Upgrading Masuma

   I often mention Masuma on this blog. It is a small dam, about 40km from Sinamatella on the road to Main Camp and during the dry season water is pumped into the dam from a borehole in the Kapula Vlei. There is no natural water nearby in a normal year so in spite of the fact that the water in Masuma often becomes an unappetizing, stinking soup of mud and dung and the surrounding area becomes a dustbowl, it attracts enormous numbers of animals and must amongst the best game viewing venues in the region. In the rainy season it is very different. There are few visitors - human or animal - the water is comparatively clean and the dam is surrounded by grass.

    This year, the Parks Authority has been taking advantage of the off-season to upgrade the facilities at Masuma. Makomo Resources, who mine coal just outside the Deka Safari Area, has taken a special interest in Masuma and arranged for the viewing platform to be re-thatched…..

And they are also building new picnic shelters…….

Sue noticed Masked Weavers making their own shelters in the tree just above where the human thatcher was working……..

 During the  last dry season Makomo deepened the dam by excavating tons of mud. The hippo are grateful……

Unfortunately the passage of heavy excavators across the dam wall led to some damage and we were afraid at one stage that the wall might be breached. To hold back the water until the dry season comes and it is possible to get machinery in place again, we shored up the wall with sand-bags and earth. Mr Mafa and I carefully studied the problem…….

But we very sensibly let some of the younger people do the heavy work…….

   We soon realised that the job was a lot bigger than we had expected and I don’t think our repair work would hold up to very heavy pressure but the rainy season is almost over and we hope it will be good enough for now.

    Sue and I have a new camera and while we were working on the dam wall, Sue practised her photography. Some scenery…….

    Some close-ups such as this startling caterpillar (its head is to the right)……

Some birds………

       

Cattle Egret  

    Tawny-flanked Prinia enjoying the long grass in front of the hide.

And of course some of those things that I don’t even notice until Sue points a lens at them…..

Fissures and lichens on Mopane bark.

We left Masuma before the sun went down, spoiling Sue’s chance of testing the new camera’s ability with sunsets and of adding to our bulging file of sunset and sunrise photos. No matter, we woke next morning to a beautiful sunrise at Sinamatella, with mist gathered along the river and the camera was duly tested – with great success I think………