MDONYA OLD RIVER CAMP

News from the wild side

The camp has been officially invaded by all sorts of animals this month. From the shy kudus to leopards without forgetting the famous resident elephants, the camp was busy.

A pride of lions which we think is the Mwayembe pride, took down a young elephant calf to start the month in beauty. Mixed feelings were shared about it, as it is such an exceptional sight to witness but also the loss of a majestic animal. Nature can be rough sometimes but trusting it, there is always a reason why it happens.
The pride of lions was seen for almost a week, surrounded by tiny cubs and two big brothers, leading the pride with majesty. All our guests had an incredible time with them, enjoying their presence and what they were doing.

Leopards were also spotted a few times on safaris. Also, Fundi Mtoto gracefully took down an impala ram in the middle of the camp, by the office. It happened late in the night and the whole camp was awakened by the frightened animals around. In the morning, after following the clear drag marks, fresh blood strains and stomach content, we eventually found him with his prey, up a tree, a couple of meters away from our entrance. Fundi Mtoto has become a little wilder than last season, we don’t blame him at all. He has been more active doing ‘what leopards are supposed to do‘ in the wild, looking for a mate, instead of hanging around camp.

Sikio Mbovu, what a character! He has found one of main pipe buried in the middle of the camp and gave us a nice show on how to dig it out and have a fantastic time with the water coming out. But we had to only agree that after three times proving us, he could do it, he was kindly asked to not touch it again. He has also joined us a couple of times around the diner table and the fire place, loving all the attention that we gave him.
The mischievous buffalos were also spotted including a remarkable herd averaging 1000 individuals which was amazing to watch within the dust cloud they had created.

Well, overall, July has been quite an impressive month, with hundreds of elephants and amazing special sighting, also spotting a few times bat eared foxes and honey badgers, all we can say is : ‘Ruaha you will never cease to amaze us‘.

Photo credit : Ciska Mulder & Iris Gallery.

Until we meet again,

Iris, Kingsley and all Mdonya Team.

LAKE MANZE CAMP

News from Selous Game Reserve

Deep in the Tanzanian bush, just outside the Selous Game Reserve, is a small little village called Mloka, which has a small dilapidated primary school that teaches over 800 young kids the art of knowledge.
The classroom buildings of this school have obviously deteriorated over the many years to the extent that parts of the roofs had collapsed with wood rot and others dangerously close. Thanks to a caring heart and the contributions of the Cerizza family and of Lake Manze Camp, we have been able to restore two of the classrooms roofs and added a lick of paint to the walls. Thirteen new school desks have been made and donated. A brand spanking new photo copier come scanner will now enable all the young aspirant doctors, nurses and engineers that might come out of this tiny school to receive the same and own study material. There is still a lot to do.
A drop of water into a bucket does not fill the bucket but it will help to put a smile on the face of a young kid wanting to study in a suitable safe environment. Your drop of water in the bucket can make the difference, so if you want to help you can contact us for details.
Pictures of before, during and after the fixing.
         

Back to the bush. Wow, it has been awesome month with an extensive variety of sightings. For us the major happening is the brand-new baby Elephant and mom which have joined our one tusker mother group. Lots of antics and fun to watch.
Birdlife has been prolific with many a bird lover in awe at the amount and species around.
Some nice Leopard sightings around the outskirts of camp but normally only a flash as this shy creature hides to hunt.
As the season is in full swing, we look forward to welcoming all our new guests in camp and entertaining our previous guests with our newsletter.

Thanks to Antony Satheesh for sharing with us some of his beautiful pictures.

Safe travels.
By Shaun, Milinda and all Manze Team.