Zimbabwe - One Hundred %

[ld1]

@@Sangeeta we had stupendous dog sightings within the park itself. 4 good sightings over 4 nights. Hunting, relaxing, returning to the den, morning and night. I have to agree with Sangeeta though. The Chikwenya pack are comfortable around and curious of people. Even when we saw that morning eating a kill there was always one or two still

Interested in us. At the airstrip, to have dogs choose to come over, relax, play around and stare straight into your eyes as you are sat in the dust was an extraordinary experience. To have that to yourself, well that's just the cherry on top.

Edited December 17, 2018 by ld1

[Sangeeta]

 I don't think you understood me correctly. It was never my intent to say that you won't get excellent dog encounters inside the park. Clearly you can - you've had them, Id has had them, many of us have had them too. I was simply saying that these Chikwenya airstrip-type close encounters would be hard to replicate easily inside the park and indeed, I still maintain they would. Of course there are no guarantees - but we went in July (during the denning season), Wilddog had some great moments at the airstrip in Oct/Nov, and Id went in September (clearly after the denning season) - so this seems to be a well established route for them thereby increasing your chances of these types of encounters.

 

But we are splitting hairs at this point, and as you rightly state, none of this takes away from the wonder of Id's encounter, which was amazing regardless of how frequent or infrequenr. We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one

[Safaridude]

@id1

 

Somehow I am only catching up to this now. Love the juvenile elephant putting on the brakes, the buffalo herd with all the dust at Chitake, and the stupendous wild dog action.

[ld1]

Guys, none of this takes away from my experience in the slightest. We were exceptionally lucky with dogs the whole trip, a never to be repeated experience really. We even saw a cheetah at Chitake, but were less lucky with Lions (not unlucky, just less) and perhaps the same could be said of the Mana bulls as they were with entourages and so less easily approached for a close encounter on foot. Thats just how Safari rolls and what makes all our experiences special to each of us.

 

Allways something to see, memories to be made every minute, all of which last a lifetime.

 

I can still remeber the first Impala I saw in Tsavo East in 1989. Made the driver stop for about 10 minutes to look at it. Everytime I see my first Impala on every trip I remember that moment and it brings a smile to my face.

[ld1]

@@Safaridude thank-you, I'm enjoying your report, its taking me back to Mana for a few days longer which was especially welcome on the West Coast Mainline this evening.

[Big Andy]

@@ld1 I don't know how I managed to miss this report but some how I did, and that was a mistake. A wonderful report with great dog sightings with pictures to back them up. That was the one animal from the Mana area that we missed seeing other than an odd fleeting glimpse in the thick scrub but they seem to have taken a shine to you and your trip. You really describe the primeval feeling of Chitake spring very well and I'll be spending a full two weeks there in October as I love the wildness and constant sense of electric anticipation you get at the place. Thank you for the report even if I was late reading it.

[ld1]

Thanks @@Big Andy I am super jealous of your two weeks in Chitake. We are off back to Zim with Doug in late Aug 2017. We have only two nights as Chitake so no where near two weeks! We'll be taking in Hwange this time before heading to Mana.

[AfricanQueen]

@@ld1 Only 10 more weeks and we will be in Mana/Chitake too!!! (Chitake we have not been before)

Thank you for sharing your amazing experiences there. I enjoyed reading your TR and the wonderful photos a lot! Don't know why I only got to see the TR today - but it came as a nice surprise tome, as I'm anxious to read anything about Mana or other places in Africa where I have been or where I plan to go. The waiting time for going to Africa seems to be reduced with reading about it, speaking about it, planning the trip...

[ld1]

@@AfricanQueen thanks for the kind words, you'll have an amazing time. I was blown away by Zim and I am sure you won't be disappointed as Chitake is very special place indeed. I can't wait to get back there myself.