Dancing with the Wild Beasts

Some recent photos from Lugenda Wildlife Reserve (LUWIRE)

2012-02-07T19:36:00.000-08:00

THE CHINESE LEADING THE WAY IN THE NEW POACHING GAME!

2012-02-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

December 29, 2011
Record Number of Illegal Ivory Busts in 2011, Officials Fear Impact on Elephants - 3

by Martin Leung
Illegal ivory trading is on the rise. And while the official numbers are being calculated, 2011 looks to be a record-setting year for large-scale seizures of illicit ivory worldwide, according to Traffic, a conservation group that monitors trends in wildlife trading.

There have been 13 large-scale seizures this year, where an estimated 52,196 pounds of ivory was collected – it would take at least 2,500 elephants to produce that much ivory, according to Traffic. The latest discovery took place at a port in Kenya on Dec. 21. The shipment was on its way to Asia. It contained 727 pieces of ivory equaling 5,676 pounds.

Tom Milliken, who manages the Elephant Trade Information System, the illegal ivory trade monitoring system, said in a statement that 2011 is the worst year for large ivory seizures since ETIS began keeping records 23 years ago. A global ban on the ivory trade was placed in 1989 as a means to prevent the extinction of the elephant. But the ban hasn’t stopped poachers or smugglers, and things may get worse.

"We've reached a point in Africa's history where there are more Asian nationals on the continent than ever before. They have contacts with the end use market and now they are at the source in Africa," Milliken told Reuters.

He said economic development from countries like China could lead to an increase in poaching. Zimbabwe, Zambia, northern Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya are some of the places where elephants are being poached, he said.

"The trade data suggest that thousands of elephants are being killed a year ... I think central Africa has been brutally affected, especially Democratic Republic of Congo," he told Reuters.

There is an estimated 400,000 to 700,000 elephants in Africa. Some of the illegal ivory sent to overseas markets is used to make jewelry and ornaments.

“The escalating large ivory quantities involved in 2011 reflect both a rising demand in Asia and the increasing sophistication of the criminal gangs behind the trafficking. Most illegal shipments of African elephant ivory end up in either China or Thailand,” he said in a statement.

Smugglers can be difficult to catch because they are constantly changing their routes to avoid detection. And seizures may do little to affect the illegal ivory trade.

“As most large-scale ivory seizures fail to result in any arrests, I fear the criminals are winning,” Milliken said.

A LITTLE GOOD NEWS

2012-02-01T19:12:00.000-08:00

february 01, 2012
Mozambican Rhino Poachers Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison - 0

by S.K. Dachowitz
A South African court has sentenced three Mozambican men to 25 years in prison for illegally hunting rhinos.

The men, Aselmo Baloyi, Jawaki Nkuna and Ismael Baloyi, were found guilty on four charges, including the illegal hunting of a rhino in Kruger National Park in July 2010. They were caught with an assault rifle, a hunting rifle, an axe and two freshly chopped rhino horns. A fourth accused tried to escape, but was re-arrested and died in custody last year, reports news24.com.

South African Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa expressed hope that the court sentence “will send a strong message” to poachers and would-be poachers. Earlier this month, news24.com reported that government officials were discussing the re-erection of a 150 km fence along the border between South Africa and Mozambique to reduce poaching.

This sentencing comes just weeks after news of around 450 rhinos being poached in South Africa in 2011 made headlines worldwide. Last year, 232 suspected poachers were arrested, David Mabunda, head of South Africa National Parks, told BBC Africa. Despite the poaching, South Africa is still home to the world’s largest rhino population--1,916 black rhinos and 18,780 white rhinos.

According to BBC Africa article, poachers typically dart a rhino with a tranquilizer before using a chainsaw to cut away its horn, which is later exported to the Middle East or Asia. The animal is usually left to bleed to death. Some game farms in South Africa de-horn their rhinos specifically to deter poachers from targeting them.

2011-08-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

A short ditty by the famous Mr. Littleton. I asked him to write something for the blog years ago it seems. Finally a few words and as you will hear he is torn between comic relief and serious measures but he entwines them well. Listen close to the seriousness of the specifics that pertain to the area, for this is the real message. It's a suttle read for the most part but the facts ring out that our beloved piece of Africa is destined to painfully fade with the rest of Africa.

"Same Ole Same O" the African way throws down a challenge and too few of the faithful to march.

I know he's back in the bush with us because my head hurts and my tongue feels like it's stuck to the side of my face. Two bottles of rum lie empty next to the camp fire. Only habit has dragged me squealing from bed as the morning glow infuses the Lugenda with the colors of Africa that I live for. The bird chorus shows them to be in significantly better condition to begin their day. Strong wet coffee seeps into my drought stricken blood stream as I sit happily in the cool dawn. It's good to have him here.

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With the dust of the long drive washed off with a woodsmoke scented shower, we had set upon the rum. Elephant had cracked branches as they fed past the camp. Paula shook her head and headed for the kitchen knowing it would be a long night.

'So, what's been going on while Ive been away?'

'You know, Skeeter,' I begin, then realize my mistake. He has asked us not to call him Skeeter. It is how we were introduced years ago and it's a hard habit to break. It is an old nickname with annoying associations for him. So he became TAFKAS, The Artist Formerly Known As Skeeter. This mouthful is now Taffy - also the name of a legendary Rhodesian Special Forces operative, and this he finds amusing.

I try again, 'Most of the characters are still around. Anabela still has a tight reign on the basics, and is keeping the show running on a ludicrously small budget, but the perennial problems are not going away, in fact they are growing at the same rate as the game, which is doing incredibly well. Problem is this is all conflicting. The human population within the Reserve is out breeding everything else. Every girl or woman over about 13 has at least one child on her hip. We still do not have any clear perameters of where people can live and farm. Cultivation is still slash and burn, with new fields being opened every 4 or 5 years when the soil gets tired. It's all good in theory having people living in a Wildlife Reserve, but in practice the remedies for conflict are always two steps behind. We are very fortunate to have dedicated men like Wim Eberson involved with the anti poaching, and an unusual situation where most operators have bought into
creating a solid management model.

'Adel still subsidizes our operations, the logistics here are extreme. He has been a bloody saint. I wish he was able to make it out more often to enjoy this place.

Poaching is now becoming an issue. The Chinese are buying anything they can lay their hands on. Ivory has gone from $10 a kilo to over $50. Zebra skins go for around $200, a leopard for close to $500 and a lion skin for as much as $2000. There is talk that the bones are being sold as a replacement for tiger bones, but we have not been able to verify this. In an economic system like this that's crazy money for these guys. It's a new gold rush that we are not prepared to cope with.

'Oh hell man! So what are the Government doing about it?'

'Well you don't get votes from the wildlife. To most communities these animals are still considered a bloody nuisance or a danger. Despite our best efforts to change this mindset - 20% of our concession fees go to the communities, we try to help with community projects - there are very few who get it yet. Sheesh, these wilderness areas will be priceless within our lifetimes if we could keep them safe. Perversely to do that we will have to protect them from the very people we are ultimately protecting them for. Much of Mozambican environmental law is still based on the antiquated Portuguese system which gave very little value to wildlife or forests. It is not a criminal act to kill an elephant for instance. There is a small fine and no jail time. Most offenders are out and about 3 days later grinning at you. Basically we have been given no teeth to deal with these issues. More progressive legal systems in Africa make potential miscreants think
twice. In Zim there was a shoot to kill policy with armed poachers, and a 7 year mandatory sentence for a conviction of elephant or rhino poaching. It's incredibly frustrating. Anyway, on a brighter note, how are the Gals in your life?'

Taffy is surrounded by beautiful women. Sandi his wife is gorgeous inside and out, and is fiercely supportive of a man whose lifestyle is a little wacked, tolerating his free spirit where most women would loose the plot. He kept his lovely daughter Mareth safe from the boys in the bush until she was able to find herself a decent young man to marry and has now made him a grandad, and I have had the good fortune to be fed fried chicken by his Mom who is a wonderful lady.

'they are all good, I am hoping Sandi will make it out here again this year. It's been 6 years since she was here last.

Lilepe arrives with a plate of prawns for snacks. We are both hungry and they don't last long. Safari season is about to start so we are eating well. The routine diet of rice and beans will be replaced by meals cooked over a bushfire that would not be out of place in a fine restaurant. It has always amazed me how our native cooks do this under crude conditions and when our style of food is so foreign to them. The rum is getting better with every swallow and the noise level is rising. Leonard Skinner is trying unsuccessfully to depress us on Audwins iPod. The elephants are now splashing and rumbling as they enjoy the cool Lugenda river.

I knew I liked Audwin the moment I met him. He is that laid back Southern Gentleman, hands on farmer hybrid, observant artist, sixties wild child - I should qualify that - he would have been as comfortable exploring the meaning of life in the 1960's as exploring the world in the 1860's. Cut of a broader cloth, psychedelic one side, sepia the other. Normally calm, I know he has a mans temper when necessary. What I like most is that he is honest. 'When do you start work on those giant aluminum statues? ' I ask. 'Well the City has just about raised the money needed to get started. It's ready in my head, just waiting for the green light.'

Our discussion flows from issues relating to the Reserve, to the latest baboonery of mutual friends. That commercial companies are giving seed to local farmers to plant tobacco on islands and stream banks in a pristine wilderness, and there is the associated abuse of insecticides to kill fish and poison game. The animals killed in this manner were sold to unsuspecting families resulting in the death of children and even adults. The number of new people coming from Tanzania and other districts, where they had already over used their own resources to fish the Lugenda River or cut timber, more aggressive, they out compete the local fishermen who have lived in sync with the river for generations. There are solutions, but not without political will. Government's lame answer - poverty - and that the operators must find answers. There you hold the baby. None of them willing to make the unpopular decisions needed to secure a sustainable future. The next
generation won't think much of their lack of fortitude.

The conversation rambled on, we lamented all politicians, condemned all poachers and their masters, and willed 'progress' in our shrinking world to slow. Aside from bitching we laughed a lot, and laughing is very thirsty work. ' Do you miss Zimbabwe? ' he asks. 'Absolutely, you only realize what you had after you lose it. It's still surviving even with all the nonsense there. I miss my friends the most. It's funny how proud and territorial you get over a country. Pity human nature screws it all up. I think I may have shifted my loyalties to an ideal rather than a specific place.' I slur.

A lion moans from the opposite bank, and muddy hippos chuckle at his reverberating gloom. The rum has taken the edge off a crispness that has crept into the air. Even at our age, taking a pee in the bush is competitive. His artwork is better than mine, but he does not know that my claim to fame at school was weeing over the school bus, a record I believe still stands to this day. We stagger back to the fire each believing himself to have been the victor.

There are 3 of them sitting in front of me now. I can feel the stupid grin hacking my head in half. Skeeter, Audwin and Taffy. The firelight dances as they merge then separate again. Father son and holy terror. He is trying to tell me about a time shit happened in Central America but I have lost my grasp of English, although I seem to have swum the language barrier with the local dialects and am busy making a fool of myself in Swhaili. I notice through the haze that Paula has taken herself to bed. Hope she hasnt been eaten on the way.

'We are ludicrously privileged, Taffy, challenges are good. I just hope we can hold the line long enough ' is the last coherent thought that crosses my mind.

The last I remember of the evening is Audwin moving towards his tent on all fours playing the last post on a varmint call he has produced from somewhere.

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'I had better get the team out onto opening roads and see what the anti poaching lads have been up to before he wakes up' I think to myself. There is one bottle of rum left, and a lot still to talk about.

Luwire

Ivory and Timber seized at Pemba Port

2011-01-16T07:41:00.001-08:00

At last a move by the Mozambican authorities! As this blog and any number of other publications have been reporting, the "Illegal Ivory Trade" still flourishes in Africa, especially on the coast of Tanzania and Mozambique where large Chinese owned or back companies are raping the natural resources of these countries. Allowed to operate mostly without any oversight from "ANYONE" because of under the counter, back door payoffs proliferated by greedy corrupt politicians both on the local and national level these countries are becoming rich as the indigenous populations sink further and further into poverty. What little good the "honest local official, or national government officer" want to do is quickly smothered in bureaucracy.
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(2011-01-14) Mozambican authorities who seized the container ship “Kota Mawar” in the northern port of Pemba as it was about to depart with 161 twenty-foot containers full of unprocessed timber, have announced that they have made another discovery. In a parallel operation, the authorities found 29 containers on the docks belonging to Miti Lda, some of which contained ivory.

The authorities are still searching the port for more illegal exports. There are suspicions that elements in the port, including in the customs service, have been complicit in allowing illegal exports. This suspicion has been reinforced by the fact that it was the police who intervened to stop the ship leaving harbour after it had been given the green light from customs.

The operation to unload “Kota Mawar” was delayed by arguments over who was responsible for the cost of removing the containers of wood.

Meanwhile, the owner of Pemba port, the national port and rail company, CFM, is complaining that no other ships can dock at the port due to the size of “Kota Mawar”.

“The losses are enormous. No other ship can dock and we are on the fourth day of being idle, while costs continue to mount without any income. I am talking of the fixed costs of electricity, water and labour that are not doing anything” said the port’s Paulo Bento.

Bento went on to say that the final evaluation of losses can only take place after receiving the ships that are waiting for the space occupied by “Kota Mawar”.

2011-01-13) The Mozambican authorities have aborted an apparently illegal attempt to export large quantities of unprocessed logs hacked out of the forests of the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

161 20-foot containers full of the logs had been loaded in the port of Pemba, the provincial capital, onto the “Kota Mawar”, a ship operated by SDV-AMI, a company registered in the Caribbean island of Antigua. The cargo was destined for unspecified “Asian countries”.

According to a report in Wednesday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, the timber belongs to five companies owned by Chinese citizens – namely Mofid (89 containers), Tienhe (30), Pacif (20), Sinlan (15) and Alphaben (7).

Officials in the agriculture and customs services must have been complicit in the attempt to smuggle out the logs – for if they had been doing their job properly, the containers would never have been loaded onto the ship.

Indeed the “Kota Mawar” had received the green light from customs to leave last Sunday – but it was the police that intervened to stop the export.

There is an order to unload the containers, but the operation has not yet began because the owner of Pemba port, the national port and rail company, CFM, has demanded to know who will pay for the operation.

Meanwhile, other ships are queing up to enter Pemba. The “Kota Mawar” is so large (179 metres long) that no other ship can dock. The port authorities say that the tankers which supply the hydrocarbon exploration vessel on the high seas are expected in the port within the next day or so.

At least one of the timber companies involved, Mofid, is a repeat offender. In 2004, the Cabo Delgado Provincial Court had to intervene to stop a ship leaving Pemba, laden down with illegal timber exports from Mofid and seven other companies.

In January 2007, Mofid was again caught, this time trying to export 47 containers full of unprocessed logs. The export was blocked because the then provincial governor, Lazaro Mathe, ordered that the wood be seized.

Source: AIM NEWS

Finally a little bit from Paula

2010-12-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

I had been prodding my friend Paula Ferro to write something for Dancing ever since the idea for a blog about the Reserve was conceived about a year ago but she has been a bit shy about sharing.This year while staying with Paula and Derek in Luwire I again breached the subject and she told me she had written a short little page or two describing a typical day of operation in Luwire. Although she has sent pics and info about the Reserve I still was waiting for something from her own voice, something personally experienced and told from her own perspective. Paula is from Columbia and came to Mozambique for research purposes and stayed. She has been living in Mozambique for the last 4 years and her sweet disposition and calm demeanor go a long way when dealing with the ups and downs of daily operations in such a remote area. But, as we have all come to understand Mama, as the staff and local population call her has the ability to command the respect of the most hard nosed troublemaker for when she looks you in the eye and extends her index finger in your direction you know that at his point you have overstepped your bounds. Paula asked me to read and edit the piece and after reading it for the first time I knew immediately that any editing on my part would only take away from the piece. Paula's accent and South American perspective comes through in her words and only adds to the beautifully described tongue and cheek imagery. This is exactly what I was hoping for, a window to the lives of all that have so serendipitously been assembled to call this place their home and allow for you to experience through their words the depth of the wonder and ambiance that makes this piece of Africa so special.

I will however explain a few words so as to allow you a better understanding as to the local meaning.

1. palacio, a small bamboo house that Paula, Derek and Ph's use that is set back and away from the Client tents.
2. The tree house, about 30 ft. up a large tree was built to stay in after a bad encounter one night with an Elephant that had a bad disposition.
3.Ndapata, one of the Luwire Camps located in the center of the concession.
4.Gato and Le Chiffre, the two camp cats, part African Wildcat and part domestic.
5.Madala- honored older person
6.Cheetah-a light duty plane used by the Reserve

One day in Luwire camps

4 am, Lilepe wakes up with his powerful alarm. A bip bip coming from a Chinese Casio watch bought in the potato market in Pemba, a paradise where you can find the best electronics made in China, the best rate for dollar exchange and the best potatoes. Sorry where I was, oh! Yes Lilepe, sorry, Lilepe is our waiter, he has being with us for 10 years and he has being fired about 5 times. He is our best waiter. This story should be called the best, or the best of Luwire! Ok, lets continue our story.
4:15 underneath the Tree house, called the 2nd floor or Segundo Andar, just next to Palacio, Lilepe wakes up Derek, the Number One, “ Licença Patrão, Licença”! The day starts!
4:30 Derek and the client go to the bush, and Lilepe goes to sleep. The hunting day has started. Driving on the bumpy roads the impalas jump in front of the vehicle, some kudus on the right, a few meters later ten sables, eight females and two males.

The sun and the wind in the open car begins to burn their faces…
But in the camp the real activities start just before 7am, when the radio comms wake up the whole Reserve, the Luwire camps and Pemba with the most amazing news: food distribution, vehicles broken, scouts missing, a cook sick, etc. This is the event of the day. It is just like being in a Radio Station recording “Good morning America”.

Tigre is the leader, a fat, 4-foot man; he takes control of the news. Nobody is aloud to talk before him, not even Katandika, the Main Scout or Motorola, the worker in charge of Metarica Camp, a lover of radios. Tigre takes note of all the information that comes through the radio and reports all the details of the day to Derek on a dirty piece of paper written with terrible handwriting.
Tigre calls all the posts: “Posto no ar”? (Post in the air?), Matola - the waiter from Ndapata Camp, the only camp that can hear all the other posts responds; but a little note, he is the only one that can’t relay a message well. Answer: Yes, here Ndapata, Good morning! At the same time, Motorola gets in between the conversation and says that the ‘potato is getting rotten’ and his radio will die soon. (The potato is what the workers call the radio battery, when the potato gets rotten, the battery gets flat.) It is an emergency call. In the middle of this big moment, Dona Paula calls Tigre and he gives the “mazaroca” (microphone in our language, corn in theirs) to Lilepe to continue the radio show. “Why is the potato so rotten, where is the solar panel?” All the posts are talking- Madala is sick, Abondio has being missing for 30 days, Cezario is a father for the 10th time, Tome’s wife has being capture by the police and sent to jail because she bit the neighbours- But Dona Paula, takes control of the mazaroca and everybody stops talking – Mama is on the air, everybody listens to her instructions. Mama is like a bush Oprah giving advice in medical and love issues. Because when Number One is not around, Mama that takes control of the strangest situations.
The radio has been on for 30 minutes, all sorts of problems have been resolved, some of the workers are happy but others are very disappointed at the conclusion of the radio show.
The radio is off. Mama prepares her magic finger, and starts to give instructions to all the workers, scouts, cooks and tractor drivers. Everybody listen carefully. The cleaning starts, furniture is moved and poor Audwin that has just woken up has to move from one corner to the other just to drink his cup of coffee. It is the genocide for the ants and the spider nests, the Cobra wax and the Handy Andy (South African multi surface cleaner) invades the living area, the tents and any area that can be cleaned. Lilepe comes and goes, delegating all his tasks to the other poor workers that just past by in front of him. But at 11am, the floor is shining and the tents are clean, Viegas has done an excellent job. And Gato, the camp cat, sleeps.
Tigre is in the kitchen preparing lunch; making sure that the quantities will be enough for the clients and himself. If you see him you will have the feeling that his big belly will soon explode with the amount of food that he eats.
12am Radio time, Tigre comes from the kitchen with his mouth full of food and takes the mazaroca- Posto no ar? – Oh no! the horse (tata truck)is broken and the tinga tinga (tractor) too. Tigre yells, nobody hears, the “temperatura esta fraca” (the temperature is low!); one of the reasons why nobody hears Tigre on the radio! Mama Paula is upset - Why have these drivers broken the trucks again? - Pemba is not on the radio. It is Sunday; this is the reason. And suddenly the land cruiser noise comes closer and closer, Number One arrives with his sun burnt client and in the back of his car, the trackers, Sabadi smoking and Viegas sleeping.
Lunch on the table, Gato and Le Chiffre (if you have seen Casino Royal, Le chiffre is the bad guy in the movie, he has a funny eye, just like our cat) are around our feet. Few cold drinks and we are all ready for a hot siesta before the afternoon drive. At the same time the Vervet monkeys, full of nonsense, search the living area, Palacio and the tents for items they can steal and eat. And Gato sleeps.
3:30 pm Derek, the client that smells a mix of Skin so soft and Detol to fight the tzes tzes flies and his trackers go out for a second run. The camp gets hotter and hotter. Lilepe and Tigre are still dreaming, the monkey has destroyed half of the kitchen and Mama Paula and her magic finger are trying to get the guys to work again. But suddenly Mama Paula gets sidetracked.

Walking from the kitchen to the living area on the river, a group of 5 elephants come to drink; it is so beautiful that there are no words to describe it. They are all bull elephants, maybe 15 to 20 years old, happily splashing water over their bodies. And in the sky our resident Brown Kite flies around looking for food. The Egyptian Gooses are around making all sorts of funny noises. The strange looking Marabous with their peculiar looking heads hunt for any bicho on the river flats. The Mbamba Mountain starts to change color, some describe it as a lady with different sized breasts, for me is like the Little Prince of St Exulpéry, a big snake that ate an elephant. This place is so amazing, so magical and so pure. Mama Paula sits for few minutes in the bench and relaxes, waiting for the workers to appear.
4:30 pm Kitchen, living area and tents are clean again, Madala Mbamba with his little shorts and long socks is watering the grass, the cats are hunting for birds and one of the tractors is back from the bush with fire wood. Lilepe is getting dress with his best uniform, long dark pants and a white shirt. But note if there is a woman in camp he puts his bow tie to impress them. Lilepe prepares the glasses, the ice and the bottles of scotch and rum – we have to remember that he is not only our best waiter he was named the best barman in Pemba Beach Hotel, and he is very proud of that.
6:00 pm it is dark. The radio is on again; there is more noise that voices. Once more is only Ndapata that can relay the messages. Tigre screams few words. Kantandika needs 15 days to go to Tanzania to see the witch doctor, a special place where everything gets cure and all your problems get solve; he is with leprosy and the western medicine is not doing any effect. Mama Paula gives him permission to go. But it is difficult to believe that with teas and psychology Katandika will be fixed. Macanha Camp speaks: Macanha is ready for Dave’s client. Motorola – informs that a crocodile has bitten one of the fishermen, it was 5:00 pm the fisherman was sleeping and the crocodile attack. And at 5:30 the fishermen came to camp to inform. Tigre calls Romeo November (the main camp for Niassa Reserve) – Romeo November, Lusingi? – Whisky Eco gets the info about the fisherman. He will fly in the Cheetah tomorrow morning.

All the news are finish, everybody give the regards to all the radio speakers and to Number One and Mama. The radio is off.
6:30 pm Derek and his client arrive with a cloud of dust and few tze tze flies around them. The Trackers are drunk and singing. The car is full of branches. We all know what this means. The client has a lion. All the camp staff comes running, singing and dancing. The party starts, the kitchen staff prepares a big meal, drinks get out of the freezer, and the bar gets busy. There is music and hunting stories in the air. After few beers and scotches a good shower will get the smelly day and give some energy for a long night. Gato and Le Chiffre run away having a lion in camp is too scary.

7:30 pm, Trackers, Skinners, tractor drivers, few scouts and the safari camp staff are singing and preparing a sketch about how the hunter got his lion. The trackers use long sticks like rifles, two cans of beer like the pair of binos and they start to entertain the crowd. All laugh. The river bed is alive singing and dancing, “Festa, Festa, Viva Luwire, Viva Derek, Viva cliente, Viva!” (Party, Party, Long live Luwire, Long live Derek, Long live the client, Long live!). Food arrives and drinks are distributed, Rhino Gin is their favorite a kind of poison that our staff loves to drink and when it finish Lilepe share out our Absolut Vodka, that for the workers taste the same. And Tigre eats the left over quiet in the kitchen.
It is 8:30 pm, the effect of the Rhino Gin is visible and the songs are louder. The client and Mama Paula join the dancers, all dance and dance… Later, half of the people disappear in the dark; they are all going to bed.
It is 4am the trackers are still singing, the tractor drivers are sleep laying in the sand, and Viegas is asking for another beer to help his head to get better. Lilepe half sleep half drunk wakes up with his powerful alarm. “Licença Patrão, Licença”! And another day starts in one of the camps of Luwire.

from Ian Micler, Africa Geographic Magazine

2010-07-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

Last Year I had the pleasure to meet Ian Michler when he arrived to Luwire Safaris fresh from a visit to the states where he had been on holiday and had experienced several delays and missed flights on his way to to us to lead a Birding Safari via African Geographic there, in and around the Niassa Reserve. Consversation soon began to trickle and flow and we found we had mutual music admiration for "The Drive by Truckers". We had a great time, Ian and his clients were a pleasure.
Thanks to Ian for sending me this article and allowing it's use here.

Last month I wrote about Liuwa Plain National Park in western Zambia, primarily because I was impressed by the effective work that African Parks is doing to regenerate the greater region and protect its biodiversity. But Liuwa stayed with me for another reason: it has a true sense of wilderness that seeps across those boundless plains and brings with it the wonderfull aura of solitude that comes from being in such isolated places. Although experiences such as this are becoming less accessible, they can still be found and Mozambique’s Niassa National Reserve is another excellent example. Situated in the far north on the border with Tanzania, it is the country’s largest yet least visited protected area, a substantial tract of wild land that is extremely remote, even in today’s world of convenient transport. Niassa covers 42 000 square kilometres, making it one of Africa’s largest conservation areas. It is also one of the most significant, lying as it does at the core of the Eastern Miombo Eco-region, and is central to plans for a transfrontier conservation area that will link it with the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania, Lake Malawi and Mozambique’s northern coastal regions. This will constitute one of the largest conservation areas in the world. My first visit to Niassa was in March 1997. The arduous drive to Mecula in the middle of the reserve remains unforgettable, it took just over three days to cover 400 kilometres – but I was struck even more by the unique landscapes and the immense sense of space. The place has a rugged beauty dominated by outcrops of giant granite inselbergs that reach into the sky, and with numerous river systems defining the reserve’s layout, it is unlike any other region in southern or East Africa. On a recent return visit, the magnificent visual appeal and sense of space struck me just as much. But on this occasion I was able to spend a fair amount of time on the ground instead of being confined to the back seat of a small tail-dragger plane. This brought a very different perspective and got me thinking about the reserve’s future. It carries the largest populations of almost all mammal species found in Mozambique, including significant regional ones of wilddog, lion, sable and elephant. The bird list runs to more than 350 species and the plant diversity is such that the slopes of Mount Mecula have been designated a botanical hotspot. But aside from a large-predator project being conducted by Keith and Colleen Begg, no in-depth research has been carried out in Niassa and, given the number of different ecosystems, it is highly likely that many more plants and smaller creatures have yet to be found and named. It is a matter for concern that Niassa enjoys so little protection. Although it was established back in 1954, a series of civil wars resulted in the region and its biodiversity being neglected for more than 30 years. It is only since 2003, when the Mozambican government struck an agreement with Fauna & Flora International ( FFI ), that its status has begun to improve. But FFI ’s mandate is more about funding crucial research (such as the Beggs’ present work on carnivores) and promoting conservation and sustainability programmes among the 30 000 people living on the reserve’s borders than it is about policing. And policing is what is needed. Despite its wealth of biodiversity and strategic location for transfrontier conservation initiatives, Niassa faces many threats, the foremost among them being human–animal conflict and the subsequent killing of wildlife. Others include poaching for meat on a commercial scale, syndicates of ivory poachers and, in many regions, unsustainable subsistence fishing, harvesting and hunting practices. Given the nature of these challenges as well as the substantial size of the reserve and its conservation significance for the region, the government’s presence on the ground is ineffective and in no position to secure the sanctuary’s future. In the meantime, the development of a low-impact ecotourism industry can play a crucial stabilising role. Because of the reserve’s remoteness, this will take time to develop, but the government, NGO s and private operators should be encouraged to become involved at every opportunity. Two photographic lodges are currently open for business and they need support. For those in search of an awesome destination off the beaten track, I can highly recommend Niassa.

To join a trip to Niassa later this year, contact Africa Geographic Travelon tel. +27 (0)21 762 2180 or go to www.africageographictrave.coml
A F R I C A G E O G R A P H I C • A P R I L 2 0 1 0

On the Brighter Side, Educating the next generation, the Pemba International School visits the Reserve and Luwire Safaris

2010-07-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

A brief report on the trip, I believe written by Derek or Paula.

The International School of Pemba (ISP) was invited by Luwire Safaris to pioneer an Educational trip to the Niassa Reserve. The upper grade students: Noorian, Aidan, Rayan, Iliescu, Goncalo, Nissa and their teacher Jesse came from the 1st to the 6th July to visit Block L7 in Niassa Reserve. A fantastic time was had by all, students, teacher and Luwire staff included.
The objective of the trip was to create awareness in the kids and community of Pemba to The Niassa Reserve, its operations and the conservation and anti poaching programs involved in the area. This event has been in our heads for many years and it was time to make it happen. The fee paid per child will go to a Mussoma community school project.

Most of these kids were born in Northern Mozambique but this was the first time that they had a real idea of the bush and indeed of the Niassa Reserve. Before the trip they were told to do research on the Reserve and its wildlife, on which very little information could be found. On the first day, the kids had an introduction to the Reserve, to the actual boundaries which have altered over the years, the management, the SRN’s role, the anti poaching activities, the blocks and their operations and finally the wildlife. The children were also asked to choose an animal and to produce five questions, and to write an article on their chosen animal, and also about the Reserve which will be published in their own Newspaper.
The Students flew by aircraft to Lugenda Camp where our team: Derek, Nic, Dave and Paula met them. From there, they began their 6 days of wilderness experience. They had the opportunity to visit Lusingi camp, to walk in the bush and to climb the Ngolonge inselbergs. They visited the Batwa paintings, travelled a short way down the beautiful Lugenda River in canoës and swam in the safe places. We preselected a camp site on top of an inselberg and they assisted with putting up a fly camp where they slept around the fire. On the last day, they visited Keith and Colleen Begg and learned about their research on honey badgers, lions and leopards. Guy Balm, a world authority on leopard behaviour, gave a extra little touch to the trip. On the shooting range the kids proficiency posed the question of what their fathers get up to in their spare time! Keith and Guy were intimidated out of a display when even little 10 year old Norain showed exemplary skill on the darting exercise!
Some of the subjects that they covered included ecology, animal and plant identification; they gained a great deal of extra information about each animal chosen with their searching questions to the specialists (Derek, Nic, Dave, papa and mama Nculi and Guy). They learned how to behave in the bush and on the river, read maps, and about the communities that live in the reserve. The guides and instructors were very impressed with the level of maturity shown by the students, as well as the humour and inquisitiveness displayed – in fact a number of questions were bloody difficult to answer! Sadly, one of the field lessons which had real impact was about the reality of commercial poaching.
During the same week the Reserve had a most depressing poaching situation. More than 10 elephants were killed for their ivory. We saw the opportunity to show the kids the atrocities that man commits for greed, as with the reality of where ivory that is sold daily in the streets of Pemba comes from. They were shocked and horrified by what they saw and each of them wrote few lines about their own feelings. The strongest sentences will be used to make a poster to be used in the airports and publics areas in Pemba and Lichinga. Perhaps the words of children will reach where sophisticated prose misses the mark.
We would like to thank the parents for having the confidence to entrust their little monsters to us, to Keith and Colleen Begg, who are always so willing to share their time and knowledge and to Guy Balme who also helped turn the day at Nculi Camp into something special. Jesse their teacher who immersed himself in the program whole heartedly, and indeed spent a sleepless night helping us recover an AK 47 and 3 poachers, and last but definitely not least, the students, for their inquisitiveness, fun and effort. For the compassion they showed for the plight of the poached elephants, they made our endeavour more than worth it. They are the budding custodians of this planet.

We would like to think that this is the first of an annual tradition that will become a feature students can look forward to in their final year at ISP. We also hope that through an educator such as Jesse we can offer a similar program to students within our block.

I remember the first year I was in Mozambique Sandi my girlfriend then, now my wife, came over for several weeks and she volunteered to teach the children gymnastics at the school. Happy to see several of her students in these photos, a very cool bunch of young people. Hats off to all involved!

Sad News from Niassa

2010-07-23T14:26:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago there were over 20 Elephants poached in the reserve in one instance. I have heard the number at 21 and 23 but 1 is too much. Poaching is a problem all over Africa and has in the past few years been on the rise. Many reasons can be attributed to this rise in our area but it boils down to price and demand. China is in my opinion, and let me be perfectly clear this is my opinion! China is in our area one of the main reasons that poaching is on the upswing. I will elaborate on a later post but for now I just want to talk about what this means to me.
For me lately I have been on the road to becoming a bit "hunted out" as I put it. I love hunting and all that it involves especially in Africa. The trackers, the PH's the baits the skinners and of course the animals but for me the challenge of hunting wild game in Africa is becoming second to the challenge of preserving it. I 'm by no means a "big hunter". I have had the great fortune and pleasure to hunt a lot of places around the world and none so absolutely fulfilling as Africa. I owe a lot of my experiences to my friend Jeff McCollum who started dragging me along with him many years ago. He brought me to Africa for the first time and I will always appreciate him for that and more.
Another friend taught me and showed me the virtues of the Niassa Reserve and the dedication of those that fight for the respect this hunk of earth deserves especially within it's own country of Mozambique. Derek Littleton adopted me back when I was very new to the ways of Northern Mozambique and always showed me true friendship as I attempted to make sense of often times the senseless logic that is the way in Mozambique. Many others helped with my education there and I still have a lot to learn but Derek taught me something most important. Just to stop what I was doing occasionally and enjoy Africa. When you stand in the presence of such extreme mass and power that is the African Elephant you immediately feel the insecurity of that the small piece of ground your two feet occupy. Then he or she looks you up and down and hopefully concluding your no threat he or she continues with whatever things occupy an elephant during the course of a day. The same with the rest that live there, they come and go for the most part allowing your presence sometimes some times not, Occasionally they grant you a small stay and if your lucky they will allow you to observe some event that you will find both astounding and mesmerising. This event can't be described to others so as to achieve the same as seeing it for yourself and afterward you probably wont even try, no you just file it away for yours and yours alone, your little gift from somewhere special. This poaching thing is real, real guns, real animals, real blood, real death. Think about this small herd standing at mid day under a grove of trees, cooling themselves with the flap of their big ears. Young juveniles and newborns playing or laying asleep nearby and then they come with their AKs and in a matter of minutes twenty or more of these massive creatures lay dead, dying or wounded and the gunmen move around shooting the survivors on the ground in the back of the head. Many of the young have been paid no attention to during the shooting, they won't go far without their mothers and as they return or stand there beside their family members they are shot also. The tails and tusks are taken, cut and chopped out of the flesh and skulls and that's it. Some of the poachers are from local villages in partnership with men from Tanzania who bring the guns and connections to get the ivory out. There is a problem here. This act of poaching comes not because there are no anti poaching patrols prowling the bush in each hunting block and not because the Reserve itself isn't on alert and actively pursuing all avenues to alleviate the problem, really you will never stop all the poaching sometimes you have to let Africa be Africa in that some poaching comes about to feed a starving African. Most of this is small game, birds etc. but a lot more is for profit and as time goes by hopefully the education of the indigenous people will prove out to remedy these small problems with locals. What I am worried about is the presence of organized groups of foreign, well supplied and well armed, well connected poaching rings that are directly connected to the illegal exportation of ivory. This problem is moving into Northern Mozambique and the real problem is the almost none exist ant support from the national government. Here in lies the Rub. The government Headquarters of Mozambique is far to the south in Maputo. More and more news of mining for minerals and drilling for oil and gas comes out of the North. Could it be the Mozambique Government would just rather see the animals and the Reserve of the north just go away and in so doing open the gates to, well to progress? I am seeking the advice from others as to what I could do with my small network of friends, perhaps send letters to the various Government Ministers? I think pressure from our Government would help but even more some carefully written press spread across various Internet news venues might prove powerful. What do you think? let me know.

Niassa Reserve is on Facebook

2010-07-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

www.facebook.com/NiassaReserve

African wild dogs in Niassa Reserve, Mozambique

2010-07-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

Niassa Carnivore Project

2010-07-21T11:43:00.001-07:00

Niassa Carnivore Project

Introduction

Niassa National Reserve (NNR) is located in northern Mozambique on the border with Tanzania. It is one of the largest protected areas in Africa (42 000 km2) and is considered to be one of the “Last of the Wild” and most undeveloped places in Africa (WCS MegaFlyover and Human Footprint Project - Wildlife Conservation Society and Centre for International Earth Science Information Network, 2002).

Despite decades of war and neglect with only recent rehabilitation (2000), this extensive wilderness has survived largely intact (black rhino have disappeared). The protected area supports the largest concentrations of wildlife remaining in Mozambique including viable populations of the African lion, African wild dog, leopard and spotted hyaena. In addition these populations are linked to carnivore populations to the north in Tanzania (Selous Game Reserve) through the Selous – Niassa Wildlife Corridor. Rock art in the area shows that Niassa has always supported a human population and today more than 30 000 local residents live inside the protected area spread across 40 villages. Shifting subsistence agriculture is the primary land use and main economic activity. Cattle are absent due to tsetse fly, the vector for the disease trypanosomiasis, but smaller livestock, primarily goats and chickens, and domestic dogs are present in the larger villages.

The Niassa Carnivore Project (NCP) has been working in NNR since 2003 in close collaboration with SRN (The Society for the Development of the Niassa Reserve - the Management Authority of NNR), Niassa communities and tourism operators.

Through the work of the Niassa carnivore project, a population of more than 350 African wild dogs and 800-1000 lions have been identified in Niassa Reserve. As a result both lions and African wild dogs have been identified as a priority for research and conservation by SRN (the Management Authority of the Reserve). In addition NNR has been identified regionally as a priority for both lion and African wild dog conservation in eastern and southern Africa. The lion population is believed to be one of only five lion populations left in Africa that is currently increasing, with Niassa National Reserve a priority area for lion conservation while the Selous-Niassa trans-frontier wild dog population is the second largest wild dog population remaining in Africa. In addition, Niassa Reserve provides the core and source of largely unprotected lion and African wild dog populations extending from the east coast of Mozambique at Pemba to the western boundary with Malawi at Lake Niassa and extending 100 km southwards.

Aside from their conservation importance and status as flagships of Niassa, we believe that if we can secure these carnivore populations in the long term this will have broader biodiversity and social benefits for NNR and will go a long way towards securing NNR as a whole. The conservation of lions in particular touches on many of the major ecological and social challenges facing NNR at present and all these carnivores have the potential to generate significant revenues for communities and management of NNR through tourism initiatives. Grassroots community outreach and extension work will be fundamental to successful conservation efforts as the costs to communities living with large carnivores is significant through the loss of life, livelihoods and livestock. For example in the past eight years alone, 11 people have been killed by lion and 18 injured in the protected area and in 2008, a single male leopard killed 22 goats over a three week period in Mussoma village before being killed by the community. Similarly, there are currently serious threats to the large carnivores from people, including retaliatory killing as a result of human-carnivore conflict, indiscriminate snaring, the sport hunting of underage individuals (lion, leopard) and various disease risks, particularly rabies and canine distemper spread from domestic dogs. Successful sustainable conservation will require a multifaceted, collaborative approach that addresses both human and carnivore needs. The NCP pays particular attention to understanding human-carnivore conflict and developing, testing and finally implementing pragmatic and sustainable solutions in collaboration with Niassa communities. Emphasis on understanding the cultural role these carnivores play in the communities and reaffirming their cultural importance is considered vital. Targeted research and monitoring is essential to inform and monitor effective conservation activities however to ensure that monitoring is sustainable and ongoing and not researcher driven and important part of the project is to train selected NNR/ SRN staff and community scouts in relevant techniques and NNR is provided with detailed survey protocols as well as all the required equipment.

Photo courtesy of C.& K. Begg, Niassa Carnivore Project

In NNR, there is a unique opportunity to secure these populations and develop mitigation strategies before a crisis develops and support for conservation initiatives is eroded. However, the time for these actions is limited (less than 10 years) and if we do not act now this window of opportunity will close. NNR currently makes a significant contribution to the global conservation of all these carnivores largely due to its extreme size and remoteness, but the critical lack of resources faced by SRN and a rising human population inside the protected area with its associated increase in habitat transformation, human-wildlife conflict and poaching are an ever present threat.

The main goals of the Niassa Carnivore Project are:-

Use targeted research to specifically determine the status, density of and threats to lions, leopards, spotted hyaenas and African wild dogs in NNR and develop indicators and survey protocols that can be used for ongoing monitoring by local conservationists and SRN.
Examine the local contexts of large carnivore attacks, particularly by lions (humans, livestock) and identify, test and finally implement locally-derived, practical solutions with the active participation of local communities.
Develop and refine the Community-scout monitoring program to provide ongoing assessment of threats to carnivores, levels of human-carnivore conflict, and status of special species as well as provide incentives for community based natural resource management.
Assess and minimize the levels of disease risk (canine distemper, rabies, canine parvovirus) to African wild dogs and lions.
Collaborate with SRN and professional hunters to develop and implement locally developed sport hunting guidelines and trophy monitoring systems and providing independent monitoring of trophy quality for lion and leopard to ensure sustainable hunting while maximising economic returns to communities and SRN.
Initiate and manage community outreach initiatives (environmental education and extension work) in Niassa communities to promote the cultural, economic and conservation value of large carnivores and the use of effective conflict mitigation methods.
Ensure monitoring and conservation of carnivores in NNR is sustainable (not researcher driven) by providing appropriate training and mentorship, detailed surveying protocols and required equipment to NNR staff and local conservationists.
Disseminate the findings, mitigation strategies and protocols to inform broader national and regional conservation strategies and collaborate with local organisations wherever possible, including assisting and advising on Mozambican National Lion Conservation Strategy.
The Niassa Carnivore Project has a five pronged approach:

Targeted pragmatic research
Monitoring of threats and status
Direct mitigation of threats particularly human-carnivore conflict
Mentorship and training
Environmental education, awareness and community outreach
Targeted Research

Sound ecological and social research underpins all our activities, as we believe that only with a good local understanding of the issues can effective conservation be achieved. Intensive ecological research is focused in a specific study area situated along the Lugenda River. Our research activities include:

Radio-marking of selected lion and leopard with a combination of GPS and VHF radio collars to understand movement patterns, density, age structure, prey etc with a particular focus on the movements patterns of lion around villagers (why and when do they enter the village fields. At present, 6 leopard and 4 lion are radio-marked.
Disease analysis from blood samples in collaboration with Mozambican State Veterinary Department
Remote Camera trapping to determine the relative densities of different carnivores, density of leopard in hunted and non hunted areas, different habitats and around village fields to assess movement of problem animals.
Track and visual transects to assess prey density and relative densities of large carnivores.
Questionnaire surveys throughout NNR to assess human-carnivore conflict, cultural values, domestic dogs etc..
Lion and Spotted hyaena call-up surveys to assess density, age structure and changes in population structure over time (every three years).
Monitoring

Ongoing monitoring of the status of the carnivore populations and their threats is critical so that solutions can be implemented and a crisis is averted. However, this needs to be closely linked to mentorship and training to ensure this is not researcher driven but sustainable and an integral part of the management of the Reserve. Our monitoring activities include development of a Community Monitoring System (following the Namibian model of MOMS – Management Orientated Monitoring System) whereby community monitors are identified by traditional leaders in each village, they are trained by NNR staff at an annual meeting, are supported by the NCP and currently collect information on conflict events, sightings of special species (the community information provides the basis of monitoring of wild dog packs) and fishing activities. These community monitors provide an important link between reserve management and communities and are a way for communities to get actively involved in natural resource management. To date (2006-2008), 14 monitors from 13 villages have been trained. A NCP goal is for there to be 80% coverage of Niassa villages by community by end of 2010.

Direct Mitigation of threats

The Niassa Carnivore project works towards understanding the specific threats to the large carnivore populations in Niassa using targeted research and then finding pragmatic, sustainable locally based solutions in collaboration with communities and SRN. The main threats to carnivores in Niassa are listed in the table below:
Threat

Ranking

Comments

Inadvertent Snaring and poisoning

High

Snares set for ungulates for meat inadvertently catch carnivores

Human conflict - retaliatory killing

Medium

Loss of life, injury and stock losses

Sport hunting of underage individuals

Medium

Lion and leopard in trophy hunting concession in protected area

Disease - rabies and canine distemper

Medium

Spread from 200-300 domestic dogs resident in protected area

Targeted snaring for skin trade

Medium

Mainly for leopard, some lion

Road casualties

Low but increasing

Particularly wild dog, increasing as roads are upgraded

Traditional medicine

Low

All species

We are working to mitigate these threats in the following ways:

Supporting the vaccination and ongoing registration of domestic dogs inside the protected area boundary with development of zoning to prevent domestic dogs from spreading to villages where they are currently not present. Developing awareness material to protected people from rabies – posters, community meetings.
Using radio collaring to understand why large carnivores are entering villages and how this can be prevented
Testing ways to reduce warthog and bush pig damage in fields during the wet season as lions follow these favoured prey species into the fields and then come into direct contact with people.
Investigating carnivore attacks and identifying particular behaviours that place people and livestock at risk from attack (walking alone at night, sleeping outdoors, un-corralled goats). Communicating ways to minimize attacks to communities through village meetings, posters.
Developing of lion and leopard hunting sport hunting regulations for SRN that prevent hunting of underage animals (no lions under the age of six) and provide independent assessment and aging of trophies. This is linked to the development of visual aging characteristics that can be used by sport hunters to assess trophies accurately.
Supporting the NNR anti-poaching staff in NNR with equipment (GPS etc) and monitoring of snaring activities, investigation of alternatives.
Mentorship and Training

It is essential that carnivore conservation becomes and integral part of the management of NNR if it is to be sustainable in the long term and that it is not researcher driver .NCP provides training and mentorship to both NNR staff and local villagers. Our activities include providing NNR staff with direct field training on the project, providing NNR field staff with critical equipment where needed so they can work effectively (GPS, computer, binoculars, camera) and identifying and training local villagers as field assistants (GPS use, driving skills, radio tracking, basic car maintenance, trapping etc).

Education, Extension and Awareness

At present environmental education and extension work in Niassa communities is in its infancy. NCP reports information back to communities through local village meetings, posters and the community scouts. However the intention is to initiate more specific environmental education and a dedicated extension worker if funding can be found. NCP also disseminates information from the project to a broader Mozambican and international audience through scientific papers, presentations, assistance with national surveys, film, and popular articles.

PCT Grants

January 2009

The Trustees of The Predator Conservation Trust are pleased to be able to make a grant to the Niassa Carnivore Project in Mozambique. The grant is for £1000 and is intended to fund several things. The main part of the grant is for the work with the local community to reduce Human-Wildlife Conflict and includes Conflict Resolution Posters and Community meetings – conflict mitigation meetings and workshops. Another part of the grant is for Carnivore blood sample disease analysis. The final part of the grant is for general running costs, fuel etc.

Niassa Rock Art

2010-07-20T13:39:00.000-07:00

Rock Art Paintings in the Niassa Reserve, northern Mozambique

Managed by the Sociedade para a Gestão e Desenvolvimento da Reserva do Niassa (SRN), the Niassa Reserve is vast and remote wilderness area of 42,000 sq km in northern Mozambique. There are approximately 25,000 people living inside the Reserve primarily from the Cyao and Makua tribal groups with some Ngoni, Marave and Matambwe people. Currently, Keith and Colleen Begg (the resident chief researchers) are studying carnivores along the Lugenda River in the Reserve.

While tracking one of the radiocollared lions in November 2005 they discovered what appeared to be paintings on the lower overhangs (north facing, 270m asl) of a large boulder which forms the end slope of a granite inselberg called Nkopola. The lion regularly rests in this spot in the shade of the boulder. Once the lion moved off they were able to investigate further. The paintings are primarily in an area of 0.5 x 0.5m with some additional marks on the south facing side (these might have been degraded as they are more exposed). Many of the paintings are parallel lines of fingertip sized dots, others are circles with three adjoining lines extending like fingers, or arcs of dots. They are primarily reddish in colour.

Radiocollared lions in the Niassa Reserve

Figures with additional lines and dots

The Beggs explored further in the immediate vicinity and found another site about 100 m away (283 asl), on the edge of a cave. These paintings are fainter but they appear to be two figures with additional lines and dots (red paint), there were also some fragments of pottery in the cave. The area is elevated above the surrounding Miombo woodland within 2 km of the Lugenda River. The boulder and associated small koppie system are unusual in this immediate area (although inselbergs are common) and Keith and Colleen could envisage why this area might be of spiritual significance as it is in a very special spot, and the boulder is an obvious landmark.

Large boulder at Nkopola

Niassa Reserve rock painting

Less than a kilometre away at the base of the same inselberg on the southeastern side is an old smelting site with slag remains of tuyeres and hundreds of fragments of pottery. The researchers have also found other smelting sites of a similar nature in the region, although these might date from a different time. When the Beggs asked some of the older local people who fish and honey-gather in the area about the paintings, they did not know anything about them but suggested the smelting site was probably the work of Ngoni people long ago.

Photographs by Keith & Colleen Begg/SRN
Sociedade para a Gestão e Desenvolvimento da Reserva do Niassa (SRN) www.niassa.com

www.bradshawfoundation.co

Serious Dinner Guest in Gorongosa

2010-05-30T16:27:00.000-07:00

Photos by Rob Janisch

Niassa Reserve News Letter, In the works, coming soon in english

2010-04-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

Info from Colleen Begg,

2010-02-24T15:18:00.000-08:00

Colleen Begg

This was the first ever environmental education in Mbamba village, we had a lot of fun over two days. The aim was to make conservation fun for the first time, reaffirm value of lions and test abilities of children to help us with the development of the Niassa Conservation Storybook and actvity book. We were helped by Paula Ferro (anthropologist, ...

Colleen Begg photos

Pictures from David Langerman, Luwire Safaris

2010-02-21T16:19:00.000-08:00

Pangolin in transport container made from tree bark, caught by poachers.

The last two of this series of photos is of a Pangolin. The one above is a close up of the scales on his back and the one prior is of poachers standing beside a makeshift trap or way of transporting the animal. Pangolins are awesome creatures, a bit like our armadillo only about three times larger and thought to be good luck by the native population. Sometimes the scales are mixed with certain tree bark and then it is said to cancel out witchcraft and evil spirits. Pangolins are mammals from the family

Pholidota, commonly known as scaly anteaters and are mostly nocturnal. Natives trap and sell them to fellow tribesmen who then eat them and in so doing inherit the good fortune from it as well as make use of the rest of the carcass for potions and spells.

Letting you know about a new project in Niassa! By Paula Ferro

2010-01-31T08:42:00.000-08:00

Some of the children's art works that will be used in conjunction with the Project

A well used blackboard

School Project in Niassa Reserve, 2009

The Niassa Reserve is one of the greatest protected Miombo ecosystems in the world and the largest protected area in Mozambique, covering an area of 42,279 km². It is populated by approximately 25,000 inhabitants, primarily farmers and fisherman, mainly Ajauas and Macuas. But this area is characterized as being very poor and isolated.

Colleen and Keith Begg, an extraordinary couple that have lived in the reserve for more than 7 years, put together a small project “Teachers for Conservation” at the end of 2009. The idea came not only from the researchers that work in the reserve but from the teachers of Mbamba, a small village in the South of the reserve. For the first time in the history of the Reserve the communities are interest in conservation, in ecology and nature. For the first time, all sort of interesting questions came to our ears, and the Beggs decided to run with this thirst to learn to create a project were the local population, kids, teachers and parents could be involved.

With some money that the Beggs managed to raise from their own projects we were able to start something that we think will make a difference to the kids of Niassa Reserve.

The first step is to raise USD$30 000 to produce a storybook, an activity book and a ABC wall chart done in capulanas , the local fabrics used for clothing in Africa. We have managed to raise at least the first part of the funds for the Niassa Conservation story book, a total of $15 000. We invited an English artist that had work before on these type of projects in Asia and Africa. She came out in the last week of October 2009, and stayed with us for about 3 weeks to get a feel of Niassa. We first worked with the kids in Mbamba school and later met with teachers and the directors of the other schools of the Reserve in Mecula, which has the biggest community in The Niassa.

The Reserve has about 30 public schools. The number of kids is very variable, from 20 to 200 kids per school. The disciplines that the kids study, are Portuguese, Mathematics, History, Geography, etc. However no environmental or conservation subjects are taught, and most of the kids and teachers have never left their home village. This means that they have never seen wildlife apart from the animals that live around the villages. Our objective is to train the teachers with extra curriculum material to teach the kids about the environment around them, wildlife, trees, medicinal plants, the river, the mountains. We want to profit from their amazing natural surroundings, to show the teachers that the Reserve is a big living school. In this way the kids will learn and understand the reality of their environment and they will value and preserve the rich and beautiful place they live in.

We have $15 000 but it is going to need another $15 000 to get it done properly!

I think your help will be invaluable, help to make a contribution that will hopefully have some lasting effect.... This is only the first step, to develop "Teachers for Conservation"- where each school has teachers trained in conservation, adequate basic material and where kids and adults born in Niassa Reserve have the satisfaction of protecting their environment, their Home. Paula

If you are interested in helping with this project email me at audwinmcgee@gmail.com
There is more info coming that I will post directly. Audwin

Paula Ferro and friend.

Excerpts from an African Diary

2010-01-25T18:06:00.000-08:00

Another short excerpt from my Diary from last year. I spent a number of days alone, except for a skeleton crew of staff. Januario," January" in English is basically the ruler of the Luchenge camp and he makes a mean Egg and Steak Breakfast as well. He is always "matter of fact" but with humor! My cohorts that are also responsible for this Blog are all busy covering up _ _ _ _! like a cat. Well they are making presentations, budget reports, new plans for next year, and generally taking care of whatever is required of them to continue to operate in the Reserve. Thus at this time there has been no voice other than myself tauting the beauty and rawness of Niassa Reserve. So I continue as best I can with what I felt and wrote last year while there. I hope it doesn't bore you so much.

Another day in Block C

Sitting here in a bush camp in Block C of the Reserve and listening to a Baboon barking down the way along the banks of the Rio Lugenda, (probably at a passing Leopard or probably nothing at all,) the air is blessed with a small breeze warm to the touch. The sounds are minimal as the noon hour approaches and most birds and the like that have chattered all morning and are looking for a cool place to sit and cool while the noon day heat passes. Januario begins the noonday radio broadcast to the other various camps searching for news, listening to the latest and noting the different requests by others. Supplies needed for the various camps stretched up and down the 200 kilometer stretch of Lugenda River that makes up Block C and then to the north in Block A to the border of Tanzania, beyond the American owned Block B. A total distance of over 400 Kilometers that will take you just over four days of very hard driving to navigate end to end.

Its warm but the breeze has started up, hopefully to continue on into the night. Looking out across the river, very low at this time of year and at this particular spot, “Luchenge Camp”, its approximately a quarter to a half mile wide. The main channel keeps to the middle and fingers still hold water going in and out around sand bars and banks that have only come to be seen this month as the water recedes. Four Kudu Cows come to drink on the far side as well as a family of warthogs. I’m no stranger to them as they are regulars and often spook each other coming and going down the same narrow trail for their afternoon sip.

I think of the Bat Hawk we saw the night before as I look down off the bank to the floor of the river below the camp where we waded, talked, cooled off and drank the remains of sundowners when a young Bull Elephant chased us up the bank to the dinning room showing us just how close we can get to nature here.

Not a manmade sound can be heard, only a dove calling and the splash of a Kingfisher fishing for his supper out in front in a pool of the river. The Kudu and Wart hogs have returned up the far bank and drifted into the bush to places unknown to me. I look and listen but there is only silence for now as the sun lights the sides of the mountains of granite to my right and a black tail kite floats past.

Diffenent Day, Same Place.

I called my wife on the sat phone just before the sun set. All is well. In the dinning room bats fly by catching fresh bugs, Elephants talk to each other across the river in short blasts of their music, The night birds are waking up along with the crickets, frogs and various other voices of the night. What’s on the menu for tonight I wonder, Hyenas calling, Lions, Leopards more Elephants and a few Bush Babies I’m sure. I try not to go to sleep to soon when I lay down and all gets quiet except for the bush. I want to hear it all, its unnervingly romantic and soothing all at the same time. Januario is here with supper. I put on a little music and pour a drink, rum and orange juice tonight as an old Eagles song comes on the IPod. There’s no ice though, the generator has been off most of the day. Not important, it doesn’t get any better.

Don Januario brings my supper, eggs with cheese and fried potatoes, Baboons are barking in the distance. I cut the music so I can listen. They stop and I have to ask myself if they were protesting the music or a Leopard looking up at them from the Bush below their tree. I feel like a shower and bed. Don Januario comes back to clear the table and I look for my rifle to take the walk to my quarters. A good night on the Lugenda continues.

Last night was nothing short of a great scene from a movie. I slept 30 ft off the ground in a small sleeping porch erected by my hosts for various reasons not the least of which is to sleep in the trees looking at the stars, listening to Africa mill around in the dark below, and Africa was busy last night. From the different locations of the sounds made by the different elephants that fed below me I would estimate at lest 8-9 were busy stripping limbs and breaking branches and in general having a great meal. I dozed off and on as they munched below, an occasional trumpet would signal something to somebody. I tried putting a torch on an especially close individual but the thick vegetation prevented me seeing him and I quickly turned off. All was quite for sometime and I assumed that they had moved off without me knowing, they can be quite silent as they travel when they want. However they were still there, I began hearing, very almost quite snores, answered by little guttural rumbles from first one, then another. I assumed they were locating each other, this went on till I dozed off, and they were gone when the birds and monkeys woke me at dawn. I watched the last shooting star of the night burn out across the darker part of the horizon.

Later same day,

The afternoon sun finally dips low enough to intrude into the dinning room where I sit and write. The glare is a bit obnoxious but the heat is what I dread. All today has been warm, very warm. I have taken several cold showers and had the idea to go out looking for a big Hippo at about 7.30, after morning coms with whoever, but after I had a bowl of cereal at about 7.45 I decided that I could wait till the afternoon and then the clouds vanished and the wind laid and the heat intensified and well, I called it off. I just sat and wrote and read and called Sandi on the Sat Phone, then I called Mareth, then I sat and wrote some more and read some more, then lunch came, spaghetti and some sort of concoction from the last three previous meals to spread on top I suppose. It always interests me to see what will turn up when the stores run low. I don’t even have a cook here at present, they are off seeking affection from their many wives, but Januario is in form and is happy to experiment on me. It was filling and I remember the radio request I made to Pemba for rations. Rum, Whiskey and Tooth Paste. Note to self. In the morning also request potatoes, potatoes and maybe a little fruit. Meat is no problem, I have dined as if in the best Argentine Steak House. Everything from Kudu, Bushbuck, Wart Hog, Reedbuck etc. etc. and I would like to inquire what kind of "Rub" Januario is using, but I think it is his own concoction and I am better off letting that sleeping dog lie. The monkeys have made several forays at the place today and I have thrown my share of Baobab fruit at them but they will not be denied it seems as I can see them in mass on the peripheral of my baobab fruit tossing range, waiting for their chance but not today, I am firmly entrenched. I haven’t any need for anything, except a visit from my wife. No, I have tunes on the iPod, good rum, a sat phone to contact anyone I deem necessary to hear my voice and those are few, very few, yes this is a good place, its one of those "you can’t call me but if I want to I can call you places." I think you could market that very thought. What say you pay me to take you to a place where no one can contact you? What would that be worth to you? Let me know maybe I can arrange something for a nominal fee. Well believe it or not it just began to rain, excuse me while I walk out and feel the first rain of the year here.

Later,

There is something about being the only white man on appox. 6 thousand square kilometers of African Bush. It either gives you a smile or makes you a bit apprehensive. I suppose for me its what I always wanted and is the closest thing to being like the old boys were, out there by the seat of their pants making calluses on their hands and blisters on their feet. They were satisfied and that’s all they wanted. No one saw it but them! No one wrote down the stories for the most part, they existed only as long as they were alive, but when they died the stories died with them. And that was ok, cause they didn’t live it for no one else other than themselves. They gave one hell of a sacrifice. They most often sacrificed a long life back at home for the quick death of injury by the claw and tooth or the slow death of disease. Some never had the pleasure of holding their first born much less seeing them grow to adulthood. But why you say? Well if you don’t know the answer to that then you wouldn’t understand if I explained.

It is what it is and it is for the few, damn the critics.

The Niassa Sun sets in the West, the wind blows up another thunderstorm, Robert Earl Keen plays I’m coming home on the stereo and I sip my rum and coke. Life is good out here in Niassa. I’m sitting here in God knows where thinking about the real world, or the fake world, whatever, I like this better, you should try it. AP

River Lodge, Luwire Safaris Mozambique

2010-01-21T07:07:00.000-08:00

This Camp is Luwire's Flagship Camp. There are five other Bush Camps along the river each with it's own unique personality, and each with it's own unique Flora and Fauna. The great thing about coming to Luwire is the variety you will experience staying in different locations along the river if you choose. AP

Outside Magazine's "Peter Stark" wrote At the Mercy of the River, An Exploration of Africa"s last remaining Wilderness

2010-01-05T08:42:00.000-08:00

Peter Stark, shown in the picture on the cover of his book . Peter and several others ran the Lugenda River of the Niassa Reserve back in 2002 I believe. He wrote "At the Mercy of the River" which documented the expedition. The mountain in the background
is the same rock that is seen in many of our photos because now it is seen from the dining room of the Luchenge Camp, Luwire Safari's "Headquarters" location on the Lugenda. Note the river level at this time of year, sometime in early spring. The river at this time of the year boasts class 5 rapids in many sections. Keith and Colleen have ran the entire river themselves and have mapped with GPS coordinates all the major rapids. We hope to begin float trips in this part of the season very soon. AP

Hunting Machines, Wild Dogs Of Niassa

2009-12-15T15:57:00.000-08:00

Niassa Reserve Photos from Derek Littleton, Luwire Safaris

2009-12-13T08:26:00.000-08:00

Keith and Colleen Begg and assistants with a collared Lioness

Game Scouts (anti poaching) Luwire Safaris

Upper regions of Lugenda River near Metaricca

Niassa Wildebeest

Paula Ferro and friends

Camping on the mountain, Mount Mecula, Niassa Reserve

Derek along with friend Jamie Wilson opened the first Safari Operation in the Niassa Reserve. He has become one of my great friends and has taught me much about Niassa. To me he is one of the most important voices for the preservation of the Reserve. If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Reserve I hope you also have the pleasure of meeting and visiting with Derek. AP

Some Photos to get Started, These from Bryan Allen

2009-12-07T14:39:00.000-08:00

Drawn to the Flame

2009-11-29T12:46:00.000-08:00

As it goes with me, I first feel that invisible magnetic pull as my compass starts spinning wildly and perks my senses as to a change of venue being eminent. I debate where on earth my next bed will be rolled out, as this “magnetic effect” descends on my consciousness and a familiar little “black and blue” angel arrives on my shoulder and begins violently whispering in my ear as with an Electric Megaphone… threatening!
That if I listen to the other side again I am doomed to more calamity as times before, and yes, I systematically agree with every word he quietly speaks as I thump him against the nearest wall with a forefinger, “thus the coloration of the bugger”, turn and pack my bags and get on with it!

I have determined that I know little about life. I have learned a few lessons, none too severe. I have figured out my groove, it’s not for every one, most importantly I try to keep it simple! All in all it has been one beautiful voyage! Remember, life is it’s own entity. Imagine a big ole downtown department store where I stand on the sidewalk gazing in to a beautifully dressed and arranged storefront window, while the scratchy outdoor speakers play some far away romantic tune. This is what I know about life. Simply, that what I see and hear makes me feel what I feel, and do what I do. I guess on any given day you can look and see something different, a new arrangement of things that are available, you just pick something out and go for it. Oh yes making a good choice is the other not so simple, simple thing. One day I looked in and saw a place in Africa.

Niassa Reserve seethes under the heat of November, every tree, every blade of grass, thorn, and animal, looking to the sky for relief, relief that’s sure to come as always this month or next. Not, mind you, without a little or a lot of teasing from the clouds. The birds and animals can feel the change and you might think you can, but not really, you can only hypothesize. Here you have to be born and survive to a proper adulthood if your that fortunate, man or beast, maybe then you will be granted the knowing of what is coming down the wind, sometime it’s better not to know.

I unfortunately or fortunately wasn’t born here nor did I have to fight to reach adulthood as everything born here is destined to do. Tealeaves were cast and read, the Display Window orchestrated as to effect my wanderings and to this place of wildness I arrived. As I look back beyond the obvious, deeper and deeper into that large dressed window that brought me here, a very complex scene continues to emerge. So I stand and gaze in so as to enlighten myself of all that Niassa is, all that she will or will not become and in this manner I have stepped into a life I will never truly be able to completely embrace as I would like. But just the same, what little I have been so graciously blessed to participate in, I truly relish as some of the best living I have ever experienced. AP