Sunday: up early to pack then off to Charles Prince Airport where two twin engine Cessnas are waiting to take us on the one hour flight to Mana. Our pilot, Caroline, follows the river for a while to give us great views of hippo, elephant, crocs and canoists. Flo and Ruben are waiting to drive us to the camp, still sited on a beautiful spot next to the Zambezi.
At 4 we go for a drive with Ruben. We find a huge buffalo herd near the river - a baboon startles them and they stampede kicking up great clouds of dust. A tiny elephant grazes with mum under a huge acacia. A bit further down the road is a big pack of wild dogs. The pups are playing with an impala tail then the parents chase off after another impala which races past us leaping in the air.
Monday: Drums at 5:15 then porridge and tea around the camp fire. Today we are hunting lions. We head off, walking along a long pan stopping to say hello to various elephant then watch the eland nursery herd before rejoining the car and a short drive before we spot lions close to the road.
They wake as buffalo approach but the buffalo get the better of them and chase them off. One lion tries again and even gets his teeth into a buffalo before being chased off again. Tea by the river then we walk cautiously over to Boswell, a big bull elephant, with two females. Boswell shows off his party trick, standing on his back legs to reach Acacia branches and pull down branches and seed pods. We sit at his feet then follow him for half an hour or so.
In the evening we find a dog pack basking in a sandy river bed (the Chiwure). Some of the group creep, shuffle and crawl to get close while the rest of us watch the dogs relaxing in the evening sun with our binos.
Tuesday: leopard hunting in a stretch of bush where a mother and her cub have been spotted several times recently. We sweep the area but don't find the big cat. Instead lots of sausage trees (Kigelia Africana) with dark red carpets of flowers underneath. After 90 minutes of walking we find 3 lionesses with 5 cubs instead. I shuffle forward to film them while Vicky and Stretch discuss my life insurance.
In the afternoon Rick and I go fishing with Mapepa. We canoe upstream then dodge hippos as we round a sandbank to reach an island beyond. I get a good bite from a tiger fish on my first cast but it leaps out of the water and gets away. After that all goes quiet and despite a few bites, none of us catch anything. We do have a moment of excitement when a big hippo sticks his head out of the water just in front of Rick and I - he was the more surprised and disappeared rapidly.
Wednesday: another 5am start. Today we head off into the wilderness area to the East. From a ridge we spot lions in the distance and set off in pursuit on foot. Stalking through high grass is unnerving when lions are about however we find a recently killed buffalo by a stream but the lions are hiding. Returning towards the car we find ourselves surrounded by elephant cows. Stretch taps his gun to alert them to our presence and we weave our way around mud pools back to the ridge. Tea at Chikwenya then back for lunch.
Canoing this afternoon - we launch 4 canoes from Mucheni and paddle gently downstream dodging pods of noisy hippos. Richard and Rick fish (both lose their hooks and sinkers) and a hippo glances Soraj's canoe as we cross to an island. Here we scatter Louise and Cindy's mother's ashes along with cassia and kagelia flowers and watch as they float downstream. Then back in the boats - next challenge is a group of hippos who march into the water just as we are approaching. We hold back and pass them safely, watching the sun go down and sky redden as we pull our canoes over shallow sandbanks to get back to camp.
Thursday: Stretch is interested to see what has happened to the dying hippo we saw in a pan. We find it, dead, with another hippo lying next to it, paying its last respects. We walk on towards Long Pool noting the lack of game - "looks like the dogs have been through" says Stretch studying the spoor. At the Pool we watch hippos then spot the dogs on the other side. Our earlier hippo comes past and the pups sniff him curiously.
Fishing at lunchtime then in the afternoon we check out Grannie, a very old lion, and her daughter who walked through camp earlier. They are resting just beyond the cook's quarters. Then on down the road to watch the big dog pack again. Pups play with each other, chasing around while the adults watch for game to hunt.
FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS
Combretum Paniculatum - Red Flame Creeper
Cassia Abbreviata - Long Pod Cassia (yellow, scented)
Cordyla Africana - Wild Mango (yellow)
Kygelia Africana - Sausage Tree (deep red trumpets)
Capparis Tormentosa - white scented creeper
Combretum Mosambicense (Shaving Brush )- another white scented creeper
Trichelia Emetica - Mahogany
Xylia Toleana - Sand Ash (yellow scented)
Friday: wow, what an exciting morning. Shortly after leaving camp we spot lions - 2 males, 4 females and 6 cubs. Some are on a bank and others in the grass. We walk closer to get a better view and are charged by a young cow elephant - "Steady girl, we have guests" says Stretch as it slouches away.
After viewing some water birds in the morning light we move on down the road where we find the lions again, watching an approaching herd of buffalo. They mingle then the lions spread out circling buffalo. A male lion runs across the herd, buffalo give chase and the lions follow. In a cloud of dust a lioness leaps onto a calf - buffalo fight back but the calf is injured and a lion takes it again. This time the buffalo retreat and the big male grips the calf's neck as its life drains away. The lions are starting to enjoy their breakfast when the buffalo regroup. Steadily they advance then charge, driving the lions off the kill. Perhaps they have just come to confirm that the calf is dead because they drift away, leaving the baby to the lion cubs.
After tea under a tree ("Flo's tearoom") we have a fine walk across the terraces with kudu, eland, impala, baboons and a hippo. Then off to Vundu point where Flo has laid out a picnic under the trees. We relax on rugs and cushions, sipping wine and watching the river while the more energetic fish and Rick catches a large Cornish Jack. A short evening drive brings us back to the river where we sit with "Big Vic", the largest elephant in the park.
Saturday: there was a big racket in the camp during the night and we set off to investigate the fuss. We quickly find the lions on a buffalo kill. The buffalo are still around and chase the lions off, leaving the kill to the vultures.
There are too many tourists watching the lions so Stretch takes us off to watch 4 bull elephants. We sit on a termite mound and watch as the big guy guards a large acacia branch that he has pulled down from the others. We walk along a pan, looking for a Pells Fishing Owl then walk to a more distant pan in the heat and hide out to see Nyala, Bushbuck and Kudu coming down to drink.
Our last afternoon involves a walk acrossa plain of mostly dead mopani to a thicket where we hunt for the rare Collared Palm Thrush. Stretch plays his bird impersonator and we scan the bushes at knee height. Finally we spot two, hopping from bush to bush. We watch the sun set behind the palms and spot a Giant Eagle Owl and a Tawny Eagle as we walk back to the car. Stretch drives us back in the dark pointing out hippo, elephants and buck with his green torch - a night drive as a bonus.
