Back to the Bush

And so the march of progress continues.  In a few days time I'll be in the air again, returning to Mareja.  The news of elephant poaching activity from Dominik has not been good.  The general feeling is that poachers have been active in the Reserve since I left, due to the relative paucity of rain and not too much high grass to impair visibility of wildlife.

A young elephant was shot and wounded a few days ago about 2 km from camp, and amazingly, the National Park Rangers arrived to help Dominik track the animal and its assailants.  I have no further information as to whether they caught up with either party.  These are grim times and they put our efforts to raise awareness and funds for the area, into sharp perspective.

I will be in Mareja for about 6 weeks, and intend to have a good luck at the larger watercourses, to establish how intact the forest remains.  The richest soils and some of the largest trees, are to be found along these rivers, so if people feel they can operate undiscovered, they will clear and cut to their heart's content.  I would like to be able to tell Sophie and Dominik exactly what is happening because the health of these areas has a large bearing on Pemba Bay to the east and south.

Like all expeditions, there are great unknowns; large gaps of information that need filling in.  I will get a debrief from Dominik when we meet in Pemba and then the maelstrom in my mind may settle, a bit.

Funding

Holy maccaroni,

After leaping through countless hoops and uttering my annual quota of expletives, the first of half a dozen funding applications is complete and submitted.  Between Sophie and myself, we've bossed the big document and sent it off with love, hope and fingers and toes crossed.  A plaintive cry to the heavens of, "Just a little money to start the ball rolling...", has been echoing the halls for the last few weeks and I hope for Mareja's sake that it is answered positively.

The weather is changeable down here by the river, and after stewing over a smoking keyboard for what seems too long, I'm off for a walk along the river on a chilly, misty day.  The head space must be cleared.  I shall go and immerse myself in the beat of wings and running water, with trails of wispy mist waving in my wake.

A River Ramble

I've been back a few weeks in Blighty and yesterday was a day to remember.  I could have been on a mountainside in rarified snowy landscape if I closed my eyes.  The air had an amazing purity.  See the story below that I wrote to commemorate those priceless hours.

                                                             
                                                        A Lidless Sky

The nearest I've ever come to floating away was on a cloudless day.  Walking under a blue sky lifts the spirit and opens that precious portal to the heavens and beyond.

The snow crunched under foot as we strode along to stay warm.  Mist rose in gentle wisps from the very earth as we drifted by on a crust of crisp snow from the previous night.  There were no trails of cloud in a lidless sky, but the ground told of the passing of early morning animals as well as the joggers and cyclists that will have sent them scurrying.  Dog tracks abound and rabbits had made their furtive way out from the thorny cover to snatch some mouthfuls of well nibbled grass.

Views along this river were two sides of the same coin.  Heading north up river, the pastures spread in a patchwork to the hills.  Criss-crossed by hedgerows and dykes, they told of an landscape, long shaped and tied by and to man's hand.  Snow cover betrayed gentle undulations of former farming prcatices; furrows where the plough shear had passed were carried off the land left rich by seasonal floods and into the riffles and wake made by a pair of paddling grebes

The male led, with his splendid ear tufts and brighter plumage.  He sat higher and more proud in the water, followed by his more delicate mate.  A greylag goose flew low and strong over the water, not stopping to admire its reflection, but allowing us the chance to stand admire one of Nature's marvels; a bird in flight.  For the serenity of such motion to be reflected in the graceful passage of water seemed just so.

We turned at the bridge and were soon greeted by inquisitive, thristy ponies.  In their winter coats, with steaming breath, they plodded from pasture to gently sloping bank and cracked through an icy spread over the languid flow.  We left them to slake their thirst and ventured on, looking out across an ethereal swathe of land woth outlines blurred by mist.  The soft edges allowed one to imagine and roam down lanes of the mind in silent reverie.

The large lake was bereft of large flocks of birds that can often be seen paddling in the fringes or wheeling fish-like aloft.  But, after several hours of a perfect day's river ramble, the tingle spread from face throughout one's body and soul.  It was enough to stretch the stride and put a spring in any step.  May there be many more days the same.

Stranger in a strange land

I am sat in a cold, admittedly dry, office space sending emails and receiving them until my eyes are going square. This is the less glamorous side of the Conservation world.  At least it is if one is in a wintry Oxford.  The fund-raising ideas are flowing thick and fast, with potential donors identified and itchy fingers ready to send off proposals complete with please(s) and thank you(s).  It seems a far cry from Mareja, and yet without all of this, that wonderful place that captures the heart and mind will not remain in its current state with an undulating canopy as far as the eye can see.

An old friend just sent me a picture of a beautiful bull greater kudu staring straight at the camera from bush that looks quite a lot like the sort of place one would find them in Mareja.  After admiring and reminiscing about my Ruaha days, I couldn't help but feel a little sad that it will be quite some time before the numbers of kudu in Mareja will climb back to where they should be.  Whilst driving around the Mareja tracks, I remember thinking how strange it was that one could not see Hartebeeste, Niassa Wildebeeste, more Sable, Greater kudu and impala.  Apparently there was a solitary wildebeeste wandering around Lake Bila Biza.

I suppose that is part of the mantra of those that choose to make their business; ...BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE...HALT THE SLIDE INTO EXTINCTION.  I hope that future generations of Mozambicans will be able to say they have seen these large mammals, relatively close by, and be proud of that fact.

Pictures to go with the Prose

From the top, the pictures are an elephant's leg bone found in the bush and carved by a tremendously gifted Mozambican (probably a Makonde).

Unkahili (left) and Abacari (right) of me holding a new GPS bought with donations to Protect Mareja UK - we are at a waterhole looking for tracks of a cow elephant that had been ambushed nearby by poachers a few days previously.  She had been shot several times and escaped, we knew not where.

Skull of a baby elephant (approximately 2-4 yrs old) killed by poachers - see my thumb in bottom left of shot for scale.  These people are paid by weight of ivory they collect, so they do not care how small the creature may be.  The honey comb structure of its head reduces the weight but retains strength.

Unkahili (L) and Abacari (R) sat in the grove where Unkahili used to live, before the area became a Reserve.

The magnificent tree dominating the image is a Pod Mahogany Afzelia quanzensis, about 3.5metres in circumference.  Unkahili had previously defended it from timber poachers.  

You can see my hand on top of a huge section of pod mahogany that timber poachers had cut from a Pod Mahogany branch - it was about 12 inches x 16 inches x 8 feet long (and that was only a branch!) that Dominik had found and confiscated.  In the background, you can see the red timber planks of confiscated pod mahogany and larger sections of African Teak Pterocarpus angolensis.

From the rear of image; poachers' wire snares collected on anti-poaching patrols by Mareja Rangers; baby elephant skull; sable antelope skulls and horns that have been collected from poached animals.  The sable are the most numerous of the large antelope species still to be found in Mareja.  However, they are under tremendous pressure.

Every time a snare is collected, it is labelled with the date, place and people on the patrol when it was collected.

I hope this has given you a greater insight into what is happening in Mareja?  I welcome any further comments and questions.

Parting thoughts, words and deeds.

4^TH January

After a whirlwind of shopping and site seeing, I’m back in Mareja for the final spell.  The rains have definitely begun to flex their muscles, if the torrential and light obliterating rain storm on the way back was anything to go by.  The coast has been panting in the pressure cooker waiting for it all to break and drench the multitude of shambas, great and small, being prepared.  Speaking of shambas, the National Park aerial guards, posted under the shadow of Nicanue, have taken it upon themselves to cut trees and clear bush around their accommodation.  I consulted Ali, the Chief Ranger, and he said Dominik had told them twice before not to do so.  There may be trouble ahead.

5^th January

I prepared a letter with Ali and Bacari, clearly stating that the guards have been told twice already, not to make a shamba.  Furthermore, if they are caught again, they will have to remove all signs of their presence from the area.  Frankly, and I don’t think I’m alone in this, I hope they do get themselves kicked out.  The Post is in a very valuable wildlife area, frequented by a number of wildlife species including elephant, leopard, lion, bushpig, warthog and several small antelope species, prior to the permanent presence of humans.  The man responsible for the cutting of trees etc. was very reluctant initially, but after we stressed how it would look in the eyes of the Chief Park Warden, if the crops were not removed and destroyed, he agreed and cleared the maize and cassava by the end of the following day.

It is a very tricky situation, and at times an uneasy alliance, between the Mareja Reserve and the surrounding National Park.  The letter was forwarded to the Chief Park Warden and I hope we made our point clearly without sounding militant?  The truth is that if crops had been allowed to stay, elephants would have certainly been attracted.  One then has a potentially lethal human wildlife interaction and many times previously, “problem” animals are destroyed.  This could not be allowed to happen in the heart of one of the last bastions for wildlife in northern Mozambique, because of one man who did not want to abide by rules and common sense.

6^th January

Heavy rain throughout the night had filled the rain gauge with 17 mm.  Me and a small road maintenance crew went down the track towards the Rio Masapelo.  The rain had showed us where the worst areas of erosion were going to be as the volume of water increased.  It felt good to get started on such an essential part of the Reserve infrastructure management.  After a good start in the morning, 2pm saw us trooping off down the track to finish off.  Ominous rumbles from really prominent thunder clouds billowing and swirling off to the south, did not bode well for our chances of staying dry.  Sure enough, without much preamble, the heavy drops began and I jogged home whilst the guys finished clearing the drainage ditches. 

7^th January

The rains came and went and then as night fall approached, struck again to continue through the night.  By this morning, building rooves had experienced their sternest test since being completed, and had passed with but a few leaks.  The trees seem to be breathing and gulping in fresh draughts of moist, rich air and flexing roots grown brittle through the long dry season.  The Jambiri tree saplings, with their golden bark and beautiful big, floppy green leaves, seem to have taken another leap toward the heavens in their bid to secure a patch of light.  I planted another seed in an unoccupied corner of the “badminton court” and left it with healthy thoughts of growth. 

I’ll miss the variety and multi-tiered structure of the vegetation.  My status (self proclaimed) as a tree hugger has been in no doubt for some time; I shameless adore spending time in the forests wherever I'm working, and some trees are simply majestic.  But, Mareja has shown me another side to fauna and flora of this Tanzanian neighbour.  There is a different feel to the place and the people, which is both invigorating and warm.  Whatever the future holds, I may well be back.         

Getting stuck in...

17^th December

Frantic dash round Pemba to get shopping before D’s flight at noon.  Pocketfuls of cash swinging merrily along in my shorts.  Sat in airport lounge with D and Jasper, we talked about D’s encounter with airborne hunters.  Jasper had a hunch that he knew the helicopter involved from the grainy pictures D showed him.  Sure enough, it was parked below us on the side of the runway.  We stepped outside briefly, before D went through to the departure lounge, and he spotted a hunting company car.  Apparently, the owner is one of the main players in ivory poaching and trafficking.  He had been issued previously with a 24/20 (24 hours to leave the country with 20kgs of luggage) but has since, amazingly, risen like a phoenix and is doing very nicely once again.  I think it’s safe to say the whole thing stinks like one of the ivory stripped carcasses he’s left lying in the bush.

18^th December

First evening meal alone in Mareja.  Beautiful evening light, sat on the estate house veranda looking out across the eastern expanse of rolling hills and flood plains.  Pemba’s presence is just a thin strip of lights on the horizon, with the trawlers and tankers in the bay winking in and out of sight.  How much longer until all that expands beyond recognition with the millions of oil money?

19^th December

Roll on the completion of the roof project.  A smattering of rain woke me early this morning.  We should be very close to completing the thatching by the end of today.

21st December

Local intelligence suggests there are elephant poachers in a village called Lindi, to the north of Mareja.  We went to Poto, with me logging various points (Muaco wa piawe, Namituco, Ndriti river) along the way.  Found barefoot tracks of a poacher from this morning at the Namituco water hole, that a lot of elephant use.  Also, a rain shelter set up by elephant poachers.  Yusuf pointed out an old booby trap from the Civil War; a hand grenade rigged to a trip wire by the side of a path from/to water.  The forest as we descended into gulleys approaching the water course was lush, dense and towering above us were well buttressed trees.  Birds were to be seen and heard in good numbers.  One group of rangers cut across a possible entry point from Lindi on foot, whilst the rest of us approached Poto by car before patrolling.  The only signs of life were 4 kudu from today, further up the dry Ndriti river and some old poacher tracks.

We collect 2 squared off sections of Pterocarpus angolensis (umbila/mninga) that had been cut last month but not yet planked.  Other trees in the vicinity had suffered a similar fate and the poachers had returned for the timber.  The rangers will patrol from Muaco wa piawe towards Namituco, overnight at Namituco and proceed to Poto the next day to overnight in the area where poachers may be active.  Meanwhile, I’m building a kitchen roof.

22^nd December

All uprights are in position for the kitchen roof.  We had a visit from the owner of the shamba cleared in riverine forest at Namalala.  He brought a letter requesting the presence of all the rangers at his village for a meeting with the local police regarding the burning of his property.  The rangers asked me what we should do; we were doing our job and found a section of cleared habitat in a National Park, so destroyed all items on site.  We have no case to answer so I saw no reason to waste our time attending a village meeting that would inevitably take hours.  Apparently, he intends to return to the site; we shall be paying him another visit in that case.  Until someone from the National Park shows me written permission for him to be farming in the National park, we will ensure he doesn’t do any further damage to the area.  He cleared an area less than 10 metres from the Mareja boundary.  That cannot be tolerated as it will inevitably lead to others doing the same and the inevitable disappearance of buffer zones between the cultivation-free Mareja and the sham that is Quirimbas National Park.

23^rd December

Dropped 3 rangers (Adamo, Casamo, Salim) off at Mahipa for a 3 day patrol of there, Ngango and Pataka.  No sooner had we returned than Adamo was on the radio reporting that they had seen 2 adult elephants and a youngster.  One never knows whether they mean mature animals or simply larger teenagers.  The overall size of Mareja’s elephants has dwindled due to poaching. 

Collected 4 rangers from Nipululu (Unkahili, Eduardo, Marselino, Suleimani) and they reported seeing 4 adult elephant at the Tehere waterhole today.  Yesterday, in the same area, they saw 9 sable antelope (2 adult males, 4 females, 2 young).  On the way to Nipululu, we had a wonderful view of a beautiful black male sable antelope.  His sweeping horns and majestic stature made us all quite silent, appreciating such a stunning animal.  It was a poignant moment and I was glad to witness such appreciation from the Bakari, Yusuf and Pwepwere.  Upon our return through the same area, we saw him again, streaking off through an open glade.  I wish him well as there are numerous sable skulls to match his, lying bleached in the sun at Mareja HQ courtesy of poachers’ endeavours.

24^th December

4 (Drisa, Suleimani, Pwepwere, Marselino) rangers to Sovare.  They will walk in to check whether the shamba man has returned to Namalala, then on to base their camp at Nove.  From there, they’ll spend another day patrolling as it is a poaching hotspot.  I feel it is vital to keep the pressure on poachers, so they do not get complacent and never know we will appear next.  I told the guys yesterday where we are heading for today, on the assumption that none of them are feeding poachers information.

25^th December – Merry Christmas everyone.

On 24/12, Sovare patrol found that the shamba man had returned to Namalala and planted cassava as well as preparing to rebuild his shelter we burned, with bamboo and grass.  The rangers uprooted the cassava and burned everything, again.  On the way to collect the guys from Sovare, we had to stop 3 times to clear trees felled by elephant after the Masapelo crossing.  At Maliha, they saw 6 elephant (4 adults, 2 young) and fresh kudu tracks.  Today, a bull elephant was sighted at Namalala and 12 sable antelope (3 mature males, 1 female, 4 young) were seen between Namalala and Sovare in the woodland near the Maguide river.  Last night, 4 elephant dug for water at Sovare.

On 24/12, Mahipa patrol found fresh tracks of 5 buffalo at Ngango; they are presumably the same group who’s tracks were found by their favourite dust wallow in the area.  Today, tracks of a poacher were found at Pataka, no more than a day old.  Tracks of 12 sable were seen at Namakasa.

All this information strongly suggests that the patrolling intensity must not subside until the big rains begin.  Tehere seems to be one of the main watering holes and the evidence of at least one poacher not far from there means there will be snares on well used trails to water.  I will send a patrol to Sovare/Namalala/Nove again in 5 days as even though there was no fresh activity at the poachers’ camp we burnt down, the amount of large game in the area will draw them back soon.  I am very concerned about the persistence and insistence of the man who cleared the shamba right on the Mareja boundary.  If we admit defeat and allow him to gain a foothold there, we can kiss goodbye to the area as an important habitat and harbour for game great and small.

26^th December

The last couple of nights have been pretty horrible in terms of heat at night; I dread to think what it will be like in Pemba next month.  The feast last night with the team was good fun and after a couple of thank you speeches from me and Unkahili, we all waded into the biggest pot of rice and beef stew I’ve ever seen.  7kgs of rice and 4 kgs of beef later, the pots were empty and I for one was groaning due to over indulgence.  It seems that regardless of what continent I’m on, Christmas means mountains of food.  My thoughts inevitably turned to family and very dear friends.  I trust there were smiles and toasts, as well as tears, in memory of Will Appleby.

Bakari met a poacher at Masapelo water hole this morning; they had both gone there to get water.  He ran when he saw Bakari.  He was only carrying containers for about 10L, so I assumed he was a) not camped far away b) only in the area on a scouting mission to see if any elephants were around c) alone.  Both him and Bakari saw 3 elephants (1 bull with ivory about 2 feet long, 1 cow and a yearling calf) at the waterhole.  I arranged for 2 teams of 4 to loop around either side of where I thought he may be based beyond the watercourse, meet up then work back to the water.  They did not manage to cut him off but found his tracks heading towards an area called Nkumbini, which was already on my hit list of places to patrol.  He was wearing boots which can often mean an elephant poacher as they are better equipped and ex-guerilla/army.

When they all returned, we settled on a 2 night/3 day patrol, dropped off at Nkumbini and working round the Kovovoni river, Nanlakalaka and Namikundi.  From the last 2 areas, one can call HQ on VHF radio.  There has recently been timber poaching in the area (see pod mahogany planks in picture that were confiscated the day I arrived at Mareja 8/12/2011) so I’m extra keen to know what is happening there. 

27^th December

1 hr’s drive from HQ to Nkumbini.  Adamo, Suleimani, Salim and Uncahili on the patrol.  Plenty of elephant have been digging for water in the sand at the Masapelo river crossing.  Very close to the drop-off point at Nkumbini, we found an mtumbu (star chestnut) tree that had been felled but not yet sectioned.  It is fine timber for roof spars and we’ll return to collect it before it can be taken by the poachers.  Kitchen roof complete.

28^th December

Yusuf, Drisa, Eduardo and Marselino to patrol Namichoro, Pataka and Sikwakwa for 1 night.  They left 0630.  Torrential rain and thunder 1130-1200 (we were soaked whilst clearing a huge capoc tree from the plantation track) then 1245-1430.  We only just made it up an innocuous hill from the plantation; after the rain soaked the black cotton soil road surface, it was like driving on ice.  First test of the garage and kitchen rooves; both leaked but the guys assured me that it always happened until the grass bedded down to provide a better barrier.

29^th December

Heavy rain began at 1515, very strong winds built up by 1530 and the rain drove on until it eased and stopped just after 1600.  The rainwater storage tank from the “Shop” roof is ¾ full.

Bakari, Cassamo on Napala patrol for the day.  They left about 0700 after securing the tarpaulin over the estate house veranda roof.  They saw 1 bull and 1 cow elephant this morning and 10 adult sable.

Nkumbini patrol; on 27/12, 1 bull elephant was seen in Nkumbini area.  On 28/12, a group of 16 were seen in Namikundi area, that they suspect had been living around Mareja HQ and visiting the Masapelo waterhole.  In Namikundi, 2 sable (1 bull, 1 cow) were also seen.  Today, 1 bull and 1 cow sable were seen in Nanlakalaka area.

Namichoro patrol; on 28/12, 8 adult elephant were seen in the Namichoro area and 12 sable (2 mature bulls, 10 cows) were seen in Pataka area.  Today, 6 elephant were seen this morning in Pataka area (3 adults, 3 young 5-8 years old).

1st January 2012

Happy New Year everyone.  I'm sending this from Pemba.  In town to get a puncture fixed then back out to Mareja tie up some loose ends.  We returned to Nkumbini yesterday to collect the poached timber I mentioned earlier.  What a heavy rascal that was to manhandle into the back of the Defender.  Felt good to do it though.  They are very striking trees and a great shame to see a large specimen brought down.  Yesterday evening was a peach of a sunset with the full range of colours over the hills from pink through to a warm gold.  The clouds hat had been rumbling for the last couple of days were illuminated by a succession of lightning flashes, great and small.  That went on into the night with the moon and stars bearing witness to the glorious show.  They've seen it all before, but a puny mortal like me was transfixed by such an awesome display.