Kissama National Park

Kissama Natioanl Park lies approximately 75 km. south of Luanda, the capital. The park was established in 1957 and was once teeming with wildlife throughout its 2.5 million acres or 1 million hectares (!). However the civil war that wracked the country for over 20 years took its toll. The population of elephants, rhinoceroses and buffalo was almost completely extinguished due to poaching and over-use of the vegetation.

Imbondeiro trees are starting to sprout

Efforts by the Kissama National Park Association to re-establish the animal population has taken place in the form of the project "Operation Noah's Ark" in which primarily elephants from neighboring Botswana, Namibia and South Africa were either airlifted or shipped to Kissama.

We headed to the park last weekend with friends and stayed in some small cabins inside the park which were just fine. It was a holiday weekend and there were many people there. We had originally scheduled a safari for the afternoon after we arrived, but they were over-booked, so we settled for a nice boat ride on the Kwanza river which was bordered by grasslands and beautiful hyacinths. We saw a small, baby crocodile, but no manatees. I spoke to one of the guards and he said that they had started to see younger generations of animals and that they were pleased that the different animal populations were growing.

I can live anywhere that has palm trees!

The next morning we woke up very early and already there were many people out and about. The manager assured me that there was room for our party of 11 since there would be using two vehicles. However, one of the vehicles would not start and it was a mad dash into the trucks. We got room, but the rangers were trying to get another family of five on by having us place the kids on our laps. We refused because of safety and eventually we headed out. At first we did not think that we would see any animals, but after about 45 minutes we met some giraffes eating their breakfast. They were rather close to the road and did not seem to be too bothered by us. After that, we began sighting antelope, bush bucks, elands and some pretty amazing birds.

The vehicles were open and we bounced around and I was slapped and whipped a bit by the overhanging branches since I sat on the side, but it was still really enjoyable. The temperature was perfect, but climbing steadily with the sun. My little camera is just not good enough for the shots I want to take!

As we headed to the river, we heard some trumpeting! Could it be? Yes, a single, young male elephant with small tusks, trumpeting at us through the trees. He was flapping his ears and making lots of noise, being a real show off! He was trying to scare us, but he never got too close. He followed us through the   trees and underbrush marking his territory as we observed each other for a good while. After all pictures were taken and everyone had had a good look, we headed to the river. Although my family has seen many elephants in Sri Lanka, for some reason, this encounter seemed more "real" and maybe it was the proximity as well as his behavior that made it thrilling.  Down by the river we saw water buffalo and wildebeests and as we returned many more antelope, bush bucks and elands.

There are supposed to be some ostriches and zebras in the park, but in small numbers and we never sighted them. A count conducted in 2008 found 15 ostriches, 55 elephants and 45 zebras. Given the sheer size of the park, we were lucky to see the animals we saw!

For a small taste of what it looks like, please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Xc_psxi9U
For more information; http://www.wild.org/where-we-work/quicama-kissama-national-park-angola/