We took the shortest route with Ethiopian via Addis Ababa, which was also the cheapest on offer, I had some reservations with this approach as the last time I took the intra-continental African connection with Air Kenya I encountered a cancelled connection in Nairobi and was re-routed with extra stops via Malawi and Zambia arriving some 12 hours late. The Ethiopian airline setup was chaotic beyond belief, both at Heathrow and Addis, but despite the seemingly inevitable disaster with each turn of an airport queue making it look impossible we could possibly get there without a significant problem, we strangely arrived on-time. So Adie and I arrived in Harare around midday in a hot and humid African heat. It was the wet season, so we were expecting to get wet at some point.
Driving through Harare, the country's fuel shortages were apparent with queues at petrol stations tailing back over a mile waiting for a fuel delivery, somehow in this country they queue without any outbursts of violence or complaints. Certain food products were also problematic and any imported food was vastly expensive. So for our trips that we were doing that required plenty of fuel, plenty of food and of course booze, we made a plan, which is what you do and everything worked out fine.
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| Our Harare plane - a Boeing 737 Max!!! - This one made it ok.😌 |
Arriving at Tony's house in the suburb of Harare late afternoon, we shopped for provisions for the following mornings departure and I managed a quick sortie in the garden and the small flei at the end of the road, surprised to find an Abdims Stork there and also a White-faced whistling Duck, around the garden more species were added including the fantastic Purple Crested Turaco, also Heuglins Robin, Kurrichane Thrush, Arrow-marked Babbler, Laughing Dove, Grey-headed Sparrow, African White-eye and Variable Sunbird were the equivalent of common garden birds with Bar-throated Apalis, Black-collared Barbet, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird and a Shikra possibly less than common.
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| The garden at the house. |
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| There's enough foliage cover to attract a range of birds |
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Purple-crested Turaco
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| Abdims Stork |
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| Bar-throated Apalis The following day on the 18th we set off for the 5-6 hour drive to Chirundu, which is a border town with Zambia on the Zambezi River, Tony had hired a river-side cottage for us to stay fro 3 nights and also boat hire for fishing on the river. The key for the trip was to ensure we could source fuel both for the boat and for the car to ensure we can get there and back given the significant shortages in the country. The weather was hot and overcast, we expected some rain, the journey up was relatively uneventful, a few birds were seen which included Black-shouldered Kite, Lilac breasted Roller, Mosque Swallow, African Black Swift and Grey Lourie. We stopped twice, once at a 'cafe' for a breakfast coffee and bacon roll and second for Worms , there is a decent roadside trade advertising worms for sale, Tony has 'his' man he pre-books some boxes of worms with that we pick-up on the way. The stops added Spectacled Weaver, Cape Turtle Dove, Pin-tailed Wydah and Fork-tailed Drongo. It wasn't long before we crossed the hills that descended to the Zambezi escarpment, seeing the first Baobobs and entering true African bush, it was late afternoon when we arrived at the cottage and got everything arranged for the next day. Birds seen before sunset were Brown-hooded Kingfisher, European Bee-eater and Grey-necked Parrot.    |
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| Brown-hooded Kingfisher |
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| Vervet Monkey December 19th -21st - Zambezi River. The next 3 days we had a routine of a morning and afternoon fishing session, we curtailed 2 of these when thunder storms rolled in and we avoided the worst of the soakings, in the heat of the day , temperatures soared to well over 35c, so we had an extended break around this time. The Zambezi river is probably 0.5km wide at with the opposite bank being Zambia, but as the Zambians had closed the river for fishing we did wander over there a few times. Despite being so wide the river had very shallow islands and mud banks in various places, often where game congregated. From a fishing point of view we spent some time fishing for small bream which we used as bait and livebait for the main target, which was the Tiger Fish. I was constantly birding - Its great, birding on a river on a drifting boat with a beer in hand !!!. As far as the fishing went we did very well with a good catch of Tiger fish, with Adie catching probably the biggest fish and more than Tony and I. The game was astonishing with large herds of Buffalo, huge numbers of Hippo, lots of Crocodile, Elephant, Water Buck and Impala. I had a decent bird list of as anticipated mainly waterbirds. The herons and storks were the most numerous and most visible on the waters edge with big flocks of Yellow-billed Stork, Saddlebilled Stork, Open-billed Stork and Wolly-necked Stork. Herons and Egrets included Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Goliath Heron, Black-headed Heron, Squacco Heron, Rufous-bellied Heron, Hammerkop, Glossy Ibis, Hadada Ibis, Little, Cattle and Great Egret. There were also large gatherings of wildfowl with White-faced Whistling Duck, Knob-billed Duck, Spurwing Goose, Magpie Goose and Egyptian Goose. Waders were also plentiful with Blacksmith Plover, White-crowned Plover, Water Thick-Knee and 3-banded Plover guarding territories along the river bank and Black-winged Stilts, Greenshank , Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper and a number of Collared Pratincoles being obvious migrants. African Skimmers and Whiskered Terns fished with us and Pied Kingfishers, Malachite Kingfisher, Giant Kingfisher and Striped Kingfisher put in occasional appearances. I was a little surprised we didn't encounter more raptors, African Fish Eagles were ever present but brief views of Osprey, African Hobby, African Harrier Hawk and Gabar Goshawk were the only confirmed sightings. There were a few very distant 'kettles' of probable White-backed Vultures but nothing close enough to confirm. The bush close to the river occasionally had significant avian activity, flocks of Meve's Starling, White-browed Sparrow Weaver, Masked Weavers and Golden Weavers and Little Bee-eaters,White-fronted Bee-eaters and on the last day Blue-cheeked Beeaters with lots of Cape Turtle Doves and Red-Eyed Doves and a few Namaqua Doves. Occasional sightings included Senegal Coucal, Red-faced Mousebird, Crowned Hornbill, Trumpeter Hornbill, Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Green-backed Cameroptera, Chinspot Batis, African Golden Oriole, Meyes Parrot and probably my favourite African bird, the Southern Carmine Bee-eater. The 3 days went very quickly but we had a great time, packed up and set-off back to Harare arriving mid-afternoon on the 22nd.    Adie with the biggest Tiger Fish - and me with not the biggest Tiger Fish !   |
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| A Hippo pod |
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| Knob-billed Ducks and Spur-winged Goose. |
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| Spur-winged Goose |
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| African Openbill (stork) |
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| Yellow-billed Storks |
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| More Yellow-billed Storks |
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| Buffalo |
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| Buffalo |
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| Glossy Ibis |
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| African Elephant |
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| Goliath Heron |
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| Blue-Cheeked Bee-eater |
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| Grey-necked Parrots |
Christmas 23rd - 25th December
We had a day to get organised for our trip on boxing day to Kariba, which included collecting a trailer from the other side of Harare and getting provisions for 5 days on the boat for 6 of us and also sorting out a minor problem with Tony's car. On the 24th we collected Sally and Hannah from the airport, who like me arrived perfectly on time amid the chaos created by Ethiopian. We also visited Gareth, Christine and Andrew with extended family. Xmas day was thankfully quite slow, it was still 28C and overcast, We had Chicken for xmas lunch as there were no Turkeys in the country, but there was plenty to drink !.
I continued to look for birds around the garden and just at the end of the row of houses with the patch of open ground and a small pond, I added African Paradise Flycatcher, Little Sparrowhawk, Black Flycatcher, Tropical Boubou, Puffback, Red-bellied Firefinch, Streaky Headed Seedeater and a migrant Willow Warbler.
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| Little Sparrowhawk |
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| Tropical Boubou |
December 26th - 31st - Lake Kariba
We left the house very early, 6 of us crammed into Tony's double-cab, pulling a trailer full of provisions, we had a slot on the quay for departure at 2pm. The journey to Kariba takes the same route as we took to Chirundu but when you reach the escarpment ridge you turn left rather than go straight.
We arrived in good time and managed to find fuel with a small queue ! to fill up the car for the return trip. There was a fair bit of hanging around before we had the green light to start loading our boat, the Lady Rue. We were soon loaded up and managed to get away shortly after 2pm and head towards Sanyati West and a bay to moor for the the night. The weather was great, hot and sunny and we soon started to relax.
The whole 5 days was to be spent on the boat, only getting on the tender for morning and evening fishing trips or game viewing, we spent 3 nights in Sanyati West and 2 in Palm Bay and agreed that the trip couldn't have been more relaxing. We even managed to catch enough bream for a couple of substantial fish dinners and breaded fish bar snacks !.
The views were stunning, the weather was good, there was plenty of birdlife to keep me entertained and we had plenty to eat and drink and we slept on the deck every night without too much bother from mosquitos or other bitey wildlife.
We saw plenty of game, with close views of Hippo and Elephant and additional mammals in Natal Red Duiker, Nyala and Eland decent additions to the bird list which included Amur Falcon, Black-bellied Bustard, Black Egret, African Spoonbill, Sacred Ibis, Banded Martin, White-rumped Swift, Red-billed Oxpecker, Red-winged Starlings and African Pipit. Some stunning views of African Fish Eagles and Ospreys and always in the sounds of birds and animals was the only interruption with incredible star-filled skies on the clear nights.
Eventually the time ended in this magical place and we headed back to the harbour re-packed the car and arrived in Harare late afternoon on the 31st. We only had one more full day before Sal and Adie returned to the UK.
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| Kariba sunset |
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The Lady Rue - our home for 5 nights          |
Osprey
African Fish Eagle
African Elephant
Blacksmith Plover
Water Thick-Knee
Whiskered Tern
Whiskered Tern
African Elephant
Black-winged Stilt
January 3rd - 6th - Zambezi River
Tony, Hannah and I repeated the trip to Chirundu for another 3 nights fishing on the river. This time we stayed in a different property the other side of town, but had our daily boat trips from the same place as before with the same driver. The journey, as before was relatively uneventful but the Wet season rains had arrived with more vigour in the last week and were particularly visible as we crossed the escarpment with dramatic thunder and lighting and sheets of rain. This wouldn't deter us although we did lose 2 sessions to the weather.
I was expecting pretty much the same in terms of birds, but there was a bit of variety, from the terrace at the back of the property the bit of scrub also held a bird bath which attracted a lot of birds along with the Baboons and Vervets and a visit from a Slender Moongoose, from here many Masked and Village Weavers came to bathe with a few Jameson's Firefinches also a Green-winged Pytilla, Red Bishop and Dark-capped Bulbuls. Meyers Parrots were in the trees and Green Woodhoopoes, Grey Crowned and Trumpeter Hornbills along with the Southern Red-billed Hornbill often on the ground where Natal Spurfowl and Swainson's Spurfowl scuttled around in small groups and a smart looking Levaillants Cuckoo spent some time investigating around the house.
I improved on the raptor front with Hooded, White-backed and Lappet-faced Vulture seen with lots of Marabou Storks along with Bataleur and Bat Hawk. The river trips offered up the great varieties of birds and mammals as 2 weeks ago, although I added Fulvous Whistling Duck, both Purple Gallinule and Allen's Gallinule, Lesser Jacana, Black-winged Pratincole and Little Bittern.
Again, all too soon it was over and we were heading back to Harare, with Hannah and I flying back to the UK the following night, a fantastic trip, even though I probably only saw c170 bird species it was thoroughly enjoyable.
View from the new property upstream along the Zambezi - stunning !
It was a pretty nice place !
Hannah with her Tiger Fish and Tony with the largest we caught.
Meve's Starling
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| Grey Hornbill |
Grey Hornbill
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| Jameson's Firefinch |
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| Slender Mongoose |
Black Egrets
Southern Masked Weavers
Meve's Starling
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater
Malachite Kingfisher
Olive Bee-eater
Levaillant's Cuckoo
Levaillant's Cuckoo
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