated up, creating the heat haze.

The Black-headed lapwing is commonly found in Zakouma. That said, we only twice saw a single Black-headed lapwing. The other lapwing species found in Zakouma are the Spur-winged, African wattled, White-headed and Long toed lapwing.

I was surprised and amused to see Helmeted guineafowl without the characteristic bone like casque on top of its head. The body plumage was very similar to its sub-equatorial cousins but the neck plumage was darker and although they had the light blue facial skin, it did not extend down the sides of the neck and it did not have the blue and red wattles extending from the lower mandible. This was another example of the similarity but with unique differences.

Sunbirds were not common in Zakouma but one sunbird we saw several times was the Beautiful sunbird. The individuals I saw appeared to be moulting into their breeding plumage. Although the individuals I saw were somewhat mottled, the male in full breeding plumage has a greenback and belly but his breast is a combination of red and yellow and he has a blue-purple necklace.

A mating pair of Hammerkops. This species was abundant around the pans and remaining pools of water in the Salamat river. Although we saw hundreds of Hammerkops in Zakouma we saw very few of their large nests.

A Lesser spotted eagle. We only saw a few of these migratory raptors which may have been on its way back to eastern Europe. When in flight, the wings are dark brown with the distinctive white tips to give the namesake “spotted” effect. The Lesser spotted eagle is mostly a solitary raptor, except for when in breeding season, when they travel around in pairs.

We saw many Spur-winged lapwings and Crowned lapwings but no Blacksmith lapwings.

A scene looking onto Rigueik pan. I have never seen so many Marabou storks in one place.

“I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

We saw a huge flock of Great white pelicans roosting in the Rigueik pan. There was plenty of activity with storks and pelicans flying in and out.

Our guide Doug MacDonald spent a couple of hours each night showing us the nightlife in Zakouma. The mammals such as servals, civets and White and Black tailed mongooses were easier to see than the nocturnal birds, This was a Long-tailed nightjar but you can also see the Plain and Standard-winged nightjar in the park.

A Greyish eagle-owl perched on a dead tree searching for prey. It looks similar to a Spotted eagle-owl but is smaller. The Verreaux’s eagle-owl is also found in Zakouma as are the African scops owl, Northern white-faced owl and Pel’s fishing owl. We heard the Scops at night but never saw the latter three species.

This is part one of a two part post on the birds we saw and photographed in Zakouma. What was so intriguing about going to a completely new park is that I did not know what to expect. While I could recognise many species almost all had a unique colour or shape variations. I have Charles Darwin’s ideas ringing in my head.

“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.” ~ Stephen Hawking

Apart from the newness, variety and number of birds what made our daily ventures into the Zakouma bush so fascinating is that Doug, in group conversations, would each day introduce a new idea which I had never thought about before. One such idea was the concept of tetrachomacy. Birds are tetrachromats, meaning they possess four types of cone cells in their retinas, allowing them to perceive a wider range of colours than humans who have trichromatic vision. This expanded color vision includes the ability to see ultraviolet light, which humans cannot. Those beings that are tetrachromatic can perceive an estimated 100 million colour variations. With normal colour vision, humans can see approximately one million different colours. Tetrachromacy amplifies the eye’s ability to distinguish between shades of colours.

“By giving in to our preconceptions, we miss what might be right in front of us. And sometimes what we miss is breathtaking.” ~ Ed Yong

Vision is complex, but the calculus of colour is strangely simple: Each cone confers the ability to distinguish around a hundred shades, so the total number of combinations is at least 100^3, or a million. Take one cone away — go from being what scientists call a trichromat to a dichromat — and the number of possible combinations drops a factor of 100, to 10,000. Almost all other mammals, including dogs and New World monkeys, are dichromats. The richness of the world we see is rivaled only by that of birds and some insects, which also perceive the ultraviolet part of the spectrum.

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” ~ W.B. Yeats

One of the miracles of wild development is that nature will seek out, change and adapt to and make use of the earth’s free resources. In essence, tetrachromacy provides birds with a more complete and richer visual experience, enabling them to navigate their environment, forage for food, and engage in social interactions more effectively.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

On the eastern side of Zakouma National Park it is flat with the Bahr Salamat and Bahr Auom meandering through this large floodplain. “Bahr” translates to sea or ocean. It can also refer to a specific body of water, like a lake, river, or gulf, in the case of Zakouma it refers to a river.

“Don’t let the expectations and opinions of other people affect your decisions. It’s your life, not theirs. Do what matters most to you; do what makes you feel alive and happy. Don’t let the expectations and ideas of others limit who you are. If you let others tell you who you are, you are living their reality — not yours. There is more to life than pleasing people. There is much more to life than following others’ prescribed path. There is so much more to life than what you experience right now. You need to decide who you are for yourself. Become a whole being. Adventure.”
~ Roy T. Bennett

On the second day of our trip, our guide Doug MacDonald took our group to the Rigueik pan. The three main wetlands in Zakouma National Park are Tororo (north), Rigueik (east), and Maniam/Al Kalam (south). These wetlands include pans and pools of water all of which are part of the Bahr Salamat river system.

The Zakouma floodplain incorporating its bahrs and pans is located in the upper south western extension of the Sudd. The Sudd wetland, with an estimated area of approximately 57 000 km2, represents one of the largest freshwater ecosystems in the world stretching from Egypt to Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. It is drained by the White Nile, Blue Nile and Atbara rivers, all of which feed to the Nile.

According to UNESCO, the Sudd is Africa’s largest wetland and one of the largest tropical wetlands in the world. The IUCN world heritage site gap assessment identified the Sudd-Sahelian Flooded Grasslands and Savannas eco-region, of which the Sudd is a part, as a key unrepresented ecological system globally. It is a vast social-ecological and hydrological system driven by the dynamics Nile basin’s water regime. Its unique assemblage of extensive freshwater and grassland habitats are characterised by extensive seasonal rain fed flooding and low substrate permeability.

We left the Tinga camp in Zakouma at 5h00 to visit the Rigueik pan. It was an early start because it gets so hot during the middle of the day in mid-March in Zakouma. The hotter it gets the greater the heat haze which is a focus killer especially for long focal lengths. Dawn was a very pleasant 25 degrees centigrade and in the diffused pink light of dawn we saw a few Kordofan giraffe lying down in an open area along the side the road.

As the morning brightened this Long-crested eagle posed beautifully for us. It had a superb high perch from which to search for prey in the surrounding area.

This was one of the bird species I really wanted to see, the Abyssinian ground hornbill. This African species is found north of the equator and is one of only two species of ground hornbill found in Africa. Its cousin is the Southern ground hornbill and is found throughout east Africa and in the southerly latitudes of Africa.

Both male and female have blue skin around the eye. Males have a mix of blue and red bare facial skin, while females have entirely blue facial skin. Both sexes have throat pouches on their necks: the female’s is blue but the male’s turns red. The bill is long and black except for a reddish patch at the base of the mandible. On top of the bill there is a short open-ended black casque. The Abyssinian ground hornbill’s truncated casque is thought to be an adaptation for amplifying calls. The casque, a bony structure on the upper beak, is hollow and believed to help project and resonate vocalisations, especially during courtship and communication with other group members. The Southern ground hornbill does not have a truncated casque but its call is also a booming sound often heard at dawn.

After some interesting detours and distractions along the way we arrived at the Rigueik pan. We drove around the eastern side of the Rigueik pan as Camp Nomad is positioned on the north western side of the pan. We drove along the tree line at the edge of pan. From the tree line we had a clear view of the vast grassland and swamp which makes up the pan. The first antelope we saw was a family of Bohor’s reedbuck feeding on the floodplain grasses surrounding the pan. Reedbuck generally prefer grasslands and marsh areas.

Bohor’s reedbuck took sanctuary in the wetland and found good grazing. Only the male Bohor’s reedbuck has horns and they are short, heavily ridged and point forward. The openness of the grasslands around the vast pan provided safety for many herbivores as they could see any threats coming.

Black crowned cranes gathered at this wetland in huge numbers. They must have numbered thousands, but impossible to count. These are the northern cousins of the Grey crowned cranes found in east and southern Africa but not in the numbers seen at Rigueik and through Zakouma.

We saw huge gathering of Black crowned cranes where hundreds continued to fly into the pan. These crowned cranes are omnivores, meaning they eat both plant and animal matter. The majority of their diet consists of grasses, seeds, and grains, but they will also consume crustaceans, small mammals, reptiles, and seeds. The wetland is ideal for them as all of their dietary preferences would be catered for.

“No, no! The adventures first, explanations take such a dreadful time.” ~  Lewis Carroll

Lelwel hartebeest watching us from the safety of an open area next to the wetland. This species of hartebeest is classified as endangered by the IUCN. There do not seem to be recent population counts on Lelwel hartebeest but the population is estimated to have declined from 285 000 in 1980 to around 70 000 in 2008, as reported by The Rufford Foundation.

It was a wonder to see the multitude of Spurwing geese which gathered at Rigueik pan. We saw huge numbers of Spurwing geese and White-faced whistling ducks around most of the pans in Zakouma. As the morning progressed the numbers of Spurwing continued to grow in Rigueik.

Spurwing geese flying in from their overnight roosting sites. It was interesting to see all the birdlife mingling at the pan. Humans could take a few cues from our avian friends. The pan must have provided everything that this mass of avians needed.

Around mid-morning more and more Black crowned cranes arrived at the wetland together with Spurwing geese. Among the incoming visitors were a huge number of Vinaceous doves. The latter looked very similar to the southern African Cape turtle dove.

As the morning progressed squadrons of crowned cranes and then pelicans started to fly in to the pan.

The morning got progressively hotter and hotter. As a consequence the heat haze began to influence the image sharpness especially with the greater depth of field. The small herd of Bohor reedbuck were keeping a wary eye on us even though we were a few hundred metres away.

The marvel of Rigueik pan is the huge congregations of birds and mammals.

“The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” ~ Christopher McCandless

Great white pelicans mixed with Marabou and Yellow-billed storks and a herd of Tiang in the background. Tiang is a sub species of the Topi.

You begin to get a sense of the incredible gatherings at Rigueik. The number of birds is spellbinding.

The main tent of the Nomad camp which is sited at the edge of the wetland. Visitors at this camp would get the benefit of the early morning and late afternoon wildlife gatherings.

At the tree line around the wetland we saw a lone Side-striped jackal who looked to be scouting for something to eat.

An Abyssinian roller perched on a dead tree stump which gave it a commanding lookout from which to hawk insects attracted by the wetland and all the wildlife.

Tiang making their way out of the trees towards the wetland to graze and drink. The wetland provided greater safety because it is so open and there are many eyes watching for predators.

No air traffic control here but despite the numbers the larger birds seemed to manage perfectly with minimal squabbling.

A Defassa waterbuck bull resting under an acacia at the edge of the wetland. He had his back to the wetland and was looking into the woodlands to make sure no predators were around.

A mixed herd of Tiang and Defassa waterbuck with a troop of Olive baboons in the background. A few Marabou storks were wandering in amongst the herd.

An amazing array of storks, cranes, egrets, herons and pelicans. I have never seen so many Marabou storks in one place.

The wetland appeared to be an ideal place for feeding and resting. There must have been an abundance of fish in the remaining water in the pan. We did not get close to the water so as not to disturb the congregation. It was the opportunity to see this type of huge mixed congregation of wildlife that drew me to Zakouma. I was not disappointed.

“An understanding of the natural world and what’s in it is a source of not only a great curiosity but great fulfilment.”
~ Sir David Attenborough

It is the luck of the draw as to whether you see buffalo and elephant and perhaps a lion in the pan. We did see a few buffalo on the edge of the pan but no elephants and no predators other than a single Side-striped jackal. As a birding enthusiast the numbers and variety of birds in and around the pan was mind boggling.

Rigueik pan and wetland does make me wonder what the wildlife is like other parts of the Sudd and especially in southern Sudan.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

The International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that between 22 000 to 25 000 lions remain in the wild. This is an estimated decline from ~33,000 lions in 2006 (IUCN 2006 a, b), a 30% loss in 17 years (i.e., less than three generations). Estimates are difficult to obtain because of lion cross border movement and dynamic expansion and contraction of populations in different regions. Nevertheless, the apparent decline is devastating having fallen from an estimated 200 000 a century ago, with lions now confined to about 15% of their former range. The distribution of lions across Africa is very uneven with Tanzania having 41% of the estimated total. Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, Kenya and Zambia are home to about 72% of the African lion population. (Source: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/lion-population-by-country).

“The silence of the African night is pregnant with the sounds of life – the chirping of insects, the distant roar of a lion, the haunting songs of nocturnal birds. It’s a symphony of the wild, a lullaby that speaks of nature’s timeless mystery,” Peter Matthiessen.

According to IUCN, the lion is assessed as Vulnerable under criterion A2abcd based on an estimated over 30% decline in the species’ range over three generations (approximately 21 years). Without major future intervention a similar population reduction is suspected. If the population loss continues on the current trajectory, wild lions in Africa could be extinct by 2050. The decline in West Africa has taken the population perilously close to extinction. It is thought that just 400 lions remain in three separate populations. The last count in Zakouma revealed a population of between 140 and 150 in the park emphasising why Zakouma is a crucially important protected area in this region and one of the most important in Africa.

“There is a silence in the imminence of animals and also in the echo of their noise, but the dread silence is the one that rises from a wilderness from which all the wild animals have gone.” ~ Peter Matthiessen

Zakouma National Park in Chad is a significant haven for West African lions. These lions are part of a genetically distinct, endangered population known as the Northern lion.

In February 2025, Zakouma partnered with a lion expert from the Lion Recovery Fund to develop a park-based lion monitoring protocol. This initiative aims to enhance the understanding of lion numbers, age distribution, and overall presence within the park.

We found this lone female lying in the shade in the late morning well away from any water. This is one of the unusual features of the Northern lion, it can often be found on its own in the park. There is plenty of small enough prey for a lion to catch on its own,

A lone male Northern lion lying in the shade. Our guide, Doug MacDonald, said this was a large specimen by Northern lion standards. This male was the size of a large female in southern Africa. The lions in this area are noticeably smaller than the lions you will find in the Kruger Park or the Kalahari.

Male Northern lions do not have big black manes as you would see on Kalahari male lions. There is a general acceptance that the colour, length and overall thickness of a lion’s mane is primarily determined by the local climate, with testosterone levels also playing a part. Lions have manes to make them appear bigger and to advertise their strength and fitness to competitors but this comes at a cost, because of their large size males are prone to heat stress. A few ideas have been postulated as to why the male Northern lions have minimal manes. One, it is extremely hot in Chad in the spring months so perhaps their manes are smaller due to reduce the heat stress. I have also seen this characteristic in the lions in Tsavo. Another factor might be that the level of lion competition which is substantially lower than would be the case in many of the southern African parks.

“A world without the distance roar of lions at dawn as the mist starts to lift is too terrible to contemplate.” ~ Dereck Joubert

A few days into our trip we found three lionesses lying in the shade next to the Salamat river. One lioness lay in the mudstone rocky outcome next to the water with her gaze fixed firmly on us in the game vehicle. This was probably a cool place for her in the rising heat in the late part of the morning.

The other two lionesses moved away to the other side of the river to keep an eye on us from a safe distance. The lionesses all looked to be in good condition suggesting no lack of prey in that area.

The lionesses did not seem to be afraid of us but just did not want us to get too close and as we approached the river they moved further along the river bank.

“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” ~ John Muir

A lioness lying at the edge of the river in the shade of a large Tamarind tree with the fallen red leaves of the tree as her background.

There is no lack of prey for these lions. All they need to do is wait in the shade on the bank of a river or drying pool of water. The gallery of large trees provide plenty of cover for an ambush.

Despite the recovery of the population of many species in Zakouma in recent years, for some reason, the Northern lion numbers have not increased. There are several suggestions as to why this could be the case. Conditions in the park vary massively from the wet to dry season. During the rainy season the eastern section of the park floods forcing much of the wildlife to leave that part of the park. The lions probably follow and it is possible that they are persecuted by livestock owners during this time. During the dry season, water is limited to the series of pans and river courses in the east of the park. At this dry time the lions concentrate around the remaining water which must increase competition with the consequent effect on their numbers. Another suggestion is that the very high density of Olive baboons may result in high levels of lion cub mortality as baboons have been observed killing lion cubs left stashed in hiding places while their mothers are away hunting. The prevalence of this behaviour is unknown. The Lion Recovery Fund has provided African Parks with funds to study the lions to understand what is limiting growth of the population.

“Shallow ecology is anthropocentric, or human-centred. It views humans as above or outside nature, as the source of all value, and ascribes only instrumental, or ‘use’, value to nature. Deep ecology does not separate humans – or anything else – from the natural environment. It does see the world not as a collection of isolated objects but as a network of phenomena that are fundamentally interconnected and interdependent. Deep ecology recognises the intrinsic value of all human beings and views humans as just one particular strand in the web of life.” ~Fritjof Capra

We drove down into the southern part of the park in the late afternoon to find the quelea evening gatherings. On the way, as we crossed the Salamat river, we came across a small pride with three cubs which were probably three months old.

As we approached the adult lions by vehicle they just lay casually in the shade watching us but the cubs immediately ran for the river bank and clambered up it and out of sight in the trees at the top of the bank.

The lone male lion was interested in one of the females and walked over to her and exhibiting his flehmen response. The flehmen response in lions is a behavioural display where they curl their upper lip, lift their head, and inhale deeply, often while smelling urine or other scents. This action directs scent molecules to the vomeronasal organ (Jacobson’s organ), allowing lions to analyse chemical cues for information like reproductive status or individual recognition.

“Every animal can only tap into a small fraction of reality’s fullness. Each is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of an immense world. There is a wonderful word for this sensory bubble—Umwelt.” ~ Ed Yong

This lioness thwarted his advances without being too aggressive. The male’s sense of smell is crucial in determining the female’s readiness. He will frequently smell the female’s rump or areas where she has recently urinated to get a sense of her scent profile. Females let males know they are ready to mate by releasing a specific scent. Once the couple pairs up they will mate every 20-30 minutes around the clock sometimes for up to 5 days usually without eating.

A peaceful scene late in the afternoon down in the south of the park along the Salamat river. The shade and cool wet sand along the river bank must have been a welcome relief from the over 40 degree centigrade heat in Zakouma in March and April.

On our travels around the park we found bones of giraffe and buffalo. These remains suggested that the lions must have teamed up to hunt larger prey. It was also evident that the lions could easily hunt kob, tiang and hartebeest on their own which is probably why we found several lions on their own in the bush.

“The distant roar of a walking lion rolls against the stillness of the night, and we listen. It is the voice of Africa bringing memories that do not exist in our minds or in our hearts – perhaps not even in our blood. It is out of time, but it is there, and it spans a chasm whose other side we cannot see.”
~ Beryl Markham

The pride dynamics are very interesting in this park, unlike what we see in southern Africa. The pride appears to be a lot looser in structure. This is probably in response to lower lion numbers, ample food and the extreme seasons which cause the movement of prey. Although lions are usually territorial the looser dynamic appears could be affected by the vastness, availability of water and availability of prey.

This was just another one of the variations this park throws up. The deeper we delve into the behaviour and movement the more we see the overall environment has such a profound effect on the lion dynamics in this part of the world.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

Located in south-eastern Chad, Zakouma National Park is arguably the last remaining intact Sudano-Sahelian ecosystem in Africa. Due to its close proximity to the centre of the Chadian Basin, the terrain of the park is almost exclusively flat with the exception of the striking granite inselbergs in the south-west near Ibir.

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” ~ Jawaharial Nehru

Source: African Parks Business Plan 2018-2022

Building on its success, in 2017 African Parks was invited by the Chad government to manage the neighbouring Siniaka Minia National Park and Bahr Salamat Faunal Reserve, as well as adjoining wildlife corridors, to ensure the effective management of the entire Greater Zakouma Ecosystem of 28 162 km².

The Zakouma National Park covers an area of 3 054 km² and is surrounded by the Bahr Salamat Faunal Reserve covering 13 000 km² and the crucial neighbouring Siniaka Minia Faunal Reserve covering 4 260 km² in the south-west. There is a further 10 000km² of wildlife corridors in this area which African Parks manages. The surrounding protected areas act as a buffer for Zakouma National Park and affords protection for wildlife that migrates outwards during the flooding between June and October.

The Zakouma ecosystem is influenced by two extreme seasons, the wet season and the dry season. The contrast between the seasons is dramatic and so affects fauna, flora and terrain alike. Between June and November, Zakouma receives an average of 850mm of rain resulting in the majority of the eastern section of the park becoming completely inundated with water. During this time the park experiences a strong outward migration of many species beyond the boundaries of the park; mainly the elephant and Tiang and to a lesser extent Roan antelope and Hartebeest, to the drier areas further north.

“The majesty of nature is not restricted to canyons and mountains. It can be found in the wilds of perception–the sensory spaces that lie outside our Umwelt and within those of other animals. To perceive the world through other senses is to find splendor in familiarity and the sacred in the mundane……” ~ Ed Yong

According to African Parks, during the wet season the elephant herds migrate to two core areas: the northern zone north-west and north-east of Darasna and the western zone around Hadjer Domoti, south of the Korom River. The animals leave the park via the western corridor which is along the western boundary and head west or south-west, at times as far as Siniaka-Mania Faunal Reserve.

Source: Wikipedia/Kmusser

The south-eastern section of the Zakouma National park forms part of the “Inundation Plains of the Bahr Aouk and Salamat” Ramsar site. This is one of the largest wetlands in the world, and is an important stopover for migrating birds and breeding ground for various species of birds and fish.

Floodwater in Zakouma National Park is carried by the Bahr Aouk and Bahr Salamat, which feed into the Chari River. This river joins the Logone river at N’Djamena and often floods the capital in the wet season. The enlarged Chari river flows north-west into Lake Chad.

The park is characterised by a vast flat plain which is etched by meandering seasonal watercourses. The larger rivers and tributaries are bordered by gallery forest, comprising Tamarind, African birch and Jackalberry trees, to name a few. The vegetation beyond the rivers is largely wooded savanna dominated by Combretum, Terminalia, Anogeissus species, interspersed with patches of dense woodland, shrubland, high grasses and Vachellia seyal (Red or Sahel acacia) forests. The park includes extensive, open grassy flood-plains, particularly in the south, which become inundated during the wet season. These plains cover 500 km² and are dominated by the grasses such as Vetiveria, Setaria and Paspalum.

“Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every animal can only tap into a small fraction of realities fullness. Each is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of an immense world.” ~ Ed Yong

The dry season lures the wildlife back to the heart of Zakouma, where pans surrounded by fertile floodplains and pools in the main river systems (Bahr’s Salamat , Korom and Dikere) provide drinking water and grazing throughout the dry months from November and May. African Parks indicates that during this time the elephants tend to mainly stay within or close to the Park. Concentrated in the eastern side of Zakouma, the pools of water in the main river system, Bahr Salamat, provide the last sources of drinking water as the area dries up.

Besides water, the main wetlands of Tororo (north), Rigueik (east) and Maniam/Al Kalam (south) also provide valuable grazing on the floodplains. Large herds of animals as well as thousands of birds congregate at these pools from February to June providing the opportunity for spectacular game viewing.

We visited the Rigueik wetland around mid-morning. It was hot and there were congregations of Black-crowned cranes and White-backed pelicans flying into the wetland. In among thousands of Spurwing geese, storks, herons, egrets and cranes together with tiang, hartebeest, waterbuck, kob, buffalo and giraffe. It looked as if the wildlife was gathering for the arrival of “Noah’s Ark”.

“By giving in to our preconceptions, we miss what might be right in front of us. And sometimes what we miss is breathtaking.” ~ Ed Yong

The perennial water sources in Zakouma National Park serve as a sanctuary for West and Central African wildlife, many of which are threatened within this ecoregion. Around 66 mammal species are found in the park, 16 of which are large mammals. Zakouma is home to a number of threatened or endangered species, including 50% of Africa’s critically endangered Kordofan giraffe population, Black rhino, Lelwel hartebeest, north-east African cheetah and Buffon’s kob.

Beyond the wetlands are the rivers and their tributaries. In the dry season the rivers stop flowing and the remaining pools of water provide a sanctuary and ample food for thousands of species of wildlife. Many West African crocodiles, herons, storks, egrets, hammerkops, kingfishers, kites and fish eagles all hunt in these pools.

“When you see beauty all around you, beauty will seek and find you, even in the most unexpected places.” ~ Alberto Villoldo

Imagine large pools of water stranded in the Salamat river course where its banks are lined with Tamarind, Sausage and Jackalberry trees which have dropped some of their leaves creating a carpets of red on the banks.

There was little need to spend to much time in our safari camp, Tinga, because there was so much to see in the park. It does though get extremely hot around midday so there were times when it was great to get back to camp for lunch and cold refreshments and just watch the Tantalus monkeys playing in the large Tamarind trees in front of the main lodge on the bank of the Salamat river.

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” ~ Ibn Battuta

There was also a spot about 100 metres from the camp called Mirrador, which provided a quiet place in the shade to watch the wildlife come down to drink at one of the remaining pools of water in that section of the Salamat river.

We were right down in the south of the park looking for a large herd of elephants. As soon as they became aware of us they were off. Memories of the devastating poaching prior to 2010 still linger. The bush is so thick that we could not find them half an hour later.

At the end of a wonderful day in Zakouma. We were down in the south of the park having a sundowner watching the sky turn into a peachy orange with edges of mauve while witnessing the Red-billed quelea fly into the trees around this wetland in their thousands.

Hopefully you are starting to get a sense of how remarkable Zakouma is offering a variety of ecosystems and all the while showing bountiful wildlife in the numbers you are not likely to see in many parts of the world. The fascinating aspect for someone like me who has travelled extensively in southern and east Africa is this park offers something quite different and although many of the mammals and birds are similar they are not the same with interesting variations probably due to the ecology, geology and climate.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

A have a few more posts to come over the next few weeks showing the different wildlife and birds which I hope you will find interesting.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

In mid-March, a group of friends and I visited Zakouma National Park in Chad for the first time. I have wanted to see this park since 2014 when I watched a video showing the incredible congregations of wildlife in this park.

Zakouma National Park comprises 3,000 square kilometres of savanna habitat. It is situated in the south eastern part of Chad. It is the country’s oldest national park, so Zakouma’s fortunes have been inextricably linked to politics and conflicts with Chad’s neighbours.

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” ~ Unknown

Zakouma is in the Sahel which is the transition zone between Africa’s central rainforests to the south and the vast Sahara Desert to the north.  Sahel, means “the shore” in Arabic, and is a vast area crossing 6,000 kilometres across northern Africa from East to West. It covers 12 countries and is home to 400 million people.

Source: PRB.org

“Characterised by perennial river systems, rich floodplains, and seasonal wildlife migrations, Zakouma National Park is an uplifting story of revival for this ecoregion, which stretches across the width of Africa to the south of the Sahara Desert. Once a stronghold for over 4,000 elephant, by 2010 the park had lost 90% to ivory poachers. Nevertheless, in that same year, the Government of Chad invited African Parks into a long-term management agreement to manage Zakouma National Park, protect its remaining wildlife, and re-establish stability for the surrounding communities. With the overhaul of the park’s conservation law enforcement and community engagement strategies in place, the results were palpable. Wildlife numbers began to increase and by 2016, poaching was virtually eliminated. Zakouma became known as a place of safety, a source of employment, and a service provider to communities.” Source: African Parks

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” ~ Saint Augustine

The flight by Cessna Caravan from N’Djamena to Zakouma’s airstrip took around two hours.

We flew over vast tracts of dry savanna. March is the almost the end of the dry season and the rains start, in this part of the world, in May and continue until October.

The mountainous western region of Zakouma is very dry and characterised by granite inselbergs.

The map of Zakouma shows the dry mountainous western side of the park. By contrast, the eastern side is flat and is effectively a floodplain. It is hard to believe but this part of the world gets between 800mm and 900mm of rain annually and the eastern side is flooded making it impassable by road between June and December.

The park falls within the enormous ‘Inundation Plains of the Bahr Aouk and Salamat’ RAMSAR site, one of the largest in the world and an important stop-over for migrating birds and breeding ground for birds and fish alike. The park is largely flat riverine forest and grassland plains. Large pans, around which vast numbers of wildlife and birdlife congregate in the dry season, are scattered across the eastern part of the park.

“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” ~ TS. Eliot

The cycle of life in the park is dictated by the contrasted wet and dry seasons. Heavy rains fall from June until October flooding the eastern side of the park. The flood plain has a mudstone base above which is a layer of black cotton clay. This base is key to retaining water in the rivers and pans once the flooding and water flow stops. In the dry months, the water levels in the pans and rivers slowly recede due to evaporation. This causes the fauna to congregate in flocks and herds around the remaining water, offering breathtaking congregations of wildlife and, from my perspective, some of the most impressive game viewing in Africa.

Our base for the seven days was Tinga camp. I was very pleasantly surprised to see it was positioned next to the Salamat river bed. The main lodge faced onto the river which could be seen through a green veil of Tamarind trees. The main lodge and dining area was completely open to catch any passing breeze.

March is hot in Zakouma averaging between 40 and 45 degrees centigrade from about 11h00 until 16h00. It cools down to around 25 degrees centigrade in the late evening. The rooms are simple but adequate because we spent so little time in them. The fan was needed because in the evening when we retired at around 22h00 as it was still steaming hot in the bedrooms.

In front of the Tinga lodge was the mostly dry Salamat river bed. Pools of water remained but were drying out fast which drew wildlife to them.

From camp we saw many Olive baboons, Tantalus monkeys, Western bushbuck and Northern lions down in the river bed. The river banks were lined with large Tamarind trees.

A Red-throated bee-eater in Tinga camp. This beautiful bee-eater is very common in Zakouma much like the White fronted bee-eater we see in southern Africa.

On our drive from the airstrip to Tinga camp we saw our first Kordofan giraffe. Zakouma is home to around 60% of the critically endangered global population of Kordofan giraffe.

Driving to camp we were intrigued by the Sahel acacias which looked like the fever trees we see in southern Africa but they have this red-rust colour to their trunks and branches.

“Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.” ~ J.K. Rowling

We knew that we were in for a special week in Zakouma when we saw our first congregation of Spurwing geese at a pan. The next image shows just a small section of the pan. The Spurwing geese were concentrated like this around the entire pan.

In the afternoon we drove south to other sections of the Salamat river. This is what I had been wanting to see. There was an amazing scene filled with egrets, storks, herons, guineafowl and waders along the river.

The Salamat river was teeming with fish which attracted the birds and many Western crocodiles. I have never seen concentrations of crocodiles like this, not even in the Mara river.

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

This is the first of a series of posts describing our experiences around Zakouma National Park. Everything is different in this park. The first and most obvious difference is the concentration of birdlife. Doug MaDonald of DougMac Safaris was our guide. He is a Zimbabwean who was invited to guide in this park in 2017 and has been doing so every year since then. Doug is very knowledgeable, and showed us many fascinating places and mixed up our experiences with game drives, bush walks, canoeing and fly camping. Our group were entranced by his story telling and wonderful sense of humour.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and it it be.

Have fun, Mike

Amakhosi is a private game reserve about 25 kilometres south of Pongola in northern KwaZulu Natal, sited around the Mkuze river. The Amakhosi game reserve comprises a blend of savannah, wetlands and mountains. The reserve recently acquired access to the adjacent private game reserve more than doubling the traversing area.

“It is in the wild places, where the edge of the earth meets the corners of the sky, the human spirit is fed.” ~ Art Wolfe

We were usually up and having coffee and a rusk or muffin at 6h00 to leave for the morning game drive by 6h30. September was the beginning of spring in South Africa which meant cool mornings and hot days with little likelihood of rain. he next image is a shot taken at dawn looking east across the mist rising from the Mkuze river.

A small herd of elephant bulls were browsing on the small trees in the section south of the lodge. Two youngsters were more interested in testing their strength against each other than feeding. This was not a serious tussle and they were just pushing each other around though when their tusks clashed they made quite a loud “crack”.

I had never before seen giraffe browsing on the leaves of a Tamboti tree. The Tamboti is known for the milky latex it secretes which is poisonous to humans, but not to animals. It is a food source for many species of antelope, elephants and monkeys and black rhino. Porcupines relish the bark of the tree but if they ring bark the tree too much they can kill it. Tambotis are found in groves.

“Slow down to understand and feel the rhythm of the wild place around you. Then you will begin to see and hear things you never noticed before. This new found depth and complexity creates wonder and gratefulness.” ~ Mike Haworth

A large kudu bull browsing on the leaves of an acacia. This species forages on leaves, shoots and grass. Its is a selective browser, utilising its prehensile lips and long tongue to extract nutritious foliage from a range of plant species including long thorned acacia trees.

There is plenty of lush vegetation along the Mkuze river which is an ideal habitat for Cape buffalo. The main difference between the horn structure of a male and female Cape buffalo is that only males have a boss, which is a shield-like structure that joins their horns in the middle. This middle-aged bull kept a wary eye on us as we passed by.

Amakhosi has recently acquired traversing rights to a large adjacent game farm. The lion prides, especially females, had been crossing the fence between the game farms where the fence crosses the river. Now with increased access guests are able to see the lions even if they have crossed into the neighbouring game farm. On our last day, we crossed into the adjacent game reserve to find a pride of four lionesses and their adolescent cubs. The lion pride was lying on a small hill with a view onto the surrounding open grassland.

“The vastness of the African wilderness humbles you, reminding you of your place in the grand canvas of life. Here, amidst the towering trees and endless plains, one feels an acute awareness of our connection to the natural world.” ~ Peter Matthiessen

The lionesses were lying quietly in the morning sun when suddenly one lioness got up on her front legs fully alert. She had heard something that none of us on the game vehicle heard even with the engine turned off. She listened and looked in the direction of the sound for about a minute assessing what it might be.

Having decided that this was something she should investigate she got up and walked with purpose in the direction of the sound.

She half walked with head down to position herself behind a bush to better see what was making the noise she heard. We thought she had seen a potential hunting opportunity but after a few minutes she lay down behind the bushes.

We disturbed a young elephant bull while he was foraging on some low bushes. We must have given him a fright because he whirled to face us with ears flapping and trumpeting loudly. Thankfully he did not charge the vehicle. The bush was relatively thick and he was about 25 metres off the gravel road so we were a safe distance from him. After apologising to him for disturbing his breakfast we moved without incident.

There is a low concrete causeway across the Mkuze river which is an ideal place to stop and have a look up and down river as we start our game drive early in the morning. This particular morning the sun was up but mist was still rising off the river.

A view of the main lodge at Amakhosi from a hill opposite the lodge. The green vegetation indicates the proximity to the Mkuze river which flows just in front of the lodge.

“There is a charm about the African wilds that grips the heart and will not let go. It is a charm that knows no season, that is potent alike under the fierce glare of the noonday sun and under the soft, mysterious light of the moon.” ~ Frederick Courtney Selous

We were fortunate enough to have the private house which is part of the Amakhosi safari lodge accommodation. It was the owner’s previous house and is superbly positioned on a rocky cliff overlooking the Mkuze river.

A view from the patio of the private house looking over the Mkuze river valley. This house is “private” and a five minute drive to the lodge. A perfect place to spend a few days in the bush with a view and no disturbance.

“Africa is a living laboratory of evolution, and its landscapes hold the secrets to our past and the clues to our future.” ~ Louis Leakey

Amakhosi is one of our favourite places in the bush to visit. The lodge itself is well appointed and the staff are friendly and efficient. The location is superb with a large deck overlooking the Mkuze river and a very comfortable place to have breakfast and dinner. The game viewing in Amakhosi is very good and the birds are especially good. This is one place we will keep returning to.

“Cherish sunsets, wild creatures, and wild places. Have a love affair with the wonder and beauty of the earth!” ~ Stewart Udall

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

There are five hides in the Mkuze game reserve. I have four posts about the Malibala hide and this one is about the second largest hide, Masinga. Nsumo Pan is the best place to look for water birds and waders. Its northern bank is lined with yellowy-green fever trees and has two hides named, Nkwazi and Imvubu, looking out over this large expanse of water.

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us” ~ Anonymous

Helen and I visited the Masinga hide on four separate occasions. The main roads around the Mkuze Game reserve are tarred and in good condition. On the tar road just before the turn off to the Masinga hide we found this Black-crowned tchagra eating an insect at the edge of the road. You can frequently hear tchagras as they have a distinctive and charming call but they are difficult to see because they are usually hopping around in the centre of thick bushes. It had been raining and this Black-crowned tchagra looked a bit bedraggled.

Shortly after seeing the wet Black-crowned tchagra we turned onto a gravel road and found this very wet Burchell’s coucal standing preening itself in the road. We spent around 10 minutes watching this character tidying up after getting properly wet. The Burchell’s coucal, also known as the rain bird as its often calls before, during or after rain. The Burchell’s coucal’s call has the quality of the “rainbird’s liquid note”. This so aptly describes the sound made by this species which sounds remarkably similar to water being poured from a narrow-necked bottle, and is believed to signal the onset of rain. This is due to the bird’s tendency for bursting into song during periods of high humidity, before during and after rain.

Eventually this coucal walked across the road and climbed onto a fallen tree trunk and began looking for insects. This is a carnivorous bird which eats a wide variety of prey, including insects, reptiles, amphibians and small bird and mammals. It will also feed on eggs, fruit, berries, and sometimes small quantities of fruit.

This species is a member of cuckoo family but is not a parasitic breeder. This species has relatively laboured flight but prefers to skulk through the understory clambering about in rank vegetation or walking on the ground foraging for insects or small vertebrates.

On several occasions we watched a herd of Wildebeest coming down to drink at the water hole. This waterhole is known to be busy at times with giraffe, warthog and white rhino also coming down to drink.

“The best way to experience the world is by going outside and exploring it” ~ Anonymous

The Blue wildebeest did not mill around the waterhole. They drank and left.

The wildebeest were soon followed by a family herd of Burchell’s zebra. They also did not hang around the waterhole probably because of the threat of predators in the fairly thick bush 40 metres away surrounding the waterhole.

There was a lot more interaction between the zebras than the wildebeest. For some reason the stallion was chasing the foal. Thankfully we did not see the stallion injure the youngster.

The waterhole was home to numerous Hinged terrapins which would swim close to the hide and peer up at us with just snout and eyes visible. It had been cold and wet during the four days we were in Mkuze game reserve so any opportunity these terrapins got to warm up they would climb onto a rock next to the water’s edge to get out of the cold water.

“Adventure doesn’t come to you, you have to go out and find it.” ~ Unknown

September is spring time in South Africa and so the mating season began. The cloacal kiss performed by a pair of Egyptian geese.

The mating process looked rough with the female bearing all the weight of the male on top of her. On occasions the male pushed the female’s head under the water and even stood on top of her back for a short while.

A female Nyala and her calf came down to the waterhole to drink. They were part of a small breeding herd. The calf was still suckling. The vegetation in Mkuze is ideal for Nyala which prefer dense woodlands and thickets along permanent water. It is very secretive and is a non-territorial antelope.

Springtime was the time for many species of wildlife to start breeding. This pair of Three-banded plovers were also seen mating at the edge of the waterhole.

During one session at the Masinga hide it poured with rain. All this Woolly-necked stork could do was endure. It had puffed up its feathers to keep warm as it was quite cold. Something we did not expect in Mkuze because is known to be hot in spring and summer.

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it within us or we will find it not” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Once the wind and rain had stopped one of the three Woolly-necked stocks flew onto of a broken tree trunk to shake all the water off its feathers.

A Yellow-bellied bulbul or Greenbul at the water’s edge. It has a brighter yellow underparts and a red eye which differentiates it from the Sombre bulbul.

This Yellow-bellied bulbul was quite wary at the edge of the water probably because of all the wildlife activity and it looked to be an ideal place for a Gabar goshawk or Little sparrowhawk to be hunting.

It is always a thrill to see Crested guineafowl albeit from quite a distance. There was a small flock of about seven individuals foraging on the ground about 60 metres from the hide. Crested guineafowl forage for fruit, berries and insects. They can sometimes be found scratching around in elephant or rhino dung looking for insects. We waited with great anticipation thinking they might come down to the water hole to drink but no such luck.

“Nature doesn’t need people…people need nature” – Unknown

Four Crested spurfowl came close to the hide foraging for seeds and insects. They had also been drenched by the rain and also looked somewhat bedraggled.

You can imagine with all the birdlife around the hide there was a symphony of bird calls which at times made me put my camera down and just look and listen and appreciate what was around me.

There were two large trees in front of the hide, on the other side of the water hole. They provided a wonderful stage for a pair of Paradise flycatchers to dance among the branches.

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” ~ Miriam Beard

The female Paradise flycatcher was easier to photograph as she flew around the periphery of the branches and not in amongst them like the male.

I was so impressed with the Masinga hide. It was in excellent condition. It was west facing so ideal for morning photography with the sun behind rising from the east. What was also perfect was the surround of the waterhole. It had a clear sandy apron of about 30 to 40 metres which was prefect for wildlife photography providing unimpeded views with clean backgrounds.

“Adventure is the bridge between dreams and reality. When we walk across that bridge, we can explore the unknown and uncover hidden wonders. With every step, we move closer to our ambitions, passions, and goals. Adventure gives us the courage to take risks and make bold decisions – decisions that help shape our destiny.” – Unknown

We did not see the main large mammals possibly because of the rain, wind and cold but the birdlife, despite the conditions, was remarkable. We will definitely return to Mkuze Game Reserve and I am sure warmer sunny weather will bring out much more wildlife and many more of the 460 recorded birds in this area.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike