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It’s Wild
By Lee Middleton
"Are you sure
it's safe?" I ask, rolling up my trousers and eyeing the enormous
hippos not 30 metres distant. A spray of water shoots fountain-like
from one of the distinctive pink-grey heads, and I recall a cardinal
rule of the African bush: thou shalt not immerse thyself in hippo
and croc-infested rivers.
"No problem,"
says John, a "transformed poacher"-turned-guide, who in the same
breath instructs me to remain between him and his axe-wielding
minion ("this young one") as we begin our slow wade across the
Luangwa River. A foolish enterprise, but for the fact that here in
Chikwa chiefdom, the Luangwa flows shallow and clear, unrecognizable
to those better acquainted with its deeper more opaque downriver
self. Here, minerals shimmer gold along a sandy bottom impressed
with the trident-shaped footprints of yellow-billed storks, all
perfectly visible in the limpid knee-deep water. Thrilled by this
semi-aquatic proximity to hippos, I forget to worry about the crocs,
whose own smooth trails stripe the sand on the opposite bank.
 In fact, this
river prelude to a bushwalk offered what I consider the ideal degree
of edginess: enough to exhilarate, but not so much to detract from
the general bliss of the situation. Exhilarating bliss - a
description that well sums up my experiences at the Luangwa Valley's
trio of "It's Wild" bushcamps.
Majority-owned
and entirely managed by local communities, the It's Wild bushcamps
materialized in 2005 with a loan from the Ministry of Tourism, and
advice and logistical support from the Community Markets for
Conservation programme (COMACO). The latter is a Wildlife
Conservation Society (WCS) venture that is protecting wildlife in
the valley by addressing food security problems, introducing
alternate livelihood skills (in part through its "transformed
poacher training"), and bringing markets to rural communities.
I confess:
I was skeptical about the level of service that would be on offer at
the camps. I'm all for "supporting the local community." But let's
be honest. When holidaying, you want your hot shower when and how
you want it, and that goes double for privacy and food.
However.
Returning from the 3-hour bushwalk, I have barely set down my camera
bag when a gentle tap at the door alerts me to the arrival of a
flask of tea (which item was my first request upon arrival the
evening prior and upon waking this morning). My doubts about
community management (already assuaged by the fluffy towels and
solicitous yet not in-your-face manner of the staff) dissolve
completely as I enjoy my brew in Chikwa's enchanted-garden
atmosphere, light dappling through the canopy of monkey-biscuit and
sausage trees, and the Luangwa's blue-green pools sparkling in the
afternoon sun. Later I discover that It's Wild managers and chefs
(yes, chefs) learned their skills from the good people at Lusaka's
Holiday Inn.
Although the
Chikwa campsite boasts an unusual tranquil beauty, the wildlife here
is not abundant. The area is still recovering from a history of
poaching that has only recently reversed. "Before, there was
nothing. It was all hunted," says Chikwa's soft-spoken manager,
whose obvious sense of ownership for the camp, and its future, is
genuinely heartwarming. "Now that we are protecting the animals, the
smaller ones have come back. The big ones are beginning to follow."
 Further down the
valley at the Chifunda and Mwanya bushcamps, the "big ones" never
left.
Zambia's
painfully blue sky flashes behind the bright green-yellow of mopani
foliage as we zip down a surprisingly decent sandy road. We pass
occasional villages nestled in the copious shade of old mango trees,
wave to the children ("bye!"), and try not to alarm our few fellow
travelers, who, loaded at least two to a bicycle, tend to veer into
the thorny bush when surprised from behind. Chikwa's manager had
explained that the area's lack of bushfires, a ubiquitous sight this
time of year, is largely due to the influence of the COMACO
programme in general, and the bushcamps in particular. "Tourists
don't like fire," he pointed out.
Arriving at
Chifunda bushcamp (a 2-hour drive from Chikwa) just before sunset,
we cross a huge dambo, startling herds of puku as we bump over the
craters of hardened elephant footprints. Lilac-breasted rollers
wheel and veer from tree to tree, and a family of warthogs meanders
impassively before suddenly skedaddling into the bush.
The journey has
proven almost as pleasant as the destination. Then again, the
destination is pretty hard to beat. One hot shower under the stars
later (en suite bathrooms adhere to the glorious southern African
tradition of alfresco ablutions), I'm ensconced in my lovely
river-view chalet (each bushcamp has two chalets, all based on the
same bring-the-outdoors-indoors model). Through the enormous
screened window, I gaze into the dark, ears attuned to the hippo
grunts and elephant-sized splashes coming from the river just a few
metres away.
At Mwanya
bushcamp, (a 2 ½-hour drive from Chifunda or Mfuwe) the chalets
overlook the sandy bed of the Luangwa's old course. Of the three
camps, Mwanya gets my vote for best bushwalk. Chifunda's location by
the pontoon into North Luangwa National Park makes for a great day
in that remote and little visited gem (highlights included a visit
to a lagoon thick with Egyptian geese, saddle-billed storks, herons,
crocs and hippos; and a stop at the sacred fig tree where the first
Chief Chifunda's mother is buried). But at Mwanya - just outside the
nearby South Luangwa National Park - one is free (literally: no park
fees) to wander the wildlife-superhighway that is the old riverbed.
Accompanied by an armed scout and trained guide, of course.
In said company,
and with the low slant of the afternoon sun causing the faintest
print to cast a shadow, the freshly zig-zagging paths of hyena,
lion, giraffe, buffalo, elephant, antelope, hippo, and all manner of
birds and smaller carnivores, set my imagination wondering. Copper
glints of sun reflect off diminishing pools of water where puku
drink next to sacred ibis and green-purple hadeda. A giraffe munches
on acacia leaves, a graceful point in the distance as we add our
tracks to the menagerie, suddenly in a hurry to return to camp
before dusk turns to dark.
 Following
another fine meal (included in the extremely low prices of the
chalets are the talents of those Holiday-Inn-trained chefs who will
prepare what you bring, or can fully cater with advance notice), we
sit around the evening fire. Boniface, our afternoon's guide and
also a transformed poacher, tells hunting stories from a previous
life, while a sliver of moon sinks through the inky sky. A male lion
that has been approaching since nightfall roars yet again, this time
just outside the camp. I listen, and take a sip of hot tea.
Exhilarating bliss indeed.
For more information about the It's Wild bushcamps or COMACO, see:
www.itswild.org
For rates or reservations at the bushcamps, contact Bushbuzz at: 260
(0)1-256992, or bush-buzz@zamnet.zm
Photographs by Lee Middleton and
Eva Klebelsberg |
September
2006