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Maki

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africapurohit

@@Maki I'm really enjoying the second volume of your African adventures - great photos and lots of detail. That dead elephant seems to be missing its head ? :o

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@@TonyQ - Thanks!

 

@@wilddog - it can put first timers like me in tricky situation indeed, luckily we had a great and very experienced guide! The elephant was trained well too ;-)

 

@@africapurohit - thanks, glad you enjoy it!

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We would be driving and walking a fair bit today, which was great as we would see different areas of the park.

We were on our way to the Nyamatusi wilderness area, I was keen to have a look as we would go for a walk in that area later on during our Mana canoe trail.

 

Below some impressions, it is very different from the floodplains…

 

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We stopped at a pan (lung fish pan) for lunch. Nyala often come to this pan to drink, but we didn’t see them this time around. I could have stayed at that pan for hours, it is such a lovely spot. Unfortunately we could not stay for hours, we had to start going back towards camp.

 

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Lung fish pan

Edited by Maki
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On our way back towards camp, slowly as we had lots of kilometres to cover, we stopped in area so typical for Mana....

 

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Magical Mana

 

We had a short break at a camp site (no one was camping there at that time) with a nice view of the river...

 

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The island - Trichelia island - is where we had lunch during our canoe trail

 

After our short break we drove around a bit, it such a lovely area, lots of elephants, kudu, waterbuck, impala, eland and more. We decided to stop when we saw a nice herd of buffalo, we walked towards them to have a closer look - very impressive.

 

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After the short walk, short as we didn't walk for hours, we decided to drive back to Zebra plains, hoping that we would have the lions to ourselves. At first we didn't, but the other vehicles left shortly after we had arrived. The light was far from great but it was nice to have another look at the lions, especially the cubs.

 

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http://youtu.be/bv_AD9HVplw

Lion cubs playing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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@@Maki

Your pictures really bring a sense of place

You were very close to those buffalo - and good pictures of the lion cubs (looking straight at you!)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Another try to find the wild dogs in the morning as we would have a transfer at 10 to our next camp, Kanga. We left very early to an area in which the dogs had a den, it was a long shot, but I was willing to give it a try. It was a long hike as well, we walked for hours, and did not find the dogs… Very frustrating as I had high expectations with wild dog sightings in Mana Pools. Nevertheless, the walk was lovely and although we did not get to see dogs, there was a nice sighting of a dazzle of zebra which raced past us, very exciting, but unfortunately no pictures nor video.

 

Our stay at Vundu Camp was great. I loved this camp, it is not pretentious, some might even consider it to be basic – but that’s what I loved about it. You had everything you need and there was a focus on guiding – and that’s what it is all about I learned on this trip.

 

Vundu Camp:

 

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The tent: comfortable beds, mosquito net, sitting area, outdoor shower, in room charging (which none of the other camps had)

 

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The communal area: dining area, lounge area with small library. View of the Zambezi.

 

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The bar

 

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Breakfast area. Nice fire place.

Edited by Maki
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The drive to our next camp would take about 45 minutes. We were warned that there would be tsetse flies in the wooded areas, and there were plenty, but luckily we were not bitten.

We chose this camp to have a bit of a change of scenery as it is in a different area of Mana Pools, inland, and we thought it would add to the overall experience.

Unfortunately, our start at Kanga camp was not so good, they were not aware of our booked private vehicle… so we were stuck at camp till the scheduled afternoon/evening drive. I wasn’t very impressed by this and the provided alternatives were not what we expected, long story short, although I dislike the use of a mobile phone when on safari, I was lucky I had reception and could make arrangements to shorten our stay at Kanga. Such a shame, because the camp is lovely.

 

As there was no guide nor vehicle for us we spent the rest of the day at the waterhole. It’s a big bonus for the camp as it attracts a lot of animals during the day and night. There is a pump, I believe they have a special permit for that, otherwise the pan would have dried up.

 

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The waterhole at Kanga Camp

 

Sightings at the waterhole:

 

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The next day the private vehicle was available and as we had the whole day we decided to go back towards the river with a packed lunch. It might sound silly, but the day before we spent the day at the waterhole and on an afternoon drive in the area (which wasn’t really impressive).

 

So after breakfast we left with a Zim Pro guide again, first stop would be Long Pool as we hadn’t been there before. As the name suggests, it's long, but a nice spot for hippo and crocs among others.

En route the focus was on birding, I developed a slight interest, and when there are not many other animals around… there is always birds!

 

The best part of this day was during lunch, at the same pan we were before. Lovely spot, nice and quiet, no other people/vehicles, maybe I should stop promoting it...

 

This time we did see nyala which came to the waterhole to drink. They were a bit skittish, and approached the waterhole very slowly and carefully, one by one....

 

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For those of you who can't get enough of nyala (like me) a video -

 

http://youtu.be/W3OfEHBj9gI

(change the settings to HD)

Edited by Maki
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madaboutcheetah

@@Maki - Just catching up with your report ........ Thanks for sharing!!! and WOW - another great Mana read!

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@@Maki - love those nyala too :) So nice to see them in a family group and that juvenile male is at such an interesting stage of development. The video was super.

 

Lovely report so far - please do keep it coming.

Edited by Sangeeta
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@@Maki

The Nyala are beautiful animals - and they do appear skittish in the video

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The rest of the afternoon we spend birding, we stopped at Chisambiko pool to have a closer look at an African harrier hawk. The guide explained how an African harrier hawk could blush, their bare face blushing from yellow to red, I wasn’t buying it until I saw it happen in front us!

We saw plenty of the more common birds, but on our way back to camp we saw a striped kingfisher – a first for me!

 

That evening camp was pretty full, it was 2 of us, another couple and a private guide with a party of 6. The staff had organized a braai (bbq) for dinner, which was very nice. Throughout the evening a staff member checked with a spotlight if an animal was coming to the waterhole for a drink. When he mentioned a lion everybody turned quiet and just watched him drink for a while. Funny how such a big group can be so silent in an instant. It was a very nice evening, with nice food and nice conversation with the other guests. After some guests had left we stayed for a nightcap, the staff member had another try with the spotlight and saw a leopard!

 

Although we had a bad start at Kanga camp, things sometimes go wrong unfortunately and this time we were impacted, but to be fair it is a very nice camp. The waterhole is a big bonus. The tents are very nice, although a bit dark in the room and there was no fan which would be very useful in the October, but maybe they supply those on request, I am not sure.

 

Kanga camp:

 

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The next morning we left for Ruckomechi camp, it was quite a drive (1,5 hrs) but in Mana Pools NP and the Ruckomechi concession, so very scenic. Don’t be fooled by agents saying you will have a ‘’transfer game drive’’, it is just not the same.

 

Ruckomechi is a Wilderness camp, we had never stayed at one before, and we chose it because we originally booked the Mana Canoe trail with Wilderness Safaris (and they later decided to outsource to Bushlife safaris). We thought it would be nice to start here before the canoeing and because it was possible to do evening game drives.

 

After an introduction session about the camp with one of the hosts we were escorted to our tent, which was huge, with an absolutely stunning view!

 

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We saw elephants crossing to islands in the river, and swimming, which is such a great thing to witness, that trunk sticking out in the water is very funny.

 

For the afternoon activity we decided to go for a ‘’river cruise’’, cruise on a motorized pontoon, as we were eager to be on the river again. We would return via an evening drive, which is possible as this camp is based in a concession and not the national park.

 

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The cruise is nice for a different view, to be on the water, to be able to have a closer look at the islands (the elephants, hippos and crocs among others) and of course nice sundowners!

It doesn’t get much better than that sunset.

 

During our cruise the focus was on kingfishers and bee-eaters:

 

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This is a really good trip report @@Maki. It really explains how Mana Pools is the first time (which I don't know yet). Your enthusiasms and disappointments are infectious and I love the photos and videos. What a pity about the dogs (although at least you did see them) and I hope you have a good sighting later to make up for it.

 

One thing isI why you shortened your stay at Kanga after the problem was resolved.... It looks very nice indeed. Didn't you maybe punish yourselves most of all in this case? :-) I am just asking because I am nosy! You can ignore the question if you like.

 

Looking forward to the rest.

Edited by pault
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@@pault - I don't mind the question at all !

 

The reason why I shortened the stay is because the camp manager (relief manager as I found out later) could not confirm to me if the second day they would be able to provide what we had booked.

''Possibly'', and ''we are doing our best'' was just not good enough for me at that stage.

 

I would go back to this camp though, just with different arrangements.

 

Mana Pools is a great park, you should give it a try it some time!

Edited by Maki
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Love the bee eaters and kingfishers @@Maki.

super TR.

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Great report and photos...

Hoping there is more to come!

 

Thanks.

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"For those of you who can't get enough of nyala (like me)" And me!

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@@graceland - Thanks! yes, more to come, our stay at Ruckomechi and Mana Canoe trail. I'll start soon...

 

@@Atravelynn - Thanks!

 

Wilderness has a pontoon they use for river cruises and a boat to pick up guests as well (I didn't know about this, but seems to be possible when coming from Zambia).

You go upstream, and it's along their concession, they are not allowed to go into the NP (indeed rightfully so!) It's a nice activity for an afternoon, once.

 

Not sure what you mean with canoe launch point being a major distraction? When doing drives in the area you mean? I would not think so, the canoe trail starts on set days, so I think the guides will try to avoid that area when a canoe trail starts.

In case you meant to ask something totally different, sorry... and let me know.

 

We did a walk there, and as Doug mentioned in another thread, it is a more tame experience with Wilderness. BUT - I do think the ruckomechi concession is large enough to spend 2 maybe 3 nights and a nice change (scenery/area) for drives when visiting Mana Pools for a long stay. I also thought it was nice to do a couple of evening drives.

 

We had good wildlife sightings, more about that later on in the report, i'll give one thing away - no dogs... :-(

 

I really don't mind the questions at all !

Edited by Maki
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