An Ending...

It is hard to believe that our time at Chipembele has come to an end. The finish was not a perfect '10'. 

The mammalian vertebrae are a marvel of natural selection, that human primates evolved to be bi-pedal and all the attendant adaption over geological time that this entailed is a luminous fact. That each vertebrae is cushioned and connected to the next and working in vertical unison sees us fit to walk, climb, sit, run and recline - all whilst still using our hands at the same time. Amazing! Yet if one or two vertebrae malfunction through stressors, pressure or injury one can only succumb to a state of pain and lameness. Unfortunately, Jude's lumbar spine has paid the price of bumpy roads, uneven ground and "Africa". A prolapsed disc, a conversion event that saw her hit the floor with some heavy duty pain and an aftermath of loss of feeling below the knee and ongoing pain at the prolapsed joint and nerve entrapment, as well as some nasty sciatic issues from a Sacroiliac joint entrapment has seen her have to leave Chipembele early, leave the planned month long Safari and return to Australia for treatment and rehabilitation.

Such is bi-pedal life.

How lucky are we that our Western World income, our insurance, our means – allows treatment and hope for recovery. Having just now worked in a community where the average woman would not see in a lifetime what we earn in wages in a month – who would be hard pressed to afford the malarial medication for her sick child… We are fortunate indeed to have a retreat to the “first” world medicine, treatment and help and the means to procure it.

Kaye is staying on in South Luangwa with Anna and Steve for  few more days and her lovely Mum, Evelyn is joining her on Monday 4^th July for her own “Trip of a Lifetime” at 76 years old – her long held desire to visit the beautiful continent that we have waxed lyrical about each time we have returned from our many journeys. Their imminent trip consists of: Six days in the South Luangwa to show her the wonders of the South Luangwa National Park – this beautiful, diverse and unique habitat full of wildlife – “Lions under every bush, leopards in every tree…” Well, almost! On to Livingstone to visit Mosi-ao-Tunya – The Smoke the Thunders (Vic Falls), across into Botswana to visit the Chobe National Park… Elephants! Elephants! Elephants! Into the Okavngo Delta to mokoro (canoe) across her serene waters. Also in the Okavango so Kaye can revisit and Evelyn meet for the first time Elephants - Jabu, Thembi and Morula the little herd headed by Douglas Groves from Living With Elephants. To Johannesburg to pick up a car and drive for a short 4 day stay in the South of the Kruger National Park, in the hope to seeing Rhino (if there are any left…). Then a week in the most beautiful city on earth… Cape Town.

Kaye and Evelyn’s travels have been arranged by Leanne Wild of the Africa Safari Co. If you are planning a trip to Africa we recommend Leanne’s expertise, good care and thorough knowledge of African safari travel.

So, being at Chipembele has been the most amazing experience – two months of bush living. Of thrilling and awe inspiring daily wildlife encounters. Of giraffe, lion, elephant, puku, impala, baboon, warthog, hippo. Of Bateleur and Fish eagle, vulture, bee-eaters, green whopoes, kingfishers, red waxbills, saddle or yellow billed storks. Of crocodile, lizards, geckos, snakes, scorpions. Of bush-babies, Betty baboon and scrub-hare! Wow! What and amazing parade of natural wonder outside our door every day… We will miss their natural shy company. Everyday was a wildlife wonder.

Living alongside and working with our friends Anna and Steve Tolan, Founders and Directors of Chipembele wildlife Education Trust has been such a privilege, These two amazing individuals are strong, committed, focused and above all do what they do for the love of the wild. The mission is in the best hands possible – and if you are yet to investigate their work please visit our website at:

‘What We Do’

Working with hundreds of children in the Conservation Clubs in preparation for the World Environment Day Event was a great challenge – we had never worked with children before and certainly not in a cross-cultural setting! It was an amazing experience. The hope for the future for the few remaining truly wild places on this finite earth of ours rests in the hands/hearts/minds of the children and young people. May they find the wherewithal in employment, their farming practices and lives to both sustain themselves and their natural heritage for its own sake, for their sake for their children’s sake. Chipembele gives children hope and wildlife a chance…

 Thank you to each one of the 250 children and young people and the Club Patrons from the 6 schools – Kawaza, Kakumbi, Chiwawtala, Mfuwe Basic and Mfuwe Secondary and Yosefe for your participation, energy and enthusiasm for the  World Environment Day Event. 

May your commitment to the stewardship of your beautiful land continue to grow.

Working with Rochelle James – The Chipembele Conservation outreach in Schools Manager and her friend Brooke Mundey over the weeks leading up to the Open Day and World Environment Day events was a joy. Rochelle so generously fitted us in an otherwise already hectic schedule of her teaching, club activities and her own personal Masters studies. To have a couple of Australian gals to share the work, the commitment and to see the job done was of great value. Thanks Rochelle and Brooke!

Meeting and working alongside Eunice Nakachinda – the Chipembele Administration Assistant – getting to know her, her easy and effervescent friendliness and support of us was a real joy! We look forward to working with Eunice on the newly formed Chipembele Girls Clubs activities from afar…Thank you Eunice, your warmth, hand in friendship and genuine engagement made our time there very special.

The final chapter of “Jude and Kaye’s Going for Good” is a little different from how we might have liked it, but we achieved what we set out to do. To Live Life Large, to celebrate the 10 years of solid achievements of Chipembele’s Conservation Education in the heart of the rural Zambian area adjacent to the South Luangwa National Park. To live up close and personal with the wonderful wildlife we love and above all to see survive and thrive in the South Luangwa.

Warm and weary waves from a Jude newly arrived after a 24 hour marathon flight schedule in her own home in chilly Semaphore. And from Kaye – ensconced still in our beautiful little Bushhouse on the banks of the Luangwa.

Thanks all for reading our blog along the way and sharing our adventures…

Jude and Kaye

XXX

PS: If you would like to be part of protecting and conserving the iconic wildlife of the South Luangwa a dedicated work of generational change – please visit our special (secure) ‘10 for 10’ Chipembele cheer squad page here and spread the love around…

http://www.justgiving.com/10-for-10-Cheer-Squad-2011

A Day in the Park

Excitement mounted last Friday night. On Saturday after a busy and productive week – we were going on our first all day adventure to really look for wildlife, a self-drive into South Luangwa National Park (SLNP). It was important to get a good night’s sleep. The Moon is almost full, the light flooding the Luangwa and the inside of the Bush House. As we prepared for bed we could hear the Hippos yelling out their characteristic loud hoots and grunts. Their sounds carried in the still night air… so close we could have sworn they were in the Chipembele Lake, just 5 metres from our house. The bird known as ‘The Low Battery Bird’ started up – "…Loud trill, Loud trill, soft trill, soft trill - beep, beep, beep (battery’s dead) … repeated over and over.

Then the Unidentified-Owl (UO) started up.

At distance at first, it went like this:

UO: ‘Oooo, Oooo’.

Jude: : “Haven’t heard that owl before!”

UO: ‘Oooo, Oooo’

Kaye: “Wonder what type he is?”

UO closer this time: ‘Oooo Oooo’

Jude: “Gosh, he’s loud isn’t he? He’s really close.”

UO: Oooo, Oooo
Kaye: “Must be looking for a mate.”

UO: “Oooo Oooo’ ‘Oooo Oooo’ ‘Oooo Oooo’.

This went on for hours. Tossing and turning in sleepless beds.

Kaye: “Bloody Owl! Wish he would just shut up!”

Jude: “So much for wildlife-lovin’.”

__________()__________

Waking at 4.10am precisely, as you do when you are over excited and had a bad nights sleep, we cuppa’d up, had breakfast of wheat-bix, packed our picnic things and went up to Anna and Steve’s house to pick up the keys and vehicle so we could pack the things in the Landy. Steve said “There were Wild Dog up the top of the Driveway this morning did you hear them?” We pouted..."Wild Dog? Wow! ...No, we didn’t hear them!” …Awww, we were rattling around packing up and didn’t hear them…” How disappointing.

Once on the road, we spent 5 minutes looking for the Wild Dog but figured they had moved well off on the hunt, we started on our hour long drive to the SLNP. Off we go! Whoo Hoo!

Oops, no, Have to go back… how embarrassing, Bush Babies we are, babes-in-the-woods. Going on a trip and forgot to pack the Park map! Steve was surprised to see us back in 7 minutes… He thought we had found the Wild Dog! 

Map securely packed we finally took off. Picking Brooke up at the BP, we paid our park fees, ($US 30 per person + K15,300 vehicle fee). Spent the first part of the morning exploring small tracks and taking photos of puku, ducks, zebra and impala. Actually, this is because we got lost. Good thing we bought the map… Taking a short-cut that turned into a 2 hour maze, but it was all good… Found the airstrip and eventually back to the main road we headed out to Chichelele Hill in the South of the Park. Kaye did a great job of the driving and guiding. Brooke is a great safari-companion. She, like us - also loves to just sit and watch and photograph who-ever happens along. She is as glad as we are just to be IN the African bush!

__________()__________

A Conga Line of Buffalo

The ‘sighting of the day’ was 200 buffalo as they filed in from the bush to the Dambo to drink – we could not believe our eyes – and sat watching them, filming and photographing them for an hour and forty minutes. Beautiful!

__________()__________

Elephant! Elephant! Elephant!

Lone males, a lone female (we wondered why she was on her own!) small family groups… in various settings, mopane, scrub, wetland (Dambo), elephant heaven…

__________()__________

Brooke Mundey and our first Elephant sighting for the day

Bushbuck

U.D. (Unidentified Duck)

Ground Hornbill

Waterbuck

__________()__________

Kaye did such a terrific job as our driver and guide!

When we got back to Chipembele at 5.00pm – Richarb asked Kaye “Madam, did you hear the Wild Dog last night? They were all around.” Kaye, disappointed told him “No – all we heard was an Unidentified-Owl. Saying ‘Oooo, Oooo! Oooo Oooo!’.

“Ah! – No, madam that is the contact-call of the Wild Dog…”

Listen as we might, as we went to sleep last night –

no UO’s… no Wild Dog’s….

Babes-in-the-woods, indeed.

Love & Waves from the Luangwa

Jude and Kaye

PS: Richarb told us the Wild Dogs came back into the grounds of Chipembele in the morning near the Men’s house, while we were in the Park.

Kaye said: “ Ironic isn’t it – we pay 60 bucks to get into the park and saw buffalo. If we had stayed at home we could have seen the Wild Dog for free!”

Two Weeks and Counting...

Jude and Kaye - Pom Pom Camp
Okavango Delta 2008

Kaye and I are flying to Southern Africa to begin our fourth trip to this amazing continent on Easter Saturday. That is exactly 14 days, 4 hours, 33 minutes and 22 seconds from now. Whoo Hoo!

In 2005 we went on our first ever overseas trip. We went camping for three weeks through the wilds of Botswana - Here is a naive and bouncy 'Trip Report' about that trip.

Falling head over heels and planning to once more immerse ourselves in Africa became our reason for living/working/breathing. In 2008 we super-sized and travelled for 60 days through Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.  There is a tiny selection of our 10,000 photographs from that trip here

In Zambia we visited Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust, a small NGO located near the South Luangwa National Park. We were amazed and blown away by the Wildlife Education Centre Anna and Steve Tolan had built in 2001- and their projects and programmes teaching local children the value of their wildlife so it may be conserved for present and future generations...

We decided on our return to do anything we could from here in Adelaide, South Australia to assist Anna and Steve in their work. graciously they allowed us to help out with some online activity - social networking,updating the website and assisting with funding applications and other admin work we can do from 11,000 kilometres away. 

                                                  
Three years later we are permanent volunteers and very much part of the Chipembele Team. 

We are heading to Chipembele in just a few short weeks to volunteer our time in helping Chipembele to celebrate 10 years of achievement of wildlife education excellence as the official "Cheer Squad" leaders. 


So we are kind of  Going for Good 

How very privileged and lucky are we to be  living at Chipembele? We will be close by to our good friends, Anna and Steve. We will awaken every morning in this beautiful landscape, living in a great bush house in the South Luangwa Valley. And the most exciting bit of all... with Elephants wandering by... *heaven!

We hope to be able to bring updates from the field...

So please watch this space as we share being...

At Large In Zambia...

*Of course, we can say 'heaven' because we won't be trying to grow our own food there. The local people, majority subsistence farming - are at the pointy end of the wildlife human interface. They live and grow their crops bang up against the beautiful wild and thriving South Luangwa National Park. Human wildlife conflict is inevitable and the Communities, Chipembele, South Luangwa Conservation Society, Zambian Carnivore Programme and  the safari tourism operations form an important coalition in protecting, educating, researching and conserving this rich and diverse eco-system. We so look forward to living and working in this community.