A couple of weeks ago we got the opportunity to spend
several days at a camp in the Niassa Reserve in Northern Mozambique. We met up with some friends in Pemba, a
city on the coast north of Nampula. From
there we drove for almost 15 hours to arrive at the camp we would spend
most of our time at. It was not so much the
long distance that made the trip so long, but how slow we had to drive on the
rough roads to get there. Dave commented
that he could fly from Pemba to the airstrip located where we were headed in
just an hour and a half. Regardless, we
were in one of the most remote areas of Mozambique.
 |
| We crossed here on foot so the car wouldn't bottom out on the logs |
The long bumpy journey was worth every minute once we got
there. The camp was located on the
Lugenda River and was crawling with wildlife.
We were greeted by semi-tame serval, who had been rescued when her mother
had been taken by poachers.
 |
| Serval named Niassa |
Where we stayed is not fenced off from wildlife so elephants
came very close to the tents and we were awakened by baboons coming across the top
of our tent as they headed to the river.
 |
| Baboons heading to the river |
We were supposed to start our adventure off with a bit of
kayaking on the Lugenda River, but our guide Donald had come down with malaria,
so we ended up driving and hiking around with Nick, another guide, hoping for
some close encounters with wildlife. We were not disappointed. On our excursions we saw monkeys, impala,
water buck, elephants, bush buck, zebra, warthog, klipspringer, and kudu… And
for a bird nerd like me, I was seeing new bird species every few minutes! While we were out with Nick, he showed us lion
and hyena tracks, pointed out the smell of leopard urine where the cat had
recently marked the area we were passing through, and pointed out various tree
and flower species that were noteworthy.
 |
| Water buck |
 |
| While we were out we had 2 flat tires and got stuck in a rut...the Land Rover got us over some tough terrain! |
 |
| Lion tracks |
 |
| Little Bee-Eater |
 |
| Side-Striped Jackal |
|
 |
| Bearded Woodpecker |
At one point Nick drove off into the bush to get a little
closer to some elephants. We all piled
out of the Land Rover and hid behind a bush to watch a large herd of elephants
fairly close by. As we watched Nick
mentioned that the elephant that didn’t have tusks was probably going to be
trouble and to be ready to run back to the car if he told us to. Sure enough, this elephant faced us and began
to charge a few steps towards us… you should see how fast I can move when
properly motivated. You'll notice that Dave stopped filming while he was running!
When we came back for lunch one day, some of the workers at the camp had come across some honey in the wild and brought it back for us to try (apparently only a few stings in the process!)....YUM! We actually followed around a bird called a honey-guide whose call will lead you to honey if you follow it long enough...we didn't find the honey.
In the evenings he would take us to beautiful locations where
we could watch the sunset over the river.
As it began to get dark we could hear elephants and hippos (and we’re
pretty sure some lions) making noises in the distance. And, there is nothing like looking up at the
African night sky in a dark wilderness area.
On our way back to camp, we would spot some animals,
including various owls, civet, and even some wildebeest. Bona, our Mozambican guide, was even able to
spot chameleons and snakes with his light while we were driving in the
dark.
 |
| Giant Eagle-Owl |
Donald, who was feeling better after a couple of days, then
took us out canoeing on the Lugenda River.
While we didn’t see any crocodiles (I’m sure they were there somewhere),
we did get to see some different types of birds, a monitor lizard, and
hippos. When the river was wide, we
could calmly watch the hippos from a safe distance as we canoed by. At one point we canoed through a narrower
area known for having hippos. After
receiving instructions from Donald we stayed close together as we paddled
through the area. Sure enough, we would
see the ears and eyes of the hippos pop above the water for a few moments and
then disappear. The nervous part was not
knowing where they disappeared to. It was
an awesome experience to paddle through a few mild rapids and
in such beautiful wilderness for the day.
 |
| Watch out for the hippos! |
 |
| Saddle-Billed Stork |
 |
| White-Headed Lapwing |
|
Our last afternoon, Nick took us to a spot where we
scrambled up some rocks to look at some cave paintings. On a mountain across the way we watched some klipspringers move there way down.
 |
| Klipspringer |
 |
| Bohm's Bee-Eater |
 |
| Brown Snake Eagle |
 |
| African Fish Eagle |
 |
| Southern Ground Hornbill |
 |
| Dickinson's Kestrel |
 |
| Spotted Eagle Owl |
