VICTORIA FALLS, ZIMBABWE: Guest Post by Karen Minkowski

Young male giraffes, Zambezi National Park, Zimbabwe.

My friend Karen Minkowski, a frequent contributor to The Intrepid Tourist and definitely an intrepid traveler, is currently in Africa, a place that she has visited often. She spent the month of December in and around Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. She begins her report: 

Since late November I’ve been living in Victoria Falls, a small tourist city just across the Zambezi River from Zambia. Two national parks, Zambezi NP on the west, Victoria Falls NP to the east, surround most of the city. Fences only partially separate Park lands from commercial/residential areas, so walking on the edge requires alertness. Baboons and warthogs move through the commercial and residential areas, mostly unharassed, though people understandably chase baboons from their vegetable gardens. Baboons will go after women – not men - carrying shopping bags. A large male baboon followed me once, too close. I was trying to figure out where to take refuge until a human male noticed and offered to walk me to my gate. Elephants and buffalo often wander through town at night. Recently, lions were sighted in town, attracted by buffalo. Elephants and lions very occasionally kill humans, usually when someone is chasing an elephant raiding a garden or is trying to protect their livestock from a lion attack. Overall, Victoria Falls is quite wildlife tolerant – tourism is a huge source of foreign exchange and employment.

Giant kingfisher.

A full report of Karen's recent activities, including excursions into nearby Zambezi National Park, filled with a description of her activities and her wonderful photographs, is HEREas a PDF.  There are incredible close-ups of birds--Karen is a devoted bird-watcher with patience to catch the birds at their best--and other wildlife. Karen's text makes you feel as if you are a vicarious visitor too. Enjoy!

A white-backed vulture tries to grab some meat from a marabou stork.

White-backed vultures and a marabou stork.

Chameleon

 

SONGO NATURE CONSERVANCY, ZIMBABWE, Guest Post by Karen Minkowski

Elephants near Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe

My friend Karen Minkowski, a frequent contributor to The Intrepid Tourist and definitely an intrepid traveler, is currently in Africa, a place that she has visited often. She spent the month of November at the Songo Conservancy site, which is several hundred miles from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. She begins her report: 

Woodland Kingfisher (eats lizards and insects, not fish).

I recently spent three weeks in the Songo Conservancy northeast of Victoria Falls, on the shores of Lake Kariba, volunteering for the International Anti-Poaching Foundation (IAPF).

IAPF manages lands where both legal and illegal hunting have severely reduced wildlife populations. Some of these lands border national parks and/or could serve as corridors that would allow wildlife to move between protected areas. The organization recruits and trains young women as rangers who conduct anti-poaching operations within their own communities. (Akashinga is a documentary film about the first set of female rangers trained by IAPF (you can watch it at  https://www.iapf.org/the-film).  IAPF also supports schools, clinics, legal fishing camps and conservation education. The organization was founded by a charismatic, ex-military Australian. His mission is to wipe out poaching in Africa by building communities that coexist with wildlife and have zero tolerance for poaching or other environmental crimes, whether initiated from within or from the outside. The rangers are impressive, and their salaries help support their extended families.

Celebrating after the graduation ceremony for 40 some young women who had successfully completed their training as rangers. 

A full report of Karen's activities with the Songo Conservancy organization, filled with a description of her activities and her wonderful photographs, is HERE as a PDF.  It is filled with incredible close-ups of birds--Karen is a devoted bird-watcher with patience to catch the birds at their best. Karen's text makes you feel as if you are a vicarious visitor too. Enjoy!

Hippos spend their days in the water to keep cool. They feed at night, but on cloudy days, they sometimes leave the water to graze.

I have included just a few samples of her photographs. Be sure to go to the PDF to see all of them.