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Newsletter ~ August 2008
Latest newsletter was from June, so again it is time for an update.
Everything has been delayed leaving me rather frustrated. That short sentence says it all, so I could stop here, but I will add a bit of detail.
In order to get ready to accommodate guests for the inauguration of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area planned for beginning of June and subsequently postponed to 19th of June, we shifted focus from the main camp centre – the main lodge building – to the finalization of the chalets (the four safari tents intended for self catering guests).
Now by mid August the self catering chalets are functioning. We can provide basic meals for those visitors that come ‘emptyhanded’ in terms of food supply. The solar water heaters have been giving us some problems. Some times they were working, at other times strange things happened and suddenly they hold no hot water. By now we should have cleared all the obstacles….I hope. The hot water problems meant that we reduced the price from 30 US$ per person per night to 20 US$.
We have had a few guests since the KAZA TFCA inauguration, mainly campers. They have been charged only 5 US$ and they have been accommodated at the ‘self catering chalet camp’ and have been using the bathroom facilities in the chalets. The reason being that the construction of the ablution block at the camp site had been delayed and only now is becoming operational. We had set up an interim toilet and cold water shower though. In addition a small thatched dining area has been established.
Other delays? Yes, plenty. The construction of the bush camp has been delayed, or more precisely, setting up the camp has simply taken longer than expected. By now the bush kitchen, dining area, all six thatched structures for the dome tents, the two ablution blocks, a storage house, a platform for the water tank, staff houses have been constructed. In addition two viewing platforms have been put up on two big trees close to the two pools just in front of the camp. The view is very good and the platforms provide perfect relaxation areas under the tree canopy. I hope to go there soon and spend a night up there. Leopards do not climb trees, do they? Two additional platforms have been established around two other pools within a 15-20 minutes walking distance.
We intend to put up two more platforms within a 2-4 hours walking distance close to pools where we may establish overnight fly camps – with the bush camp as base camp. The idea is that after breakfast at the bush camp to take guests for a 2-3 hours walk through the bush to the first pool. Then spend a few hours having lunch and enjoy the view from the platform. From there proceed to the next pool situated another 2-3 hours walk away, where guests can relax on the viewing platform, have dinner in the open bush and then spend the night in small tents. Next morning we return to the bush camp after hopefully having had a memorable bush experience. According to the workers at my bush camp the area we will be walking through has fair game populations (they should know as they are all (ex) poachers) and although this is not Lower Zambezi or South Luangwa we should be able to see some game. Especially giraffes….so I am told.
What else? Well, construction of the library/drawing room is coming to an end. The structure is up…walls, roof, thatching….only doors, windows etc. still need to be fitted. Work on the
construction of the main lodge building was stopped for a long time
but has now resumed. Concrete pillars for the deck has been cast and
the roof structure is coming up well. Next step will be decking
followed by thatching of the whole structure.
It is especially the water and sanitation system that have taken a long time to put in place. There are too many rocks in the area! Construction of the wells – one at the bush camp and one at the river camp – have been giving us problems as ‘well’ due to hard soil and/or rocks.
Adding to all delays my own car experienced problems with the turbo and the intercooler. The intercooler was sent to South Africa for reconditioning. In principle it should have taken less than two weeks, but in practice it has now taken two months; and two months without my Nissan Patrol has been a big problem. The game drive vehicles or the Canter light truck are relatively slow vehicles and take up to five hours from Sioma to Sesheke. In my own car I can do it in less than three hours. Anyway, I hope to get it some time this week….mid August (I hope my mechanic in Livingstone reads this!).
Right now I am in Lusaka to attend to a query raised by the committee in Immigration Department looking into my Self Employment Permit application. I may however not be able to finalize the process this time as my file has been misplaced.
Adding to my growing frustrations is that I also intended to pick up my boat – a 20 feet aluminum boat with an 85 horsepower outboard engine – but so far without luck as the registration papers for the trailer has gone missing. This thing is contagious!
So, I opted to stay over the weekend. I hope for a miracle – sorry, two miracles - on Monday. If everything goes well – you can always hope – I will get out off town Tuesday morning heading back towards Sioma loaded with tools – including a big Metabo ‘rock drilling/hammer machine’ - and other equipment for the camp construction process.
So, plenty of frustrations. But then again, once you are back in camp or on one of the ‘game drives’ to the bush camp the tensions you have seem to loosen up. There is still not a lot of game around but occasionally you are lucky. Recently I have seen sable, roan, tsessebe, elephant (they even came to the river camp less than two weeks ago), steinbock, kudu, eland, zebra, impala and of course duikers. On a drive back from the bush camp some time ago I saw 2 caracals. This was the first time for me to see this animal. Isaac – my stand in manager – saw eight wild dogs one afternoon coming from the bush camp. Probably the same group as I saw beginning of January. There have been lions and wild dogs at the bush camp on several occasions and the hyenas are around the camp every evening. In the recent months there have been circulating stories of lions killing cows in nearby villages. (A pack of 12 lions allegedly killed 18 cows about a month ago…..but I somehow think this sounds too much of an ‘overkill’). A pack of lions had been at the pool at the bush camp one morning and apparently the same group later that day killed 3 cows in Mwanambao (the closest village to my camp about 10 kilometers away).
Coming from the bush camp last week Mubita, my driver, saw 10 sables, 20 elands and 10 elephants at the ‘old airstrip’ close to the bush camp.
Perhaps I should mention also the tracks from cape clawless otter at the river camp. I have not yet seen them, but they are around. So, perhaps one early morning I may succeed in spotting them.
And one last thing. We had a family from Lusaka staying at Sioma Camp two weeks ago. They confirmed what I suspected; there are a lot of Tiger fish in the river. The biggest weighed 5 kg, but plenty of others got off the hook or simply snapped the line. So, some of them are really big. The family will be back. They also saw giraffes close to the river camp.
I got lucky – not all frustrations! – and was invited on a trip in a small plane from Livingstone along the Zambezi River to Ngonye Falls, crossing over the Sioma Ngwezi National Park to Kwando River at the border/park boundary towards Angola. Very impressive views. Nice to see my camp from above, as well as of course the Ngonye Falls. The Kwando River convinced me that also that part of the park seems to have a huge tourism potential. The river is one huge wetland resembling (although I have never been there) the Okavongo delta. I have been told that there are lots of sitatungas and buffaloes living on the ‘islands’ in the river. The river itself is almost disappearing in the green and blue wetland when seen from above. Very different from the distinct course of the Zambezi River. See some of the photos of the Ngonye (Sioma) Falls and the Kwando River from above on this website. Especially the photos of the Falls are interesting as they show the actual extensiveness of the area with its various widely spread falls and rapids.
See the Gallery for a growing collection of photos. Chalets, dining place at the ‘self catering area’ of the river camp, the library/drawing room, the main lodge building, one of the viewing platforms at the bush camp etc.
That’s all for now…..and yes, I still plan to open ‘the whole thing’ by early October. By bringing – hopefully – the boat back with me this time around we will be able to offer river cruises, trips to the Falls and of course fishing trips. I am really looking forward to explore the area from the river ….in a ‘proper’ boat …I never really trusted those mokoros (dugout canoes).
See you.
Hans Christian Aaskov Sioma Camp 19th. August 2008
Update May 2008 – Construction of Sioma Camp ongoing.
It has been a while. The latest ‘newsletter’ was from end November 2007 and an update is definitively needed.
So, what has happened?
On the construction side the overall structure of the four standard chalets for mainly self drive and self catering guests are almost in place. What is remaining is to put in place the 3.60 x 4.00 meter hanging tents, install toilets, showers and washbasins plus of course put in the beds and additional furniture….then the chalets are ready for guests. Initially accommodation will be on a self catering basis. On the riverbank a thatched bush kitchen and dining area has been set up with a beautiful view of the Zambezi.
The brick and rock parts – kitchen and office/guest toilets respectively – of the main camp centre have been almost completed. Work on the deck section towards the river bank containing reception area, bar/café and restaurant has started. It is a bit difficult as the area is full of huge rocks that have to be removed in order to cast the concrete pillars where the poles will be placed. A library/drawing room with a fireplace, leather sofas and big panorama windows is under construction. I expect the library to be completed within a month i.e. early June. The main camp centre should be completed by early July.
Excavation of the swimming pool or rather pools as there will be two pools at different levels linked with a slide allowing children – and others! - to get from one pool to the next. A Jacuzzi – with cool water only – will be placed at the end of the lower pool with a view towards the river.
A basic bush camp is at the moment being established some 20 kilometers from Ngonye (Sioma) Falls. The satellite or fly camp will consist of six dome tents (3x3 meter) placed in two half circles around a campfire. A small kitchen (with an ‘underground’ oven and a home made bush stove) and a bush dining/lounge area – with a close up view over a waterhole will provide the service facilities together with two small ablution blocks. Apart from the tents everything will be made from local materials i.e. poles and grass. The work is progressing well and I expect the camp to be ready by mid June. Elephants are regular guests and hyenas are frequenting the camp at night. A shortcut from the river camp to the bush camp has been established, however as it turned out the road became quite long passing through some good wildlife spots (according to the ex-poachers who did the road clearing).
On the wildlife side sightings of roan, sable, elephant, giraffe, tsessebe, oribi, steinbock, reedbuck, honey badger, jackal, impala, eland have been reported. Beginning of January I encountered eight wild dogs on my way to my bush camp. As the inquisitive animals they are, they showed no signs of fear and although I stopped my car about one hundred meter from the pack they subsequently came as close as 20 meter. Mid April coming from Kazamu sawmill with a load of rafters we saw 2 wild dogs just a few kilometers from the river camp. Next morning one of my workers saw three wild dogs on the other side of my camp. They are fascinating animals and it is nice to have them around. This opinion is probably not shared by the duikers in the area.
End of February again on the way to the bush camp we saw a big python estimated to be more than four meters long.
There has been a recent sighting of a leopard less than 200 meters from the river camp and leopard tracks have been spotted several times less than 50 meters from the camp. Tracks of lion (including at least one big male), leopard and wild dogs around my bush camp are encouraging signs that the game population may be better off than initially expected. We were on a ‘walking safari’ down at Ijobwe pools where we saw tracks from a lioness with 4-5 cubs. The lioness had killed something…an impala or a tsessebe.
On the way to Sioma from Sesheke beginning of April a friend of mine saw two caracals, an ardvaark and lots of elephants some 15-20 kilometers from here.
Overall things are moving, although not as fast as I had hoped. With my container on the way (arrived Durban end of April) and several buildings (standard chalets, library, main camp centre) getting completed (soon only the six luxury chalets are outstanding) I hope to be able to shortly acquire permission as a tourism operator allowing me to receive the first guests around…. let’s say mid June. The whole camp I hope will be completed no later than end of September ….yes, this year. Well, I am always optimistic. Otherwise I would not be here doing what I am doing.
Latest news is that the integrated development plan for the Zambian component of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area has been endorsed by government and an inauguration ceremony will take place on the third of June. All sails are set and I hope that Sioma Camp will be ready to accommodate some of the guests.
My two Danish ex-army stock Mercedes jeeps (GD240) have been refurbished, equipped for game driving purposes, re-painted and are ready for some safari action.
I have ordered a 20 feet aluminum boat with a 85 horsepower outboard engine. The boat should be available for pick up early June in Lusaka. The boat will be used for river cruising …to the Falls and elsewhere, as well as fishing trips. I am looking forward to some relaxing sunset cruises.
Did I mention the night sky. The recent nights with a full moon rising over the Zambezi and even the stars reflected in the river. It is hard to beat that view…..
H.C. Aaskov Sioma Camp May 2008
November 2007 update – setting up Sioma Camp .
I arrived at Sioma on the 12. September. My 20 foot container with moving goods from Lusaka arrived the next day. Due to the non-negotiable nature of the soft and deep Kalahari sand offloading the container was quite cumbersome. With all the pulling, pushing, digging and winching it took more than 24 hours, mainly because the truck was not a 4x4. In the end the container was pulled down on the ground using the winch in front of my car.
Progress – let’s face it – has been slow and too slow especially considering that the rainy season has started. My friend Pete – the bush handy man - quickly installed flush toilet and shower. A small generator powered freezer keeps us with cool drinks and preserves meat and other foodstuff. Our tents are placed under two shady trees and a gazebo gives shade during the day. We have started digging a well although the submersible pump is not yet installed. The river is still receding and we will only install the pump when the water table is at its lowest. We have discovered that there is a spring a few kilometers down the river. If possible the spring water may be served for our future guests at Sioma Camp. We have acquired a mokoro – a dug out canoe – and I have undertaken my first solo mokoro ride. I survived and can say that it was more stable than I thought it would be. Luckily as I have seen several crocodiles in the river over the last few weeks.
Instead of bringing in construction material from ‘outside’ we have decided to procure as much of the timber (poles, planks, lats etc.) locally. It will save us transport money and provide the local community with a much needed income. Initially deliveries were slow; it took some time before people realised that there was a market for those things. Also grass for thatching is bought locally. All transport is done by foot, canoe or scotchcart. It all takes a lot of negotiation. With all the material gradually coming in the camp looks very much like a sawmill/construction yard. So far we are employing 12-15 workers for the bushclearing, construction, combing of grass etc. A small camp garden has been established near the river, so far without the elephants destroying it. My neighbour Judy who cleans and does laundry for us had her small field (with seeds I had provided) totally demolished by elephants. Because of the (almost) lack of permanent water in the Sioma Ngwezi park elephants walk to the Zambezi River every evening and unfortunately consume all crops they encounter en route. The local community however also benefits from the existence of game in the area and subsistence hunting (poaching) especially for the villagers deeper into the bush seems to be a fairly important element of the local economy. The bush meat provides additional protein intake to the staple food nsima (maize porridge). Over the last few weeks a group of 6-8 lions has been reported in the area. The lions allegedly killed several cows. Probably the lions are following their prey animals as these are moving towards the river. A few days ago I was told that a hyena had snapped a calf from one of the cattle enclosures in Sikuka village next to Sioma Falls. So, wildlife presents a daily problem as well as an opportunity for the local people. My brief stay here in Sioma just underlines that a major challenge for operators in the wildlife based tourism sector is – and especially how – to convince people residing in areas with game that wildlife may actually play a positive developmental role for them. Bottom-line is that the benefits have to outweigh the negative effects. One way is to provide income opportunities by directly employing local people or indirectly by purchasing locally made materials. In the same vein although the actual construction of my more remote bush camp will begin only some time next year I have slowly started with ‘wildlife management’ preparations.
My bushcamp will be placed in front of some almost permanent waterholes. I will deepen the waterholes to enable them to hold more water and thereby hopefully provide water for the game around my bushcamp throughout the dry season. Another positive outcome will be that the wild animals – especially elephants - will stay in the bush whereby human-wildlife conflicts in the villages near the river can be avoided. In carrying out the actual excavation job I have hired five of the most notorious local poachers. The idea is to provide the poachers with an alternative to poaching. The question is of course if they really will stop poaching? One of my employees, Paul, the second Induna (Chief) in this area and himself a recently converted (ex)poacher maintains that they will. We will see. It is worth trying.
In my first input to the Sioma Camp website I may have painted the game situation less rosy than it actually is. Mubita, a former tracker with the hunting company operating in the area, claims that there is plenty game around. One only have to get up early but then it is possible to find herds of 20-30 roans, sables and elands respectively and lots of other game species. The Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) together with Peace Parks a few weeks ago conducted a wildlife survey. Results are still being processed, but apparently herds of 50 elands and other sizeable groups were spotted. An Italian friend working with community tourism recently went for a game drive in the park and he saw kudu, roan, sable, eland, giraffe, tssessebe, giraffe and elephant. Also a hyena was spotted.
Around the camp there are some duiker antelopes, hares, mongooses, guinea fowls and that kind of small game. For several weeks we were visited by elephants going to the river to drink. Whereas the game situation hopefully will improve, especially if the establishment of a wildlife corridor materialises, the birdlife is already prolific. To name a few: Bennet’s woodpecker, violet backed starling, violet-eared waxbill, melba finch, orange breasted bush shrike, paradise flycatcher, hopooe, meyers parrot, gymnogene, african barred owl, marsh owl, pennant winged nightjar. A giant kingfisher seems to live here and I have seen it carrying a 25 cm long tigerfish in its beak. Perhaps I should mention our camp crow. I have named it PC (Pied Crow). He or her frequents our camp several times a day to search for leftovers and pays little attention to us being around. Only Jessica – my old Golden Retriever – finds PC annoying and tries to chase the bird away; so far with no effect.
As to the actual construction. Apart from bush clearing and some structure preparations only the rainy season accommodation for me and Pete is about to be ready. It is a 5x12 meter thatched ‘house’. Otherwise materials will soon be sufficient to start construction of the four ‘standard chalets’ (tents on wooden platforms) mainly designed for self drive and self catering tourists. The tents will hopefully arrive in Livingstone in a weeks time. The tents are 3,5 x 4 meter. There will be toilet and outdoor shower to each tent. The four tents are all placed in a small horseshoe shaped depression with excellent views of the Zambezi river. Close to the tents a thatched bush kitchen and dining structure will be erected.
In addition....I
have acquired two second hand mercedes Jeeps from the Danish ex-Army
stock. They should arrive before Christmas. My small 4x4 truck should be
here this week and will hopefully greatly assist in speeding up the
construction process as we can now start bringing in cement and other
large and bulky stuff. My goods from China will be shipped before the
end of November, but probably only arrive here in January 2008. My V-Sat
(Internet connection) has arrived and hopefully will be installed soon. Email communication, especially downloading of
H.C. Aaskov Sioma Camp 27. November 2007
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documents, is giving us
problems. Celtel mobil phone coverage could be improved and according to
Celtel soon will. Let’s see.