Sep-Nov 2006

In a quick catch-up page Alex brings us a couple of highlights and lowlights from the last three months...

Saturday, 02 September 2006

Oliver, the elephant with a twist in his tale, has been in camp all day long, slowly grazing and browsing the grass and bushes till he has taken every last fresh shoot we have. I have not been able to take a single picture because, woe of woes, my camera has packed up. My wonderful state of the art Canon EOS 1DS is bust. I have just sent off an urgent email to Canon but I think it needs to go in for repair. The camera is no longer powering on and off correctly so something is wrong with the electronics.

I have had my guys strip down the old generator today. We found the fault almost at once, a cracked bearing case on the alternator. But getting to it meant disassembling the entire generator. I thought at one point we were going to have to open the engine block but fortunately we managed to separate the alternator after some careful thinking. Knowing what the problem is though may not help in sorting it out. We still have to get the bearing cup off the crankshaft and I do not know how we are going to do that without the proper tools.

Finally, I have sent an email off to Bentley Walker in the UK giving the details of my satellite kit so that we can see how feasible it will be to change provider. It would be great to have decent service, even though it will be expensive.

I am already much settled back in camp and planning the future. It looks as though this management database could be a goer. Grant was pretty impressed when I gave him an overview the other day and would be very interested if I could make it web based. I do not see that as a huge issue.

Monday, 04 September 2006

Last night Adrian and Anna hosted a gathering at CLZ where I met Anel and Phil with their young daughter Danelle, the new managers at Kiubo. They seem a pleasant couple and I hope that they manage to stay the course better than the previous two sets of managers who were worn down by the whole enterprise. Tim Featherby, who has renamed the camp Baines River Lodge, after the painter Thomas Baines who never actually came here but painted in and around Livingstone and Luangwa.

Also there were Hugo and Bert from Kasaka, Garth and Lindsey from Chongwe House and Gary, an old friend of Chris Liedenberg’s who is looking to manage Chongwe Camp next year. Linsey’s sister Rhi (Rhiannon?) came with her boyfriend Charlie. The two of them are visiting Chongwe for a month on a free holiday and helping out as and where they can.

Tuesday, 05 September 2006

Something happened and I knew I wanted to note it down but it has slipped my mind for the moment. It may come back as I jot down my notes. Ian Parsons, the vet, is here and hoping to dart a hyena that is dragging a snare around Nkalangi Plain. He and Adrian went looking for him last night and again this morning but have not yet found it, though there was a sighting this morning.

He had originally been called in because a baby elephant was spotted with a snare right around its neck. The snare was cutting into the flesh of the poor animal and it was really suffering. Sadly it died a couple of days ago before Ian could get here and the injury was so severe it is unlikely that the animal would have made it anyway.

Poaching has encroached back to the riverfront for the first time in some years and demonstrates how weak the anti-poaching effort is at the moment. The lack of manpower is a chronic problem and right now there is no warden in charge of the Lower Zambezi Area Management Unit. The previous warden has now departed to Kafue and it seems that the Commercial Officer is currently pulling the strings in the Chirundu office with some direction from the headquarters at Chilanga.

Oh, I remember what I wanted to note. Steve Irwin, the Australian conservationist known as the Crocodile Hunter died yesterday. He was filming a documentary in Australia and was attacked by a stingray. He was 44 years old.

Tuesday, 19 September 2006

In the last two weeks I have been fretting about money and the future again. It has been a difficult time. Kelvin wrote me a letter requesting 1.5 million Kwacha for a lawyer and I have not yet decided how to reply to him. His request was so filled with self-pity and resentment that I keep deferring my reply till such time as I can coolly and calmly compose the suitable wording.

Today I received a further letter, this one from his father who has been to the Police Complaints Authority to bemoan the injustice of Kelvin’s situation. He wants me to assist by writing to the Authority myself care of him. I am not sure whether to do so or not.

Sadly, Lovemore Katebe [the assistant manager at CLZ] died last Thursday. He had tuberculosis that had remained untreated and it developed into meningitis. It was a very quick passing for which I think we, his friends and co-workers, are grateful. I shall miss Lovemore most particularly for his unique radio manner and fondness of lengthy chats. He was also a fine anti-poaching operative and effective liaison with the scouts at a grass roots level.

Adrian and Anna are in Lusaka now. The funeral was yesterday. I was in Lusaka myself on Thursday having timed my trip to coincide with the CLZ Annual General Meeting, which was cancelled. However I managed to get quite a lot done and Mweemba is busy outside now laying the paved path that I have decided to put in place before the wet season. It looks as though I have insufficient quarry stones to pave everywhere but hopefully I can have the main area pathways done.

There have been a few problems this last couple of weeks with the elephant, Oliver, who has become quite fond of this location. He actually spent two entire days in the confines of Nyala Tents, eating the grass down to the soil and pulling apart all the bushes and trees. After two days there was little left in the camp to be proud of. Eventually I chased him off when he would not let me get to my tent on the second evening and he has not been back since. I think it has more to do with the fact that he is waiting for the vegetation to return to a reasonable state than that I told him he was not welcome.

I expect that as soon as we have the lawn back in condition he will return to destroy it again. Still we have managed to keep him away from the satellite dish for now and I hope that he stays clear of it.

Speaking of the satellite, it seems that Bentley Walker can supply a service through my existing kit. It comes at a hefty price though and I do not have any money. Hopefully something will turn up soon.

Sunday, 24 September 2006

We did not get nearly enough flat stones for the pathways. We need six more tonnes, by my calculation. I cannot believe how wrong I was in guessing how many would be required. That is going to mean another big truck shipment from Lusaka. I do not have the money for that at the moment so now my camp is truly Zambian with a half finished pathway looking completely daft.

I have been feeling out of the loop recently. Things happening all around me and I do not know what is going on. My major issue is with Jones and Oliphans who have managed to get a 300 million kwacha grant for Community Camp. What is that all about? It amounts to eighty thousand dollars, forty-two thousand pounds. Personally, I would not trust those guys with a five pound note and I am completely baffled at how they managed to get this through the Tourism Council. Of course, there is a hefty amount of envy in there with my frustration and I am assuming that the grant has come at this time to coincide with elections this week. They want to buy a boat and a Landcruiser but they have no-one with a licence to drive.

October 2006

I spent the whole of October in the UK organising the sale of my flat. Though I had an offer within days of it going on the market, the lady who wanted it turned out to be rather optimistic about her financial resources. Effectively that wasted two weeks and the place was not sold by the time I had to get back to Zambia.

It was therefore a very frustrating month. Without the resources to do all the things I wanted, I found myself pacing up and down in the flat liked a caged animal. I did get the camera repaired but it cost nearly £800 and required an almost total rebuild - God knows how it went so very badly wrong.

I did not even manage to sort out my satellite connection. Of course all this means I'll have to return again when there is money in the bank to sort all the things I want to do to establish myself properly out in Zambia.

November 2006

On returning from the UK I had a meeting with HRH Chieftainess Chiawa who told me that CHICODA had received no grant as yet and if they were to it would only amount to a maximum of fifty million kwacha ($12,500/£24,000) which though still substantial is somewhat less than Oliphans was boasting. I admit a sense of relief at hearing the news because it put me back in the loop with Community Camp affairs and puts the partnership stakes back where I am in the driving seat.

The court case for the armed robbery came up on the 20th November where I gave my evidence. Kelvin sneered at me from the dock, obviously there is no loyalty or fondness left there. I eventually paid him his full dues according to his contract and he has walked away with a little over three million kwacha. This should at least cushion the blow. I still do not know if he is innocent or guilty but no-one appears to be coming forward to assist him except his parents.

Tuesday, 21 November 2006

Yesterday evening, Riccardo, Rebecca [a 19 year old who was sitting in as a hostess while Steve and Kiri the managers were away] and I were at the swimming spot that he uses so often and I have visited with him on several occasions. We were not talking about anything in particular, just valley gossip and the merits or drawbacks that it has.

Rebecca suddenly yelled out “CROC” and we all leapt up out of the water. Right behind Riccardo a small crocodile jumped from the water and spun round in surprise.

Within seconds we had all scrambled back into the boat discussing what had just happened. Amazingly, Rebecca had heard the crocodile’s hiss as it opened its mouth behind Riccardo and turned around to glance at the sound. The crocodile had sidled up directly behind him and so my view was entirely obscured by his hairy torso. Had Rebecca not heard the hiss, the first thing we would have known would have been the moment of strike and, though small, the animal could have done some serious damage.

All of us had reacted entirely instinctively to save ourselves and scrambled to the boat without thought or consideration for our friends till we knew we were safe ourselves at which point were all checking the other was Ok. Rebecca and Riccardo wanted to wreak revenge on the croc with the bullet of a 375 while I pleaded on its behalf as it was only doing what it was programmed to do.

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