aaa Lake Turkana and its national parks

Lake Turkana and its national parks

Lake Turkana is a lake with 3 rivers entering it (no rivers leave, it evaporates) . It lies in the eastern part of the great rift valley. The three parks are Sibiloi National Park, the South Island and the Central Island National Parks, covering a total area of 161,485 hectares located within the Lake Turkana basin whose total surface area is 7 million ha. The lake is the most saline in africa which means little can survive in its waters.

This area is not the largest protected zone, as it only covers around 700 square miles. The island parks are the breeding habitats of the Nile crocodile, the hippopotamus amphibious and several snake species. The lake is an important flyway passage and stopover for palaeartic migrant birds. Over the dry grasslands ranges a frail population of grazing mammals and predators. The grazers are chiefly Grevy’s zebra, Burchell’s zebra, the beisa oryx, Grant’s gazelle, the topi and the reticulated giraffe. They are hunted by the lion and the cheetah. Elephants and the black rhinoceroses are no longer seen. Closer to the dust is the cushioned gerbil (Gerbillus pulvinatus)

aaa Zhangjiajie sandstone peak forest reserve, China

Zhangjiajie sandstone peak forest reserve, China

This reserve covers a complex to trevane covered in ravines deep canyons and has a mild climate with abundant rainfall. As a result much of the area is covered by rainforest and there is a great deal of wildlife. It is a total of 1,400 square miles or 3,600 square kilometres.

Animals of particular interest include the leopard, the clouded leopard, the pygmy slow loris, the yellow belly pheasant, and long-tailed pheasant, the giant salamander, five step snake and many more. Others include the stump tailed macaque, the suman sheep, the pangolin, the black bear, the lynx, the otter, the forest musk deer, the samba deer, the jackal, the mandarin duck, the sparrow hawk and a few more.

Rare species include the bison, the wild goat, the wild boar, the wildcat, the civit cat, the flying squirrel and several more.

March 11, 2018December 3, 2023

Black Mamba (South Africa)

Image by John Blythe

We spent a month volunteering at Umhloti Lodge about 20 miles from Kruger. This is a nature reserve, and although none of the big five live here permanently, there are certainly visiting Leopards. However at the centre of the reserve is a Chimpanzee sanctuary (the location of the Animal Planet series “Escape to Chimp Eden”). The volunteers lived around a mile away in several little “Wendy Houses” so each morning we would walk up to the lodge. The reserve is typical savannah, with long yellowy grass, and small prickly bushes as well as trees. While you could see most animals far ahead it was possible to be surprised. On the way we would see the Giraffe and Zebras and the various Antelope species. On exiting our huts the Vervet Monkeys would scatter, and we would start the walk up the road. However on our first morning, perhaps half way up to the lodge we spotted a Black Mamba starting to cross the road. While Black Mambas are not uncommon in this area, a volunteer who had been there three months was still yet to spot one. In South Africa the Black Mamba is perhaps the most dangerous snake. It is up to 2.5m long and can travel with 80% of its body off the ground, if you meet it, on occasions it can be taller than a human.

We stopped as soon as we noticed it, however it was too late. The Black Mamba reared up momentarily and then flicked over back into the grass.