Quiçama National Park, Angola

2019-10-19: Quiçama National Park, where the elephants are back.

 

Our Portuguese friends prepared a trip to the Quicama National Park for the week-end.
Once ready we joined Ricardo in his office. We take the road at 10 am. Our dedicated driver is Teles.
We reach the coast south of Luanda by the ring road. We follow it enjoying the view of the long Mussulo peninsula about 5 km offshore. As soon as you leave Luanda the coast becomes much nicer with its beautiful beaches.
The entrance to Quiçama National Park is 5 km after crossing the Kwanza, the great national river that gave its name to the local currency.
 

Crossing the Kwanza.

In Quiçama Park on the track towards the Visitor's Center.

The visitors center is located a very long way from the entrance at 36 km. We reach it in half an hour by a beautiful track. But before entering it we first make a small detour to climb a small hill from the top of which the panorama over the Kwanza valley is quite impressive. Ricardo, who has been there several times, is a little disappointed because at the end of the dry season the vegetation is still very brown. He had always been there in the rainy season and of course, with very green vegetation, the view was much more picturesque.
 

Nice panorama on the Kwanza and its plain from a hill in the park.

The Kwanza

We reach the nearby visitor center. It is past noon and we start with lunch at the restaurant in the center. We order grilled chicken with rice and fries and a little salad, except Teles who prefers to have fish with foufou.

The Visitors Center.

 

Chrisstine, ricardo and Teles

Christine embarks on the Unimog.

After the meal we will wait half an hour for the Unimog of the safari to return from its tour to be able to embark and leave in our turn. It is 3:10 p.m.

The driver and guide set out in search of the animals, first following the main track, then making numerous detours and detours through the wooded savannah and weaving between the countless baobabs and euphorbias.
Angolan wildlife was virtually wiped out during the civil war that lasted nearly 30 years until 2002. Quiçama Park was home to some 4,000 elephants, 450 lions, countless rhinos, buffalos and leopards. The war got the better of this fauna when the soldiers killed the animals for pleasure, to eat or for sale in Luanda. In addition to the war, poaching and the destruction of natural habitat. But in the early 2000s a reintroduction program was launched, "Operation Noah's Ark" brought back elephants, giraffes, zebras, ostriches and other wildebeest from South Africa and Botswana using the Ilyushins of the Angolan army. The reintroduction is a success. Many of these animals thrive and the population is continually growing.
We will take a long time to find the first animals, but then the harvest will be good. We start by discovering a solitary giraffe and, shortly after, two small herds of Hartmann's zebras in quick succession.
 

Giraffe in Quiçama Park.

Euphorbias and giraffe.

 

Hartmann's Zebras

 

All that remains is to descend into the valley to reach the banks of the Kwanza in the hope of finding some elephants. Along the way, we will have the opportunity to observe various antelopes and other equines such as the Blue Wildebeest, the Greater Kudu or the Bushbuck.

Blue wildebeests

 

Greater Kudu

Bushbocks

 

Ricardo envious of my telephoto lens.

 

We will only see one large elephant from afar. The Unimog try to approach but stay a good distance because of the ground which could become a little too muddy.

 

Mission accomplished. We return at high speed. Too bad the guide's explanations were very limited and the driver felt obliged to drive like in a rally, completely mocking his “merchandise”.
We meet the car at 5:00 p.m. and we don't linger before getting back on the road. Teles brings us back to the exit of the park, driving a little too fast on the track for our feeling.