Yes, this is the right blog...

What is the opposite of Katavi?  You are looking at it.  Pennsylvania.  After five days there, we flew to Miami, rented a car and kept going south. 

In case you missed it, Chada camp is closed for the long rains and we are taking our leave.

As we write this, we are in the Florida Keys, it is 81 degrees ( Farhenheit...when in Rome...), and we are going snorkeling on the coral reefs this afternoon.

More to come...

Now You See It....

Now you don't

Chada is closing for a short while, until the swamps dry up, the grass turns yellow, the clouds roll out and the dry season returns.  Yesterday we waved goodbye to our last guests, the staff standing smart in their Chada Katavi uniforms, smiling broadly as usual.


As the landrover disappeared into the distance, the staff also disappeared into their own tents, only to reappear wearing green cover-all jumpsuits with the word Nomad stamped on the back.  And Chada was brought down in a matter of hours.

Leave nothing behind...

Chada's remoteness is nothing if not well-known, but now we are experiencing an aloneness rarely felt on earth anymore.  Where 24 hours earlier we sat in the glow of the library tent lamps, chatting with our snifter-palming guests, there is now an empty clearing in the shade of the Tamarind trees.               

Soon we too will fly away, leaving just three Chada staff to look after our little patch of wilderness, but for the next four days we will enjoy a silence we have never known.

For six months of dry season, the lions' tawny coats blended with the surrounding grasses in a perfectly matched camouflage, allowing them to roam the short grass plains while still maintaining their stealth. 

Then Katavi started turning green and the lions had to resort to more creative tactics for concealment...some more creative than others, obviously.

As we methodically study the individuals of the different Katavi lion prides, we sometimes give names to certain memorable lions.  I think we can rule out calling this one The Master of Concealment.  Maybe Captain Invisible?   

Fortunately for him, lions are social and he won't have to rely solely on his personal hunting skills to survive.