Davison's Camp - December 2011
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Weather and Landscape
The most beautiful thing about this time of year are the hundreds, indeed thousands of butterflies flying around - they move across the landscape and look like nature's confetti, celebrating the wet season. Hwange has undergone a huge transformation and the dry season is nothing but a distant memory.
At the moment the grass is at a nice height and almost looks like it has been mowed! The many varieties of wild flowers appearing include red witch-weed, flame lily, devil thorn and water thick-head to name but a few. The bush is dappled with all these vibrant colours transforming the area into a collage of summer pastel shades. At the beginning of the month the trees were looking vibrant and lush until a little caterpillar called the pallid emperor emerged and ate all the leaves of the ordeal trees and red syringa.
In terms of weather, most mornings were warm and humid, which resulted in a build-up of clouds in the afternoons with showers occurring most afternoons. This time of the year is never predictable as it can rain at any time, so the ponchos are always in the Land Rover and if you don't mind, getting a little wet can be fun! The storms roll in in the early evenings in their blue black majesty with awe-inspiring displays of lightning and thunder - there is nothing quite like an African thunderstorm.
Wildlife
A new season has been born with the onset of the rains bringing in new life. The wildebeest, impala and eland have started giving birth and there are now many calves in all the herds. Little baby chameleons have been spotted at night with a spotlight and a keen eye, hanging off the long grass. Terrapins inhabit the many rain-filled pans and duck underwater as the Land Rovers go through on the game drives. The "sundowner" moths are out in full force, quite eager to share your glass of wine at the dinner table! Reading can be distracting at night with the many other varieties of insects been attracted by your head lamp.
Large numbers of elephant have been seen, which is quite unusual for this time of the year, as they usually disperse throughout Hwange once the rains arrive. Ngamo Pan currently resembles a golf course, as it is covered in a carpet of lush green grass and is teeming with life. We were lucky enough to spot a honey badger here during a night drive.
The predators have not disappointed, and the lion prides have been seen on numerous occasions. Some guests sat in a vehicle close to a big male lion for half an hour whilst he yawned and showed off his sharp pearly whites. Leopards have been seen slinking through the bush during the day and night. A special treat has been the sighting of four cheetah moving around together looking for their next meal.
The zebra pictured above, has become know to all in the area as 'Marble' and has been seen on a regular basis throughout the month. As seen in the picture, the stallion has a very strange stripe pattern. Read more about such aberrant patterning here.
Birds and Birding
At this time of year the bird life steals the spotlight as the Intra-African migrants and Palaearctic migrants come for the festive wet season. The African Spoonbills are sifting through the water in all of the pans, and the Southern Carmine Bee-eaters are in aerial pursuit of the many insects the vehicle disturbs on route through the open grasslands. Racket-tailed Rollers are now seen once again quite often along with the European Roller.
Camp News
The festive season infected all who were at Davison's Camp over this special time of year. The kids in camp were entertained by various activities between game drives and even ate together in a special festive kiddies' boma. All in all, the festive season was magical at camp and was characterised by much fun and laughter.
The camp would also like to thank and welcome Lorraine Maritz, who helped create scrumptious meals throughout the festive season. She will be travelling through to all of the Zimbabwe Camps.
Guest Comments
"Beds were wonderful. Staff were awesome. Game Drives Tremendous. Livingstone was an exceptional guide, very careful with us "old" folks. Also willing to help with everything." Mr Francis.
"The warm friendly staff were super accommodating and made us welcome the whole stay. We really loved every minute of our stay. Seeing the male lion at close quarters was spectacular and just absorbing the environment was relaxing and rewarding." Ron and Kymba.
Staff in Camp
Managers: Andre', Tammy, Ivan and Christie.
Guides: Bryan, Godfrey, Brian, Robert and Livingstone | |
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