MDONYA OLD RIVER CAMP

Sightings of the month

The cold nights might keep us close to the fire or tucked up under a warm blanket but the nocturnal animals have been active within the camp and many a night we have fallen asleep to the bush lullaby of lions roaring and hyenas howling nearby. Seeing the animal tracks along the camp paths gives us an insight in to what has occurred during the night such as a pride of lions with cubs passing through camp, a leopard going for a drink from the waterhole or a hyena on the prowl.

Days have been filled with monkeys playing in the trees and swinging on tent poles – watch the video -, while herds of impala quietly graze along the old riverbed. Elephant bulls wonder through the camp showing off their strength and size by shaking the trees to then pick up and eat the fallen seed pods. One family herd of elephants with a calf of about 1.5 years are residing in the camp much to our delight.

Our guests have had spectacular wildlife sightings this month with highlights being a young female leopard stalking, killing and eating a hyrax, watching a cheetah take down an impala with impressive speed, and seeing two prides of lions fighting over a dead giraffe in the early morning light.

By Rebecca, Andrea and all Mdonya Team.

LAKE MANZE CAMP

Sightings of the month

July started with a rather unexpected short rain storm cooling down the afternoon with the guests on the game drives really appreciating the cooling down effect. With the rain came an array of insects and even a few baboon spiders announcing their presence.

We were lucky enough to meet young Dundee on a couple of occasions. He is an elephant that is about two and a half years old, tailless and has a shorter trunk, parading around as if he owns the place. His antics are a joy to watch and have had the guests in stitches at times.

Our resident Genet has dropped in on a couple occasions surprising guests during dinner time. Hopefully we can get a photo to post soon.

Birdlife is on the increase with the outlying water sources slowly but surely drying up. The boat safaris have in particular given the guests a lot of opportunities for great photography of the Fish Eagles, White Fronted Bea Eaters, Kingfishers in hover mode, Pelicans and the teacher like Maribu Stork .

Lion sightings have been in abundance but the elusive wild dogs have not appeared yet. If history repeats itself they should be around towards the end of August. We are all keeping our fingers crossed. Watch this space.

Thanks from the Lake Manze team and we hope to see all our July Guests sometime again in the future. Safe travels.
See you all soon,
By Shaun, Milinda and all Manze Team.

FANJOVE PRIVATE ISLAND

News from the water side

July has been a month of many surprises at Fanjove.
We are really proud to witness the continuing day by day healthy growth of our reef, just a few meters away from our beach.
This truly indicates that our commitment towards protecting our environment is a continuous success.
Fanjove’s record on turtles’ hatching hit a non previous number, with a total of 7 nests spread all around the island shore.
Walking with our guests and digging the nests was a truly amazing experience.
We have reported almost 95% hatched turtles so far.

The yearly Kusi has been a very pleasant, cooling and refreshing wind, blowing gently over the island and allowing our traditional dhows to sail with the guests either to visit dolphins or for snorkeling trips.
At sunset, everyone was pleased watching the schools of thousands of sardines while enjoying their dawas (a popular Tanzanian cocktail).

We also had a surprise visit from a Brazilian TV crew sailing the Indian Ocean making a 13 episodes documenting kite surfing in the region. They arrived from Mozambique and spent 2 nights on the island and were blown away by the colors of the ocean and the historic Lighthouse and the island itself. Part of their advanced photography and filming equipment was a drone that was used to create a stunning film of Fanjove from high above and the footage was marvelous.

I think that the best way to put into words the beauty and magic of Fanjove is by quoting one of our guests:
“ Fanjove, the blues that got rid of the blues”

By Sal, Hassan, Hakim and all Fanjove Team.