Black magic-related crime and other anecdotes

My days at the Luangwa North Camp in the North Luangwa Valley have come to an end. It has been nearly two months since I arrived in this wonderful place at the beginning of June. So much has happened since my last post two weeks ago. Different groups of customers have been coming and going since then. It's been great to meet people who are so fond of nature and wildlife.

The other day, I saw my first black spitting cobra. We were on the safari car and spotted a long black reptile

about 30 meters away. As we got nearer, the cobra raised its head up completely adopting a menacing or rather defensive posture. A few seconds later, it ran away very quickly. It must have felt panic when facing a monster safari car like the one we were on. It was a beautiful animal and a pretty rare reptile to come across. What a privilege!

We also had a lion rambling at the camp the other night while we were sleeping. It was around 3 a.m. when some deafening roars awoke me. The lion was just below the bungalow where we spend the night. In the morning, the local employees at the camp explained that the lion wasn't alone. There had also been two lionesses around. The three big cats were apparently attracted by the impalas that sometimes graze in the camp´s grounds. Never ever I had been so close to a lion. Great experience!

There is plenty of these big cats in the valley these days. It is easy to find leopards as well. Today, on my last safari drive with the camp´s guide Szu and Merche, we came across a leopard less than 10 meters away. It´s such an amazing animal!They all come close to the river Luangwa for water and food looking for the best possible surroundings during the mating season. The other day, while we were opening a new route for safaris in preparation for new customer arrivals, we saw in the distance some vultures flying in circles 15 meters above some distant bushes. We approached the area. We got off the car. Our guide, Szu, spotted some fresh lion footprints as we got closer to the place. A few minutes later, we felt a very strong odor. We could then see what looked like a carcass in between some bushes. As we got there, we found ourselves facing the remains of a big adult male buffalo. It looked pretty fresh.

According to Szu, it had been killed not longer than two days before. There was enough meat for at least four adult lions for two days. We inspected the surroundings and also found fresh lion urine, a few hours old. The lions couldn´t be too far away. We got back on the car and kept going in search. About three hundred meters further down the road, we spotted them. Two male lions and a lioness. They were resting peacefully under some trees about 50 meters away from us. It was so cool to experience all this with a professional guide like Szu. He tracks animals down by observing the language of the bush. I have learned so much. Walking safaris is one of the specialities of Zambia and are certainly offered to customers here at the camp. It is without doubt a very different and richer experience compared to a more traditional safari drive. I highly recommend it.

 

During my duties as the camp´s cook, I get to talk quite often to Brighton and to some other members of the crew. And they sometimes tell me breathtaking stories. Last week, Brighton explained to me how his dad was killed by an elephant 32 years ago. Brighton was 9 years of age. His father was involved in local politics in his home village, Mebamba, not too far from where the camp is. One day, when he was returning from a local gathering in Chifunda, a nearby and larger village, the fatality happened. He was cycling. Apparently, an elephant that was feeding on some marula trees in the fields that separate Chifunda from Mebamba, started chasing him. He couldn´t escape. This is the story that he was probably told and I´m sure that there was some add-ons to it and speculation around it, as I don´t think that nobody actually saw what happened. But as he was telling me the story, I started to understand why Brighton, and many villagers that I´ve talked to these weeks, fear these big mammals.

A more striking story even is what we learnt four days ago. All the safari and lodge operators at the North Luangwa Valley are radio connected with the ZAWA (Zambia Wildlife Authority). As I was preparing lunch for customers with Brighton, we saw Boston, one of the other local employees, approaching the kitchen. I heard him talk to Brighton in Bemba, one of their local languages. When they finished, I asked what was happening. They explained that the ZAWA officers located at one of the park´s control gates had radio-broadcast a message. There had been a crime in Chifunda. A man had been killed by his own sons and daughters. They had apparently axed him to death. I couldn´t believe what my ears were hearing. I asked Brighton why. He told me a story of black magic that according to him served as a justification for these terrible events.

About a year ago, this man´s first wife was found dead. The village´s witch doctor determined that his husband had done black magic on her. His conclusion was based on the fact that he found a featherless dissected duck in his house. The man left the village. His sons and daughters were now abandoned without any parent to look after them. This same man did come back to Chifunda a few days ago, short after his offsprings took fatal revenge on him.

After hearing this story, not without a huge dose of shock, I asked Brighton what he thought about it. He said that we, Muzungus (white people), don´t understand because we don´t believe in black magic. He was convinced about his beliefs. When the rest of employees gathered around us, I could see that this belief in black magic was the common position for them all. I asked what was going to happen to all these sons and daughters of the assassinated man. They said that they would be arrested and trialed. At the end of the process, the judge would determine whether or not they'd be sentenced to imprisonment for the death of their father. Merche (my friend and one of the owners of the camp) and I then engaged in a discussion with them all about black magic, their beliefs, the existence of witch doctors, what science has to say about all this and so on. We didn´t get to any common ground in our different viewpoints.

Last Friday, we also learnt about the death of a lioness. She had wounds of buffalo horns. The lion is the only predator to buffalos in this park. Control radioed the camp´s scout (a rifle-armed member of the ZAWA that is responsible for the safety and security of the camp and during safaris). They requested him to go where the dead lioness lied in order to bury her. It is common practice that when fatalities like these happen, animal heads and paws are cut off by these officers before the rest of the body is put under ground. Poachers, although in minimal numbers compared to the 80´s and early 90´s, still exist. And unfortunately big money is still paid by undesirable people for poached or dead animals in this disgusting practice. Beheading and dismembering the animal, although terrible having to do so, at least prevents this shameful and illegal trade from happening.

Something more joyful, I´ve also been bird watching from the camp´s dining deck these last couple of weeks. The deck overlooks the river, which is a source of attraction to so many flying species. My favorites are the pied kingfisher, the saddlebilled stork, the cattle egret and the African barred owlet. I´ve alson been spending some time visiting the many beautiful lagoons within the park.

I am leaving the camp tomorrow morning. It's been a great experience here with Merche, Marie and all the employees, now my friends, Brighton, Derek, Isaac, Alfred, Jackson, Kennedy, Boston and the guide Szu. My travels in Africa continue. The next destination is Mpulungu and the Lake Tanganyka, in the North of Zambia, border with Tanzania. I hope I´ll be able to keep publishing more anecdotes soon. As always, thanks very much for reading and big hug to you all.

More adventures from the North Luangwa

The time passes by very fast at the camp. It’s been two weeks since my last post. So much has happened at the North Luangwa Valley since then. Two weeks into the winter, here below the equator line. The mornings and the evenings are still rather chilly.

However, from now on, we’ll relentlessly be approaching the summer season, not necessarily in terms of longer days and shorter nights, as this close to the equator the number of day light is pretty consistent throughout the year, but in terms of reaching much higher temperatures.

These days, as the river waters start to recede, I can see how the opposite shores are closing up on each other. Although narrower and narrower every day, the Luangwa will soon be the only source of water in the National Park, as it´s the only river that doesn´t completely dry up during the summer months. This means that the concentration of animals around us will be increasing, as the wildlife, especially the big cats; antelopes such as impala, kudu, puku, waterbak and bushbak; elephants and buffalos, come to drink. I love the breaks in between customer stays when we have some spare time to go on a drive or walk safari.

I’ve finally got to see lions, leopards and one of my favorite animals, the spotted hyena.

We also see wildlife all the time at the camp itself. A solitaire adult male elephant’s been visiting us a few times in the last couple of weeks. He comes around, probably attracted by the leaves of the camp´s acacia and mopane trees and the fresh grass from the dried lagoon on the east side. It’s huge.

The footprint of its hind leg was 52 cm of diameter, which indicates that his height must’ve been around 3 meters, from the ground to his shoulder. We could observe him very closely, at a distance of less than 5 meters, from the window of one of the bungalows, as he took his time to feed and move from one tree to another. We followed him at distance so that we could take some photos. As a precaution, the camp´s ranger, a member of the park´s security and safety squad, joined us with his rifle in case there was a dangerous charge from the elephant. I asked him why he was so vigilant. He answered that I had entered the dangerous zone in terms of proximity to the elephant, below 20 meters, while I was taking pictures. It’s easy to underestimate the risk when getting closer to these mammals. Albeit their size and weight, elephants are very fast animals. They can reach speeds of up to 60 km/h, and their reaction times are extremely fast.  It’s compulsory to have a ranger at the camp.

Their duties include going with the safari expeditions as well in case there is a dangerous situation, although rare, with animals that may pose a threat to customers.

One night we heard a lot of noise and cries coming not far from the camp´s west end. It seemed to be a lion attacking one of the hippos that inhabit the Luangwa. The next morning, we saw an injured hippo on the right shore of the river. Another 4 were around him, as if protecting him. Not far, a good dozen or so of crocodiles were awaiting their chance. This went on for a couple of days, the crocodiles looked ever more menacing each morning.

That morning I woke up especially early at 5:30 with the intention of enjoying the breathtaking sunrise. The hippo was already dead. His 4 companions weren’t guarding his body any longer. About 25 or 30 of those large reptiles were having a feast. They’d take big chunks of meat, chewing and gulping it with their mouths wide open in the air. Later at night, we could still hear the lion´s moaning roar, probably as if complaining about how unfair it was that he attested the killing strike for not being able to partake on the rewards of his effort afterwards.

Exposure to wildlife’s not only about big mammals. One night, after reading a few pages of ‘Bitterness’ by Zambian writer Malama Katulwende, I switched off my frontal light, lied down on my mosquito net-covered bed, and got ready for my sleep. It was very dark, as every other night. A few minutes later I heard something flying over my head. It flew and stopped in intervals. I wasn’t sure what it was. The thing was trapped inside the mosquito net. I covered my head under the linen and the pillow. I remained like that for several minutes while I kept on hearing those flying dives. It made me a bit nervous. After a while, I decided to get out of bed. I ridiculously stuck my feet out of bed to pull the mosquito net aside. The rest of the body followed. Afraid of being hit in the head by whatever that flying thing was, I was finally outside the bed and grasped my frontal light. I switched it on. And there it was, one of the many bats that abound the camp was unsuccessfully trying to fly out of the space created by the mosquito net as it protects the bed. I slid it up so that the poor bat could come out. After that, I went back to sleep and thought of this encounter for a few seconds. I somehow felt embarrassed for having been afraid of this harmless flying mammal. More embarrassing even if you compare my fear to its own. Bats are my friends now. There are at least 3 that sleep every night hanging under my bed. They come and go as they please. Their fast motion flies under my bed don´t bother me any longer.     

We’ve had several groups of customers staying in the lodge and going on drive and walking safaris in the last two weeks. I’m still looking after the kitchen and, more importantly, training Brighton. I´ve set myself up the challenge of helping him develop enough confidence for him to take full responsibility of it once I leave. We still have some challenges with communication, and misunderstandings still occur, almost every day. What I’ve learned is that I need to be very clear with him on what the expectation is, since his and my perceptions about cuisine are very different. How challenging it must be to ask someone to cook European style food when his cultural habits and traditions are so far apart! Nonetheless, I must say that I can see great progress. His level of interest is outstanding. And we still have so much fun while we cook together. Sometimes we even prepare meals outside, on the fire that they make with branches of mopane tree, we ask other members of the crew like Jackson, whom we name ‘the dancer’, Alfred and Isaac to join, and then play the drum and dance while we cook a traditional Zambian meal that consists of Nshima, beans, beef stew and cabbage. They're all great guys!

 

I’m still enjoying my days here. When the night falls, the busy day at the camp has set you for a good night sleep. The sounds of the bush, the wildlife at night, the wind breaking through the trees that surround the camp create a very relaxing environment that has a soothing effect on my sleep. Every morning, I feel really rested and ready for new adventures. I hope you did enjoy these ones and that you look forward to more in my next post coming soon. Thanks so much for reading!