Zakouma, Africa’s New Crown Jewel!

Greeting Everyone,

We’re in Zakouma National Park in Chad where we’ve just had an incredible wildlife experience (see our previous blog post). It will be difficult to top but we were up for the challenge. That afternoon we visited the Riguek region of the park consisting of vast plains interspersed with wetlands. A pride of 7 lions comprised of 2 adult lionesses with 5 nearly grown cubs was snoozing in the afternoon heat. 

Pride of Lions

As the sun sank lower, the sky became alive with millions of Red-billed Quelea coming in for a drink. They flew in a synchronous flow called a murmuration. How they managed to avoid mid-air collisions is beyond me. These small sparrow-like birds feed mainly on grass seed but also cause extensive damage to cereal crops hence the nickname “Africa’s feathered locust”.  The sound of their combined wing beats was deafening.

Pride of Lions and Flock of Red-billed Quelea

As it cooled down, the lions became more active. The youngsters began to play with each other, stalking and pouncing. One cub spotted a Large-spotted Genet and chased it but it got away. The pride headed out to the road and we followed them. Finally, they tired of us and sauntered off to hunt.

Lions at Night

We went into night drive mode seeing another 5 genets and finally a Pale Fox, a new canid for us!

Pale Fox

The following morning we returned to Riguek to see if the pride of lions had made a kill. We found the pride plus a radio-collared lioness. They hadn’t made a kill and we thought that they might go on a hunt but they decided to rest so we left them in peace.

Pride of Lions at Riguek

We went off in search of a large herd of Tiang that commonly graze on the floodplain. They are a subspecies of the Topi, a handsome African antelope with a black face, a reddish-brown coat with contrasting black patches on their forelegs and thighs and tan stockings.

Tiang

There were also herds of buffalo, waterbuck, reedbuck, and hartebeest grazing in the area. The bird life was equally impressive with huge flocks of Great White Pelican, Black-crowned Cranes, Spur-winged Geese, African Open-billed Storks, White-faced Whistling Ducks, Knob-billed Ducks, and Garganey. If this isn’t a Ramsar site it should be!

Flocks of Birds

A few Tantalus Monkeys, a new primate species for us, were frolicking outside the camp’s dining area. It was nice to see wild animals completely relaxed around humans yet not to the point where they had become a nuisance. These monkeys were not fed and knew enough not to come into the restaurant.

Tantalus Monkey

As we set off for our afternoon game drive, Doug joked with Bonaventure about finding us 3 cheetahs. Bonaventure replied that the workman had seen 3 cheetahs earlier that afternoon not far from camp. Doug said you’re kidding and Bonaventure assured him it was true so we set off to find them. Despite our best efforts, we could not locate them but at least we tried. By now the sun had set and we went into night safari mode. The drive got off to a slow start then Doug amazingly spots the Cheetah! There were three in the dry grass about 70 meters from the road. They were in the open and we got good views and photographs.

Cheetahs

Cheetahs are rarely spotted in the park and to see three was extremely lucky. The cheetahs here are a critically endangered subspecies, the Northwest African Cheetah (Acinoyx jubatus hecki) also known as the Saharan Cheetah. Based on data from 2007 to 2012, there are only around 450 Northwest African Cheetahs in the wild with approximately half existing in the Central African Republic and Chad.

On the drive back to the camp we encountered a lioness with her two 3-month-old adorable cubs on the road. We had now seen 4 species of cats in Zakouma, just the Leopard and Serval to go!

Lioness and Two Cubs

The following day we made a final visit to Riguek. Doug heard a lion roaring and we found a large male with an impressive mane.

Male Lion at Riguek

Not far away the radio-collared lioness and the pride of 7 resting in the shade. They had flies and dried blood on their faces so they must have made a kill last night.

The Rest of the Pride at Riguek

That evening we had dinner on a wooden platform high above the Salamat River. A nearly full moon rose over the river making for a tranquil scene.

Moonrise Over the Salamat River

On the game drive the following morning we encountered a lone cheetah drinking at a waterhole, possibly a male that had made a kill the night before. What incredible fortune to see 4 of these rare and endangered felines!

Lone Cheetah at a Waterhole

We took a break from wildlife watching and drove outside the park to a village that was having its weekly market. Just outside the park gate, a smaller village was holding some sort of women’s celebration. Most of the villagers had gathered around the performers and it was difficult to get a view of what was going on.

Village Gathering

We drove for another hour to get to the village where the market was being held. Along the way, we encountered nomads on their donkeys bringing goods to sell. It was the real deal with people from local villages coming together to sell clothes, vegetables, meat, fish, goats, knives, milk, soap, spices, and everything imaginable.

Local Market

On the long drive back to Tinga Camp, we did our final night drive of the trip. The pressure was on to find a leopard and serval. We were finding plenty of other nocturnal animals, African Civets, White-tailed Mongoose, and a Side-striped Jackal but sadly no felines. Suddenly Marc spotted an animal in the grass, could it be, yes, an Aardvark another creature that is rarely seen! We got an open and prolonged view before it disappeared into the tall grass. Although not a leopard or serval, the Aardvark made for a grand finale to our night drives!

Aardvark

On the way to the airstrip the following morning, we did our final safari in Zakouma National Park. We encountered the same pride of 6 lions seen yesterday. In fact, we saw lions on most of our game drives. It turns out that there was an Italian conservation biologist, Chiara Fraticelli, here studying carnivores in the park. Chiara had requested that lodge guests take photos of the carnivores they encounter and send them to her to assist in her data collection. We readily agreed to help and when I returned home I created a project in iNaturalist which is a compilation of all our carnivore sightings. 

Zakouma Large Carnivore Study

Our eventful week in Zakouma National Park had come to an end. Although we had missed seeing the large breeding herd of elephants, we had seen our first Caracal in the wild, observed 4 rare and critically endangered Northwest African Cheetahs, spotted a near-mythical Aardvark, and had the extraordinary privilege of giving water to a wild bull elephant with a garden hose! No wonder, Zakouma is the new crown jewel of Africa’s national parks!

We hope all is well with everyone,

Peggy and Marc

Our Route Map:

Zakouma Mammal List: March 3-10, 2020

No.	Species	Scientific Name	Comments
1	Aardvark	Orycteropus afer
2	African Savanna Elephant	Loxodonta africana
3	Northern Lesser Galago	Galago senegalensis	lifer
4	Patas Monkey	Erythrocebus patas	lifer
5	Tantalus Monkey	Chlorocebus tantalus	lifer
6	Olive Baboon	Papio anubis
7	Unidentified rodent
8	African Savanna Hare	Lepus victoriae
9	Northwest African Cheetah	Acinonyx jubatus ssp. hecki
10	Caracal	Caracal caracal	lifer
11	African Wildcat	Felis lybica
12	Northern Lion	Panthera leo ssp. leo
13	Large-Spotted Genet	Genetta maculata
14	Egyptian Mongoose	Herpestes ichneumon	lifer
15	Banded Mongoose	Mungos mungo
16	White-tailed Mongoose	Ichneumia albicauda
17	Spotted Hyena	Crocuta crocuta
18	African Golden Wolf	Canis lupaster	glimpse only
19	Pale Fox	Vulpes pallida	lifer
20	Side-striped Jackal	Canis adustus
21	Common Warthog	Phacochoerus africanus
22	Kordofan Giraffe	Giraffa camelopardalis ssp. antiquorum
23	Lelwel Hartebeest	Alcelaphus buselaphus ssp. lelwel
24	Red-fronted Gazelle	Eudorcas rufifrons	lifer
25	Central African Savanna Buffalo	Syncerus caffer ssp. aequinoctialis
26	Northern Bushbuck	Tragelaphus scriptus
27	Common Duiker	Sylvicapra grimmia
28	Roan Antelope	Hippotragus equinus ssp. scharicus
29	Defassa Waterbuck	Kobus ellipsiprymnus ssp. defassa
30	Buffon’s Kob	Kobus kob ssp. kob
31	Bohor Reedbuck	Redunca redunca
32	Tiang	Damaliscus lunatus ssp. tiang
33	African Civet	Civettictis civetta

Mammal Sightings Map

Postscript: Little did we know that our visit to Chad would be our last international trip for nearly 2 years! When we returned to N’Djamena it was clear that the Coronavirus pandemic had only grown worse. Cases were being reported in Egypt, our next destination so we cut our trip short and returned home on March 13, 2020, the very day a State of Emergency was declared in Vermont.

Watering an Elephant!

Greetings Everyone,

At the crossroads of North and Central Africa, Chad may not seem like a tourist destination. Stories of terrorist attacks, kidnapping, and crime are rife but the opportunity to visit Zakouma National Park was just too great. When our friends Martin and Jane from the U.K. signed up for a trip we decided to join them. We flew from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia via Abuja, Nigeria to N’Djamena, the capital of Chad. Here we were met and driven to the Radisson Blu overlooking the Chari River. I was hoping to spot hippos in the river but sadly there were none.

Chari River

Early the next morning we returned to the airport for our charter flight to Zakouma National Park. The flight took us over a hazy, arid landscape with few roads or villages. As we neared the park, I spotted our first mammals, African Savanna Elephants, and Kordofan Giraffes! We landed on a dirt airstrip where Doug our guide was waiting. Along the drive to Tinga Camp, we encountered an old male elephant, then a second, 6 stunning Kordofan Giraffes, a few Olive Baboons, a single Lelwel Hartebeest, and a Buffon’s Kob. The Kordofan Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis ssp. antiquorum) is a critically endangered subspecies of giraffe. In Zakouma National Park, the giraffes are doing well. During a series of aerial surveys conducted between 2005 and 2016, the population has continued to increase from 292 to 947!

Kordofan Giraffes

We settled into our chalet before lunch where colorful Red-throated Bee-Eaters swooped by and two magnificent Northern Bushbucks made a brief appearance.

Red-throated Bee-Eater

That afternoon we went on our much anticipated first safari. The mammal spotting was sporadic with a few of each species encountered. There were elephants, Kordofan Giraffe, our first Defassa Waterbuck, Common Warthog, Red-fronted Gazelle, and African Buffalo. We encountered a big troop of Olive Baboons and Tantalus Monkeys, a new species for us. The biggest surprise was a very big, around 45, group of Banded Mongoose!

Banded Mongoose

Bird highlights were a group of 25 Black Crowned Cranes, 100’s of Spur-winged Goose, colorful Little Bee-Eaters, and an Abyssinian Roller.

Abyssinian Roller

After the sun had set, we switched to night safari mode. I saw the eyeshine of a galago and later a second was spotted. There were two white-tailed Mongoose, although one had a black-tipped tail and a distant Large-spotted Genet. Finally, the canids came out. First, what was probably an African Golden Wolf, then a Side-striped Jackal, and lastly a Spotted Hyena. Not a bad haul for our first day in Zakouma National Park!

Spotted Hyena

The following morning we spent quite a bit of time around waterholes and the Tinga River. There were many West African Crocodiles, and birds such as Marabou Storks, African Fish Eagle, Hadada Ibis, Grey Heron, kingfishers, and bee-eaters. Doug spotted a male lion and we went to investigate. Nearby, there were two lionesses. It was great seeing lions again as they have become quite scarce since our first visit to Africa back in 1990!

Lioness

A herd of Central African Savannah Buffalo was grazing on the floodplain. This subspecies is lighter in color resembling Forest Buffalo more closely rather than the Savannah Buffalo that we have seen in other parts of the continent.

Central African Savannah Buffalo

We waited by the river for animals to come and drink. A troop of Olive Baboons, Common Warthogs, Defassa Waterbuck, and Lelwel Hartebeest, a new subspecies of hartebeest for us, showed up.

Lelwel Hartebeest

On the way back to camp, a herd of Roan Antelope was encountered. The scharicus subspecies of Roan Antelope are native to Central Africa and are mostly found in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, and eastern Nigeria. We’ve seen many of these mammal species in other parts of Africa but here in Zakouma exist subspecies not found in the safari strongholds of East and Southern Africa.

Roan Antelope

As darkness fell over the park, we set up for spotlighting. The first feline of the trip, an African Wildcat, was found. In the same area, a Side-striped Jackal was on the prowl. To our surprise, the jackal tried to attack the cat and it hissed and puffed up scaring the jackal off. I doubt the jackal was a serious threat but you know the saying about fighting like cats and dogs.

African Wildcat

Early the next morning we embarked on a marathon safari day to travel to the south end of the park to hopefully see the large herd of elephants found there. Our driver, Bonaventure, had GPS coordinates for the radio-collared elephants so we were expecting them to be easy to find. They were on the other side of the Salamat River so we drove around and along the river hoping to catch the herd when they came out of the thick vegetation to drink. Jane spotted a lone individual at the far end of the river and we hoped that the rest of the herd would follow but we weren’t that lucky. We tried to get closer to them in the vehicle but the bush was too thick so we had to walk in. We could hear them but we just couldn’t see them. Curses, they crossed the river again! A flat tire delayed our attempts to relocate them but in crossing the river we encountered an amazing flock of Great White Pelicans, 1000+ birds strong!

Flat Tire

Great White Pelicans

It was now clear that the only way to reach the elephants was on foot and it was doubtful that we’d be able to catch up to them so we gave up our pursuit. Although it was very disappointing not seeing the elephants just knowing they were close by was a triumph considering that the nearly 4000 elephants that once roamed here were nearly extirpated by ivory poachers a mere 20 years ago! Today the herd has rebounded back to 636 due to the effective management of the park by African Parks since 2010. The year 2021 marked the fifth straight year without a single recorded poached elephant, a success story!

On the long drive back, Doug spotted an African Wildcat walking along the road but it moved off into the tall grass. Fortunately, it re-emerged on the road and Marc was able to get a photo as it was walking away. I noticed tufts on its ears. When Marc looked at his photo, he said “It’s a Caracal!”. Sure enough, we now have a Caracal to add to our world feline list! 

Caracal

After getting our tire properly fixed the following morning, we set off to locate a pair of lionesses who had just killed a Roan Antelope. We found the lionesses at their kill. They were panting heavily in the heat of the day, trying to digest bellies full of meat.

Pair of Lionesses

We left them and continued our drive when Martin spotted a male elephant. Five more followed him onto the plain to a small waterhole where they sprayed mud on their hot hides. In this area of the park, only males elephant dare to venture. The breeding herds stay down south where there are fewer people and they feel safer.

Male Elephants

We left the elephants and were driving past the park manager’s compound when we spotted two more elephants. They were on their way to an artificial waterhole created by the park. We stopped at a hide to observe them. Doug was telling a story about how the first park manager got wild bull elephants to trust him to the point where he’d give them water from a garden hose. I was thinking that this sounded far-fetched when Bonaventure said we had been invited inside to give it a try! There was an electric fence around the house but Doug opened a door and sat on some stone steps with a garden hose. Unbelievably a large bull elephant came forward and allowed Doug to pour water directly into his trunk! It took several minutes to fill his trunk then he would spray the water from his trunk into his mouth, amazing! 

Doug Watering the Elephants

Doug asked if anyone else wanted to try and I said “Sure!”. What an extraordinary wildlife encounter, to be so close to a wild bull elephant! It took trust on both sides but I felt completely at ease with this elephant and he seemed very relaxed. Marc took photos and a video while I “watered the elephant”. We each took a turn and I think Doug was surprised that we all dared to get so close to a wild elephant that could kill us in an instant. After the experience, I was overcome with emotion and got choked up. What a privilege to share sure a moment with a wild elephant!

Peggy Watering the Elephants

It’s hard to imagine topping this experience. Stay tuned to see what other surprises Zakouma National Park has in store for us.

We hope all is well with everyone,

Peggy and Marc

Our Route Map:

Awesome Animals of Aledeghi & Awash

Greetings Everyone,

After our intrepid journey into the Danakil Depression, it was time to return to a less alien world. On our way to Semera, we passed a wrecked car on the side of the road and Kasaye came to a screeching halt. He said he had seen something under the vehicle. He backed up and lying under the car was what could only be an African Golden Wolf!

African Golden Wolf Under Car

We were hoping to get a good sighting of this canine. Although the African Golden Wolf is widespread in the northern and north-eastern parts of Africa, we had yet to come across one on our travels. The species has only recently been recognized as morphologically and genetically distinct from the Eurasian Golden Jackal (Canis aureus). The wolf got up and plodded to the side of the road, giving us an even better view. 

African Golden Wolf

We reached the town of Afrera and visited its great salt lake to look for birds. The best find turned out to be an endangered Egyptian Vulture along the highway. 

Egyptian Vulture

Sadly, it was time to say goodbye to Rufael as he was to return to Axum and we were to continue our drive to Semera. We encountered another roadside surprise, a troop of Hamadryas Baboons! It was another species I was hoping to see, having missed them on our first two trips to Ethiopia. Apparently, motorists feed them creating a dangerous situation as the baboons line the busy highway for a handout.

Hamadryas Baboon

We reached Semera, the new and fast-growing capital of the Afar Region, in the late afternoon and checked into a posh but nearly empty resort.

Our Hotel in Semera

Early the next morning, I was eager to leave the Afar Region and reach Animalia Lodge to resume our search for more wildlife. The drive was unpleasant to say the least. The truck traffic along the main route from Djibouti to Addis was unbelievable. We had to pass tandem trucks while avoiding trucks coming in the other direction. The buses were crazy, traveling at breakneck speed and passing haphazardly. We encountered many wrecks and I had my teeth clenched the whole way. I tried to capture the experience on a video but was only mildly successful.

Driving to Ali Deghe (video)

Finally, we reached the turnoff for Animalia Lodge and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. That afternoon, Yani, the lodge owner, and Mohamed his tracker took us out in an ancient Land Rover on a game drive. 

Ancient Land Rover

We explored Yani’s concession spotting Beisa Oryx, Northern Gerenuk, African Golden Wolf, and Salt’s Dik-dik. The Gerenuk is a long-necked gazelle found in the Horn of Africa and drier parts of East Africa. This was only our third time encountering this near-threatened species.

Northern Gerenuk

Yani took us to a nearby hot spring near sunset. A large flock of Northern Carmine Bee-eaters was coming in to drink and possibly to roost.

Northern Carmine Bee-eaters

That night I lay awake listening for lions. They often frequent the nearby marsh where they hide in the sugar cane but tonight they were silent. The following morning we were off to explore the Aledeghi Plains, part of the 1800-square kilometer Aledeghi Wildlife Reserve. Here large herds of Soemmerring’s Gazelle grazed on the vast grasslands. This vulnerable species is restricted to isolated parts of the Horn of Africa. They were quite wary and it was difficult to get close for good photos.

Soemmerring’s Gazelle

The species I was hoping to see was the endangered Grevy’s Zebra. We had not seen these rare equines since our first trip to Africa in 1990! We searched in vain until spotting a small family group near the woodlands. They, too, were wary and it was impossible to approach closely, so we had to settle for distant views and photos. It was still great to see them again after 30 years!

Grevy’s Zebra

Beisa Oryx, African Golden Wolf, Common Warthog, and Abyssinian Hare rounded out our mammal list before we returned to the lodge for a midday break.

African Golden Wolf

Abyssinian Hare

An afternoon game drive in a different part of the reserve yielded more of the same species of mammals. We stayed out after sunset to look for nocturnal mammals. I hoped that we might find the lions that hang out in a nearby sugar cane plantation. We stopped to chat with some locals who said a lion had been spotted not far away a few nights ago. We weren’t so lucky, depending on how you look at it. We wished to see a cat rarely sighted in Ethiopia, but the locals and their livestock have to contend with them daily. We did spot African Civet, Spotted Hyena, and White-tailed Mongoose, so we didn’t come up empty-handed.

White-tailed Mongoose

The next morning we left Animalia Lodge and drove to the nearby and much more popular Awash National Park. This was our third visit, the first back in 1995 and the second in 2011. I was hoping that things would have improved since 2011, but they continued to deteriorate. More and more locals encroach into the park to graze their livestock. The landscape is being denuded, leaving very little food for wildlife. This doesn’t seem to bother the number of tourists visiting the park. If you hadn’t experienced the park 25 years ago, you might not notice the amount of destruction going on. On the drive in, we did manage to see a few Soemmerring’s Gazelle, Salt’s Dik-Dik, and Beisa Oryx, but it was nearing midday and most animals would be resting.

Beisa Oryx

We had lunch at the lodge where the Grivet Monkeys have become quite a pest. You have to watch them constantly or they will jump on your table and steal your bread!

Grivet Monkey

The lodge is situated on the bank of the Awash River. The nearby Awash Falls tumble a 100-feet over the rocks into a pool with lurking Nile Crocodiles. It’s hard to believe we made a raft trip down the Awash in 1995 before the lodge had been built. I must admit it was more relaxing watching the crocs from an observation platform high above the river rather than clinging to a raft in the hopes we wouldn’t get tossed into the river! Such great memories!

Awash Falls

We went out for a game drive in the late afternoon hoping to see more animals, but other than Salt’s Dik-dik, a few Beisa Oryx and Common Warthog, we saw very little. We stayed out after the sunset hoping that once the locals left with their livestock, the nocturnal animals would emerge. Abyssinian Hares were by far the most abundant and we spotted around a dozen Bat-eared Foxes. They were quite skittish, though, and it was difficult to get a good photo.

Bat-eared Foxes

The following morning it was time to leave Awash National Park and return to Addis Ababa. Our third trip to Ethiopia was coming to an end. We want to extend a big thank you to our guides Mangay and Rufael for sharing their fascinating country with us. We are grateful to our driver Kasaye for his long hours on the road getting us safely from one destination to the next. Finally, I’d like to thank friend and guide Yigo for coming up with this itinerary and to Yared of Dreamland Ethiopia for making it happen. Stay tuned for our next destination, a visit to Zakouma National Park in Chad.

We hope all is well with everyone.

Peggy and Marc

       Ethiopia Mammal List: February 17 to March 1, 2020

    

No.	Species	Scientific Name	Comments
1	Klipspringer	Oreotragus oreotragus	Simien Mts.
2	Gelada	Theropithecus gelada	Simien Mts.
3	Kaffa Side-striped Jackal	Canis adustus kaffensis	Simien Mts.
4	Walia Ibex	Capra walie	Simien Mts.
5	Abyssinian Grass Rat	Arvicanthis abyssinicus	Simien Mts.
6	Oribi	Ourebia ourebi	Kafta Sheraro
7	Eritrean Gazelle	Eudorcas tilonura	Kafta Sheraro
8	Greater Kudu	Tragelaphus strepsiceros	Kafta Sheraro
9	Defassa Waterbuck	Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa	Kafta Sheraro
10	Striped Ground Squirrel	Xerus erythropus	Kafta Sheraro
11	Common Warthog	Phacochoerus africanus	KS, Aledeghi, Awash
12	Olive Baboon	Papio anubis	Kafta Sheraro, Awash
13	Eastern Black-backed Jackal	Canis mesomelas schmidti	Kafta Sheraro
14	African Wildcat	Felis lybica	Kafta Sheraro
15	Spotted Hyena	Crocuta crocuta	Kafta Sheraro, Awash
16	Cairo Spiny Mouse	Acomys cahirinus	KS, Animalia
17	Rock Hyrax	Procavia capensis	Gheralta
18	Abyssinian Hare	Lepus habessinicus	Gheralta, Aledeghi, Awash
19	Dorcas Gazelle	Gazella dorcas	Danakil
20	African Golden Wolf	Canis lupaster	Danakil, Alideghi
21	Hamadryas Baboon	Papio hamadryas	Afar Region
22	Salt’s Dik-dik	Madoqua saltiana	Aledeghi, Awash
23	Beisa Oryx	Oryx beisa beisa	Aledeghi, Awash
24	Northern Gerenuk	Litocranius walleri sclateri	Aledeghi
25	Grevy’s Zebra	Equus grevyi	Aledeghi
26	Soemmerring’s Gazelle	Nanger soemmerringii	Aledeghi, Awash
27	Lesser Kudu	Tragelaphus imberbis	Aledeghi, Awash
28	White-tailed Mongoose	Ichneumia albicauda	Aledeghi, Awash
29	Bat-eared Fox	Otocyon megalotis	Awash
30	Unstriped Ground Squirrel	Xerus rutilus	Animalia, Awash
31	African Civet	Civettictis civetta	Aledeghi, Awash
32	Abyssinian Genet?	Genetta abyssinica	Animalia
33	Egyptian Mongoose?	Herpestes ichneumon	Awash
34	Grivet	Chlorocebus aethiops	Awash
35	Mantled Guereza	Colobus guereza	Awash

For the 137 bird species seen and photographed by Marc during our last two trips to Ethiopia go to his list on iNaturalist:

Ethiopia Bird List w/Photos

Our route map: