“Chip-cherrrrrrrrrr” Summer is Here!

Summer is here as one of the most amazing sounding kingfishers have arrived back to Chada! The Woodland Kingfisher which is a intra –Africa migrant have return letting us know summer is here!

Till next time Justin & Jacky

What Goes Bump In The Night?.... Take 1

There is always those unidentified noises in camp, from the rustling in the leaves to something running past a tent along with those indescribable sounds that keeps one wondering what it was . Well we have decided to have some fun here in camp and with an infra red camera we have decided to try and catch “what goes bump in the night” around Chada Katavi. We will be placing the camera in numerous positions throughout camp  trying to catch all those tiny or giant night movers.

Up first is the one and only, most famous night mover the spotted hyaena.

Stay tuned for the next "what goes bump in  night" @ Chada Katavi.

Till next time Justin & Jacky

Hippo's Come Together

Every year Katavi see's the extremes of the both the rain and dry season. With the dry season in full affect we witness all the animals coming to last water holes for a drink. That is if there are any vacant watering holes left as the hippos congregate to every last pool of water.   

Hippos packed together like a can of sardines, pushing their way in for any water or mud they can get. It is a phenomenon to see.

Till next time Justin and Jacky

What a Day! Lions, Rocket stove and a Football game!

Community support and education is a big part of  Chada Katavi camp and it is always great fun when guests get involved. The White  family was super excited to visit the local community in and around Kibaoni and a morning trip was scheduled.

The morning began and as the White family was on route to Kibaoni their  trip was interrupted as they came across the Chada lion pride. What a way to start the morning! After the lions, their journey continued to a farm house outside of the village. With the help of the White family and Michael Sungula (one of our staff members and community liaison) the Malambo family received a rocket stove and were taught how to build and use it. This will slow down the deforestation on the edges of the park as it reduces the amount of trips for wood each family needs to make.

The next stop was the Kakuni Primary School, where the school had a heads up we were coming for a visit. They welcomed us with open arms and the White family was given a tour of the school and were treated to some local dances and singing as the school put on a little performance for them.

We ended our visit off with a friendly football game. The White family along with Michael and the Nomad guides played against one of the school's teams. It was loads of fun, which resulted in a nail biting game that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was a wonderful sight to see all those big smiles that filled the school.

For more information in the Nomad Trust and the Chada Katavi projects visit: 

http://www.nomad-tanzania.com

Thanks to the White family, Bryan, Christine, Jeffrey, Paul, Alex, Nick, Aris, Anthony and family friend Olivia 

Till next time, Justin & Jacky

FLAMINGO'S

 A day trip to Lake Katavi always seems to deliver something exciting. Guests have had great sightings of lion, roan, elephant and buffalo during their trip, but one cannot leave out the bird life. As the water dries up in Katavi, lake Katavi turns more into a marsh providing an excellent place for some spectacular birding. On the latest  trip guests were blessed with a beautiful sighting of the Greater Flamingo in a feeding frenzy. While the Greater Flamingo is not rare in other parts of Africa it is a rare and special sighting here in Katavi.

 

Till we fly again Justin & Jacky

Special thanks to Bryan White for supplying us with these great pictures  

Having a “BAD DAY?”

We all have them, those days of waking up on the wrong side of the bed where we can be a little more testy in the morning.  Which seems to go for elephants as well as we were joined at the office by an elephant looking for breakfast, who was nice and relaxed until we grabbed the camera! However,  he didn’t trumpet,  didn’t flap his ears or even show us any aggression. He just walked up and grabbed a cushion from in front of us and decided that he was going to take his anger out on the cushion!

 

The cushion did survive, we will have to keep it  for ‘Stomper” just in case he has one of those mornings again!

Till next time Justin & Jacky