It was unusually cold that Thursday night on 9 August 2001. The riverine forest was showing signs of the harsh winter. The cathedral like arches, consisting mainly of mopane, African ebony, tamarind and Natal mahogany, was misty, and the only noise to be heard was the staccato huh-huh sounds of the hippo’s as they were leaving the water.

Fun, exciting, strategic, adventurous…..and deadly. Poaching is no light thing in Africa (read on)

Luambe is situated in the Luangwa Valley, between the South and North Luangwa National Parks. It is a piece of paradise and I was tasked with management of the Luangwa Wilderness Lodge (the only Lodge in the Park). I arrived in April 2001 and my brief was to manage the camp, entertain the guests, conduct the game drives, and undertake anti-poaching exercises. Coming from the heart of the Wineland, Stellenbosch, this was all very new and exciting to me. As I mentioned earlier I was here because I wanted to be here, but every day was proving to be a fast pitch on a quick learning curve. Especially that night . . .

For some unknown reason the twelve staff members, from the local Chewo tribe, and I were sitting in the Lodge’s little kitchen in the head nodding hours of the night. The tiny kitchen was made of reeds and wood, like everything else in the camp. One of the conditions of our operating license is that everything must be made from natural material from the region.

The government anti-poaching scout on duty that night, armed with an AK47, had joined us and was eager to sit close to the fire with the rest of us. Maybe he suspected what was about to happen, or it could be that he was just cold, but somehow we all sensed something was about to happen.

Nabbing the poachers can yeild different types of firearms, as seen here

And it did when at about 9 o’clock we heard the sound of shots from the direction of the Chipuka Plains. For you who have not been to Zambia I need to explain. People there generally do not own firearms and there is hardly any noise at night, apart from those of Mother Nature. You can imagine the noise a gunshot makes in this quiet natural setting.

An icy silence followed the sound of shots. The scout and I looked at one another. In an unspoken moment we realized that it was too risky to investigate at night. Poachers sometimes work in groups of twenty or more, coming from the local villages of Lundazi. The poachers know a jail sentence of at least 6 years awaited them if they were caught, and they will not hesitate to resist capture!

Given what’s at stake (their lives), poachers are known to fight, and kill, to avoid capture.

Although I am a professional hunter in South Africa, I was not registered in Zambia and thus not allowed to carry a rifle or a side arm. All I had was a “knopkierie,” a round-tipped stick one of the Madalas (old man) made for me from Mopane wood. The “kierie” has been handy a few times already when I had to deal with the odd snake in the footpath or the stray poachers. I might have been fooling myself, but I felt safer carrying it.

We knew that the “knopkierie” and one AK47 was not enough firepower, and that we needed back-up from the Anti-Poaching Unit head office at Janjusi, about a 45 minute drive away. I loaded the staff and the guard into the Land Cruiser and we set off for Janjusi at speed.

Upon our arrival the officer on duty informed us that there were no scouts available and, in the typical African concept of time, that we should return the next morning at 5 AM. By then, of course, it would be too late. Frustrated and angry we left. We have a saying in Africa: AWA or Africa Wins Again.

Written by Alma Wallin Hedén, Hanna Träff (both from Sweden) and Elise van der Heijden (The Netherlands).
Ever since the first day on our project we have been feeding the elephants, Kidibone and Selati. It was a little bit scary at first, but it only took that first day and it had grown on us. Now we love it when they chase the vehicle to get their trunks on the pellets one before the other. Cleaning the elephant boma was also a part of our duty, but even this dirty work didn’t put us off, especially with Corne, who was always great fun to work with! Meeting the elephants in the evenings, before they go into the boma, you really get to know their personalities when they show off their tricks for treats!

Recently, the farmers surrounding the reserve have had trouble with a caracal that has been killing their lambs and sheep. It seems that this caracal is no longer killing just for food, but it is simply killing for the sake of killing. We had to go out at night on a bakkie and drive around the property to search for it. It was really exciting even though we didn’t find it. Because standing in an African night, in total darkness and hearing the lions roar is a memory that will last forever!

The other daily routine, a bit more frightening, is providing the cheetahs with dinner. At first they look like cute little kittens, but as soon as they smell the meat they turn into the wild predators they are and always will be! Cutting the meat was also a part of this routine and having Elise on our side was a big contribution to the team when it came to that. Hein tried to convince us that you could be safe inside the cheetah’s enclosure as long as you show that you have authority and confidence. By taking us inside Inyanga’s enclosure with nothing more than a branch and a couple pieces of chicken he proved his theory right. What a thrill!

One day Hein and Corne took us up to the mountains in a valley, to teach us how to handle rifles. We got to shoot at targets from 30 metres and 100 metres with a 0.22 and a 0.308 Calibre, respectively. The whole thing was exhilarating but Hein’s compliments on our shooting made it even better! After the introduction to rifles we had to bring our skills into practice, when it was time to feed the snakes that are starting to feel hungry now that the temperature is rising. Unfortunately, summer time isn’t good news for every animal on the reserve, this time several small birds were unlucky… It felt bad, but sometimes it’s the law of nature!

Snakes weren’t the only reptiles whose appetites were awakened by warmer times, now also the crocodiles were ready for some food! Luckily, a local farmer could provide us with some chickens so we went to pick them up.

With the reptiles becoming all active again in summer, one of them, the Cape Cobra, even managed to escape its enclosure, but it didn’t get far and quickly got caught. After we discovered our talent in interior decorating and design the snake could be returned into its brand new enclosure!

Other important tasks in a game reserve to keep the animals and the guests happy, is general maintenance. Our duties in that area have been conservation work with planting trees. To make this gardening a little more exciting we got to plant them in the lion enclosure, so one of us had to keep an eye on the lions throughout the planting. Furthermore, there were a lot of roads that were flooded and muddy so they were a risk for the game drivers to get stuck in. In order to prevent that, we had to fill them up with rocks collected on the reserve. Also, with the cheetah release coming up, we needed to put up signs on fences all around the property about both the risk of dangerous animals and the voltage.

Something else we have really enjoyed doing in any and all weather conditions, was feeding Lucerne and pellets to the giraffes, buffaloes and rhinos. It was amazing to be so close to these animals and just watching them eat and behave naturally.

Last, but definitely not least, we would like to mention how welcoming and caring Kim and Hein have been to us since day one! They have been so dedicated to making sure that we would be able to make the absolute best out of our stay in South Africa. We couldn’t have wished for better hosts, there is no way to thank you enough! Surely, we will not only miss the work and all the animals but also very much the people, the hospitality and of course all the wonderful ‘braais’ (South African bar-b-que)!

For more details visit EDGE of AFRICA wildlife & conservation projects.