Following on from my last blog, this is a continuation of an agents’ educational trip taken at the beginning of September to Rukuru Bush Camp and then on to Nyamoumba River Camp, both on the Zambezi River. Nyamoumba is located at the beginning of the Kariba Gorge, only 27kms below the Kariba Dam Wall. You can either drive into camp via a dirt road which you access from near Marongora, which takes about an hour (road and weather conditions permitting); or else you can boat up from Chirundu with either Mana Pools Transfers or Go Fish Marine, whom we used. If you go via pontoon it takes about an hour and a half or if via speedboat just 45 minutes.
We had a very pleasant trip up the river on the pontoon option and were met by Julian upon arrival with this staff quickly unloading all our bags. We were staying at Nyamoumba Camp, which has 4 twin/double en-suite rooms with a central entertainment area and pool. There is also Little Nyamoumba which is more intimate and located a little further up the river, which has its own entertainment area and 3 twin/double en-suite rooms with an outdoor shower instead of a pool. One of the unique features of the rooms is that the bathroom is open air, so you can shower while listening to the birds in the trees or looking up at the stars at night.
We arrived just in time for lunch and after a look around the lodges we sat down to a simple meal of cold meats and salad, just what was needed on a hot summer’s day. With a couple hours to kill before our afternoon activity we all headed to the pool and whiled away the afternoon just chilling with a few ice cold gin and tonics.
Julian knew most of us were keen birders and so for our afternoon activity he had organised the pontoon boat to take us on a cruise up the gorge to look for the elusive Pels Fishing Owl. Sadly, I think he jinxed it by boasting about seeing 3 on a previous trip, as on this cruise, as hard as we all tried, we never saw one. It was still a very pleasant way to end off the day, slowly cruising up the gorge, looking at the very different terrain from Rukuru the day before. Apparently, in the rainy season there are a couple of waterfalls and even a small natural splash pool about 100m up one of these waterfalls. I hope to be able to get back to experience this myself.
Back in camp, after a lovely cool shower, we gathered around the fire pit to share stories and experiences. It turns out Julian has a hidden talent, while taking a break from his training as a professional guide, he became a qualified sous-chef! To take advantage of the lovely weather and night skies we were having a braai for dinner, with Julian cooking the meat to each person’s specifications. Lots of laughs and memories were made around the dinner table that night.
Early next morning we were off on a game walk around Nyamoumba’s concession. Although not a large concession, Julian is on very good terms with Rhino Force (who have the concession from Nyamoumba all the way down to RIFA near Chirundu) and they have agreed for a trial run of letting Julian and his guests use their huge concession for private game drives and walks. As we did not have a lot of time before we had to leave, we just did a small, but vigorous, walk around the area close to camp. We saw the 3 camp sites which are located a little further downstream. They each have running water, electricity, a braai, a picnic table and chairs and their own small ablution block with toilet, shower and basin. Julian is a very knowledgeable pro-guide and even though we never saw any large game on this walk, we learned a lot, my favourite being about the Spider Hunting Wasp (which I had encountered at home in my garden the previous week).
I must admit we were all ravenous after our fast pace game walk, there is no dawdling with Julian! Breakfast was soon consumed and then it was time to catch the speedboat back to Chirundu, a much quicker 45 minutes this time. As this was more of a ladies trip and only for 1 night I sadly didn’t get a chance to fish but the potential and apparently the fish caught so far have been fantastic, so I am also planning a trip back with my hubby and friends so we can experience this side of the Nyamoumba. As Arnie says ‘we will be back!”
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