The Magic of Mana-October 2013

[Whyone?]

I don't for a second dispute that 1 and 4 are heavily booked, however they are only occupied for a fraction of their booked time. For example, during the time we were both there last October, other than your time at Mucheni 4 (when 1 was also occupied) both 4 and 1 were empty - so occupied 2 days of the 8 we were in the park. This is very typical in my experience. In terms of revenues to NP, this is fine, I am sure they get paid whether the sites are occupied or not ( though will loose out on park entry fees etc.). It is just frustrating to see them unoccupied when I know there are so many people who would love the opportunity to use these sites. You are of course correct that operators and their guests bring more revenue to the NP than self drivers and this fact is reflected in the slow erosion of the number of Exclusive camps available to self-drivers - Mucheni 1 used to be bookable, now it isn't, I also believe that Operators are increasingly using one of the Old Ndungu sites and I fear this will soon go the way of Mucheni 1 and 4, leaving just 6 Exclusive sites.

Edited December 17, 2018 by wilddog

[wilddog]

Thanks everyone. @@pault I think one needs to allow a little for the fact that they had their heads stuffed inside the carcass so to some extent that may contribute to the bad hair day! But yes the new male on the block at Chikwenya is quite a guy!

[Whyone?]

Have you visited the New Ndungu sites?!?!!!

 

Eish!!!!

[graceland]

@Wildog,thanks for the camp photos, looks very nice...even the magazine rack and the floppy ear dog...aww..wonder if he/she even knows it!

 

Did you share this camp with folks who were not Doug's clients, or were you all together?

Mucheni 1,2,3,4.....private and public - self-drives and guided all together?

 

I think I'm the one with the senility creeping in.

[Whyone?]

.......Mucheni 1,2,3,4.....private and public - self-drives and guided all together?

 

 

The Mucheni camps are evenly spread out along a ~1 mile stretch of the river, so each designated camp is reasonably well separated from the others.

 

1 and 4 are now only available to Operators, whereas 2 and 3 are self drive only, so private and self-drive visitors, heaven forbid, do not share the same campsites.

 

On occasion Parks, in their infinite wisdom, have allowed operators to establish a very large camp between 3 and 4 (we call it 31/2) with i would estimate 25 people (staff and guests). The larger groups of people (i guess 10-12 people, staff and guests) is typical at 1 and 4, but others are better placed to comment than I) and more extensive lighting at the Operator camps do mean that you are unfortunatelymaware of their presence whilst staying in adjacent camps.

Edited January 9, 2014 by Whyone?

[Kitsafari]

what great shots of the lions and dogs @@wilddog. that lion may look scruffy, but his direct look means business. I'm not familiar with private guide drives or self-drives, but are visitors allowed to walk towards lions unsupervised like that? i assume he was on a self-drive since if there was a guide with him, the guide would have stopped him?

 

is there a skin problem ailing the lions, or is it just one lioness that is displaying the skin lesions?

[wilddog]

@Graceland - No we did not share with others. It was just Caroline and I each with our own tents and of course Doug and the staff. So very private.

However, the first time I stayed at Mucheni 4 (and Chitake) we travelled with Doug as our guide but joined an operator who had his own customers to guide. The operator set up the camp and organised all the catering etc and each group went their own separate ways with their guides for walks /drives and met up again for meals etc. . So private guiding and communal living. Worked pretty well and will no doubt have reduced costs a little.You just need to be clear what your expectations are.

@Kit safari

 

Re Lions -My guess is she is sick but the others are 'normal' but I am busy looking through previous images of this girl and will add these later, as I spotted something additional to the spots once I got home. May even start a separate thread to ask the lion experts what this might be.

Re Walking - It is permitted by anyone, anywhere, in Mana, which is one of the great things about it. I always have a guide but as you will realise their are other Mana regulars such as @@Whyone? who go there every year, are very experienced and know the rules of the bush and how to avoid problems.

The guy who upset the lion was not staying close to the vehicles and therefor not being absorbed within the vehicle outline, but I think more importantly it was the agitated way he moved, and to some extent the direction, which upset the lion. Frankly he irritated me in the way he was flitting from one spot to another, so I am not surprised the lion was irritated too!

I have seen some overly relaxed behaviour (IMO) occasionally. One was a couple carrying a wicker picnic basket and wandering off into the bush while trying to find the dogs. It is not the dogs who are the problem it is the elephant, buffalo or, perish the thought, a hippo that might be lurking behind a bush. I was also a bit worried about a family where the teenage (?13) son was heading off into the bush with the rest of the family including Mum and Dad behind. But they all survived so perhaps I worry unnecessarily.

 

Whether you are with a guide or not you have to be on the alert yourself and watch out for animals; even a qualified guide has only one set of eyes and ears, and when you get close to wildlife, watch the animals response.

[Soukous]

As tourism starts to rebuild in Zimbabwe I wonder how long it will be before someone decides that this level of freedom must end? Not everyone is responsible and it just takes one incident to get the media baying.

[Whyone?]

That is my great fear @@Soukous and it would be a crying shame IMHO. There have been a few 'unfortunate' incidents over the years at Mana, but perhaps nowhere near as many as you might imagine given the freedom people are afforded.

[wilddog]

It is perhaps important to stress that we did see other wildlife in our first 24 hours on the floodplains, but we were so delighted to have found the dogs and a great lion sighting we focussed on that intiailly.

 

We saw many of the usual suspects, elephant everywhere, plenty of 'dog food' (impala in Mana as a general rule) buffalo, zebra, water buck and a very pregnant hyena who was skulking around the perimeter of the carcass, looking desperately hungry.

 

 

We went back to the dogs to see if they would start hunting and found them resting some distance from where we had left them that morning but within the same overall area. Not long after we found them they got up and set off and, for little while we lost them, but Doug spotted them heading for the river so we went round 3 sides of a square to try to be ready when they got there.

 

On arrival at the rivers edge there was bull elephant taking a bath and a small group of hippos wallowing in the shallows. Suddenly a row ensued amongst the hippos; the sudden noise at close quarters was quite a shock and, as is always the way, my camera was not ready but I did however get a reasonable shot of one hippo making a hasty escape.

 

 

Once things had calmed down we got out and walked along the river's edge to where could see the dogs up a bank; Doug's calculations were correct. We then edged slightly closer so that we could sit sit down and watch. After a while the dogs got up to come down to the pools to drink and we tracked along parallel to them. As is usual for dogs they were nervous of the water, checking for crocodiles. They then set off up the slope past our cruiser. We went back to the vehicle ourselves and followed them a short distance, but by this time we had been joined by another couple of vehicles so and we left the dogs to get on with their hunt. We had spent at least nearly an hour with them on our own, so time to move on.

 

 

 

 

On our way back we called in again to see the lions and what remained of the carcass.

 

It was then we got a closer look at Black Eye. Her skin condition is very poor on her left side and her ribs are showing despite a very full belly. Then she went up to the carcass to collect one of the youngsters (my interpretation!) and as she came back I could see a large lesion on her right side. I hope that someone like @@egilio will take a moment to look at these pictures and possibly make comment.

 

Apologies for the poor image quality.

 

 

 

As we went back to camp I thought what fantastic first full day this had been on the flood plains.

 

[FlyTraveler]

Totally amazing safari, trip report and photos! I am enjoying this very much! Looks like Mana Pools is the top destination for seasoned safari lovers...

[Big_Dog]

Lovely pics.
And @@wilddog - a interesting fact on hyaenas but the one you saw was actually likely full rather then pregnant. A hyaena carrying triplets ( the biggest but rarest recorded litter for spotteds) will only be carrying about a third of the weight of her full stomach at maximum capacity, which can hold around 30 lbs of meat! Compared to three 3 lb cubs at most, or more likely two, where she'd have a much smaller stomach bump.

[wilddog]

Another shot of the hyena for your interest @@Big_Dog. Perhaps simply lactating.

 

Glad you and@@FlyTraveler are enjoying the TR

 

[Big_Dog]

From the look of the teats she is likely lactating, I agree. A mother with young ones is likely to want a lot of food I'd guess, hence the stomach! She looks like quite a big one too?

[Atravelynn]

A mound full of dogs.

[egilio]

Love the pictures of the dogs, and that's a very full hyaena too!

About the lioness. You can see the ribs, but lions can put on weight very quickly. Just a few good meals and they look fat again. Her muscle tone still looks good. The skin conditions is a bit more of an indication that's she isn't in a tip top shape. Looks like mange or something like that. I don't know if and how frequently lions can contract that, or if it is problematic for them. I can imagine they get exposed to it regularly, especially towards the end of the dry season when it becomes quite prevalent in Impalas for example. Probably it (whether mange or another disease they've been exposed to) will only show when the animals is already affected by something else. In this case that could've been the injury on her right side.

Personally I would think she will be ok, especially if there are some more females in the pride.

 

I've seen lions recover from quite serious injuries. The best example being a young male lion which probably broke a bone in his front foot or wrist. He was pretty much stationary for almost 2 months. Dragging himself from carcass to carcass which were killed nearby by a pride. Eventually he recovered, now, 2,5 years later he's the male lion who probably personally has been repsonsible for the death of most cubs in the main game area of South Luangwa.

[wilddog]

I really appreciate your response @@egilio

 

Looking back over a couple of years I can see that she certainly had these neck and shoulder lesions last year, but not to this degree.

 

Re the right side - I did not think it was a wound but more like a mass, and that was what particularly concerned me. But it is good to hear that you think she is, overall, doing OK.

 

Hopefully next seasons visitors to Mana will give us an update on the pride.

[Whyone?]

Very interesting stuff @@egilio and @@wilddog

 

I don't know if this is the same lioness or not, but in October 2012 there was a lioness who had clearly had an altercation with a porcupine and had a number of nasty (septic) looking wounds around her head and shoulders, along with a few broken quills still in place.

[wilddog]

Thanks for the interest @@Whyone? If you have any images of the lioness you mention that would be good to see. Below are 2 images of 'Black Eye'

 

The first from October 2011 which is the first time I knowingly saw her and the second in October 2012. I am sure that @@kittykat23uk also has an image of her somewhere.

 

This lioness has obviously had a bit of skin problem for some time.............

 

2011

 

2012

 

[Whyone?]

Thanks for the interest @@Whyone? If you have any images of the lioness you mention that would be good to see. Below are 2 images of 'Black Eye'

 

I'll have a rummage through my photos and see what I can find.

[wilddog]

That would be great.

 

I will be relying on you for an update on her in October 2014 @@Whyone? as I am unlikely to get to Mana this year.

[Whyone?]

Oh shame @@wilddog

 

Hopefully the lions will be a little more visible this coming October.

[wilddog]

Having located our primary targets, the dogs and the lions, we spent the next couple of days widening our horizons by exploring other areas of the park. We first went inland South of Long pool. As the ground rises there it tends to be more open and dry. It is in this area that you find the herds of zebra, buffalo and kudu for the majority of the time as well being where the Long Pool wild dog pack often hang out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a morning coffee we set off for a walk. Our plan was to set up some camera traps; one near an aardvark burrow and the other near a main wildlife entry point at one end of Long Pool. We also hoped to locate the lion pride who who were no longer near the carcass.

 

We set up the camera traps with a plan to pick them up the next day and then we went for a walk. We met Stretch Ferriera along the way and 'made a plan' to find the lions by to joining forces and performing a pincer movement Stretch going one way with his guests and Doug taking us the other. It was a fine walk finding small breeding elephant herds, half hidden by the bush and buffalo, but no lions.

 

As our search proved unsuccessful and the temperature was rising we headed back towards the vehicle. As we were passing behind a bush, Doug said 'go back'. Of course we responded immediately.

 

I have not often seen Doug concerned but his expression told me this was one of those occasions. It seems that was a late grazing hippo coming straight towards us. We backed away and skirted around a series of bushes only to find the hippo had done the same and was still approaching. This was a little unnerving. We made another detour and the hippo wandered off. Fortunately he had not noticed us.

 

On our drive back we went to the other end of Long Pool to check out the birdlife and there saw the famous surfing herons.

 

On the last part of the journey back to camp found that the hippo carcass had been stripped bare overnight.

 

 

 

 

After lunch I sat on my tent 'terrace' and spent a couple of hours watching as four elephant bulls came into camp to take a drink and a bath at the rivers edge. The body language amongst these bulls was very interesting. At one point one bull wsa standing at the end of a promontory taking a drink and another more mature bull came up behind him. The older bull just tilted his head back slightly so the top of his trunk was more prominent and the younger bull just moved away in response, so the older bull could get into the prime position. All very subtle.

 

Then one of the bulls went into the dining area and provided a rather nice photo opportunity for everyone. Finally he wandered past my tent and, with the others, disappeared off into the bush.

 

 

 

 

 

That evening we went for walk along the river bank somewhat startling the numerous impala and waterbuck who were grazing on the remaining green grass in the river bed. But one waterbuck stood her ground and gave us a good stare.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wilddog]

The following morning as we set out we saw this small herd of elephants making thier way back from the middle of the river. We got into the vehicle droev to the spot, got out and set ourselves up at the base of the river bank to wait for them to come in. We watched as they waded and swam accross the stretch of water.

 

They knew we were there.

 

We called this little group the One Tusk Family as the matriarch and one other had only one tusk. We saw this readily identifiable group on several occasions and it was this group that was wandering around the dining in an earlier post.

 

As always Mana continues to deliver awesome moments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our way back towards the Long Pool area we came across a large herd of Impala, many of whom jumped across the road immediately in front of the vehicle. My camera was firing away with absolutely no useable results and I ended up with a single usable image of the back of the herd as they disappeared into the bush. A real Bum shot !

 

 

We then went to check the camera traps. Mine which had been sited at an Aardvark Burrow yielded nothing but the head of a hyena so we moved it to another spot to be collected the next day on our way to Kanga. I believe someone was more successful there a few weeks previously and got a shot of the Aardvark at night. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

 

Doug collected his camera from Long Pool which showed the huge amount of activity going on there particularly over night including one very nosy elephant who investigated the strange object thoroughly but fortunately did not take, or damage, the camera. A stroke of luck!

 

Doug at home in the wilderness.........

 

 

We also found the Mucheni pride resting under a distant bush but decided not to walk any closer and leave them in peace

 

 

 

The rest of the day was uneventful. Tomorrow we would be packing up and heading for our final destination - Kanga Camp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2018 by wilddog

[ZaminOz]

@@wilddog

No photos of the hippo on foot encounter?

I have had one of those before and my big regret now is the lack of photos!