The long weekend public holiday for Namibian Independence Day (21st March – 21 Years of independence from South Africa this March) afforded the opportunity for further exploration of the wetlands and floodplain area near to Kongola town with a two night stay on Mazambala Island.
It was once possible to gain access to the lodge by a sand road but floods, particularly in 2009, have washed away the road so that now the only access is by boat. You have to leave your car in a guarded open garage and the boat is summoned to transport you to the island. The boats have engines and ride gently above the water on two catamaran fins. It’s like a floating pontoon with an engine and white railings. You sit on white plastic garden chairs for the fifteen minute journey.
The river is the Kwando, which rises in Angola to the north and has many names on its journey to the sea, the Indian Ocean (east coast of Africa). From the Kwando it becomes the Linyanti then through Lake Liambezi where it becomes the Chobe which is a tributary to the Zambezi itself. This, if you remember, is the river at Victoria Falls.
Mudumu National Park borders the river further south from Kongola and is in proximity to Mamili National Park which is the largest protected wetland in Namibia slightly further along the gravel road.
Mazambala Island itself is surrounded by creeks and waterways branching off from the main river. Bwabwata National Park surrounds the island. Being in an area that is centre to three National Parks will give you the idea that the place is very special indeed. The river water is crystal clear so you can see the sandy river bed. Spiny tiger fish and bream are abundant.
In the late afternoon we took a two hour boat (same plastic chairs) safari around the wetlands and I think I have taken some of my best photographs here from the whole of my stay in Namibia. The light was just perfect.
In parts high reeds (used for thatch and quite like those growing at Abbotsbury Swannery), and tall papyrus flank the river bank so that you focus on the water itself and the reflections of the sky. At other times the reeds disappear and wide grasslands appear. Beautiful water lilies float along the water edge. Gift, the boatman, showed us how villagers split and use the reed to make a sleeping mat and how to use it for thatch.
The boat engine is the only sound and when this goes off you are immersed in natural noise. The birds were fantastic and it was easy to spot new species from those we had seen elsewhere. There had been no rain for several days so we saw a group of elephants drinking and spraying themselves down with mud. We also were lucky to get quite close into a troupe of baboons of all ages playing by the water’s edge.
Best of all for me this time were the hippos. They were in the river and Gift explained how they don’t swim but ‘walk’ along known ridges or pathways into the deeper water. Again it was possible for the boatman to get quite close, but not too close as they could tip up the boat. He said the crocodiles were very shy and secretive!
The lodge itself has been in existence for over ten years. Small detached thatched chalets make up the bedrooms and are scattered in a tropical garden with snaking paths between them. There is a central open-air dining room raised off the ground from which there are steps leading further up to the 12 metre high viewing platform.
The owner explained that all the trees and lush tropical vegetation are natural and that once the lodge boundary was constructed, this kept out the elephants and so the natural habitat regenerated. The boundary did not keep out one determined young hippo which preferred the grass of the lawn each night to the grass in the wild area beyond. A hippo grazing noisily outside your bedroom door is quite unique!
From the viewing platform it was possible to form a better idea of the whole area. I spent two hours early in the morning with my binoculars and the house bird guide book identifying many new species to me. My favourites were the little bee-eater and the lesser striped swallows which loved to perch and preen in a tree very close to the viewing platform.
The platform faces west, so the sunsets and distant electrical storms were spectacular.
