Shenton Family Newsletter - September 2020

What a year! C19, the invisible hand that has played with our world seems to be gradually coming under control and hopefully by next season will be tamed. Then we can share again the incredible wild spaces around Kaingo and Mwamba, that we have been the privileged guardians of for the past 28 years.

Derek, Saphire and Jayabella at the entrance of the Kaingo Ebony Grove.

Jules, the kids (Saphire and Jayabella) and I, had the last 6 weeks in camp to ourselves. With no guests but the area teeming with game as usual we took our time game viewing and absorbing the beauty of the Park. Jules spent quality time helping Jaya and Fire refine their photographic skills and some of their shots are in this newsletter.

Learning new skills
Camp fire long-exposures - Jayabella Shenton

Giraffe in the sunset - Jayabella Shenton

Sharpening skills
Leopard sunset silhouette - Saphire Shenton

Misty mopane forest at Mwamba on the way to Numbu - Jayabella Shenton

July and August are some of the best months being quite cool at night but warm by day. We travelled far into the hinterland of the park on several occasions to keep an eye out for signs of poachers as there are so few cars moving around the park right now.

Lovely sighting on Lion Plains of baby Zebra. Unsteady on the black cotton soil of the plains, but frolicking on the smooth terrain of our graded roads. The baby Zebra nearly got kicked when it got a bit too close to another mare, but it's mother charged in to protect it.
Images by Juliet Shenton

July was as usual ‘leopard month’ and we had many sightings of them and on one occasion 4 at one location. Close to the hippo hide our big male, Tyson, was in the process of courting and then mating with two females, Kuita and the smaller ‘ Shy Girl’, when Chipazua interrupted proceedings to see what all the commotion was about. Having ascertained who was who and not being at all interested in playing third fiddle, Chipazua soon returned to her usual side of the Mwamba stream.

Tyson and Shy Girl mating pair - Juliet Shenton

Chiphadzuwa coming to check on the commotion and scent mark close to the mating pair - Juliet Shenton

Our leopard sightings included kills; patrolling leopards calling, hunts, mating and plenty of modelling sessions with Chipazua, who seems to love human company and chooses to spend a lot of time with us. Our two resident camp leopards at Kaingo took proximity to a whole new level this year…

Magical Luangwa River backdrop sessions with Chiphadzuwa - Juliet Shenton

Early one morning Kudeka, the 3 year old male, son to Kuita who hangs around Kaingo and the ebony grove was spotted first by monkeys and then by us. He was right in the top of the huge ebony tree overhanging the dining room Chitenge at Kaingo! He remained up there unperturbed the whole day while we carried on our normal day 15m below, walking and chatting and looking up at him! At 5pm he looked at us quizzically as we had a sundowner underneath him with the girls taking shots, and then slipped away after dark. He is very accustomed to us as we have had interactions with him since he was a newborn cub. Kuita, his mother, is so vocal around camp both morning and night that we decided to rename her from ‘Mama Kaingo’ to ‘Kuita’ - The One who Calls.

Kudeka above the Kaingo Chitenge staring down some Vervet monkeys - Saphire Shenton

One mid-afternoon James Zulu spotted Kuita laying down literally 15m from the outside laundry at our house. Only when Jules, the girls and I approached on foot to within about 10m did she slowly get up only to lay down behind a nearby anthill a few metres further back. There was no threatening behaviour and she continues to patrol every evening making life difficult for the many bushbuck in the thickets around camp. Here she is in camp one night, I asked Jules to snap the photo of her with the trusty John Deere tractor we use for all the road grading.

Kuita walking through the camp and past Derek's John Deere tractor - Juliet Shenton

Our Zambian team were in camp on short rotations to keep up the spirits and simple tasks of the normally busy safari camp. After the early weeks the constantly exchanged phrase of ‘ Sorry Boss, Corona waipa’ (Corona too bad Boss) changed to ‘2021 tuzafika bwino’ (next year will be better).

Hilarious baby elephant interaction where the youngster charged the vehicle whilst aunts and mother where extremely relaxed - Saphire Shenton

Charging baby elephant - Juliet Shenton

CSL (Conservation South Luangwa) are doing a great job of sending out the regular patrols we sponsor into our area and we also saw their spotting plane overhead several times during out stay. This protection plus the long rains has done well by the game. The open grassy - wafwa areas along the river are neck to neck in game, and owing to the heavy late rains there is still so much game in the back country, so this is a healthy sign.

Beautiful mornings spent at the Ebony Forest - Juliet Shenton

Kudeka in a kigelia tree with her impala kill - Saphire Shenton

May I take this opportunity to offer our deepest gratitude for the incredibly generous support given to us after our June call for assistance. We were truly humbled by your response. Kaingo and Mwamba definitely has its own unique and passionate alumni. Thank you to all those who have donated so far.

Puku and giraffe in the mexican poppy - Juliet Shenton

Magical sunsets at "The Confluence" on the edge of Kaingo's Ebony Grove - Jayabella Shenton

Elephants walking out of he Ebony Grove and Hippo yawn in the sunset - Juliet Shenton

Elephant herd walking down through Kaingo's Ebony Grove to The Confluence - Jayabella Shenton

We wish to reassure you that we are endeavouring to keep our part of the park in as good a condition as when any of you were last with us, so thank you everyone! The road network is in and we will maintain it allowing super rapid access for the anti-poaching teams, the patrols will continue and the game is thriving around the camps. We will all get through this and you will come back to an area as rich as it was when you left it. Thank you again!

Relaxed baboons at Fish Eagle Lagoon - Juliet Shenton

The Mwamba/Kaingo pride has 12 strong females 3 of which are pregnant and are being covered by 2 of the so called ‘nomads’ who have clearly done a good job of settling in. The prides’ two cubs of last year a male and a female are both looking strong. The Hollywood females are being squeezed towards the river around Elephant bend but are so far maintaining themselves with the rich pickings of puku and impala up on ‘The Shelf’. A day trip to Ndao lagoon along the 040 via the Baobab forest revealed tracks of the Kapanda pride. We were also fortunate to see over 20 roan antelope in excellent condition, which was exciting.

Herd of roan out on the 040 - Juliet Shenton

Mwamba/Kaingo Pride - Juliet Shenton

We saw one of the biggest tuskers in years along the Chamboa river in early August and have been enjoying watching the crossings from the elephant hide just down from camp. As the park is so quiet we have a choice of sites to set the Carmine Hide on. There is a huge colony developing opposite Fish Eagle lagoon, which will be shared with the only 2 guests of September coming in shortly for 3 days.

Fishing party - Saphire Shenton

Fishing party - Juliet Shenton

2020 brought another incredible moment for me as a naturalist and a father, as Saphire became legal walking age. I will pause here to let her share that experience with you.

Turning twelve has got lots of advantages. Staying at Kaingo this year for six weeks in July and August has allowed me to do so many things I hadn’t done before. I got to take my family on game drives while my dad was coaching me with guiding; learn so much more about the bush; take photos with my Mum on drives and in hides, and I also got to go on my first walking safari with my Dad.

For my first walk we walked from the bush breakfast site back to camp. As we started off our walk I realised how different it was, seeing all the places I had seen a million times before from a different perspective. Walking through the grove under the Ebony trees without the constriction of a car made me really appreciate the small creatures, for example different kinds of birds and insects. I also loved getting to know whose tracks were whose, learning leopard tracks from lion and hyena. We went on many other walks, including one to Mwamba from Kaingo, just like our guests do when they’re moving between the camps. On three different walks we saw lions on foot, which was the most thrilling thing. My favourite walk was along the Lubi River, I loved seeing the different terrain as the river wound its way through the bush. We had an exciting encounter with an elephant on that walk, but Dad said not to tell my Mum!

From the top of the bank we watched a young bull elephant dig for water in the sand. He then came up the bank towards us so we quickly had to jump back down. He moved off, a little bit surprised as he hadn't realised we were so close to him. I learned that one of the tricks of the bush on foot is to keep very still and very quiet so as not to be seen. On the way back I learned how to check the wind direction, by kicking my boot into the dust. My dad told me to always approach game from downwind and to listen out for the sound of the “Nyamvi” – the Oxpecker - as it indicates the presence of big game, often buffalo or hippo.

On this holiday I took lots of photos and thanks to my Mum’s directions I managed to take a few good ones, which I’ll show you here.
Stay safe with your families and I look forward to seeing you next year.

19^th of August was a big day for Jules and myself. We celebrated our 15^th wedding anniversary by reaffirming our vows under the same curved Ebony Tree in the same cathedral of Ebonies where we tied the knot in 2005.

Derek & Juliet renewing their vows in Kaingo's Ebony Grove.

Time moves like a jet plane. 15 years on we had our two daughters with us throwing sausage tree flowers as we re-enacted the ceremony while baboons, antelope, giraffe and elephants looked on from the fringes of the forest. What a great day!

A collection of black and white images - Juliet Shenton

Zambians have some great expressions one of which is ‘ at least…’ This is used to describe in a positive way the best of a bad situation. Whilst our guests have not been able to return en masse just yet, we’re thrilled to have a BBC film team of 4 coming out for a month in mid September…at least! We’ve worked with the BBC for over 20 years and we can’t wait to have the crew in, it will be fantastic to have some bustle in the camp again.

Buffalo drinking at Wild Dog Lagoon Hide - Saphire Shenton

Reflections of a kudu at Wild Dog Lagoon Hide - Juliet Shenton

Kudu drinking at Wild Dog Lagoon Hide - Saphire Shenton

Openbill stork at Wild Dog Lagoon - Juliet Shenton

Patrick, Sylvester, Yorum and Hendrix are looking forward to a bit of bush time and will be guiding the natural history cinematographers for over a month.

Elephants tussle viewed from the Elephant Hide Platform - Juliet Shenton

Elephants drinking and crossing - Juliet Shenton

Lion on the Lion Wafa Shelf - Juliet Shenton

Our staff have been getting on with family life at home, and trying to cope with the strange times that everyone on planet Earth is dealing with. We are all in this together. Yvonne, Catherine, Gerard from their home countries. Agata has just arrived in Zambia and is heading into camp to help the film crew and look after our incoming guests. You will hear more from her next month.

Patrick enjoying guiding for a family from Lusaka - Juliet Shenton

Impala frolicking on the Lion Wafa Shelf - Juliet Shenton

Vultures overlooking a buffalo carcass on Fish Eagle Lagoon - Juliet Shenton

Lilian's Lovebird on Mwamba Extension - Juliet Shenton

From all of us at Kaingo and Mwamba, we sincerely wish you the best of health and the speediest possible return to normality wherever you may be.

Tuzaonana...we shall meet again..
The Shenton Family