Zimbabwe & Zambia 2013

[pault]

What an intense start to the trip. And a beautiful sunset to cap it. Outstanding.

[Pennyanne]

The Hide continued

 

Thanks everyone for your encouragement. The buffalo hunt was actually on our second day but I look back on it as the real start to the safari. It was the most dramatic sighting of the trip in a life and death way but we had many more great sightings to come.

 

On our first morning we delivered our donations to a local rural school. This was a good experience. We had a complete tour of the school and were entertained by drumming, dancing, and singing. The school soccer coach was absolutely delighted with the soccer balls. That afternoon we had a fairly uneventful drive but saw two sleeping male lions who were likely the same two we saw at the kill.

 

On our first night at The Hide there was the annual Hwange game count where volunteers record the numbers of animals at a waterhole for a 24 hour period during a full moon. There were @ 480 elephants at the Hide’s waterhole this year during the count. A brown hyena was also seen which was very unusual for that area. We had some very interesting conversations with locals who participate in the count every year as many came to stay at the Hide.

 

The morning after the kill we drove back. One lioness was still there.

 

 

Vultures were waiting to move in.

 

 

 

 

Once she left they descended on the carcass.

 

We saw an ostrich and wildebeest and some birds then drove back.

 

 

 

Afternoons at The Hide were spent sitting on our deck and watching the animals arriving in groups over the plain on their way to the water hole. It reminded me of the opening scene of The Lion King. Visitors included numerous elephants, giraffes, impala, kudu, warthogs, bushbuck, baboons, zebra, sable, a large (@500) herd of buffalo, waterbuck, wildebeest, and a lovely big male cheetah.

 

giraffe and wildebeest

 

wildebeest

 

buffalo

 

kudu

 

wart hog

 

 

Edited February 23, 2014 by Pennyanne

[Pennyanne]

The Hide continued part two

 

On a drive we smelt a very rank elephant carcass and stopped to investigate. Another vehicle from the Hide also stopped to see what was going on. We heard lions fighting over it so the guides walked in to have a look.

 

They came back and asked if we wanted to go in. Everyone said yes and we were instructed if a lion charges, do not run! We got close enough to see the dead elephant and the lions but retreated when the lions roared angrily at us. The smell was incredibly bad so I was quite happy to leave!

 

One morning we were on a walk and heading back to camp across the plain, leisurely looking at small things and animal bones. We sensed something behind us and turned around us to see hundreds of buffalo steadily advancing on us on their way to the waterhole.

 

 

We moved off to the side and got back to camp a few minutes before them. It was quite awesome seeing this mass of animals advancing faster than we could walk. They were like an unstoppable army.

 

There were many animal sounds at night around our tent and we were frequently woken up by large family groups of elephants passing by the tent with a lot of loud stomach rumblings. We were also woken one night hearing a lot of movement I peeked out to see we were surrounded by buffalo who were sleeping right beside the tent. There were also plenty of hyena sounds at night. While we had interrupted sleep most nights I didn’t mind as I love being woken up by animal sounds!

 

We enjoyed Hwange and I’d like to return and visit other areas too as we only saw a very small section of the park. In the area we visited there were huge numbers of elephants and they are destroying the vegetation. It’s turning into a big problem as the habitat for other species is being destroyed too. I’m not sure what the solution is but I think something will have to be done.

 

More photos from Hwange: I'm not a birder so may have some wrong identification.

 

Yellow billed hornbill

 

Crowned Hornbill

 

Grumpy looking lilac-breasted roller

 

 

 

Bee Eater

 

Sable and baboons

 

Bushbuck

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up Mana Pools- Lions, wild dogs, nyala, and a dancing elephant.

 

Edited February 23, 2014 by Pennyanne

[graceland]

Fantastic, I am loving your pics. You all saw so much... I am in awe of the masses.

 

Looking forward to Mana!

[ZaminOz]

@@Pennyanne

Great installment and some truly lovely photos!

I concur!!

[Geoff]

Great stuff... Love the 3 giraffe drinking.

[pault]

That herd of buffalo coming up behind you on foot must have been a great experience once you were assured they were heading for the water and you could get out of the way.

 

What a nice variety of sightings you get at the waterhole.

[FlyTraveler]

@@Pennyanne, reading your TR and looking at the photos gives me an enormous pleasure!

 

I believe that @@TonyQ has used the most appropriate word to describe your itinerary - "eipic", lucky you!

 

I like very much your style of writing and despite of your apologies regarding the point-and-shoot camera, I also enjoy very much your photos - great compositions (I like the fact that you show quite a lot of scenery along with the animals) and images are quite sharp actually. Would you share with us the camera make and model, please (if this is not much of a trouble).

 

Fabulous experience with the buffalo hunt, people pay crazy money to see this at Duba Plains camp in Botswana and they still are not always lucky. The scenery at The Hide is beautiful. I am looking forward to your next installments, this will be a long and interesting TR...

[wildlifepainter]

Hi Penny, Debbie here. It was worth the wait and I am loving your report! I agree with above that your photos are stunning so it must be the user. Really enjoyed spending time with you in Mana Pools. We're off to Uganda tomorrow but I will catch up when I get back.

[optig]

I love your photos, and your report. I remember seeing a battle between baboons and elephants when I was in Hwange National Park. The baboons outsmarted the elephants and took over the waterhole, the elephants then realized they had been outsmarted and chased the baboons away. It was an unforgettable experience.

[Kitsafari]

wow! wat an exciting start to your safari! a lion-buffalo interaction - an age old battle, one which i imagine few will have the privilege to witness...

 

The Hide looks amazing. so does the pix of the whole herd of buffalo trotting towards you! great shot.

[optig]

I saw a pride of young lions kill a buffalo in South Luangwa National Park, when I was staying last September at Kaingo camp. They started to eat it, when it was still alive, they had torn off it's face. It's one of the reasons why I have to start taking photos.

[Pennyanne]

That herd of buffalo coming up behind you on foot must have been a great experience once you were assured they were heading for the water and you could get out of the way.

 

What a nice variety of sightings you get at the waterhole.

 

@@pault Yes, it was quite unnerving. We'd been dawdling along this very wide dry river bed talking and looking at animal tracks and a big elephant skull when we suddenly looked back to see this huge mass advancing on us. They were totally covering the width of the open area and were coming steadily towards us. The were moving remarkably quickly. Our guide said later that if we stood still they would go around us but we were not going to test that! I think we all had the thought: what if something spooks them and they stampede? So we moved off to the trees at the side and walked rather quickly back to camp.

 

The variety of animals at the waterhole was quite wonderful.

[Pennyanne]

@@wildlifepainter Have a great trip! Really good to hear from you and looking forward to hearing about Uganda.

Edited March 2, 2014 by Pennyanne

[Pennyanne]

@@FlyTraveler Thanks for your kind comments.

 

The camera is a Nikon COOLPIX P100 with a reasonably good 26x zoom. I like it because we do a lot of walking and it's small and light.

 

The buffalo hunt was amazing and we were very fortunate to experience this.

[Pennyanne]

Goliath Safaris, Mana Pools 4 nights Lions, wild dogs, nyala, and a dancing elephant

 

On our last night at Hwange a wind came up and we were woken during the night to the tent walls flapping in the wind. The next morning we drove to Hwange airport which to our surprise is quite a large airport that was obviously quite busy at one time. It was very quiet that morning and we were the only people flying out. We flew to Mana Pools via Lake Kariba on a very small plane. The flight to Kariba was long and uncomfortable. Because of the wind the flight was slow and bumpy plus the visibility was terrible from smoke. The pilot said it was about the worst he had seen. We met @@wildlifepainter and her husband at the airport in Kariba and they joined us for the flight to Mana Pools. It was great to meet fellow safari talkers and they proved to be most enjoyable companions over the next four days. We were met at the Mana Pools air strip and transferred to Goliath Camp where we arrived in time for lunch. This camp is owned by Stretch Ferreira, a legendary guide and staying there was full of exceptional experiences. It was a privilege to be guided by Stretch as he has a very special knowledge of the animals.

 

Stretch on a walk

 

 

The camp itself was the most basic one we stayed in but certainly comfortable.

 

The Bar

 

Lounge area

 

 

 

You stay here for the exceptional guiding and experiences, not for luxury which you don’t need any way. Half the tents are situated by the river and the others are behind the common area. Our tent was by the river which meant it was more likely to have animals around which we liked.

 

 

View from tent

 

 

 

 

Meals were fun experiences with great conversations and Stretch made sure the wine glasses were never empty saying “You must drink – it will help you sleep” And he was right as we slept very well at Goliath. We had early starts at Goliath with a 5am wakeup and often on the road by 5:40am or even earlier if Stretch was ready to go. A number of days I jumped in the vehicle my camera in one hand and a piece of toast in the other. We’d stay out until 12:30 or 1pm and would have a substantial mid morning snack while out. We had lunch around 1pm then a rest time which I spent watching elephants. Tea was at 3:30 and we’d be out by 4pm for another drive/walk. Back at 6pm or so for drinks at the bar and a shower. Hot water was available around 6pm and dinner around 7:30. Electricity went off at 9pm.

 

 

[Pennyanne]

Elephants are plentiful in Mana Pools and we had regular visitors in the camp every afternoon. First they came to the river beside camp

 

 

They then came into camp. A regular visitor checking out my husband

 

 

They'd wander in casually right where people were sitting. We just remained quiet as they went by.

 

 

Walking through camp.

 

 

At night we could hear elephants rumbling and eating trees beside our tent.

 

Goliath is based on walking or river activities and we did lots of walking. You may start by driving but will always get out and walk, often tracking animals. In Mana Pools the walks are quite an adventure as the specialty is to get you close to the animals. In doing so we were frequently told to quickly sit down and always promptly obeyed no matter what we may end up sitting on! It was very obvious though that once we were sitting the animals were much more relaxed. We then often crawled or scooted along on our rear ends to get closer.

 

 

[Pennyanne]

Goliath Camp continued: Lions

 

On one of our first days at Goliath we walked up to a group of 13 lions, including cubs, some snoozing and some eating a kudu. I love lions so a warning - there are a lot of lion photos in this segment.

 

 

 

 

 

Stretch had us sit on a nearby termite mound to watch.

 

You can see how close we were. No zoom used and that is someone's arm on the left.

 

 

They were determined to drag the kudu further under a tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then a cub had a meal.

 

 

Mum called and the cub went to join the others

 

 

This lioness looked a bit worse for wear but seemed to have a lot of status in the pride.

 

 

Stretch wanted to demonstrate how lions behave as you get close so took safari talker @@wildlifepainter by the arm and marched her up towards the lions. Here they are about to go up to the lions:

 

 

As they moved close the lions growled and made chuffing noises. When Stretch and @@wildlifepainter moved away the lions settled back to eating and snoozing. It was very interesting to observe this behavior.

 

Later we followed the lions to the river where they went for a drink.

 

 

We watched them for a while and they watched us.

 

Then they headed back into the bush. There were a couple by our vehicle.

 

They moved on and and we made our way back to camp. It had been a very good day!

 

 

 

Edited March 2, 2014 by Pennyanne

[graceland]

What an amazing adventure Pennyanne.. I love seeing the ellies in front of your tent; but also to be so close to the lions, wow.

 

I don't know if I'd be as calm as @@wildlifepainter seemed if Stretch grabbed my arm and led me to the pack!!

 

I've been thinking I need a good "walking" camera (as I only used my iphone); and the coolpix looks perfect for my abilities (or lack, thereof) I want to JUST Point and Shoot! There are too many exceptional photogs here; I don't need to try to outdo them, haha.

 

All your pics look great so you obviously read the instruction book.

 

Looking foward to more.....

[AKR1]

@@Pennyanne,

Just read your trip report (so far). What an adventure! Very envious of your start to finish lion buffalo kill. Your report is most enjoyable and the pictures illustrate the text beautifully. If I added your time on safari correctly it's over 30 nights! That has to be a record here for one safari. What made you decide to do such a long and as stated by someone earlier, epic trip?

Look forward to the next installment. Thanks for sharing.

[Treepol]

Fabulous lion shots - that cub peering around the tree in the 20th photo looks like a future leader, very determined.

[Game Warden]

Fantastic! Stretch needs to work on his beard though...

[ZaminOz]

@@Pennyanne

Great photos and trip reportage! Though in the lion sequence I think that they are eating an Eland, not a Kudu.

[FlyTraveler]

I have seen here quite a few photos of lions taken on foot in Mana Pools, but I can not stop being amazed by the entire experience - looks like the distance is 20-25 meters from the beasts. It is so cool to take photos of a lion at eye level.

 

Great elephants-in-camp photos, as well! Looking forward for more writing and images...

[TonyQ]

@@Pennyanne

Excellent! The camp looks great and Strech is obviously working on his beard.

Brilliant to see the elephant in camp and the lion sequence - from so close and on foot - what an experience.