The Magic of Mana-October 2013

[wilddog]

@@ZaminOz - no I only caught glimpses of it until it wandered off to one side and I think I was too relieved to lift the camera.

 

I am not normally nervous (wisely or unwisely) but on this occasion I was, particularly when he/she seemed to mirror our actions, and get closer, as we changed direction.

 

Not an animal to bump into on foot.

 

I gather you survived your encounter as well.

[TonyQ]

@@wilddog

Great pictures and writing create the atmpsphere of place and of your walking. When we walked in Zambia our guides were most cautious with hippos - I think it is very wise.

I love the pictures of the elephants crossing the river - the smal one in between to large ones. Also really like the Kudu pictures.

[ZaminOz]

@@ZaminOz - no I only caught glimpses of it until it wandered off to one side and I think I was too relieved to lift the camera.

 

I am not normally nervous (wisely or unwisely) but on this occasion I was, particularly when he/she seemed to mirror our actions, and get closer, as we changed direction.

 

Not an animal to bump into on foot.

 

I gather you survived your encounter as well.

Yup, scary animals both in water and on land, and best avoided.

Our close encounter was when Mrs ZaminOz and I were on our honeymoon. We were on a walk with Patrick from Kaingo and a game scout when we came upon a hippo in a mud bath not much bigger than the hippo. When he saw us he got up and made straight for the river... Which was unfortunately on the other side of us. We made a bee line to get out of his way. The only photos I have are him wallowing in his mud and then us walking away afterwards... Probably because this was before I had a digital camera and had to be frugal about how many frames on the roll of 36 I used...

[Whyone?]

 

@@ZaminOz - no I only caught glimpses of it until it wandered off to one side and I think I was too relieved to lift the camera.

 

I am not normally nervous (wisely or unwisely) but on this occasion I was, particularly when he/she seemed to mirror our actions, and get closer, as we changed direction.

 

Not an animal to bump into on foot.

 

I gather you survived your encounter as well.

........When he saw us he got up and made straight for the river... Which was unfortunately on the other side of us. .......

That is always a problematic situation - getting between a hippo and nearest water has the potential to get exciting fairly quickly. However, when walking it is not always possible to avoid this unfortunate juxtaposition, as both your and @@wilddog's experiences show.

 

We, as do many people, like to start walking just before sunrise, so it is inevitable that you come across hippo returning to the river after a nights grazing inland. I have been surprised just how far inland hippo will stray overnight - certainly 2-3km from the river is not uncommon.

[wilddog]

Mana to Kanga

 

 

 

We went out for a final walk in the morning before heading off to Kanga. We found the lions out on the plains. We had heard a rumpus with elephants trumpeting loudly overnight and the lions looked nervous so we wondered if they and the ellies had had a confrontation over night. We would see mum with the fours cubs, and the rest of the pride were strung out behind with the chaps bringing up the rear and not keen to move. But Mum was determined so she led the way back in land and eventually they all ambled back. We went back to the vehicle hoping to catch them again as they crossed the road but - no luck So we set off for camp to collect our bags ready for the drive up to Kanga.

 

 

On the way a very feisty young elephant took exception to our presence as we drove back and gave us a bit of a run around, mock, charging but quite close to the vehicle. Doug had stern words with the elephant who backed off giving us sufficient time to pass by she took a couple more runs at us......... and then ignored the vehicle following us completely!

 

Grumpy elephant

 

 

More elephant experiences as we left the Mana flood plain. We had quite a large bull wander up to the vehicle to check us out. I was in the middle row, so quite high up, and on his side so when he came close I was looking him directly in the eye at about 1.5 meters. At one pint his tusk was only 300 cms from my leg. The young bull kept looking me straight in the eye and then flicking across to look at Doug, who sitting in the driver's seat, was speaking gently to him. In the end as the bull and I were so close I spoke to him too in a hopefully reassuring tone. What an amazing feeling of connection. No, no pictures when he was close - I had no plan to raise the camera and was totally mesmerised. Unforgettable.

 

My new friend.

 

 

 

When we reached Kanga Camp it was all quiet and there were very few animals in sight which seemed very strange as usually there is masses of activity. As my bag had been taken to me tent I went down to settle in and take a quick shower before returning the bar area for afternoon tea and to plan the evening ahead with Doug.

 

Suddenly numerous elephants appeared from the bush around the waterhole area.. They almost ran to the water and I could sense their excitement at heading for a good drink and a mud bath.

 

 

As usual I had family of baboon living next door to me and I often sat on the terrace with them just to one side of it. All very peaceful most of the time but in the heat of the afternoon family squabbles would break out somewhat spoiling the peaceful ambiance but usually the fights did not last long.

 

 

We went for an evening drive and we found a male lion lying in the river bed some distance away. We left him in peace and continued our exploration in the hope of finding the Kanga wilddog pack. But no luck tonight, so after a sun-downer we returned to the lion and waited for him to get up and make a move which he did. He climbed slowly up the river bank and then sat down in a large open area and called for his pride.

 

 

 

On out return to camp we had a superb dinner overlooking the water hole. That first night we had four leopards (and a lot of other animals) come down to drink. Looking at them with the assistance of the red spotlight we estimated 3 females and 1 male although it is difficult to be sure in the dark. A great start to our 3 nights at this camp.

 

 

[wilddog]

The following morning we went off to seek out the Kanga Wilddog Pack............................. and we found them resting in the shade with blood on thier faces. It had obviously been a good night. The pack comprised 17 or 18 adults and 10 puppies.

 

It was noticeable this year that there were more dogs with white patches compared to last year.One notable puppy was about 30 % white with very little tan colour.

 

 

 

 

 

We spent some time with and then returned to camp to have brunch and then watch the world go by until our evening drive.

 

That evening we went out to find the dogs again and there they were about to get up. We watched them for a while and then followed them as they set of for Kanga Pool for a drink.

 

 

They reached the pool with us close behind and then this happened...........

 

You might say I spoke too soon..................a lucky bit of videoing

 

http://youtu.be/_3szZkTCDlk

[wilddog]

The Kanga Waterhole provides prolific opportunities to just watch the animals and birds throughout the day, as it is a hive of activity. It all so provides great photographic opportunities just sitting on your own terrace or at the bar.

 

The elephants come really close to the tents particularly Tent 1 where I was as that is the source of the clean pumped water. The other animals remain at a greater distance and are anxious but still a pleasure to see and photograph.

 

What follows is a series of images taken over these few days at camp which represent some of the varied sightings you can have.

 

[Zim Girl]

Wonderful pictures of the Kanga pack - particularly like the last two.

[Sangeeta]

So many wagging and swishing tails in that video! Lovely ele-dog capture!

[graceland]

Very enjoyable to see what is in store!

 

Love the video of dogs and the ellie.

[ld1]

I'm loving this TR. We are off to Mana later this year with Doug and I am super excited.

[Kitsafari]

cheeky elephant! thanks for sharing the video - love the way the dogs were wagging their tails, and that elephant swinging his trunk to get the dogs out of his favourite drinking pool!

[TonyQ]

@@wilddog

Beautiful pictures - I love those of the dogs - and the video of the dogs with the elephant charge is great!

You had really good sightings at the waterhole

I can see why people like Mana so much.

[wilddog]

@@Zim Girl @@TonyQ @@Kitsafari @@ld1 @@graceland      

 

Thanks for the kind comments and for sticking with me. It has taken some time to finish this TR but it will be completed before Friday. As I am heading for Bots then It has given me the final impetus to get my act together and get it done.The thought of coming back ad having to do TWO TRs was too much.

 

I had better get on.............. my audience awaits ......................and thanks again everyone

Edited December 17, 2018 by wilddog

[wilddog]

 

This final full day was to prove exciting and anxiety provoking.

 

We had a drive around finding the baboons still at rest, Abdim storks roosting and grooming in the trees, a sand grouse couple and a lone buffalo giving us that check-out look, with his head up while he decided if he need to act or not, but not much else. So a quite start to the day.

 

 

 

 

 

Suddenly there was a call from camp the dogs - were back at the pan so we turned round back to camp to find a few of the pack drinking and cooling off.

 

 

 

 

 

They did not stay long so we returned to the open area beyond the pan to find the main group of adults milling around and calling for the pups. Their faces were covered with fresh blood and it seemed they had made a recent kill at the back of the open area. Finally the pups appeared on the road behind us. They then set off back towards the pan en masse with us trailing behind.

 

http://youtu.be/lfeKZRmMct0

 

 

They all looked very full and healthy and they remained at the pan for several hours.

 

So...........no afternoon rest for us as we decided to make the most of this great opportunity and watch the world go by with the dogs constantly in our sights.

 

Various animals came in to drink provoking little response from the dogs but where there was a response it was more of curiosity than anything else. A small elephant herd with young came in and the thought better of it when they saw the dogs. Most of the animals seemed to feel the heat at this time of day and running around chasing dogs or vice versa was probably not to be a good idea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The baboons were often entertaining

 

http://youtu.be/nlp98WMECwo

 

Some time mid afternoon all hell broke loose shattering the calm of the pan. A huge gang of baboons came screaming in to the right side of the pan, led by one large male who led the charge beating up all the other baboon familes. It was bedlam and a little reminiscent of town centre streets in the UK after pub closing time .

 

The wilddog pack and everything else bolted. The place was empty.

 

The pups went off to the right with one or two adults and the other adults scattered in a different direction.

 

Shortly after the fracas the adults returned to the pan, calling desperately for the pups but they were not there. They set off again to search for them.

 

Some two hours later a group of adults came in to the pan for drink but again moved off. It seemed that the pups and their minders had not been located.

 

 

As soon as we could we went out in the hope of finding them to all together. I knew that I would not sleep well if I did not know that they had been reunited. Emotional response- yes, but that is me.

 

We did find the dogs all back together, with the adults scattered over an open area, and the pups tucked away in the bushes. We had a celebratory Gin and Tonic whilst sitting on a log watching them.

 

 

When we set off for camp , we took a detour, only to find a meal had been prepared for us in the dry river bed. Much red wine was supped that night.

 

Apologies for the image quality, camera settings were the not at the top of my mind.

 

 

 

 

On returning to camp we saw a female lion walking at the base of the camp boma near the steps while the staff who were completely unaware were going up and down. We let them know!

 

After having our anxiety relieved and plenty of red wine we slept well that night.

 

In the morning we set off for a quick local tour to see what was about. We found the small lion pride again, doing what lions do much of the time - resting. This pride had two males last year that I photographed but the second male had not been seen for a while........................

 

 

 

 

 

So back to camp briefly to collect our bags and off to the airstrip. Out latest safari was over.

 

 

 

My thanks to

@@Doug Macdonald for another superb trip

and also

thanks to my very amusing travelling companion Caroline.

 

Roll on September 2015.

[graceland]

There is always a good reason to have a gin and tonic on Safari, and you sure deserved yours...along with Doug.

 

And, naturally, red wine is a great pairing at a bush dinner!

 

Fabulous photos, films and report. I can't wait to get back to Africa!

 

Have an awesome Bots trip! One of my favorite memories. Oh no, that is not true - every safari is a treasured memory.

[Zim Girl]

@@wilddog

 

Great Mana trip report, so pleased you were lucky with the dogs.

 

I should be in Mana in Sept 2015 so maybe will see you then. Have a fantastic time in Botswana.

[wilddog]

@ Zim Girl - That would be good! - A Mucheni ST GTG.................................. . Must keep in touch as plans develop.

 

Thanks to all who have read this TR and for the nice comments.

[Kitsafari]

@@wilddog I would have felt the same way about wanting to make sure the pups and adults are reunited.

 

What a great time you had spending with the dogs.

[TonyQ]

@@wilddog

Great report - very enjoyable dog sighting towards the end (stills and video)

The jumping babons are fun!

I'm gald the dogs and puppies were reunited!

Thank you for putting the report together.

[Atravelynn]

Thanks to Dr. @@egilio for the diagnosis of the lion's skin condition.

 

How often do you see wild dog and elephant interactions? And such animated ones? Amazing action at the waterhole!

[Atravelynn]

 

Roll on September 2015.