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ON BIRDING IN MOZAMBIQUE AND OTHER PLACES
Like many others we took advantage of the long holiday to head up to our neighbouring countries. If anyone gets as far as Pemba in northern Mozambique, I can recommend Pemba Dive and Bush camp, just outside the town. Brenda Frank and her family are doing their best to preserve 40 hectares of lovely bush, as well as a stretch of reef in the bay – and the birding is pretty good. Visiting birders have built up a list of some 120 species. Brown-breasted Barbets are easily seen here, and Green Malkoahs move through the campsite. Purple-banded Sunbirds are common and Pale Batis and Red-faced Crombec are easily seen. A paddle along the mangroves yielded Mangrove Kingfisher (use of the kayaks is free).
A highlight in central Mozambique was our stay at Gorongosa National Park. The American Greg Carr (The Carr Foundation) is doing sterling work here and deserves to be supported. After driving through well over 1000 km of areas with uncontrolled charcoal burning and logging it was wonderful to enjoy the undisturbed bush in the park. The prices are reasonable and Chitengo Camp has a campsite, chalets and a restaurant. Birding in the camp is great and the Urema Floodplain offers up all sorts of waterbird delights. In Chitengo camp I saw Collared Palm-Thrush, Purple-banded Sunbird and Pale Batis and on the second morning Black and White Flycatchers called loudly from the treetops. On the drive out we saw Racket-tailed Rollers. From Mutare on the Zimbabwe border to Gorongosa is about 300km – all tar. The roads to and within the park are dirt.
Gorongosa Mountain, which falls outside the park, was a huge disappointment. The mountain is supposedly sacred but is systematically being damaged and deforested by sheer weight of the number of people living on and around it. Around Vinduzi village (where we camped and hired a guide) there is almost no pristine bush left and all the lower slopes are being farmed so there is little to see. Higher up the mountain and even the highest forest patches show clear signs of damage and deforestation. It was so disheartening. We did not see or hear any Orioles and as we descended could hear wood-cutters at work.
The Vumba area of Zimbabwe is still magic and the forests rejuvenate the spirit. I recommend to anyone visiting this area that they take a guided walk with Buluwezi at Seldom Seen (5 US$ per hour). He has been guiding for 16 years and it’s a delight to have every call and twitter interpreted and all sorts of amazing birds revealed.
One last note – everyone must support the eradication of the House Crows in Cape Town. Both Dar Es Salaam and Zanzibar are overrun with House Crows – literally THOUSANDS of them. The dawn chorus on the Zanzibar coast is the raucous cawing of hundreds of these birds as they comb through the palm trees and forage on the beaches. There seems to be little room for any other birds. The sooner we get rid of them the better!
Ingrid Uys
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