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TESTIMONIAL
Kuyenda Excitements
By
Babette - Camp Manager
22nd
August 2001
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Kuyenda is WILD...
"On the 22nd, Phil had gone out on an afternoon walk
and I had stayed in and was just getting out of the shower at
5:40pm, when 8 wild dogs chased a poor bushbuck right past the
back of our chalet and towards the kitchen. I was soaking wet
and watching this from the shower! They raced behind the
dining room and eventually caught it next to Chalet# 2 (the
one closest to the bar).
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I threw on some clothes and ran barefooted to the dining room
where they tore it to bits about 15 feet from our dining
table! As they demolished it, they tugged it from the dining
room, and then down towards Chalet #1 (the one facing the big
open plain). The chef, bedroom attendant and I were within
feet of this all, and at one point one of the dogs took a few
steps towards us and growled several times at us...AWESOME at
such close range!! We crept by them and into chalet 1 where we
watched them just beyond where the 2 chairs and table outside
were placed.
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| Phil
then came back with the clients about 10 minutes later, as the
dogs were finishing up the last scraps of bone. Everyone got
superb views and were thrilled as you can imagine. I am still
stunned over having witnessed it all at such close proximity.
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That night a big bull elephant raided our kitchen and
partially dislodged
the roof, got into our store trunk and into icing sugar,
pasta, cereal,
carrot cake and all the rest that appealed to him, making a
great mess. He
broke through part of the wall and searched around with his
trunk to find
what he wanted.
Phil was on his way down the following day
(now the 24th)
with a building team to repair the roof, and got a message at
Mfuwe that the
ele had returned the previous night (we were out of camp for 2
nights
with no clients) and had COMPLETELY destroyed the kitchen. He
broke down
the wall to get at the trunk he had robbed the night before,
and
consequently pulled the roof down, smashing all sorts of
things. |
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| He pulled
out both metal trunks, and TRASHED them...you should see the
mangled bits of
metal he left for us. The 2 guys staying in camp at the time
said the racket
was horrific from 11PM to 2AM as he rampaged and smashed
everything! We
presume he came back looking for more carrot cake, and was
ticked off not to
find any!
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Phil then left at 5:30pm that afternoon to return to Chinzombo
where we live in Mfuwe and we learned the next day that 10 minutes after he left, 4 wilddogs came
back and did the same thing, catching another bushbuck just near their staff house
as the 2 guys both watched. A repeat of the scene only 48 hours later, and
again at very close range.
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Meanwhile there was a big bush fire raging close to camp, and
later that same evening Andy was on his way back from Chamilandu about
9:00pm and was worried about the fire so came to have a look to make sure our camp was not endangered.
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As he crossed the sand river into camp, a big leopard was walking on the
track in front of him, and a group of buffalo were on the lawn right in front of the dining room. The fire turned out
not to be threatening as it was on the opposite side of the
Manze, but
meanwhile Andy had some great game viewing!
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THEN, the next morning at 7:00am, 5 Wild dogs came back and ran
between all the chalets for an hour looking for more bushbuck! But they were
not successful and have not been back today.
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We think they must have a den
nearby as one of the females was very pregnant back in June and surely has had
pups by now. This was on the 25th, so all in all it has been amazing to say
the least. Last night we were back with 5 guests and the ele
returned to the scene of the crime.
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Phil had to jump in the vehicle at 1230 to
chase him
off, as he is really persistent about getting back in. We have
left the 2
mangled trunks out in the open in hopes that he will think
there is nothing
else, but doubt if this ploy will work. I am sure he will be
back tonight.
It was an unfortunate 2 nights for us to be gone as we
undoubtedly could
have stopped the ele with the vehicle, AND we would have seen
the dogs again
twice! It all keeps us on our toes!
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7th September 2001
This morning (Sep 7) at 3AM a big male leopard caught a
bushbuck NEXT TO
CHALET 2!
(about 3 feet from the bathroom wall!) One of our guides
happened to be here
for the night sleeping in that chalet. He sat up in bed and
could see the
leopard with the kill RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS WINDOW! He did not
want to
disturb it so stayed still in bed until the leopard began to
drag the kill
away from his door and towards the bar. |
| He dragged it right
past the bar
(the drag mark is still very clearly imprinted in the sand
along with leopard pug marks), literally 5 feet from where I
am sitting at
the table. He carried on over to our house, where he took it
up the big
tree
that shades our chalet.
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| Phil was awake by this time having
heard the
scrabbling up the tree, and was by the vehicle with the
spotlight on it. I
was in a deep sleep and did not hear a thing. Eventually he was able to wake me by whispering as loud as he
could so as
not to disturb the leopard, and we stood by the vehicle with
the
leopard in clear sight only a few metres away.
We then moved
back into the chalet and through to our open air bathroom where we
could watch him just overhead in the tree. Just couldn't
believe our eyes. The leopard could see us clearly as it was bright
moonlight, but he was uneasy so we crept back into the chalet peeking through
the chicken wire. He came down the tree leaving the kill up there, then
returned a few minutes later and went back up the tree. By now the other
guide has awakened the clients (4:00am) and got them in the vehicle where they drove
right next to our house and got superlative views of this leopard at close
range. Eventually, he dropped the kill from the tree, and leapt down
to pick it up and drag it off to the thicket behind our chalet.
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This evening once it got dark, we drove back into the thicket
about 30 meters behind our chalet. We drove slowly around it and
suddenly a rusting of something large through the leaves on the ground startled
us. Out came a large crocodile who hustled out of there and slid back into
the nearby pool.
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Meanwhile we drove around the other side of the thicket which
has a large
mahogany tree growing through the middle.
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It was very dense
but from this
side we could see a bit through and to the large trunk of the
tree. Within a
few minutes, we heard a rustle in the dense foliage overhead
and leaves
started to drop as the leopard began slowly descending down
the trunk. He
was very relaxed and stood just above the base of the tree,
then quietly
leapt down to the ground and stood in clear view before
wandering off into
the darkness. We had wonderful views of him ~ truly a
magnificent specimen!
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So the Kuyenda kill tally so far this season is as follows:
*Wild dogs
*2 Bushbuck in camp
*4 Impala very nearby
*Lion
*1 Warthog in front of camp
*Leopard
*1 Bushbuck in camp
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Never a dull moment!
All the best,
Babette Host of Kuyenda Bushcamp
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