The Journey behind the Library: Zimbabwe – Dry Season

In August of 2023, I had the incredible opportunity to take a recording trip Zimbabwe where I spent a week recording the sounds of nature and wildlife. It was a truly unforgettable experience that taught me a lot about nature, recording, and people, and has allowed me to make lots of lasting memories witnessing wildlife, the vibrant culture, and breathtaking natural splendor of the region.

My wife, Sarah, and I stayed in a resort near Victoria Falls, and visited many spots in the area as well as Chobe National Park in Botswana. The trip was an amazing learning experience, and I am beyond excited to finally release the resulting recordings.

The resulting sound effects library "Zimbabwe - Dry Season" is available now and a great fit for anyone looking to craft believable soundscapes for games, movies, immersive experiences, and multimedia art set in southern Africa. Naturally, all files come with comprehensive metadata (SoundMiner, BWF, Soundly, UCS), and feature species names in the title, as well as scientific names in the keywords. A separate species list is also now available through the product page, letting you check for animal species occurring in this and future libraries.

Zimbabwe - Dry Season

From a hungry Committee of Vultures to howling Hyenas: Sounds of Wildlife, Nature, and the Awe-Inspiring Victoria Falls in the Dry Season.

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In Zimbabwe, August is when the dry winter is slowly coming to a close which means temperatures range from around 40 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. As it is very dry, trees do not carry foliage (except around wet areas like waterfalls) and as such, wildlife of all kinds can be found gathering at the few remaining water holes. Because of how visible wildlife is during this time of year, it is also high season for international tourism and the reason why many resorts operate artificial watering holes viewable from various vantage points. During the wet season, the dense tree canopy would make it a lot harder to spot any mammals while temperatures north of 100 degrees Fahrenheit and high humidity make this season less attractive to tourists from the global north.

A photo of my day-to-day rig laid out on the hotel bed.

Daily kit, L2R: Zoom F6, Zoom H1n (yellow bag) Rycote HC-22 in a SuperBlimp on an Ulanzi MT-49, Zoom F6 with LOM Uši Pro mics (in backpack)

The Challenges

When arriving in Victoria Falls, I immediately noticed something that would be a serious challenge for recording: Helicopter tourism season was in full swing. Every 15 minutes or so, a new helicopter would take off and head towards the waterfalls as well as across the steppes. This would go on from around 8 AM to 5 PM, and thus meant I would have to chase few incredibly valuable pockets of silence throughout the day and at night.

And wow, I wasn't ready for just how quiet it was when no helicopters where around. In the morning and at night, the steppes were eerily silent, making any sort of animal activity very clearly audible even from great distances. The amazing reverb these flat plains produce add an additional splash of magic to the recordings.

I was also amazed at how pervasive the power of Victoria Falls' namesake waterfalls is from a decent distance. When listening back to my unprocessed recordings, I was blown away when I heard their rumble underscoring overnight recordings captured 4 miles away. Luckily, this rumble was very steady and thus easy to remove where necessary. Of course, I wanted you to experience this as well and it is featured in a few ambience recordings.

My Favorite Moments

I was elated to learn that the resort we were staying at operates a so-called "Vulture Restaurant" where, at the same time each day, the local vulture population was being fed raw meat donated by local businesses as well as the resort kitchen. This is done in an effort to both monitor and help grow the vulture population and spread awareness about the challenges they face.

Despite poaching being illegal and severely prosecuted is sadly still a threat to wildlife in the region. A common practice for poachers is to bait vultures with poisoned meat. This is done to prevent circling vultures from alerting rangers to the whereabouts of a poached animal such as an elephant or giraffe. As the penalties for poaching have become increasingly harsh, this behavior has sadly become more commonplace among the few remaining poachers. Another cause for a declining vulture population has been their use in traditional medicine. To learn more about these issues, listen to Vultures in Zimbabwe | BirdNote.

According to local guides, these feedings have had a noticeable positive impact on population stability and growth, and I was beyond thrilled when they allowed me to get up-close during a handful of these events to capture the unsettling sounds of a few dozen vultures going to town on a pile of meat. Despite their vicious looks, there are no reported cases of vultures harming humans, and thus, I felt very safe albeit slightly unnerved by the cacophony of wings, beaks, and squeaks coming through my headphones.

A truly haunting experience occurred one night, when we were woken up by a spotted hyena calling just outside our window. It was unlike anything I ever heard and I'm so glad I had my recorder set up to record every night. This happened several nights in a row, each time at a slightly different distance, which, paired with the complete stillness of nature during this time of year, makes for some of the most isolated hyena recordings I've heard. Listen to the sample below. Isn't the haunting reverb created by the steppes fascinating?

There were of course many memorable experiences that didn't involve sound recording, like an up-close encounter with elephants, long chats with our driver Liqwa and Martin, getting a tour of Chobe National Park, taking a boat down the river Zambezi, meeting Tich, an incredible painter, and experiencing some of the best food I have ever tasted.

Myself holding a boompole with an Ambisonic microphone in front of Victoria Falls

Capturing Victoria Falls

Listen to my Interview with Field & Foley

Earlier in 2023, I had the honor of joining Ben Reichenstein on his Field & Foley podcast to chat about the trip, my history with sound recording, approaches to post-processing, and more!

Find Field & Foley on other Platforms

An Ambisonic microphone shown in front of a sunrise scene near an artificial watering hole.

Recording birds at sunrise in a secluded hideout

Supporting Conservation

Of course, I realize that traveling to any sort of remote locale for the purpose of capturing sounds, photos, or recreation is an incredible privilege. Despite being rich in wildlife, many animal species in Zimbabwe are still threatened by habitat loss and poaching, while large industrial projects by foreign investors like the Bakota-Gorge Dam threaten to modify the landscape further and cause imbalance in the country's ecosystem and pose a threat to the local economy.

As a way to give back, a portion of the sales proceeds for this library will be donated to local conservation efforts including Painted Dog Rescue, African Wildlife Foundation, as well as CARE's efforts in providing food and nutrition security, climate resilient livelihoods, economic development, education, and water.

A Big THANK YOU!

This trip would not have been possible without my amazing and supportive wife, Sarah, as well as some truly generous support by these amazing people who have donated either through Ko-Fi or directly:
Larry R, Timothy Muirhead, Thorsten Bolte, Hendrik, Andrej Schmitt, Cesar Tovar, Kesha, Luke Smiles, Pasi, Paul Fonarev, Ezra, Nick D, Jonathan Mono, sumskillz, anonymous (2).

I also want to thank Niso and Natasha for organizing the trip, as well as our drivers Martin and Liqwa for getting us around and being such great company.