Zambia | The Mamba Blog

"How many of us sheep in Wales?"

It is always a bit of an event, the ATTA summer party, with mostly the same people attending but great for networking and picking up a bit of industry gossip. The pre-event, social media presentation was also worth dropping into and it was refreshing to see a good cross section of tourism companies there. I managed to get a chair next to Alison from Ethos Marketing so great to see the bigger well established marketing and representation companies showing interest. To be fair though some of them did look a bit glazed over at the halfway mark. Stay with us people, this is the future!

Onto the main event and a number of things are set in stone. There will be a huge bowl of Quails eggs, the beer will run out, you will drink too much wine, someone will consider using the bush for a pee and the Zambian High Commissioner will deliver another classic. Prof Royson Mukwena was introduced by Nigel and helped up onto a box, he is a man of small stature, but still couldn’t quite see eye to eye with Alex from Great Plains from Great Plains. The prof immediately gave Nigel a bollocking, reminding him that he had been in the post for over 2 years and was not new at his job.

After the usual welcomes and thank yous the HC went on to run through the most recent tourism figures and highlight some of the Zambian attractions, reminding all of us what a fabulous destination Zambia is. High up on the list is of course South Luangwa, with Lower Zambezi somehow only getting a passing mention, again. This despite the fact of Chiawa Camp winning best African Safari Property in Africa, in the recent Good Safari Guide Safari Awards held at Indaba.

And then it came, a comparison between Zambia and Wales. Wales, Wales, what hell has Wales got to do with Zambia, and vice versa? Well apparently South Luangwa is the same size as Wales (it’s not) and South Luangwa has more animals than Wales. There was a bit of laughter and then, (started by me, I couldn’t resist!) a couple of baaa’s. This was done just in front of Mr. Shabwa Mwiinga, The First secretary (Immigration). He seemed to pick up on the joke and we had a good chat after the speech, so I think they will still let me back in the country.

So does South Luangwa have more animals and what is the same size as Wales? I’ll answer the second question first. Zambia is 752 614 km²and Wales is 20 779 km². South Luangwa is 9050 km². Kafue is 22 400km². So I presume that the HC meant to say that Kafue is the same size as Wales. That part of the problem solved.

Right how many animals does the Kafue National Park have within its borders? This is a much harder problem to solve as there is no central repository of data and a proper game count hasn’t been done for 25 years (source Mike Musgrave. Mike also helped with the numbers below, so it his fault if they are wrong). We do know however that The Kafue National Park has the most diverse species list of any park in Zambia. This is as complete a list as I can come up with -

Elephant	6000	Zebra	5000
Lion	550	Wildebeest	5000
Leopard	400	Kudu	3000
Buffalo	10000	Grysbok	2000
Hippo	2500	Yellow-backed duiker (rare)	no sightings
Crocodile	3000	Reedbuck	10000
Red lechwe	17000	Warthog	5000
Sitatunga (rare)	3500	Bushpig	3000
Roan	1000	Serval	600
Sable	5000	Hyena	1000
Lichtenstein’s hartebeest	9000	Jackal	3000
Common Hartebeest	2000	Baboon	20000
Defassa waterbuck (endemic)	20000	Vervet monkey	15000
Puku	30000	Porcupine	500
Impala	50000	Civet	1000
Oribi	2000	Genet	1500
Duiker	5000	Mongoose	5000
Tsessebe	20000		186950

So total number of animals, in the region of 200 000

Right onto Wales. I had a chat with John Richards from Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales and he is the Swyddog Gwybodaeth y Diwydiant – Industry Information Officer. He was a very helpful chap and gave me the following number-

Sheep 8 244 000

So the winner is Wales by 8 million odd. No contest really in numbers. What Wales does lack of course is variation and diversity on the sheep theme. Some purists may beg to differ and say that there are many different types of sheep but to me they all go baaa.

I guess I always knew that Wales was going to win this contest but what has happened along the way whilst researching, is that I have discovered that there is a significant lack of knowledge and access to this knowledge for people like me. It could be that the data does exist on someone’s hard drive and they are still stuck in the bush. On the other hand it could also be a case of the data doesn’t exist as no-one is doing the research and the government and National Parks Authority are not interested. Let’s hope that someone has devoted their time and energy to this job. I have sent out a batch of emails and will update the figures as I get them.

In the mean time eat more lamb.

About the Author: Robin Cormack is the Co-founder and Director of Mamba Media – a Creative Agency that specialises in Websites, Design and Digital Marketing for the Travel and Tourism Industry.

Having spent 7 years living in close proximity and on the banks of the Zambezi River, I know only too well of the dangers of Crocodiles. We were always aware of their presence, even more so when picnicking on Chundu Island. You have to of course be careful in any wilderness environment, keep your wits about you and follow the basic “laws of the Jungle” If you are an independent traveller and have arrived in the bush and you don’t know these laws, nips down to the local bar (there is always a local bar) and find a grizzled bushman/guide/professional hunter (there is always one of these as well) A couple of rounds of drinks should secure you some tall tales and enough knowledge to give you the basics. The trouble is however that, even with all this knowledge you could find yourself in a tricky and possibly deadly situation. A mate and very experienced river hand found himself in one of these situations just recently and even with all his experience, knowledge, fitness and fighting spirit, he didn’t survive.

Crocodiles are prehistoric, cunning and ruthless killers. They generally do not attack humans but given the chance will have a go at just about anything. The Elephant’s Child by Rudyard Kipling is testament to this. Crocodiles are also very territorial, especially during mating season. In some cases Crocodiles have become habituated through being fed by humans and they will not be scared of so easily.

So what can you do if you are attacked by this prehistoric reptile. Well simple, there are 3 things. 1. You do nothing. Dead. 2. You thrash around. Minimal success. 3. You fight back strategically. Large success.

Crocodiles attack in two basic ways.
1. A defensive attack when defending territory and young, usually consists of a quick bite and then a retreat. This is also your cue to retreat quickly and to a safe distance. You should then seek immediate medical assistance.
2. A predatory attack is much more dangerous because the Crocodile actually wants to eat you and will be more persistent. Most of us have seen the classic Masaai Mara footage of Crocodiles attacking the crossing wildebeest and zebra. It is violent and clinical but not always successful.

So what is your Strategy. You want to attack back in a co-ordinated and deliberate manner.
1. Attack the eyes with whatever you have. An oar, a stick, a knife, a mobile phone, a pen. If you don’t have any tools use your hand and fingers. Your thumb is your strongest digit, so ram it into the eye.
2. Attack the nostrils and ears. They will be less sensitive than the eyes but it will cause some discomfort and the Crocodile might be encouraged to release you.
3. Punch and hit the Crocodile on the snout. Many people have been saved in this manner.
4. If you have an arm or a leg inside the Crocodiles mouth, attack the palatal valve. This is the flap of skin behind the Crocodiles tongue and prevents water from flowing into the throat and lungs and causing drowing. Push your limb down the gullet and keep pushing with all your might. Damage and attack to this valve will more than likely encourage the Crocodile to let you go

None of these methods are an absolute guarantee but they could mean the difference between, well you know ….

RIP Hendri – Hendri’s last Blog entry