Gorongosa is back in the headlines. This time it's coming to you in HD with the release on March 24th of the National Geographic documentary "Africa's Lost Eden".

Gorongosa was known as “the place where Noah left his Ark:” 4,000 square kilometers of wilderness covering floodplains, mountains and forests in central
Mozambique. It was packed with wild animals but 15 years of civil war took a heavy toll. Now conservationists are restoring the magnificent park and this has been captured on film. The world premier of "Africa's Lost Eden" will be in Washington DC on March 24th followed by a discussion moderated by Chris Matthews.

Film Trailer:


Bob Poole who shot the film over the past two years explains that it was challenging filming in the thick bush of Gorongosa. However, they captured amazing footage using a Phantom HD camera that shoots up to 1500 frames a second. You'll see fantastic super slow motion of eagles plucking fish out of the water and fighting mid air battles, waterfalls, elephants, and crocodiles hatching.

For the aerial shots they used a helicopter fitted with a Cineflex camera - the granddaddy of aerial cinematography with its long lens and a gyroscope stabilizer.

Here's a link to a short film on the making of "Africa's Lost Eden".
The making of Africa's Lost Eden

If you're interested in visiting Gorongosa, have a look at the Explore Gorongosa Tented Camp on our website or give us a call.

You might also be interested in the other posts on this BLOG including the 60 minutes documentary: click here

It's great to see the beautiful country of Mozambique getting the publicity it deserves.

This morning a friend Murray alerted me to a wonderful sequence of dolphin photographs by Greg Huglin. Have a look at them on the Daily Telegraph here.

The caption on one of the photographs (reproduced below) states:
'He [Greg Huglin] said: "I believe they do it for fun but it may also have something to do with mating and chasing potential partners. It might also be something to do with hiding from predators - the wave sounds help mask their location'

This reminded me of an experience I had surfing with dolphins from which I have deduced categorically that Greg is correct - they often really do surf for the pure joy of it. OK, I don't have a PhD in animal behavior or any scientific evidence to back this up, but I do have some personal experience to share.

One day I was surfing with a friend at my favorite place, Natures Valley. We were floating beyond the breakers when a pod of dolphins cruising down the coast paused (that is as much as dolphins ever 'pause') to investigate us or, it seemed, to say hello. After a minute the pod moved off except for three who hung back swimming around us and playing in the waves. They'd surf a wave and then return to us as if to encourage us to do something. We did our pathetic best to comply.

We had the most incredible time surfing with them, sometimes riding next to them on the same waves -a mind-blowing experience. Then they'd race back out jumping through the waves and wait for us ungainly terrestrial creatures to labor through the surf before riding the next wave together.

For the next two days we were granted this rare privilege. At about the same time of day each day a pod would come past and three dolphins - we presume the same ones- would stay back to surf. After a few good waves they would dart off to rejoin their more graceful friends.

I'm sure dolphins sometimes surf to catch a fish or impress a mate, but I have no doubt that this was all about fun. It would be hard to have any more fun than surfing with dolphins. maybe that's why they always look like they are smiling.


Natures Valley is on the Garden Route in South Africa. The Garden Route is a beautiful section of the southeastern coastline which starts a few hours east of Cape Town.

I grew up in Zimbabwe where we spent many wonderful weekends and vacations on a house boat on Lake Kariba, the largest man-made lake and reservoir in the world. We'd watch the wildlife, fish for the ferocious Tigerfish, and even water-ski despite the crocodiles. You'll never catch me water-skiing there again, but you will catch me further upriver aboard a much improved "houseboat", the Zambezi Queen.The Zambezi Queen sails the Chobe River, a tributary of the mighty Zambezi River that feeds Lake Kariba. It is a new 150-foot-long river boat described by its owner, Tony Stern, as a “five-star floating boutique hotel”. It truly is. It makes our old houseboat seem like a dugout.
The Zambezi Queen is eco-friendly, with solar-heated water, jet propulsion (instead of propellers) and limited air-conditioning. A breeze cools you as you cruise past some of the most spectacular scenery and wildlife in Africa. Welcome to the Chobe National Park in Botswana with it is teeming wildlife including approximately 120 000 elephants and over 400 species of birds.
All 14 suites with floor-to-ceiling windows have private balconies, modern colonial-style décor and plenty of mosquito netting. The ship also has a bar, reading room, plunge pool, and top-class service.The boat is also only 70km by road from one of the 7 great wonders of the world, the Victoria Falls, and just 3km from Kasane International Airport.
Activities include land-based game viewing, and tiger fishing. Water-skiing is not offered.
See you there!

I can remember coming across a baby spotted hyena (hyena cub) in Kruger Park when I was a kid and thinking with some surprise that the little guy looked quite cute. I was reminded of this today when I saw a few photographs on BBC's news site (click here). Let's face it - cute and hyena are two words not often used in the same sentence. But there the little fellow was. Just like in this picture below - cute in a slightly bear cub-way. Mom (or Dad?).... not so cute!

From BBC "Family matters to hyenas"
"Little fellow" might not be accurate. It is difficult to tell the difference between male and female hyenas. Their reproductive organs look similar externally and the majority of hyena species show little sexual dimorphism, with males being only slightly larger than the females. The Spotted Hyena is an exception to this, with females larger than males. Spotted hyenas are born dark and develop a new spotted coat. Younger hyenas have more spots.
As the BBC pictures reflect, these animals long maligned as nasty scavengers, turn out to be protective parents and accomplished hunters. Spotted Hyena societies are more complex than those of other carnivorous mammals and have been reported to be remarkably similar to those of cercopithecine primates (Old World monkeys incld. baboons) in respect to group size, structure, competition, and cooperation.
Hyenas are one of my favorites to see on safari and as importantly, to hear. There's something special about sitting around the fire at night and hearing them whooping and cackling.
Cute as I think the pups are, apparently looks can be deceiving. These pups are very aggressive and often kill their siblings.

The Summit on the Summit expedition is the brainchild of singer and producer Kenna. His father suffered from waterborne diseases as a child in Ethiopia. A group of celebrities signed on to climb the continent's highest peak — Mt. Kilimanjaro — to raise awareness about the need for clean water worldwide. The team all summitted the 19,340 foot mountain last week after six days of climbing.

ROAR AFRICA is proud of our clients on the trip who are now enjoying some well-deserved relaxation at a beautiful lodge in Tanzania. Prior to climbing, Jessica Biel said she was astonished to learn that more than a billion people across the globe have no access to clean water.

"This is a basic human necessity that needs to be addressed now," Biel said in a statement, adding that she's proud to climb Kilimanjaro with the celebrity team "to help any way I can in order to raise awareness toward the life-threatening clean water crisis happening not only in Africa but around the world."

Donate to the cause directly through the United Nations Foundation.
1 cent = 1 litre of clean, safe drinking water. 5,910,300 liters donated at the time of writing.

Everyone in South Africa has caught World Cup fever. In the clip below you'll see some of the elephants (affectionately known as "Ellies") at Camp Jabulani getting their dribbling skills in order. One ellie uses it's trunk at one point. I wonder if that's disqualified as a "hand-ball" or if this is the goalie?

Elephants playing soccer/football
Footage Courtesy of Univision 34

Camp Jabulani, located in South Africa, are known for their luxury safaris on elephant back under the moonlight. The camp was named after an abandoned baby elephant, which was saved by Lente Roode. The camp's main purpose is to help feed and house these rescued elephants while providing guests a once in a lifetime safari experience. A majority of the income is spent on maintaining the elephants and to support the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Center, which has became a leader in breeding and rescueing endangered animals.
Camp Jabulani features often on our blog. Click here for more.

Click on the image below to read the article from the Winter 2010 special issue of InStyle Weddings.InStyle Weddings

Travel Scope Travels with ROAR AFRICA to Mozambique:

This is Part II of the trip we hosted the TravelScope documentary team on. (Read Part I here.)

We left Kruger National Park, in particular Camp Jabulani and Lion Sands Private Reserve and escorted Joseph and Julie Rosendo of Travel Scope to a very different eco system – namely the Bazaruto Archipelago off the east coast of Mozambique.

The archipelago is made up of five islands –

Magaruque Island which unfortunately was not visited.
Paradise Island (Santa Carolina) which is now a deserted military base. Not that long ago it was considered to be a gem of a holiday resort, now unfortunately the buildings are deserted. The snorkeling off the coral reefs is still outstanding.. (Read our more detailed post on Santa Carolina here.)

Bazaruto Island which is the largest boasts Indigo Bay, a resort of 100 beds. The highlight of our stay at Indigo Bay was being able to ride a horse up the 300 ft dunes – not for the faint hearted! This heart stopping feat was followed by swimming with the horses in the ocean. If this is not for you relaxing on extensive white beaches, fishing and snorkeling are also available. To finish a perfect day we recommend a sunset cruise in an original hand made Dhow.
Benguera Island is situated just south of Bazaruto and we were fortunate to stay at the ultra luxury Azura Lodge which is made up of 30 chalets – each leading directly onto the beach. As expected each chalet has all the quality amenities plus each boasts its own infinity pool. Between the pool and the waves is a relaxing palm frond thatched boma where it is heaven to relax on the reclining sofa.
Pansy Island is a tidal island so access is limited to low tide. Pansy Island offers the best snorkeling - guides lead swimmers on specific routes so that no damage is done to the coral reefs. We do not guarantee sightings but you have the chance of seeing turtles dolphins and dugongs. A Dugong is a large marine mammal which, together with the manatees, is one of four living species of the order Sirenia.

Bazaruto and Benguera Islands have populations of less than 2000 each. They have managed to retain their various indigenous languages, but the Portuguese way of life has been imprinted on them. They speak mostly Portuguese, cook and eat Portuguese style of food and follow Roman Catholicism. Schools and odd small ‘tuck shops’ exist on each island but lively hood is gained from employment at the tourist resorts or by fishing. The main shopping area is situated on the main land at the small town of Vilancoulos - about 45 min away by boat.

Apart form the day to day battle just to survive and feed their family the islanders have a word ‘kutakalia’ which means ‘lay back and relax’. This is there watch word for day to day living and this is how they exist successfully on these little isolated islands.

Anyone one wishing for a relaxing topical beach holiday far away from the madding crowds Mozambique is the definitely the place to go.

Clint Eastwood's latest movie, Invictus, about South Africa's World Cup rugby win in 1995 opens nationwide in the USA this Friday, December 11th. I have not seen a screening but I am already prepared to say that you must see it, especially if you have any plans to visit South Africa. It is about so much more than rugby-this was the tournament that changed our nation. Francois Pienaar, who is played by Matt Damon in the movie and who was the captain of the South African team said "Hollywood could not write a better story." So they just had to tell this one.

Every South African old enough to remember knows where they were on June 24th, 1995. I happened to be in Austin, Texas in body, but we were all in Ellis Park stadium in spirit, watching and feeling our nation defy the odds and come together miraculously as "One Team, One Country". In short, rugby was a sport that symbolized the old South Africa. It was played predominantly by whites, especially Afrikaners, who were extremely proud of their sport and after years of international isolation were desperate to prove themselves to the world.

Understandably, many black South African's wanted nothing to do with it. In fact many were hostile to the game, the players ("The Boks"), the emblem (the Springbok), and even to the green and gold uniform itself. Nelson Mandela, played by Morgan Freeman in the movie, was the visionary who realized that rugby could unite the nation. He and the captain Francois Pienaar then lead the team and the country to victory and to a united new South Africa. On that day Mandela, affectionately known as Madiba, was wearing that number six green and gold jersey of the captain, Francois Pienaar.

Now a new generation of South Africans can be reminded of the spirit their nation was built in. Despite not yet seeing the movie I am prepared to stick my neck out and say this should be required viewing for all South Africans. I got goose bumps reading excerpts from 'Playing the Enemy' last night. No, I am shrouding my emotions here like a good South African male - I have goosebumps right now, but last night my eyes were welling-up. Tough, grown men of all ages, colors and creeds were crying tears of joy, relief and hope in Ellis Park stadium on June 24th, 1995. That is still with us 14 years later and we will feel it again this Friday.

Watch the Invictus trailer here:

A few interesting tidbits about the movie and background:

• The screenwriter is Anthony Peckham who grew up in Durban, South Africa.
• Morgan Freeman who had wanted to do film about Mandela for a decade, found the right project when he heard about a book being written: 'Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation' by John Carlin an ex South African.
• The name Invictus (Latin-invincible) is from a poem by William Ernest Henley that inspired Nelson Mandela during his years in prison. Read it below.
• Matt Damon trained intensely to get in shape for the role but couldn't grow into a 6ft 3inches and 235 pound Pienaar. He first met Francois Pienaar for dinner at Francois' house. Amusingly, when Francois answered the door Matt said, "I'm much bigger in movies."
• Matt Damon knew the basics of the game from friends of his who played at Harvard University.
• In true Clint Eastwood style he kept the movie as close to the original facts and event as possible.
• Action sequences include about 30minutes of game action and used mostly real rugby players from South Africa, New Zealand and Togo instead of actors.
• Movie viewers will learn the basics of the game through scenes at rugby coaching clinics.
• For most of his life Mandela rose at 4.30 am, made his bed and went for an hours' run. While in prison he simply jogged on the spot in his cell. Peckam says that on the day of the final he skipped his exercise routine and made more time to read the national papers.
• On June 24th, 1995 the headline of the Argus newspaper read "Viva the Boks!". Viva was a war cry of black protest that was now being used to rally behind the Springbok rugby team. Before the game had even started the country was on a new road.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

In October ROAR AFRICA hosted the well known Travel Scope show hosts, Joseph and Julie Rosendo, on a trip to southern Africa to film a new TV documentary. Sustainable conservation was the theme of our visit starting at Camp Jabulani in the greater Kruger National Park and ending on the Indian ocean island of Bazaruto.

Joseph on safari

We rose early to catch the sunrise over Africa before a game drive. After breakfast we took a walk with and interacted with sixteen wild (but rescued and trained) elephants. Read more about Camp Jabulani in my September post. Filming and touching five ton bull elephants out in the bush is a privilege of a life time. The focus here and at the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre was wildlife conservation, but the important complement to this was what followed our animal adventure each day: visits to local Shangaan villages and schools to understand more about the native culture and discover how they coexist with and benefit from tourism.

Filming the documentary at Camp Jabulani

It is a challenge to educate all humans as to the value of wild life. It is the wild life that brings tourists so as to create employment and wealth. The goals are to conserve the ecology for mutual long term benefit of man, animals, birds, plants – each caring for the other – that is sustainable conservation. To do this effectively the private lodges and reserves we partner with are involved in community projects, for example, building schools. Lion Sands who hosted us in 6 star luxury, has helped build the Henna Pre-school. more about this and other projects on our website in the ROAR AFRICA Cares section- click here. Standards of living of staff working in hospitality are improving along with the education and futures of their children.

Field audio engineer David Stevens finds a ready assistant in the village.

From Lion Sands Private Reserve in South Africa we headed northeast to the Bazaruto archipelago in Mozambique. Here we were hosted by Indigo Bay Island Resort and Spa and Azura Resort. This is a true island paradise of sparkling turquoise waters and beautiful beaches. Most guests relax more than they ever thought possible here, but for us it was early starts and late finishes as we captured paradise on film. Horseriding, diving, sailing dhouws and sand-boarding down 300 foot high dunes amongst other activities . We'll have to go back for Kuta Katila which on Bazaruto means "roll your reed mat out on the sand, lay back and relax.”

More about the Mozambique portion of the trip in the next installment.

Stay tuned for the 2010 release of this series on television.

Joseph on a traditional dhouw in Mozambique.

More about the trip on the Travel Scope site here:

• TravelScope
• Joseph on safari
• Joseph on Bazaruto, Mozambique

In September we linked to Virtual Africa's "highest definition picture of Cape Town ever" in our blog, here. Well, they've done it again. This time from a different angle - a rooftop in the city looking up towards Table Mountain. The best part about the new picture is the viewer. You will not believe it. Go to full screen view and then start zooming.

Below you'll see a screenshots. The picture is already zoomed into a section of the photo. I created the inset from a zoom into some people 3,000 feet up on the top of Table Mountain.

The image was created by stitching 1850,fully zoomed (x 20 optical zoom), 10 MegaPixel images together over a 3 hour period. It's 205,000 pixels wide which would be a printout of about 90 m x 15 m!

Here is a canon on the ramparts of the Cape Town Castle:

Zoom away at Virtual Africa here....

Cheetah and many other smaller predators are held responsible for farmers’ livestock deaths. Some are to blame but this has resulted in many cheetah being shot at or killed unnecessarily. There is a win-win solution in the form of the Anatolian Sheep Dog.
Anatolian Shepherd dogs are used by Dr Laurie Marker of the Cheetah Conservation Fund and others in the ongoing efforts to prevent cheetahs which have attacked livestock being killed by farmers. These dogs are bred and then given to the farmers to use in protecting and guarding their livestock from cheetah attacks.
The Anatolian sheep dog is spread worldwide, originating in Turkey, and protecting livestock from wolves and other predators for 6,000 years. They have been used in southern Africa for the past fifteen years. These large white dogs (80 Kgs/200 Lbs) live with flocks of sheep, goats or herds of cattle. Unfortunately they have a relatively short life span of less than ten years and are subject to hip dysplasia. They are bred at various breeding centers in South Africa and puppies are placed with farmers in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. One dog is placed per flock and spends its entire life with the sheep or goats believing that it is one of them but protecting them and driving off predators.
To date, over 275 Kangal Anatolian Shepherd have been born and placed on Namibian farmlands by the Cheetah Conservation Fund/CCF. The system is working well with farmers’ reporting large declines in livestock losses and no longer resorting to shooting or poisoning the wild life.
It's ironic that man's best friend is now inadvertently a big cat's best friend!

I have just snapped this cute moment on my cellphone camera: two baby Warthogs relaxing with their mother as she takes a nap. That's a pretty relaxed Mum... but then so would you be here at the beautiful Karkloof Spa in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa - Tatler Magazine's "Most exciting discovery for 2009".

I wish I'd had high res camera to capture it. There are lots of Warthogs roaming the grounds of the Spa and not many predators for them to worry about.

With the long overdue but significant attention to the rapid decline of the world's frogs, it's about time we mentioned the critically endangered Table Mountain ghost frog. Also known as Roses's Ghost Frog, Heleophryne rosei is ONLY found on Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. That's just one mountain in the middle of the city where it lives in about 7-8 km2, in streams and moist, forested gorges.

"This species is adapted to life in fast-flowing mountain streams. Their tadpoles possess sucker-like mouthparts, which they can use to climb up wet, vertical rock surfaces around their streams at night. Adults have been found to stray from streams and have frequently been seen in caves. Numerous threats to this species include the spread of non-native vegetation, frequent fires, heavy ecotourism, and the construction of water storage reservoirs. The virulent fungal disease chytridiomycosis has been found in this species recently and populations are declining fast."

...

"The Table Mountain ghost frog therefore has very few close relatives and is one of the only surviving members of the earliest lineage that gave rise to the modern frogs and toads. The closest ancestors of this species were the first modern frogs."

....

www.edgeofexistence.org

Isn't it sad and ironic that "heavy ecotourism" is listed as a threat. For more on endangered species go to EDGE - Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered. For more on endangered frogs in South Africa see Sally Wren's post on the work Werner Conrad is doing.

It seems like "bunch" is becoming the collective noun for everything these days. Bunch of people, bunch of bananas, bunch of stuff. How sad when the English language is filled with so many interesting collective nouns. I think that some of the most descriptive and entertaining collective nouns are for animals which you'll meet on safari in southern Africa. Here are a whole bunch of them to whet your appetite:

Baboons – Troop or Congress
Bats – Cloud
Buffaloes – Obstinacy
Cheetahs – Coalition
Crocodiles – Bask
Elephants – Herd, Parade or Memory
Giraffes – Journey
Hippos – Raft or Pod
Hyenas – Clan or Cackle
Leopards – Leap
Lions – Pride
Lizards - Lounge
Monkeys – Shrewdness or troop
Mongoose - Business
Owls – Parliament
Porcupines – Prickle
Rhinos - Crash

Weasels - Sneak
Wildebeest - Implausibility
Zebras – Dazzle or Herd
For many of the animals there are numerous options. I particularly love a dazzle of Zebra, a crash of Rhino and an obstinacy of Buffalo. Choose your favorite or better yet, make one up for fun and post it as a comment below.