Chongwe River Lodge Blog

There has been plenty of activity over the last week or so and guests have been lucky enough to enjoy numerous leopard sightings.  One is the female with cubs, although she is still keeping the cubs hidden but we have seen evidence of them via their spoor.  The female was spotted two nights in a row in between the kitchen and house.  She was sniffing the air appreciatively which made us wonder if she could smell dinner being prepared.  She was then spotted with a baboon kill up a tree near a site we normally use for a bush dinner – we were rather hoping she’d killed a baboon who has been giving us problems, but that would have been too easy. Unwilling to frighten her away from her kill we choose another venue for dinner.

The next morning a large male leopard killed a male impala near the watering hole between camp and house, and dragged it into the thicket nearby.  He is rather skittish and retreated further into the bushes.  It’s widely believed that he is the father of the two cubs.

Elephant activity has also been plentiful with some magical moments and very close interaction.  Guests were sat on the deck when a large male decided to wander up the steps onto the terrace to sample a delicious looking tree – the winterthorn pods are ripe and a favourite for the elephants.  It is quite incredible how such huge creatures can gently pick their way around furniture, walls, decks and steps to get to their favourite bar snack!

There are literally hundreds of elephants around at the moment – often wandering through the different properties, using the sprinkler systems, the ponds, water holes and river to their full advantage.  Elephants communicate through a low deep rumbling – it can be very loud or barely audible but they can hear it for miles away.  We are very fortunate to have some incredibly special moments with these majestic wild animals and whilst some can appear very mellow it’s advisable to keep reminding ourselves and our guests that they are unpredictable.

From time to time a very grumpy elephant or two, pass through,  protesting loudly at anything that moves and charging without any warning.

We have had some rare sightings in the last week, pel’s fishing owl, bush pigs and samongo monkey’s.

The hippo that died up stream weeks ago if finally being feasted upon by the crocodiles – they have waited very patiently for the tough hide to soften (by rotting). The feeding frenzy is violent but spectacular and good entertainment for strong stomached guests.

Early the other morning what appeared on the surface to be a panicked hippo hit the water,was in fact a crocodile kill.  An unsuspecting bush buck was plucked from the river bank and probably never knew what hit it.  The splashing was monumentous & dramatic, after a short while the croc submerged and the water was still, UNTIL, after approximately 30 mins, the croc reared out of the water, and crashed sideways into a death roll. It’s large tail hitting the water with a force that would have stunned anything that dared get in the way.

The kudu around the game management area are relatively relaxed and don’t bolt off into the bushes so we have had some lovely sightings close up.  These two were spotted courting.  She was coy and feigning disinterest as she nibbled the bushes, tail slightly raised.  He was distracted and not at all interested in eating and kept on giving her gentle nudges.  She carried on ignoring him but continued to let him fuss over her.  A fairly large mixed group are often seen around the camps – it is quite rare to see them so relaxed and they are wonderful to watch, despite being a little skittish.

Back to leopards and we were stunned the other night when there was a commotion outside house – we went to investigate and it looked like an impala was fighting with another, on second glance the impala was stood up seemingly on top of another animal.  What we then realised, was that there was a male leopard attached to the impalas throat from the underneath. Seconds later the impala was flat out and the leopard patiently hung on until the impala died. It was swift, clean and relatively quick.  We were speechless with the closeness of the whole kill, heart rates raised and adrenaline pumping through our bodies.  The leopard then dragged the kill a little distance away under a tree.  The next morning, with new guests arriving we decided to move the kill a safe distance away – we didn’t want to scare the leopard off and we didn’t want to put our guests in danger.  We had a few days of exciting viewings, especially as the female came across the kill and decided to share it.  This presented no problem initially until the male returned and became very possessive about his prize and a mighty row erupted.  Snarls, grows and spits were heard whilst guests enjoyed dinner on the deck, all the more thrilling with leopards fighting nearby, The next morning the kill had disappeared – it is believed that the male moved the kill for his own consumption.

And as well as these superb viewings guests saw the large pride of lions in the National Park, porcupine, buffalo, hundreds of elephants with babies, hippos, huge crocodiles, elephant shrew, leopard tortoise, lion ants, fish eagles, bee eaters, ground hornbills, warthog, baboons, vervet monkeys and so much more.