Wildtracks

Another classic weekend at Wildtracks

Sven — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:12:35 +0000

Another busy season has come to a close in the valley, which for lodge managers and guides in the valley means it’s time to kick back, have one final fling before the rains set in. Not to forget, also doing some good for conservation in the Lower Zambezi. How do we manage this all at once? The Valley Classic of course!

The Valley Classic, hosted for its second year at Wildtracks is an invitation only, charitable fishing competition held at the end of the season. Originally conceived in 2010, the idea of the competition is to give everyone a chance to celebrate another successful year in the valley, put something back by supporting the work of Conservation Lower Zambezi (CLZ) and, in true valley fashion, have a rip-snorting, hoof-flicking, name-throwing party.

It's a thirty pointer!

The 2011 competition fielded 7 teams from lodges in the GMA and the National Park, all competing for the coveted and much admired floating trophy donated by Wildtracks this year. In fact, some teams were so keen that they even pitched up a whole day early for Captain’s meeting. After arrival of the other teams, the real Captain’s meeting and very lively team auction was held on Saturday evening and fishing got underway in earnest on Sunday. The competition followed a very basic catch and release format, targeting tigerfish, vundu, Cornish jack, nkupe, bottlenose, chessa, bream. Although there were no size restrictions achieving the daily bag limit of five individuals for each species attracted bonus points and encouraged teams to pursue as many different species as possible. Fishing on the first day ranged from fiercely competitive to fiercely hungover, although most teams got their bag of at least one species.

After a somewhat more relaxed evening on the boma, fishing got a bit more serious on day two as reputations and in some cases wild bets were at stake. After the final tally, the points were close at the top of the table, but at the end of the day it was the shockingly pink Master Baiters, led by Scott Brown (returning to the valley for a cameo appearance) who led his team of Brendan, Natalie and Debbie to sweep the field with a total of 235 points. They were closely followed by the WLZ Boozers on 215 points and in third place, Sausage Trackers who bagged a respectable 138 points in their first Valley Classic outing. The final evening saw a return to form for most of those who had suffered from ‘dehydration’ and other competition related afflictions during the day and the competition closed with much jubilation. There was also dancing. Furious dancing…

All told the team auction, corporate sponsorship from each team and individual donations the Valley Classic 2011 raised $4 000 to be donated to CLZ to support the excellent work that they are doing for conservation in the valley. This was twice the amount raised in last year’s competition and reflects the enthusiasm and commitment that all of us who are lucky enough to live and work in the Zambezi Valley have for ensuring that it is conserved for the future.

True to the spirit of the competition, Brendan Graham and Mick Kennedy who bought first and second placed teams respectively, both donated their auction prize money towards the final contribution to CLZ. A big thank you to all who participated, contributed organised and helped make the Valley Classic 2011 a great success. The magnificent Giant Rapala trophy currently resides at Royal Zambezi Lodge held by the Master Baiters (for those who wish to gaze upon it’s awesomeness and perhaps be inspired to make a further contribution towards conservation in the valley) until next year when it will return to Wildtracks for the Valley Classic 2012.

The Master Baiters get to grips with the trophy

We’re taking a break

Sven — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:01:07 +0000

The rains have arrived, and so has Zambia’s annual fishing ban. That means the tigerfish get a chance to get their breeding on until the 1st of March 2012. We’ll also be taking a break until then so Wildtracks will be closed for the next couple of months so that we can gear up for another good season in 2012. Feel free to browse the site or contact us if you’d like to visit in 2012.

Enjoy the festive season and we’ll see you back on the river in the new year!

Wildtracks Lodge

Sven — Tue, 17 May 2011 11:16:52 +0000

Looking for a destination on the Lower Zambezi?
Wildtracks Lodge offers self catering accommodation and more. Browse our website to find out more about who we are, where we are and what we have to offer. You can also contact us, or check our bookings calendar for availability.

Check the weather in the valley. Chances are it’s a good day for fishing…

High Water

Sven — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 12:33:01 +0000

Kariba Dam on the 3rd of February with three floodgates open

At noon on the 22nd of January, the Zambezi River Authority (ZAHARO)opened the floodgates at Kariba Dam to keep the level of the lake within operational levels. The decision to open the gates was made in response to large inflows from the Zambezi’s upper catchment as well as heavy rainfalls in the catchment surrounding the lake. Although ZAHARO did issue advance warnings of “flooding that might occur after the gates have been opened” the dramatic rise in water levels has caused significant damage downstream flooding crops, pumps (the familiar Mungwe Point water wheel was last reported making a break for Mozambique somewhere past Nyakasanga) and some of the lower lying lodges especially since the opening of another two gates in the two weeks after the floodgates were first opened. According to the ZAHARO website, Kariba is currently spilling at a rate about 3000 cumecs (that’s 3 million litres of water a second!) and the effects have been rather dramatic

At Wildtracks, some km downstream from the dam, we’ve seen a 3m rise in water level. Although we are fortunately high enough to have remained largely unscathed by the flooding, our boats and jetty are now moored on the edge of the lawn. The rumours, theories and tip offs from ‘reliable sources’ have been flowing almost as fast as the water and there is talk of Itezhitezhi being opened, which will spill more water into the Zambezi via the Kafue. To add more to the general chaos, there is also word that the gates will be closed for 8-10 days on the 19th of February for an inspection of the concrete spillway after which floodgates will be reopened. Details like timing and how many gates will be re-opened are yet to filter down the grapevine, so it’s likely to be a busy two weeks of river watching to make sure nothing gets damaged when the water goes down and then comes up again!

On the bright side, the high water should build some nice new sandbars for sundowners once the water returns to more normal levels. It may also be good for the fishing and provided the fluctuating water levels don’t play too much more havoc with the ecology downstream (which has already been seriously altered by the change in flow regime in the last 50 years). The inundation of the floodplains will provide access to a lot more breeding habitat for tiger fish and other species, so hopefully we can look forward to a bumper fishing season later in the year.

Wildtracks 2011

Sven — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 13:56:02 +0000

Welcome to the new face of Wildtracks on the web! It’s long overdue, but we’ve finally overhauled and updated the website and added a whole lot of new features to make it more informative and more useful than before. There’s still a bit of work to do, so the site will evolve over the next few weeks, but some of the new and upcoming features include:

A shiny new look
News on what’s happening at the river. Our blog page will keep you up to date on the latest events and happenings at Wildtracks
Improved contact with the lodge: send us your queries directly from the website
Bookings calendar – so you can plan ahead and see when there are bookings available at the lodge
New, easier viewing galleries
And more, as we build…

Offline we are busy cleaning up after the rains and preparing for the 2011 season. Wildtracks reopens, along with the fishing season on the the 1st March 2011. We’ve been busy in the off season and you’ll be sure to notice changes like the new roof on the boma and some great improvements on our luxury tent Bushbuck, which now rivals anywhere else you might stay in the valley.

2011 looks set to be a big year for Wildtracks and we hope to see you soon!