Chad – a country dominated by the Sahara and the Sahel – is a land of extremes. The encroaching desert is driving humans, livestock and wildlife further south in search of permanent water sources.
Zakouma National Park
One of the few areas in Chad that receives a large annual rainfall is Zakouma National Park – a wildlife haven in the far south east of the country.
African Parks have stepped in to protect the park and its local communities from poaching and other encroachment on the land.
I visited in April to see the incredible work that African Parks are doing and found a land in the grip of drought. Everywhere I looked reminded me of the critical importance of life-sustaining water.
Here in Zakouma it’s all about water. Either too much or too little.
In the wet season (May to October) roads are impassable, land and trees submerged and animals retreat outside the park or to the more remote areas of higher ground.
In the dry season (November to April) the waters rapidly recede. Then, after the New Year as the heat builds, the park dries out until the black cotton soil is cracked and burnt to a crisp. Long elephant grass turns dry, brittle and golden. Ferocious bush fires sweep through park.
The End of the Dry Season
I visit at the end of the dry season. The park is parched – all different shades of yellow and ochre – with dried out waterholes and rivers holding just a few remaining muddy pools. Animals and birds form uneasy alliances in vast numbers around the few remaining water sources.
The precious water offers both life or death. The old and the weak perish. Picked off by waiting predators, dehydration or starvation, or lacking the strength to escape the thick black syrupy mud surrounding the few remaining pans.
Predators lurk in the shadows of the trees and grasses surrounding the waterholes. Their prey needs to drink. So they simply bide their time.
On one occasion I even see hyena and lion feeding off the same reeking carcass – the glut of prey is so much that their normal antipathy is set aside for now. Vultures and Maribou wait patiently in the tree above to take care of what is left.
For the seasoned safari go-er and adventurer the dry season in Zakouma is a paradise.
- Pans teeming with waterbirds as far as the eye can see.
- Raptors watching from surrounding trees.
- Huge mega-herds of buffalo, and elephant dependent on regular spots for their water.
- A constant stream of antelope, gazelle and giraffe making their way within a few metres of predators – desperate for water.
A Day on Safari in Zakouma
I’m here in April – at the end of the dry season, just before the rains came and it’s spectacular. We wake early – 4.30 am. By 10.00am the heat will be in the 40’s and remain that way all day. So, it’s quick breakfast and on the road by 5.30 – to one of the park’s pans or to search for the big herd of elephant along the Salamat River. (At this time of year there are few animals left in the areas far from water).
We see gorgeous golden lions everywhere. With so much prey they are fat and relaxed and not fazed by the rattle of the land cruisers. One pride has 5 cubs – muddy and grubby after their ‘bathing’ session in the pan. Mum is hot and boring! They want to play with Dad, and jump on his back, but he roars and snarls a warning at them – huge pointed teeth bared. He’s way too hot to play!
The lions are all fit and lean, in peak fitness, their fur smooth and sleek – the deep yellow colour of tumeric. This is true of all the animals in Zakouma – smooth, glossy coats – not at all shaggy like their cousins in other cooler parts of Africa. Perhaps it’s due to the heat.
I see rare sub species: Lelwel’s hartebeest are everywhere, a uniform gentle cream colour, as are the elegant and poised Kordofon Giraffe, with their rich chestnut coloured markings. At one pan I count perhaps 40 or 50 in the same group. There are also spicy red and black Tiang (Topi), red-fronted gazelle, oribi, kob and reedbuck in vast numbers. Graceful roan antelope congregate in groups in the shade during the heat of the day. Most of the animals are still sleek and fit looking due to the grazing around the pans.
Bird Life
The birds here are just astounding in their numbers. Chatting with the crane society who are here to do a count, I discover that there are 14,000 northern crowned cranes inside the park alone – the largest single gathering on the planet. And there are just as many spurwing geese along with numerous storks, heron, egrets, bee-eaters, weavers, ostrich and raptors. To name just a few of the 400 odd species.
April is the season of the gorgeous northern carmine bee eaters, with huge colonies in the sandbanks along the Salamat River. However, those visitors wanting to viewe migrants would do better to arrive earlier in the season.
I’m not a very good birder, but I’m amazed and impressed by the quantity and variety of bird life here. I vow to do better with my birding in future!
We generally choose to sit at a pan morning and afternoon. At our initial arrival the birds panic and take to the sky, cranes honking “Hwaaa, Hwaa, Hwaa, Hwaaaaaaa…..”. Their warning cries will forever remind me of Zakouma! As we watch quietly, they slowly return.
First the heron, then the queleas wheeling and murmuring in their thousands before landing in trees or on the thick sticky mud. Black kites swoop down like kamikaze fighter pilots – picking the queleas off one by one.
Finally, the cranes return, like long legged nervy ballerinas, wading delicately in to their original places in the middle of the pan.
Huge troops of baboons play and watch over the pans too – here they have learned how to hunt the ubiquitous spurwing and there are often scraps over an unfortunate goose carcass.
Nile crocodiles sun themselves along the banks of the Salamat river, slipping smoothly into the green grey waters if we get too close. Our guides assure us they are ‘pescetarian’ only here, a fact that is confirmed during out riverside picnic where the midday silence is occasionally punctuated by a loud ‘snap’ as the crocs feast on the concentrated numbers of fish in the remaining pools.
Sunset and Nightfall
Sundown at the pans, we watch as the birds retreat in their thousands to the treetops to roost. Lion come down to drink, while keeping an eye out for careless prey which might wander too close.
On the way back to camp the light of the spotlight finds the nocturnal species, we and those in camp spot civet, serval, jackal, mongoose, genet, fox, pangolin. There are of course leopard, but very shy here and not often seen.
In the lodge itself we are frequently visited by waterbuck, elephant, Cameroon bushbuck, duiker, baboon, monkeys.
Hunt in Camp
One night we were thrillingly awoken by a pride of lion who decided to hunt buffalo between the chalets at 4am – the noise and furious nature of the hunt next to our little rondavels was intense and a little nerve-wracking!
Rain and Relief Approaches
The day before we leave the clouds build and there is a little rain – not much but enough to cool things down a tiny bit. The more nimble movement of the animals seems indicate that they know that the great drought is about to break.
Exodus
Soon the wildlife will disperse throughout the park and far outside in search of grazing and food, as the park floods with only islands of high land remaining.
Also leaving will be the camp staff and the nomadic people who live along the park boundaries. The whole camp will be flooded and each year the staff must clean the mud and debris before next season’s guests arrive.
I leave too, in awe of the incredible work that African Parks have done here, determined to support them by spreading the word.
My visit is a reminder that all lives must follow the ebb and flow of the waters of life.
BBC visit Zakouma National Park
