21-22 Apr 2019: Searching for the Cave Chat

Tim Osborne showed me an easy route to the Angola Cave Chat site on a 1: 50 000 map of Kaokoland, but then reality and maps differ somewhat. I travelled through Opuwo and camped in a church yard in Okangwati for the price of two cans of beer. The next morning I followed a route parallel to the Zebra mountains, which my Tracks 4 Africa GPS called “off-road twee-spoor 4x4”. I had to ask directions to Otjitanga at Himba villages, and a very helpful youngster with the name of Kanduzu, who spoke excellent English, escorted me the last 10km to the Cave Chat site. We searched a few likely looking hillsides that were strewn with black boulders, and although we chased up a black-and-white bird, it flew off before I could make a positive id.

At Kanduzu’s village I showed the villagers a picture of the Cave Chat, and played the call. They recognised the call and said that they often hear it when going into the mountains. I emphasised the importance of the bird to the birding community and indicated that the village could generate an income if they could guide birders to the Cave Chat. Kanduzu said that he would stake out the bird, and that birders could contact him if they wanted his help. I think this is a positive development, as birders will then educate and include the local Himba community in their endeavours. After leaving some maizemeal and sugar with his mother, I camped the night at the Cave Chat hill.

Sunrise found me patrolling the hillside, looking for a pied bird with a long tail. I did hear it call on a few occasions, but the Cave Chat remained unseen. From the Zebra mountains I took the track eastwards to the Kunene River Lodge, in the process crossing rivers and dongas, and bundu bashing through the narrow bush track. The approach from the west via Okangwati is by far the easiest and best route to follow.

Selfy

Please contact Kanduzu at 081 7106819, or if he has no signal, his brother Tjisuta can be contacted at 081 3224187. Let us help the local Himba community to benefit from the presence of the Angola Cave Chat on their mountain.

Kanduzu and self