Zimbabwe & Zambia 2013

[Pennyanne]

Old Mondoro Lower Zambezi 4 nights Elephant in the bathroom, beauty queen leopard, and lions

 

We transferred from Chongwe camp to Old Mondoro by boat, stopping on the way at Chiawa camp to change boats and have a cold drink. Old Mondoro camp is a real gem.

Here is one of the tents (not ours) taken from the river

 

The boat landing below the central dining area

 

It's a small camp with only 4 tent chalets and is very well run. Excellent guides and open vehicles with two guests per row. Offers walking, canoeing, boat cruises as well as drives. Early starts, up at 4:45 and off by 5:40.

The tents are spread out and very private. They are fairly rustic but very comfortable.

 

 

The bathroom tub and shower was quite open with no wall on one side. The sink and toilet were in a more enclosed area.

 

This elephant with only one tusk, nicknamed "Cheeky" was a frequent visitor He was a real character and liked to pretend he was coming to the tub to have a drink. One evening I was showering just as it was getting dark and he came up close and stood and watched me (remember the bathroom has no wall on one side). I was concerned he’d decide to drink the shower water so rapidly finished my shower.

 

Our tent was on a backwater channel and we had a good view of animals, especially elephants, coming down to drink and bathe. Here's a view of the channel and part of our deck with the Zambezi River off to the left.

 

 

There were elephants all around camp and some very up close and personal.

 

They seemed to like to check out our bathroom sink

 

We were driven back and forth to our rooms at times since the elephants were often between us and the dining area.

 

Lots of loud hippo noises at night here. There is plenty of wildlife in the area and beautiful scenery. Lower Zambezi Park has quite a different look and feel compared to Mana Pools even though it’s just across the river. They are both extremely beautiful parks. We'd had some great sightings at Mana Pools and there were more to come during our stay at Old Mondoro.

[Pennyanne]

Old Mondoro continued:

 

We’d seen many leopards on night drives and one of my dreams this trip was to have a good view of a leopard in daylight and we had two amazing sightings in one day.

We were on a morning drive when we found a leopard face in a gully. She was a bit shy but we still had a pretty good view of her.

 

 

 

She wandered off out of sight fairly quickly.

 

I was very happy with this and we continued on our drive to another area of the park.

 

We saw kudu and elephants

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a hornbill doing some kind of courtship dance

 

 

Suddenly my husband spotted the tip of a tail in a gully and shouted out “leopard!” We backed up and our guide maneuvered the vehicle into a great spot. The leopard popped up and looked at us

 

 

She strolled out of the gully and walked right towards us.

 

 

She posed like a model on a fashion runway, stopping and turning so we could get her best profile.

 

 

 

 

She was very relaxed and stopped and looked directly at us a few times.

 

 

 

 

She knew she was beautiful, of course, because she is a cat.

 

 

Finally she headed off into the bush

 

 

I was overjoyed and had a big grin on my face for the rest of the day. Just writing this has put a huge smile on my face as I remember seeing her. The staff at the camp did not recognize her and were quite excited to have a new leopard in the area.

[TonyQ]

@@Pennyanne

"she knew she was beautiful because she was a cat"

She was right (and so was the first one!)

Good to see the elephants around the camp also

[Kitsafari]

the leopards are beautiful, how lucky you are! the first leopard looks rather thin compared with the 2nd one.

 

thank you for this report! my husband wasn't keen on lower zembezi because he had read that it was quiet for game viewing. now i shall point him to your report to show that it isn't true!

[michael-ibk]

You just had an incredible trip here. Love the intimate elephant encounters, and your leopards have every right to show off about their beauty. Great stuff, keep it coming!

[bettel]

What a great trip and what a great report! Thanks a lot!

[Pennyanne]

Old Mondoro continued – The canoe trip

 

Canoeing down a back channel of the Zambezi turned out to be a highlight of the trip. We were not planning to canoe as we were quite nervous of hippos and crocodiles. In Kafue we had been in a boat that got bumped quite vigorously by a hippo. We would have overturned if we had been in a canoe so had some trepidation about canoeing in waters full of crocodiles and hippos. However at Old Mondoro the guests do not actually do the paddling. You are paired with a guide who does all the paddling so you can sit back and enjoy. We were instructed if we capsized to cling to the canoe and try not to splash as that would attract the crocs. However if a hippo was attacking we should get away from the canoe and into shallow water or onto land as quickly as possible since the hippo will attack the largest object which is the canoe. A bit scary! However we felt very safe as we were with guides who knew what to do if there was a problem. A few times there was a hippo blockade and the guides had to back paddle and slap the water until they moved off. I would not want to deal with this in a canoe I was paddling myself.

 

We were taken up river by motor boat and then started the canoe trip. It was a very hot day so we draped wet cloths around our necks and floated down a back channel for about 4 hours.

 

 

 

 

We saw lots of birds and animals and it was wonderfully quiet and peaceful.

 

Goliath Heron

 

Helmeted Guineafowl

 

Egyptian geese

 

Lapwing

 

Monitor lizard

 

Buffalo

 

And lots of elephants

 

 

 

 

Extremely beautiful – like paradise until you notice all the crocs and hippos.

 

 

 

 

Some hippos did not like the look of us and headed for the safety of water as we glided past.

 

 

 

 

 

It was an excellent way to spend a hot afternoon and a lovely contrast to driving and walking. As you float quietly by, almost level with the water, you get a totally different perspective of the animals.

[AKR1]

@Pannyanne

I just spent an enjoyable hour savoring your wonderful trip report. Great stuff.

Thanks for sharing this.

[Pennyanne]

Old Mondoro continued

 

We had some excellent drives and walks. Lower Zambezi is a beautiful park with quite varied scenery.

 

 

 

Having a laugh on a walk

 

 

The escarpment in the background is a beautiful backdrop for views of animals.

 

 

 

Waterbuck. I love the way they pose for the camera.

 

 

 

 

Waterbuck and impala

 

 

We saw a variety of birds and animals:

 

Lilac-breasted roller

 

 

Yellow-billed stork, Glossy ibis, Black heron? (not sure if I've identified these correctly)

 

 

Carmine Bee-eater

 

 

Saddle-billed stork

 

 

Impala

 

 

Elephant and buffalo were frequently seen

 

 

 

 

One day we had a surprise lunch on the river bank while a herd of elephants wandered by.

 

 

Hippos were common also

 

 

On our first day we came across a small pride of lions resting. There was a female who was the mother of the three cubs and a male who was her adult son. This seemed like an odd group but the guides told us the son had stayed with the mother to help her hunt and look after the cubs. We would see this pride again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 6, 2014 by Pennyanne

[Pennyanne]

Old Mondoro continued: Lions

 

The following day we came across the same small lion pride. We saw the female drinking and followed her.

 

 

They'd made a kill and were happily eating. The female had her own helping

 

 

The male and cubs were sharing

 

 

 

 

This is really good!

 

 

We later came across two young males that the guides did not recognize.

 

 

One had a wound on his leg but it didn't seem to be bothering him.

 

 

 

They lay down and fell asleep.

 

 

 

We watched for a while and then carried on with our drive.

[Treepol]

@@Pennyanne this TR keeps getting better! The 5th and 6th lion cub photos are amazing, what a defiant little survivor you have there. The canoe trip looks fantastic, I read this at work during my lunch break and then re-read it, taking a moment to 'breathe in the peace'

 

Looking forward to the next instalment when you have time....

[Soukous]

WOW @@Pennyanne, what a phenomenal safari!

I don't know how I missed it for so long. Maybe because i was away when you started.

You saw EVERYTHING and quality sightings too.

How will any other safari ever live up to these experiences?

[Super LEEDS]

Simply wonderful stuff - thank you so much for sharing!

 

Those canoe rides.... food for thought, certainly!!

[FlyTraveler]

This continues as an excellent trip report, I also like very much the photographs. Amazing itinerary and selection of camps. Bravo and thanks for the effort for putting this together.

[Atravelynn]

A lion kill straight away is outstanding with the males helping out! That is a power packed itinerary which should provide additional excitement.

[TonyQ]

@@Pennyanne

canoeing looks great (if done carefully!)

Your very enjoyable report has lots more great photos

[Pennyanne]

More memorable moments at Old Mondoro

 

We made a game of counting the frogs in our room. They were everywhere and one jumped on my husband’s bare back one morning. A strange oowhoooo sound was the result. I was still dozing and that certainly woke me up!

Guess which one is real:

 

 

The afternoon animal viewing in the camp was fantastic. There was far too much going on to even consider having a nap. The weather had turned extremely hot again and the camp provided kikoi sarongs which we soaked in cold water and draped around us. They really help with the heat as they cool you down very efficiently as they dry off.

 

There were many groups of elephants in camp every afternoon.

 

Families

 

 

 

 

Some trees were favoured scratching posts.

 

 

 

After a scratch a snooze was popular

 

 

 

A visitor at the door of our tent

 

Across from our tent

 

 

 

 

Below our tent

 

 

 

 

Enjoying the mud

 

 

 

 

 

[Pennyanne]

Afternoons at Old Mondoro continued

 

There were many baboons that had great screaming family fights.

 

 

 

 

There was a resident crocodile.

 

 

A herd of buffalo came in one day across from our tent.

 

 

 

Two elephants had a shoving match one afternoon. Not serious as they later strolled off together but great fun to watch. Here's a sequence:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were reluctant to leave Old Mondoro and the Lower Zambezi but but were off for our next adventure in North Luangwa.

 

Dawn in camp.

 

 

Sunset with elephant

 

Next up: Mwaleshi in North Luangwa

Edited April 26, 2014 by Pennyanne

[Atravelynn]

Leopard in and out of the gully, very picturesque. The elephant show was going on at Old Mondoro without a doubt.

Edited April 27, 2014 by Atravelynn

[TonyQ]

@@Pennyanne

You certainly had great elephant viewing!

I love the baby in the mud, the elephant snoozing and the shoving match

[Atravelynn]

In my post above, #98 I thought I also wrote.

 

You had great elephant viewing without even leaving your tent.

 

In Hwange do you recall any talk about sable?

[Pennyanne]

Mwaleshi Camp North Luangwa 4 nights Remote wilderness walks

 

On leaving LZNP we flew to Lusaka, Mfuwe, then North Luangwa. Here’s the departure lounge at the LZNP air strip

 

 

We flew from Mfuwe to N. Luangwa in a small plane. After landing in N. Luangwa the pilot put sticks around the wheels to try and keep the hyenas from chewing the tires.

 

 

It was a rather long day of travel but we arrived at Mwaleshi Camp just in time for the afternoon walk, which turned out to have some special treats in store for us which I’ll describe in the next episode. Mwaleshi is a great little camp, only 3 huts in a remote area. The camp is simple with quite open thatched huts, no electricity, bucket showers, but very comfortable and had excellent food. Lots of hyena sounds at night.

 

 

 

 

 

Bucket shower

 

 

View from our hut

 

 

The bar. Sausage fruit hanging like salamis

 

 

Our guide/camp manager and ranger scout. They were excellent and good company.

 

 

You really feel like you are out in the bush here and aside from one conservation group vehicle and a few fishermen we didn’t see any other people during our stay.

 

Fisherman

 

There’s a nice spot by the river where you can have a nap or watch the birds in the afternoon.

 

 

 

 

Whitefronted Bee-eater

 

 

Starling

 

 

Plover

 

 

 

The river is very shallow and we waded back and forth on many walks.

 

 

Activities from here are mainly walking although we did do some combination walk/drives.

 

 

 

[Pennyanne]

Mwaleshi Camp North Luangwa continued

 

On arriving at Mwaleshi the other guests were just about to leave on the afternoon walk. We decided to grab our cameras and binoculars and join them and were so pleased we did as we saw wild dogs and then lions! The dogs were just up river and were sleeping after eating an animal they’d killed that morning. They were a small pack and very curious about us. We crept up to them and some even stood on their hind legs to peer at us over the long grass.

 

 

 

We watched them until they all got together and went off up the river bank, still peering back at us as they left.

 

 

We continued our walk and ran into some lions with young cubs. The light was bad and the photos not good but here are some just to give you an idea.

 

 

 

 

We saw this pride again on another walk. There was too much bush and they were too far away for good photos but we sat and had a tea break watching them.

One female was under a nearby bush and kept a close watch on us.

 

 

The main activity in North Luangwa is walking and we saw a good variety of animals.

 

Warthog

 

 

 

 

Hippo

 

 

Carmine Bee-eaters

 

 

 

 

Kudu and impala

 

 

 

Elephants

 

 

Wildebeest

 

 

 

Two hyenas who were quite interested in us

 

 

 

They moved on then lay down and watched us

 

 

 

 

 

After 4 enjoyable days we left Mwaleshi and flew to South Luangwa to stay at Tafika Camp where we were to see more wild dogs!

 

 

 

 

[graceland]

Wow - Wow - Wow I don't know how I missed the past postings!! What a truly amazing time.....and what you saw on foot, OMG I am sooooo envious!!

 

thanks for coming back with more; love, love , love your pics and report!

[Treepol]

Really enjoying your TR, having just caught up with the latest posts. Very interesting to read about Mwaleshi Camp as I have considered this a few times myself.

 

Fabulous carmine bee-eater photos...