Excitement in the Madusadona

On the South Shore of Lake Kariba

lies the astonishingly beautiful

Madusadona National Park.

How lucky can I get?

As my guide I was able to hire the renowned Zimbabwean: Gavin Ford.

Himself a talented Photographer and famed Guide, he promised to do his very best to find the elusive Rhinoceros.

We were anchored on the South shore of Lake Kariba in Kel's well equipped and spacious houseboat. ( Kel called it: "Costa Lota).

There was Kel, his lovely wife Tina, my friend from Toronto, John, Gavin and I.

A canoe served as transport for the short distance from the houseboat to the shore and back, and, so was the plan, Gavin, John and I would go on three single-days hikes, returning each night to the houseboat for dinner and the sleep-over to the next morning.

Each of our hikes was to be laid out in an oval, cloverleaf-like route, which would bring us back to the canoe for the short paddle to the houseboat.

The Madusadona National Park is famous for its multitudes of wildlife. From the mighty Elephant, to the little Dik-Dik or Clip Springer, and everything in between.

Our main objective was, of course, the rarer than rare 'Rhino.'

The 'White Rhino' which, so the guessing goes, gets its name from the Dutch word for

'Wijd' or 'wide' due to its broad jaw structure.

For simplicity's sake, the other type was referred to as the 'Black Rhino' although there is really no significant difference in coloration between the two kinds.

There were, of course, Birds of all kinds and shapes and colors and calls.

True to the Madusadona's reputation we encountered a herd of 'Cape Buffalo',

Impala, more than we could count, Waterbuck, Kudu, Elephants.

Name the East African animal! We saw it.

“I've seen some spoor of Rhino” Gavin said. “But they were at least three days old and indistinct.”

“Maybe we'll have more luck this afternoon or tomorrow” I carefully expressed my hope.

We walked up a small rise when Gavin stopped in his tracks.

“Look down there! A Cheetah chasing and Imp.”

Even with my longest tele lens, the pictures I got were from too far away, the hunter and the hunted too small to be included here.

“She's dragging the Imp into the bushes. Let's see how close we can get without disturbing her at her meal.”

Luck, again, was with us. We reached a berm, close enough, with some small trees and bushes.

My 800 mm lens got a very good work out and proved to be a fine optical instrument.

The Cheetah was relaxing after her long chase.

She carefully scanned her surroundings.

When she saw us, she stared right at us. Good and long.

Licking her chops, she obviously looked forward to her meal.

Then she brought her victim out into the open. A female Impala.

"A Cheetah" so Gavin explained, "often gets to devour only 10 to 15 percent of her kill. Then the scavengers come: Hyenas, Vultures or Lions. The Cheetah will not try to fight off her competitors.

Her strength is her speed. She therefore cannot afford to suffer an injury in her legs."

*****************

During the afternoon a small herd of Cape Buffalo got a bit too close.

For a better photographic shooting angle I moved a bit closer to the Buffalo.

"Don't get too close" Gavin warned me. "Buff count among the most dangerous animals.

They are totally unpredictable and attack sometimes without any provocation"

"I suppose that our presence in their territory is provocation enough" I said.

"Here you are probably quite right" Gavin allowed.

This Buffalo does not carry the leaved branch in his right horn for decoration.😮😀

He suddenly appeared, crashing through the bush. Gavin and I withdrew hastily and silently.

The Cape Buffalo is said to be the most dangerous land animal in Africa 

Oh Yeah?

As far as I could make out, they were just curious.

***********************

If you want to tell me that Buffalo and Butterfly

have nothing in common you'd be wrong:

They both start with 'Bu'

**********************

The afternoon of the third day came close and we had not seen a Rhino.

This morning we had noticed fresh spoor, but …. no Rhino.

The time for which I had hired Gavin was to end at noon on the third day and he could not extend this time, since he had contracted to guide another party in Chizarira.

He needed preparation and travel time and needed to return to the houseboat and from there with his 25hp outboard to Chiz.

John had decided to stay at the houseboat. Gavin and I were alone in the Madusadona.

“Okay, Bert, I'm so sorry. I could not show you the promised Rhino, but we have to leave now” He said.

“I understand that you have to leave. However, I will stay right here till about five. Please tell Kel to pick me up at the usual site .”

A big discussion followed, during which Gavin insisted that it was strictly against the rules of guiding, to leave a client alone and not bring him to a save haven.

“As of noon today our contract is over” I argued, “and I'll do what I want to do with my time afterwards. Please just tell Kel to pick me up at five.”

“I promise that I'll leave this place a half hour before, so that I get to the pick-up place on time.”

There was more arguing back and forth and Gavin most reluctantly left me there.

He looked back several times until I lost sight of him.

Within meters of our sighting of the fresh Rhino spoor there was dense Maponi growth.

A sturdy tree and bushes had grown there.

I took a long drink of water and munched on the last sandwich, while I observed a train of carpenter ants working their way South.

Then it was time to arrange my photographic equipment:

One camera with the longest lens attached was mounted on the tripod, the second with the up to 300mm zoom and the third with a wide angle lens hung around my neck.

By this time it was about 1 PM.

I gathered as many leaved branches as were close by and built a quasi blind.

Settling on a fallen Maponi branch, I waited for things to come.

An entire procession of wildlife marched by:

A family of Warthogs, … but no Rhino-

Waterbuck, the inevitable Impala..... but no Rhino..

a Silver-backed low-slung Badger, a Black-backed Jackal, … But No Rhino.

The Sun was already beginning to hang low.

It was 4.30 .

In half an hour it would be the end of this day and... No Rhino

I was thinking of stashing my camera gear away, sipping what little was left in the water bottle, and make for the house boat, when I saw a gray shape in the underbrush.

Would you believe it? With practically minutes to spare, this magnificent Rhinoceros appeared. Slowly it came from the opposite brush line, in a straight line towards me.

My 800 mm lens brought the big animal too close.

The 300 zoom just did the trick.

And here below are the results:

The first gray shape appears from the Maponi thicket.

I notice it only because it moves.

It comes into the open

makes a slight turn and

seems to be heading toward me.

It comes to the termite mounds -

it turns sideways as if to give me a full profile shot.

This beautiful animal is almost extinct, due to the hunting

to harvest the horn, which in China is thought to have magical curative properties.

It is therefore proven to be of greatest importance:

For a successful Safari you must have:

a.) A good Guide

b.) Good, well maintained Cameras and Lenses.

c.) Great Weather and

d.) most important: a heap of luck.