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Captains Log 3: March 2008 – September 2008
“Let the fluid sensation of living run through your veins, come
voyage with us Nguni style”
In the past 7 months the river has flooded and subsided, we have
experienced high water and low water and with these changes in the
river level so to we have experienced the enormous changes the
environment goes through in this process.
Although the flood was not as dramatic as 2004/2005/2006 it
nevertheless broke the clay banks of the Zambezi and Chobe rivers
and rushed into the floodplains.
The fact that this does happen every year is a beautiful gift that
restores the balance as if by way of a magical whish of the wand.
We learnt many things through this mediocre flood and probably the
biggest lesson learnt was that the relationship between the size of
the flood and the environments response to it is unpredictable. We
had always believed that a high flood would naturally yield bigger
resource growth however we can testify to the fact that it does not
matter how high the water level gets once it breaks the banks the
environment sends a signal that enables everything to happen in the
time that is available to it, big or small everything gets done.
It was our best fly and conventional fishing season on the Zambezi,
fantastic conditions and brilliant results were achieved. In many
instances customers were booking there following years trip whilst
still onboard enjoying their current stay with us. It felt arrogant
putting that piece of information into the journal but it really is
a true testament to the level of enjoyment a customer experienced
whilst onboard Nguni.
As we moved off the Zambezi and into the Chobe for the game-viewing
spectacle we had asked Imelda our hostess to make a note of the
special things she saw.
“When
the floodplains and pools run dry everything descends to the river”
“When we were at
Serondella, we observed a Giant Kingfishers nest with two chicks in
it, later on that day Bellings and I were amazed and saddened to see
a Fish Eagle swoop down and take one of the Giant Kingfishers chicks
from the nest, we could not do anything to help”
“It was my first time to
see over one hundred Sable, usually we see between 5 and 10 “
“We found a dead Hippo
opposite Sedudu Island and there were about 30 crocodiles feeding
off it, this lasted for 3 days in very little water”
“On our cruises between
Kasika and Serondella I count about 20 crocodiles per trip”
Looking forward to
journeying our water wilderness with you.
From all of our Nguni crew, thank you
for your support, god bless and we look forward to cruising the
rivers with you again sometime. |