A slice of Cardamom forest anyone?

As we had a few weeks off during this February, we got totally excited about the part that took us on an 8 day trip into Cambodia. A country that by the looks of it combines great natural areas – with significant importance to the whole region of South East Asia – with a stunning coast that is dotted with tropical islands and endless stretches of pristine beaches.

The coast around charming Sihanoukville means nothing less than sheer pleasure. Everything you might need on a beach and much more is within easy distance of your sunbed. Yes the Cambodians know what hospitality means, no doubt about that!

Thinking of where to visit nature we decided to venture out on a trekking through part of Cardamom Mountains. Made up out of different protected areas, these mountains still harbour huge quantities of intact forest with even more unbelievable wildlife of which most I would have never thought to be present in Asia. Indo Chinese tigers, clouded leopards, asian wild dogs, forest elephants, gibbons and the list continues. Big mammals comparable to those around Lamai Serengeti.

Sadly with one significant difference.

We accessed the foot of the mountains via boat through beautiful mangroves. Though not more than half a day into out trekking it became sadly clear that all of this magnificent flora and fauna is severely threatened - as is the forest in which they live. 

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Threatened to such an extend that both Suzanne and I were outright shocked by the complete absence of any sign of wildlife during the trekking. Over one full day of trekking not more than two birds, three species of butterfly and one fantastic insect was identified.

Talking with our guide made painfully clear that the vast hunger for exotic mammal species of neighbouring countries and extreme poverty of local people all rapidly changed the forest over the past 3 years. Combined with a ferocious corruption on illegal logging, our own guide couldn’t believe this place would still be here in 10 - 15 years from now. 

Trees without monkeys or birds, general absence of any bigger mammal and dams that had cut vital rivers. A sad story about one of the few remaining but rapidly decreasing bio diversity hotspots in Cambodia. Never before was it so outright clear to us how destructive man can be to nature. And never it was so clear we should cherish the wildlife areas as we know them.

So now let’s take a big step back to Lamai Serengeti. As we flew into the northern Serengeti yesterday the sheer size of this massive 33.000 sq.km (and relatively well -) protected area is of great importance and joy. The incredible wildlife that we had seen from the plane and within the 30 minute drive from the airstrip back to Lamai Serengeti, was unbelievable. Sounds and bush all around you – birds, monkeys, zebras, insects and simply fantastic smells.

We hope the Cardamoms and its inhabitants will survive.

Oddballs

Like a lot of people, I'm always intrigued by the weirdos you encounter while on safari. I don't mean tourists dressed up all in pink or with three sets of binoculars hanging from their neck, though you certainly may observe such unusual specimens. I'm talking about wildlife sporting irregular appendages and individuals with no sense of symmetry.

The most common incidences are herbivores that have broken off one or more of their horns such as this old, old buffalo and this impala.

But every once in a while, you come across something a bit more odd, a genetic twist that leads to some disfigurement. We came across this elephant cow near the Mara river with a bizarrely twisted tusk. The elephant seems to be fairly healthy and has managed to reproduce. So whatever mutation caused the twist in her tusk may have been passed on to another generation.






Weirdest of all, however, was the fact that she was observed using her tusk to suck on her own teat! Has anyone seen that behavior before?

Top Floor, Corner Office with a View

This is Matt. You usually find me blogging from Kiba Point down in the Selous Game Reserve, but this month I'm up in Lamai relief managing for Bas and Suzanne who are on a well-deserved vacation. It's great to spend some time up north at Lamai, especially now when all the mobile camps have moved south and we have the whole area, still teeming with resident game, virtually to ourselves. That said, my heart still lies in the Selous and at Kiba Point, with one exception; I cannot get over the office at Lamai.

One of the highest buildings on the kopje, the office has clear views of Kenya to the north, and great kopje habitat to the east and west. What follows is a collection of pictures that I took in 30 minutes yesterday morning.

First, to the north is the vista I see when I look up from my computer.

We also get some game running around the car park from time to time. One of the dwarf mongooses decided the dusty road actually made for a pretty soft spot to lie down and soak up the morning rays.

This one seemed to think we were hiding some tasty treats in the office and was getting ready to come right in.

Bas has written quite a bit about the the kopje's hyraxes who, just like the mongooses, like to warm up in the morning sun. This one spent five hours sprawled out on top of a boulder just out the east window.

We also have lots of Lion's Claw, a tall flowering plant, right around the office. It's pollinated by sunbirds, brilliantly-colored close relatives of hummingbirds. The kopje is full of Marico Sunbirds in particular. They are always perched or hovering around the Lion's Claw while they drink its nectar.

Best of all, we get them out both the East...

...and West windows.

A few other birds were hanging around this morning, including thisTawny-flanked Prinia.

Finally, I watched a European Spotted Flycatcher sally forth to catch some tasty insects.
 


By that point, the emails had started flooding in, but the work day isn't so bad when you have all of this to watch out the window.

Stuck for a reason

As we drove out, helping one of our cars that got stuck just right in front of our mess, we were lucky enough to accidentally bump into this beautiful young leopard. 

Close to where we met our ‘stuck - on - the - road colleague’ (no name of course J!) suddenly this leopard crossed the road. As we stopped for a minute, he wasn’t all too happy with us.

Encounters like this always happen unexpected! So one thing we learned – never leave without your camera!

The gypsy leopard

Yes there are similarities between them: both have a distinctive pattern, both are solitary and both are found in the Serengeti - but that is where it ends.

The Leopard Tortoise is certainly less sought after than the regular leopard, but not less fascinating! Part of the ‘little 5’ this reptile is common to the area around Lamai Serengeti. A strict herbivore, feeding mainly on mixed types of grasses it seems to provide the Leopard Tortoise with an exceptional health. It lives up to 100 years old!

Slowly wandering the endless Serengeti plains, the solitary tortoise is well approached. It’s known defence of retreating into its shell is a very interesting feature  to observe from close distance. Not many people know that doing so often the Leopard Tortoise makes a hissing sound. Air is forced out of their lungs when all limbs and head make their way into the shell. As was the case with this little fellow.

Well worth to be added to your list of leopards!