http://www.flysaa.com/za/en/ | Nestled in the far north of Mozambique, Niassa Reserve is home to endangered wildlife and luxury safari accommodation. If you’re looking at booking your flights from South Africa, be sure to add this piece of undisturbed bushveld to your itinerary.

1. 00 Sawubona June 2015
WILD, WILD WONDERLAND
In the far north of Mozambique is a place so remote and majestically beautiful that it has to
be felt to be believed. The vast Niassa Reserve is twice the size of the Kruger National Park.
But danger lurks here for wildlife, so dedicated conservationists work tirelessly, often risking
their lives to protect Niassa’s elephants from poachers
STORY AND PHOTOS: KERI HARVEY (WWW.KERI-HARVEY.COM)

2. iassa is love at first sight. It’s raw and rugged. Truly
wild. As we fly into the interior from the coast, for two
hours we’re humbled by the beauty of the landscape
below. Silenced by its vastness, punctuated only by
granite inselbergs and rock chimneys sans smoke,
we sit hypnotised by the drone of the Cessna’s
engine as we scan the landscape for any sign of humanity. There’s
none; no indication at all of human impact. No visible
scars; no obvious ills. Yet, ironically, the insidious scourge
of poaching is alive and well in Niassa.
niassa
From December to May,
the Lugenda River is a
raging torrent. For the
rest of the year, it’s
a languid stream.
Opposite: Lugenda
Wilderness Camp blends
into its surroundings so
that it’s barely visible.
For use by louiseg@nationalpositions.com only. Distribution prohibited.

3. niassa
52 Sawubona June 2015
At over four million hectares
(or 42 000km²) in size, Niassa
cradles the greatest abundance
and variety of wildlife in
Mozambique – by far. Here
there are more sable than
impala, vast herds of elephant
roam the miombo woodland,
plentiful lion and leopard
lurk throughout and there are
throngs of antelope, along with
unique endemic species like
Niassa wildebeest, Johnston’s
impala and Crewshaw’s
zebra. Wild dogs also live
permanently in the reserve.
As Mozambique’s
biggest wildlife reserve, it’s
ironic that Niassa’s remained
largely undocumented since its
establishment in 1954. Even
today, it’s a gem hidden from
mainstream tourists, known only
to those who truly, deeply love
very wild places. Niassa’s so
far off the grid that there isn’t
even a radio signal there. Only
satellite phones work and many
locals don’t use money at all,
but live entirely by trading.
Moreover, much of the reserve’s
inaccessible during the rainy
season, from December to May.
Even flying in is difficult.
We’re in the Lugenda
Concession, one of the massive
tracts of land into which
Niassa’s been sectioned for
management purposes. It’s a
sizable 4 600km², with 300km
of the Lugenda River running
through it. Before landing at
Lugenda Wilderness Camp, the
pilot circles the area to clear the
sand runway of wildlife. Today
there are two lions lazing just
alongside where we’re about to
land, but the plane buzzes the
big cats and they filter into the
bush. From the air, the tread-
lightly, luxury tented camp is
barely visible, obscured by
giant sycamore fig trees.
The camp runs entirely on
solar and generator energy,
with wood-fired donkeys (steel
water barrels) and it has an
impressive herb and vegetable
garden for greens – fenced to
keep elephants at bay.
In the Lugenda Concession
live a large number of Niassa’s
elephants, which need constant
protection from poachers. “In
the past decade, the ivory
price has shot up from $5 to
$300 per kilogram for ivory,”
says Lugenda Concession
Manager Derek Littleton, “so
poaching elephants is very
lucrative.” Importantly, he
says, the concession also has
60 dedicated game scouts
stationed across 10 posts. Sure,
they’d make better money from
poaching, but they’ve chosen to
earn an ethical living instead.
They’re also spreading the
word and leading
by example in their
communities, where
“People are part of nature here, unlike most African
conservation areas. Lugenda is the way Africa always was,
with people and animals living side by side.”
Wildlife live in the
shadow of granite domes in
Niassa, making for evocative
game-viewing experiences.
Below: Niassa’s elephants have
been decimated by poachers,
but find refuge in the Lugenda
section where they’re protected.

4. niassa
54 Sawubona June 2015
they’re greatly respected.
About 35 000 people live in
the Niassa Reserve and about
500 have jobs there. Many
others eke out an existence as
subsistence fishermen, moving
with the waters and seasons
along the rivers and sheltering at
night in rickety grass huts on the
river banks. In the evenings, thin
plumes of smoke can be seen
rising from their cooking fires
along the Lugenda River.
“That’s what’s different about
this reserve,” says Nic van
Rensburg, who’s in charge
of a section of the Lugenda
Concession. “People are part of
nature here, unlike most African
conservation areas, where
people are removed from the
reserves. Lugenda is the way
Africa always was, with people
and animals living side by side.
There are many people here
who don’t even earn a dollar a
year, yet they survive.”
Smiling, he adds: “The
fishermen in Lugenda had
no idea there was a global
recession, because they’re
not the least bit affected by
the outside world. They catch
fish, grow maize, beans,
cassava and monkey nuts and
trade their goods for others.
Climate change is far more
important to them than the state
of the world economy.”
After lunch at the lodge, we
head out on a game drive for
the afternoon, while Derek takes
to the sky in a Bathawk to do
one of his twice-daily anti-
poaching patrols over Lugenda.
The Wilderness Foundation
has sponsored two canvas-clad
surveillance planes for this
purpose. So far the strategy’s
working and poachers are
being held back. Between the
Bathawk patrols and the game
scouts, who work on foot, sleep
in the rough and have regular
encounters with poachers,
Lugenda’s doing an admirable
job of protecting its elephants.
We do see some of them, but
they’re understandably nervous.
We also see sable, waterbuck,
kudu, bushbuck, samango
monkeys, prides of lion and a
leopard lying lazily on a branch.
Predators are plentiful here
and at night the more unusual
bush-dwellers come out too,
like genets, civets, porcupines
and scrub hares. Lugenda is
alive and our game-viewing
vehicle – the only one in the
vast concession – makes the
experience uniquely private.
Lugenda, says Derek, is
“completely unscripted”, since
guests can go on drives or walks
any time they like. There are
also canoe trips along the river
and fully equipped and catered
sleep-outs on the inselbergs.
Lugenda offers a rare taste of
true African wilderness. You feel
the place deeply; there’s a sense
of being closer to yourself, more
attuned to reality.
We drive past baobab and
tamarind trees (their seeds
carried here along the river
systems by slave trains and
elephants) and stop to watch
white-tailed mongooses playing
“catch me”. Then we start to
climb, the Land Rover clawing
its way slowly up the inselberg.
“The view from the top is
good,” says guide Donald
Mac Crimmon demurely. And
before long we’re on top of the
world, looking down on the
silvery Lugenda River caressing
flat earth between dramatic
inselbergs. It’s too beautiful
to breathe.
Then a “bat” appears on
the western horizon, flying out
of the sunset. It quickly grows
larger to reveal itself as a
Bathawk. Derek’s piloting it and
coming to say “hello” before
he lands and the game scouts
take over for the night patrols
on foot. Tomorrow, air patrols
will resume – and every day
thereafter – with some fire fights
in between.
Around the supper table
back at the lodge, Derek says:
“Conservation’s top of the list
here and everyone’s included.
I’ll never leave Lugenda and I’ll
never give up the fight to save
its wildlife. Never. I somehow
feel personally responsible for
conserving this area.”
For him, too, Lugenda was
love at first sight. He remains
smitten with the place, as do
we. Niassa can’t be explained
as well as it can be felt. A lot
like true love.
FOR INFORMATION ON VISITING LUGENDA AND ACTIVITIES AVAILABLE, VISIT: WWW.LUGENDA.COM
Predators are prolific in
Lugenda and seeing lions by
day and night is common.
Left: Mobile fishing
camps can be seen
along the Lugenda River.
Below: High atop an
inselberg, the view of the
surrounding area of Niassa
is more than magnificent.