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.
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| Flat Tire |
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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!
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
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