Mana Pools as a photographic destination. Trips 2022 and 2023.

[ElenaH]

Mana Pools as a photographic destination.

 

I've been to Mana 5 times: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023. It looks like I started to pay a visit to Mana each year and couldn't stop anymore ;-)

I'd like to open a topic of Mana as a best (?) photographic destination, share some tips and locations. I think, that I will not write a report in a form as day-by-day but rather I will talk about locations and how you can plan your shots. I will not be able to encompass all the photos of all years but rather the last two years. And yes, perhaps, I will write more reports 

It will take a bit more time to prepare but bear with me! :-)

 

Here is a Trailer:

 

 

[Dave Williams]

Looking forward to this!

[Whyone?]

1 hour ago, ElenaH said:

Mana Pools as a photographic destination.

 

I've been to Mana 5 times: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023. It looks like I started to pay a visit to Mana each year and couldn't stop anymore ;-)

....

 

 

It looks like you picked up the baton when I dropped it in 2015 (after 14 trips!) 

 

Very much looking forward to seeing your photo's and suggestions!

[janzin]

ohh one place I've yet to go so I'm eager to see this as well. And wow what an incredible sighting of the lion with the buffalo--that's one brave (or maybe stupid!) lion!

[JayRon]

@ElenaHA great trailer. I am actually also going to Mana Pools in October for a week, so the trailer kind of whetted my appetite even more. Looking forward to some tips and locations  

[soleson]

I am really looking forward to this thread.  I have been only once but have been really looking to go back for a longer period... Also, looking forward to the discussion on how to plan your shots.  

 

Btw, I love seeing how the buffaloes defend their own.  That lion was like... nope, not going take on 100 buffaloes.  

[Alexander33]

Wow!  Incredible video. I, too, am greatly looking forward to this thread, and appreciate your starting it. I’ve not been to Mana Pools, and as I’ve gotten more and more interested in wildlife and nature photography over the years, I’ve been wanting to settle on a good location to concentrate on during the dry season (July-October), so maybe this it? 

[ElenaH]

What is Mana and how to get there.

I thank to all of you for comments and given attention 

 

As you can see Mana Pools National Park is situated between three Safari areas (Sapi, Chewore and Hurungwe) where some new lodges were built in the last years and Wild Dogs Project is working on relocating Wild Dogs in Sapi Safari Area. Opposite Mana Pools is a Lower Zambezi National Park of Zambia.

 

 

You can get to Mana Pools by air, by road and by boat. The boat transfer is done by some tour-operators like, for example, Nature Ways where you can do a canoe ride down Zambezi river.

The flights can be done from Victoria Falls and Harare.

And the road transfer mostly done from Harare for the guests who are going to stay in lodges and camps.

 

I placed this TR in "self-drive" part and will talk more about driving to Mana. 

1. The drive from Harare shows 6hrs and 45min for 432km and actually I have never taken this route and cannot tell more about it.

2. We used to drive from Lusaka to Mana. It is 260km. The drive from Lusaka to the border in Chirundu is about 2,5 hours. On the border it will take you about an hour or an hour and a half to make the paper work. Then you need to drive to Marongora to the Park Office and register. If you don't do it they will send you back. And from the Chimutsi gate it is a 1,5-2 hours drive to Nyamepi Office on Zambezi river. Nyamepi is a campsites place in Mana Pools.

 

 

3. The last one is a drive from Hwange National park to Mana Pools along the Kariba lake. They call it - "Binga road". This route will take you about 11 hours. It is 660km and it has few places with a lot of potholes. It starts as a tar road but close to Binga junction it will turn to a cheese - it is not easy to slalom between the holes! After potholes part there is a new nice tarred part and then a gravel road until Zvipani where the tarred road starts again. So, it is about 200km of unpaved road along Kariba and 100km gravel to the Nyamepi. This route is interesting when you are going to visit Chizarira, Matusadona or Hwange. It is possible to make it in one day if you are two drivers. You cannot drive very fast on a gravel road, perhaps 70-80km/h but there is no police blocks, no cars and the road is not boring (well... potholes!  ) We did it once in one day.

 

 

 

You can meet a lot of nice people along this route. We took this route in 2023, stopped to buy some tomatoes and corn and we all were very happy! 

 

Along this route you can refill your car in Binga and then in Karoi or Makuti. Actually if you stay in Mana you can always drive to Makuti and refill your car. There is a small shop in Makuti as well. The fuel price in October 2023 was like in Europe ($1.75/l)

 

When we were driving from Hwange or Vic Falls we made a stop in Binga and continued next day. There are some lodges there. Las year we stopped in Masumu River Lodge on Kariba lake ($250 room with dinner and breakfast). It is very nice lodge for stop over or even spend a day. The problem is that you spend some time to get there becasue it is not directly on the way. 

So, next time we will drive directly from some lodge or camp in Hwange (Gwango Resort, Hwange Safari Lodge) to Karoi and have a stop-over in Karoi. There is a Spring Lodge ($80 room with breakfast) close to the Binga-Karoi junction. It is about 4km from Karoi. The gas station is just beside the lodge and in Karoi there are two very good supermarkets where you can buy suppliers.

There is so much life in Karoi! I don't even know if I ever seen something like this! People just sitting together, talking, music is playing, children playing, ladies carrying something from shops, gentlemen doing something, goats crossing the road where cars are slowly driving. And all of this is incredibly colourful! I know, it is not a thing of everybody... but I like these people and I like a flow of life. 

Edited March 4 by ElenaH

[Hads]

@ElenaHwhat a great little video, that young male lion was very lucky not to get those buffalo horns in him.

I am very much looking forward to this report.

[ElenaH]

@Dave Williams, @Whyone?, @janzin, @JayRon, @soleson, @Alexander33, @Hads

thank you very much for your nice words and motivation! 

Interestingly, I won with that short video a video-competition in FOTOTEST magazine. I absolutely didn't await it because I thought I am more a photographer than a videographer 

 

[ElenaH]

Accommodation. Lodges and Camps.

 

Let's talk a bit about accommodation for visitors who are not self-drivers. I must confess I have never been in lodges in Mana Pools but I know a little bit about them.

So, I would divide the park or its part along Zambezi river to three main parts: 

• the Mana Pools core or main park where the four pools are located,
• the flood plains where such campsites as Mucheni is located and 
• the Nyamatusi part

To the east of Nyamatusi there is Chikwenya and Sapi area, to the west from Zambezi Expedition there is Vundu camps and Rukomechi camp. We drove up to Chikwenya and I must say that the most beautiful place is still Mana Pools core part. However, Nyamatusi and Chikwenya are also not so bad. Normally there is a lot going on in Mana core area. You can often see lions in the area of Mana Mouth and Long Pool (in the map Hippo Pool) and you can see also wild dogs here.

 

Goliath Camp is sutauted behind the Chisasiko pool. I think Stretch Ferera is guiding there.

There is a Mana River Camp of Machaba Safaris in Trichilia Island and this is just a gorgeous place! There is another camp of Machaba - Ingwe Pan Camp (I put it in a yellow oval). This camp has its own waterhole but the Ingwe Pan itself is accessible by self-drivers. Once we saw a leopard there and the other time we found lions.  The camps like Ingwe Pan or Kanga camp live of sightings of the waterhole but I think that Ingwe Pan Camp must be even better than Kanga Camp because it is close to all other areas. So, if I would stay in lodges I would probably choose Ingwe Pan Camp and/or Mana River Camp because of the coverage.

 

If the wild dogs puppies survive than dogs are used to hunt along flood plains. The banks of the river are not steep and there are a lot of impalas and other general game. They come to drink.

The dogs also like to lie not far away from Old Ndungu near a small natural waterhole.

 

There are quite a lot of camps along the flood plains like Camp Mana, Mana Pools Safari Lodge, Zambezi Expeditions and Vundu Camps. 

Sometimes Nature Ways and Mwinilunga Safaris open their mobile camps in Ndungu sites. So, that means that Mwinilunga is not there where google placed it! But the rate shown by google for the tent is not bad ;-). Last year I met there two female photographers:  Carole Deschuymere and Piper MacKay. Actually we were lying in the sand by Old Ndungu and photographed wild dogs. I met Piper a few years before in Savuti when I was travelling with a South African photographer Wim van den Hiever and she was staying in the same lodge with her own group. I followed Carol in facebook. Carol had excellent offers for photographic safaris! But as you can see she doesn't update her website. She told me, "just write me in facebook!" :-) So, she still takes groups and I know it is not so expensive! I am also quite sure that you can contact Mwinilunga and get good rates if you go as a group! So, it is an excellent camp for such kind of trip! And it looked like they are very flexible and can get up very early.

 

About geting up early. Normally lodges start morning drive later as we do. We start when it's getting light so that we drive the main road a bit earlier than 6:00. And the first lodges in the morning are: Robin Pope Safaris (the lodge is to the east of Mana Mouth) and Stretch Ferera Safaris (Goliath). All others are getting out later. 

 

A few words about Nyamatusi Camp of African Bush Camps. As we were in Mana in 2022 the African Wild Dogs lost all their puppies and were mostly in Sapi area. It was not easy to locate them. That year I thought that Nyamatusi Camp would be the best in such case. It is between Mana Pools core area and Nyamatusi area, not far away from Sapi area. 

 

Thank you so much to come with me so far in this TR! In the next post I will talk about ZimPark accommodation. 

But to wake you up and not having TR so boring I will post a video about our self-drivers camp Elephant Creek and what all happens behind our tent. What do you think? What is behind our tent when we are sleeping?

The date and time of recordings of trap camera are correct but the year is 2022. I don't know what I was thinking about when I set it up!  the year 2020 is wrong! it was 2022 instead :-)

 

 

[Atravelynn]

Wow, what a video!  That night footage is so active and answers the question of what is behind your tent.  Lots happening during the day as well. The star trails are fascinating.  Love the hyenas in the water.  Wonderful music.  Very professional all the way around.

[Julian]

The maps large scale are interesting, seeing the  Zambezi river in detail, and the different sectors of the park.
I am spending 13 days in Mana in late summer  - 3 days at Kanga Camp then 10 days at Goliath camp.

Enjoyed your video as well.

[Whyone?]

Great video Elena!

[JPS]

Hi Elena,

 

We absolutely loved your video featuring the stunning images of Mana Pools! It truly paints a vivid picture of the beauty that Mana Pools has to offer. We can't wait to revisit this enchanting place, although time and limited vacation days often feel like our biggest adversaries.

Currently, our upcoming trips include a trip to Kgalagadi in May, followed by Kruger in October. Looking ahead to 2025, we have plans for Khutse and Kgalagadi on the Botswana side in March, and we're in the process of organizing a trip to Moremi in September. Your suggestion to fly into Maun with Ethiopian Airlines is much appreciated – thank you for that valuable tip!

 

Sending warm greetings,

 

Natalie and Johan

[ElenaH]

On 2/28/2024 at 5:16 AM, Atravelynn said:

Wow, what a video!  That night footage is so active and answers the question of what is behind your tent.  Lots happening during the day as well. The star trails are fascinating.  Love the hyenas in the water.  Wonderful music.  Very professional all the way around.

WoW! Thank you very much for so nice words! Indeed the night footage is not boring. The last year I mounted the camera in front of the tent and saw a hyena-traffic. They come and go as if it would be their home place (that actually is ;-)

The star trails are made with GoPro (that was bitten by the hyena).  I love my GoPro, it is very very simple to use and a lot of fun! The music is from Envato. I am very you like it 

[ElenaH]

On 2/28/2024 at 11:56 AM, Julian said:

I am spending 13 days in Mana in late summer  - 3 days at Kanga Camp then 10 days at Goliath camp.

So, you need to put a trap-cam as well. The Elephant Creek camp where I was staying is just beside the Goliath camp. All animals passing that tree are going to Goliath and back to Elephant Creek.  The video footage is from 2022. In 2023 I got the leopard again on the trap-cam. So, you need to keep in mind that there is a leopard around your camp  

[ElenaH]

On 2/29/2024 at 9:58 AM, Whyone? said:

Great video Elena!

Thank you, @Whyone?

[ElenaH]

7 hours ago, JPS said:

Currently, our upcoming trips include a trip to Kgalagadi in May, followed by Kruger in October. Looking ahead to 2025, we have plans for Khutse and Kgalagadi on the Botswana side in March, and we're in the process of organizing a trip to Moremi in September. Your suggestion to fly into Maun with Ethiopian Airlines is much appreciated – thank you for that valuable tip!

Oh! What for the great plans! Excellent! We will visit Mabuasehube in October, Hans again wants to welcome a lioness in the tent   he is just in love with Mabua.

Kgalagadi is great but it is so difficult to book wilderness camps like Urikarus, almost impossible. Even Nossob river front chalets became a problem. Perhaps, I should book with some travel agency but I didn't figure it out. On the Sanparks website the availability is gone before it even got shown ;-)

Moremi - you mean in September 2025? Is it possible to book two years in advance? I thought, it is only a year in advance! We will be there in September this year.

[Atravelynn]

Back to the daytime photos--the first shot with the impalas is Classic Mana Pools!

[JPS]

13 hours ago, ElenaH said:

Oh! What for the great plans! Excellent! We will visit Mabuasehube in October, Hans again wants to welcome a lioness in the tent   he is just in love with Mabua.

Kgalagadi is great but it is so difficult to book wilderness camps like Urikarus, almost impossible. Even Nossob river front chalets became a problem. Perhaps, I should book with some travel agency but I didn't figure it out. On the Sanparks website the availability is gone before it even got shown ;-)

Moremi - you mean in September 2025? Is it possible to book two years in advance? I thought, it is only a year in advance! We will be there in September this year.

Booking campsites in Kgalagadi can be quite an adventure! It's a bit like a race – whether you're quick off the mark on the first day of reservations or keeping a close eye out for those last-minute cancellations. Flexibility is key, and switching to prime campsites can really enhance your overall experience. My strategy? I love seizing those unexpected opportunities that pop up when others tweak their travel plans.

Now, let's talk about the Moremi trip in September, yes it requires booking a year in advance. Despite the challenge, I am confident in securing reservations and have already a plan in place to make it happen. Looking ahead, for Khutse and Moremi in February 2025, only some privately owned camps are currently open for reservations, with others set to open for bookings in April of this year. 

Wishing you an absolutely fantastic trip in September, and I can't wait to catch your video reports. Happy travels!

[ElenaH]

On 3/2/2024 at 11:39 PM, Atravelynn said:

Back to the daytime photos--the first shot with the impalas is Classic Mana Pools!

that's true! more is comming!

[ElenaH]

Accommodation for self-drivers

 

 

I described all accommodation for self-drivers here: Mana Pools for self-drivers

 

Last years (2019, 2022, 2023) we were staying in Elephant Creek tented camp. 

It is certainly not a luxury camp but it was sufficient. We must also to solve some problems like a missing mirror, missing light or bad closing door. Once we had very slow gas in gas stove. But if you have camping equipment you have a spare one. Once we needed to fix the tent - the wind tore a part of it. And once I was standing under the very slow shower and wanted to open the hot tape more ... and I was turning and turning.. until it was in my hand and hot water was flushing out to the opposite wall. It was already about 22:00 and we just need to think quickly. We were able to put all stuff back, the problem is that some of that "stuff" must be screwed anti clock wise. So, well.. now I know it for the rest of my life 

Anyway I love that place because it is very private. Normally we were alone there. Animals come very close! And there are a lot of them.

The location is also good: in the heart of Mana pools core area and not far away from Mucheni flood plains or Mana Mouth.

 

Here is the Elephant Creek, tent number 5 and the separate private kitchen (each tent has a kitchen):

 

 

Here is a Tent Number 1:

 

 

 

Here is a White-fronted Bee-eaters colony in the camp:

 

 

 

 

 

The resident hippos:

 

 

Elephants come very often and very close:

 

 

 

Monkeys also come often and very close:

 

 

other birds:

 

 

 

Can anybody help with ID of those two?

 

Here is a fire on the Zambian side of Zambezi river. I don't think that it is in Lower Zambezi national Park but above.

 

 

You can also make some nightscapes in the camp:

 

 

View to Zambezu river (from Zimbabwean to Zambian side) with a small bushfire

 

Unfortunately the galaxy rises so, that it is better to take pictures not to the river but the opposite direction. So, that mean that much better nightscapes can be take from Zambian side with a view to Zumbabwe. 

Here is a "bush" view:

 

To locate Milky Way (galaxy) I use Photopills or TPE (The Photographers Ephemeris) apps in iPhone

 

Advantages of ZimParks accommodation:

• price (you can stay longer)
• privacy, solitude and being close to nature
• flexibility, freedom

Yes, you need to learn how to find animals by yourself when you came as a self-driver. But on the other hand you can stay longer in the park.

The rate for the tented camp is $130 per unit (tent+kitchen) what cannot be compared with rates for the all inclusive lodges. 

We always take walking permits and can walk alone without guide. I often go alone without my partner. During 10 years of intensive Africa trips I learnt the body language of animals and I also read a lot about their behaviour. As self-drivers we are flexible and actually self-drivers are the first who drive out in the morning what gives a perfect opportunity to locate the nocturnal animals.

 

Disadvantages of ZimParks accommodation:

• Something doesn't work or doesn't work properly
• Something is missing or not like you want it to be
• You must be self sufficient 

 

 

Edited March 5 by ElenaH

[ElenaH]

Chisasiko pool.

 

 

Google says that four pools of Mana Pools are: Chisasiko, Chine, Long Pool and Green Pool. Actually Green Pools is a prolongation of a Long Pool and I always thought that the forth pool is Lungfish Pool. But Lets talk about each of them.

Chisasiko Pool located just behind the ZimParks lodges and near the Goliath Camp (Stretch Ferera Safaris)

THe place marked on the map is one of the best place to make sunrise images. Especially when other vehicles make a lot of dust which shine in the fist sun light. The other spots for good scenic photos during sunrise are along the main road and on the road to Chine Pool (marked yellow)

 

It is not easy to get the pictures with dust. But here is one with elephants and rising sun:

 

Early in the morning a herd of Eland is visiting a pool for a drink. I saw them almost every morning I passed through. But it was always too dark to take pictures.

The western part of Chisasiko Pools is covered with green plant and you can see there elephants, hippos and buffalo.

 

 

Herons are fishing here often. Impalas and baboons are coming for a drink and crocs are waiting for a prey. And this pools knows dramatic scenes! Once a crocodile took a wild dog which was captured by  Jens Cullmann  whom we meet each year in Mana.

The surroundings of Chisasiko are also very scenic and you can capture a lot of atmosphere.

 

 

Chisasiko Pool photo opportunities:

• one of the best sunrise opportunities
• action shots of birds (Herons and African Fish Eagle) catching fish and crocs catching animals, action of baboons
• elephants, hippos and buffalo in green water plant 
• scenic photos of animals under the trees
• good shade for coffee break, excellent place to meet each other and for a talk late in the morning

Edited March 9 by ElenaH

[ElenaH]

Chine Pool

 

 

I think the best sunrise pictures you can take along the road to Chine Pool. Zebras will always stand as models for you. They are always there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is also the best place to take pictures of Marabu storks catching cat fish from the pool when it starts to dry out. There are two such pools with fish where hundreds of storks (Marabu and Yellow-Billed) are catching fish.  The first one will dry earlier than Chine Pool. This Pool has no name and is located inside the main area of the park. You can see that pool from the bridge on the main road: I put the bridge in a circe and a pool-of-no-name is to the left of it. You will see if the storks are gathered there. It will dry out as first. Then they come to Chine pool which is marked in the right lower corner. Some birds are also along Mana River.

 

Here are the birds on the no-name-pool. You need to make a short walk there.

 

 

Two Marabus have a fish!

 

 

There are really hundreds of birds and they fight with each other.

 

 

When this pool dries out they will come to Chine Pool. Here you can sit and take pictures of birds from the low level.

 

 

I think, I see a smile of this Marabu:

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe there are not a lot of species but definitely some.

 

 

Along the Chine Pool road we often saw a civet:

 

 

Here the place it marked. as you can see there is a place with many dick bushes on the eastern part. Antelopes can be easily caught there. Once hyenas made a kill in these bushes and lions took the kill over. That explains why lions tolerate hyenas by drinking.

 

 

 

The whole pride came to Chine Pool

 

 

 

Very big bellies ;-)

 

 

 

And curious people around:

 

 

The advantage is that you can sit by the car and take a low level photos.

 

Hyenas are often seen by Chine Pool.

 

 

 

 

Chine Pool photo opportunities:

• best place for sunrise photos (with or without zebras)
• best place for Marabu Storks catching the fish (along the other pool I described in this chapter)
• good place to take pictures of other birds
• opportunity to see a civet
• opportunity to see some action
• scenic and landscape photos