MDONYA OLD RIVER CAMP

News from the wild side

We have had an unusually wet month causing all the sand rivers to continuously flow and we have been able to hear the sound of the rumble of water running down the Mdonya waterfalls from camp.
The vegetation is becoming very dense and this is an excellent time for birding and for enjoying the colourful sights of the many wild flowers and butterflies.

This month our visitors have had exciting sightings of various predators.
There have been frequent sightings of two cheetah that have been hanging out along the Mdonya road and a rare sighting of a serval in the same area. There has also been a good sighting of the wild dogs after they had taken down and eaten a kudu. The wild dogs were all looking healthy and very well fed with bulging bellies.

In camp we had an exciting incident where several lions snuck in to camp during the early hours of the day and hunted a young impala right next to the office. The lions quickly finished off the impala which wasn’t much of a meal for the hungry lions and hyenas stole the small scraps that were left so that there was nothing left of the impala by first light.

The vervet monkeys in camp continue to provide much entertainment as the 3 month old baby monkeys, that have now turned a much lighter grey colour, are very playful but still stay within close reach of their mothers. Watch the video.

By Rebecca, Andrea and all Mdonya Team.

LAKE MANZE CAMP

Paradise has a new meaning

The Selous and surrounding areas has received some very welcome rain storms during the month of January which in turn has transformed the whole area into an absolute heaven on earth to the extent that you can nearly hear the grass and trees growing. This abundance in food has brought about a complete change in the surrounding areas and animals as they feast on the never ending supply.

The rain has also brought out an abundance of insects that seem to pop up all over the show allowing the Geckos and birds to join in on the supply of delicacies.

The lake has plenty of water and it is still flowing in. The boat safaris have reported some phenomenal bird sightings. For all the bird lovers out there – a must see.

There have also been some fantastic animal sightings with one particular duo of guests seeing it all on their trip from the airstrip to camp. Lions mating, two separate Leopards, eighteen Wild dogs and seven Porcupines. Not to mention the abundance of all the other animals. Their comments on arrival at camp were that they had seen it all and can now return as their lust to see as much as possible had already been satisfied. Unfortunately not everyone can be that lucky and have to do more than one drive to satisfy their expectations. The next corner always brings that new surprise.

Laygos has been around on a couple of occasions although less frequent as again there is plentiful greenery around for him to chew on. The big surprise was the 51 elephants in three separate groups that passed through camp one morning leaving the guests and staff speechless. A really super special sight.

Hope your first month into 2016 has been eventful and that your next traveling plans are well under way.

By Shaun, Milinda and all Manze Team.

FANJOVE PRIVATE ISLAND

News from conservation

We are excited to start the 2016 as our 4th year of operation at Fanjove Private Island and our 6th year of providing conservation project support for the area.
It’s rewarding to witness how we are growing in many ways as a marine conservation support entity.

The migrants birds are back, we have observed huge colonies of shore birds including crab plovers, terns and sandpiper landing on the island, part of the yearly migration.
The resident egrets are done nesting and incubated roughly 2 eggs per nest. It is great to see that the birds are enjoying legal protection.
Dolphin sightings have been fantastic, with numbers reaching over 200 circling the island from dawn to dusk.

We also recently visited one of our “colleagues” private island in Tanzania, Chumbe, which has been carrying out our similar values for conservation since over 20 years. We wanted to learn more about conservation issues related to Island and about having minimal impact on the environment as well as learn from their awareness. It was a very useful trip from which we gathered great new ides to improve our efforts and also we finally learnt how to differentiate male and female coconut crabs.

All in all, 2016 is promising to be a great year. We wish you every success.

Yours in conservation,

Hassan, Hakim and all Fanjove Team.