Leaving Harare and an introduction to Mana Pools.
Mana Pools chapter one
Lloyd picks me up at 0550.
Check in for my flight doesn’t begin until 0830 and I thought about leaving at 0730 so that I’d have a little time buffer. The front desk suggests I leave at 0600 due to traffic. I’m skeptical, but assume that they know better than I.
There’s very little traffic and I arrive at 0615.
Lloyd apologizes for the produce in the back of the car. He farms tomatos on six hectares of land, producing about ten tons a winter with 2500 plants. In the city he can sell them for $20 a crate at 50 cents a kilogram at one fresh market. He can fit ten crates in his car and he has two dropoffs today at 0800.
He also sells to a mining town on the other side of his down. There, he only gets $12 a crate, but it’s a lot closer than coming to the city. He has a gardener helping him, his third in ten years. He really likes this guy and hopes he sticks around.
As we near an intersection he slows but does not stop. He tells me that in the early morning and late night hours it’s not that safe to stop for fear of theives.
Leslie meets me at the airport. She’s been working for African Bush Camps for 10 months, ever since they opeened their service here. She passes me onto Benson, who used to work at Nyamatusi Camp, where I’m headed. He’s working in Harare now, but there’s too many people in the city for his liking; he’s used to bush life.
The other passengers on board my flight are on a Squiver photo tour. They were in the Lower Zambezi already but had to fly to Harare to come back around to Mana Pools. There are ways to go across, but it also involves a lot of river travel, as I’m to learn from a couple later, but somehow this was the route that made the most sense. They were on the Qatar flight from Lusaka, yesterday, the same flight I was on the day before.
They’re also responsible for moving our flight time up. Originally we were scheduled to leave in the afternoon, but they wanted to get out to the bush earlier. They’d booked all the seats but one and figured the other passenger wouldn’t mind. I don’t. I want to maximize my time in the bush as well.
At one point Leslie seems to suggest that since we’re all assembled we can leave whenever we want, but then she realizes we have to wait for the pilot. And so we relax in the lounge, eating snacks for breakfast while we wait.
When it’s time to go she helps us with our bags to the airport. She checks our tickets and we walk out of the terminal onto a bus that takes us to the waiting plane. I ask if I can sit in the front, but it’s not an option. I ask Leslie if I can take their photo and she and Benson pose with another member of their crew. Later I send it to my contact at African Bush Camps to forward on to them.
I love these bush planes and flights, the excitement of seeing the city drift away to be replaced by the savannah, the knowledge that as you get closer there are animals on the ground beneath you even if you can’t see them through the brush.
Nelson picks me up at the airstrip and asks me what I want to see. Whatever the bush wants to show me, I reply. Ah, he says. Those that say that see the most.
He’s currently working on getting his walking guide certification; currently he’s only licensed to drive. It’s one of the reasons he’s with African Bush Camps, they work with guides to help them get their walking guide certification.
We catch our first wildlife sighting at the airstrip, a group of guinea fowl scurrying in the brush. I love them. They’re one of my favorite birds for their trapezoidal shape that makes them appear almost two-dimensional at certain angles.
On our way to the camp we pass by one of the pools and Nelson asks me if I want to stop. I most certainly do! Birds rest on a beach that juts out into the pool. Crocodiles sun themselves on the opposite shore. Nelson tells me I’ll certainly be revisiting this area with my guide and starts the car to take us to camp.
As we drive we start to see more animals. Zebra, imapala, warthogs, elephants. We keep stopping at my behest, delaying our arrival in camp, but Nelson doesn’t seem to mind. I’m sure I’m not the first to want to spend as much time as possible with them.
As we drive along closer to the Zambezi River, we spot a small herd of elephants on the bank of a small tributary. We stop and watch as they slowly make their way towards the water, their legs sinking into the soft ground as they make their way to the water.
Incredibly, we spot lions not twenty minutes away from camp. We stop a respectful distance away and Nelson points out a second lion to the left of the first, all but hidden in the brush. See if you can spot him in the photo below.
It’s not much longer to the camp and when I arrive I’m greeted by the staff singing a welcome song. Taffy introduces himself, he’s the manager and shows me the main lodge. The rooms are tents spread out along the river. During the day I’m free to walk back and forth, but in the evenings he asks that I wait for escorts.
It’s a beautiful spot along the river, and I love being able to look out across the river to the Lower Zambezi National Park and the mountains of Zambia. I loved my time there and would love to go back. But there are so many places to see and I’m also surprised at just how many safari parks there are in the world.
One of the things I love immediately about Nyamatusi Camp is the fact that there are elephants wandering along the river right in front of my tent. I almost immediately dig out my swimsuit so I can jump into the plunge pool and watch them form the water. Imagine how thrilled I am when elephants drink out of the pool while I’m in it at the next camp I go to.
After settling in I walk back to the main lodge, taking a circuitous route so that I can take photos of the lodge and of an elephant that stands in the river. I never tire of seeing those magestic animals, and it’s a thrill to see it relaxing in the shallows.
Soon, it’s time for our afternoon drive and I join a couple from the States on their honeymoon as we hop into our guides vehicle and head off. The couple had come from Lower Zambezi National Park, taking a boat upriver to the border and then back down to get to our camp. It had been a long day and we’re all surprised that a system hasn’t been put in place to allow people to directly across the river. You can almost see the camp they were staying in from where we are now.
We drive along the river, spotting hippos on the small islands close to the shore. Small herds of elephants continue to graze along the banks and the small tributaries that snake off from the river.
Near where we saw the lions before we catch up with them once again. They’re sitting under the trees enjoying the half shade. As we watch they get up, one by one, and lumber off into the bush.
As the sun heads towards the horizon we continue driving through the bush, coming across more elephants and the occasional buffalo. Sometimes, the elephants are right in front of us, sometimes half-hidden by the bush. Each time I see them it’s a thrill; they’re one of my favorite animals and I love the stillness they hold within, their quiet, slow lumbering gaits.
As the sun sinks lower we head off in search of a location for sundowners. We drive to the edge of the river and set up for drinks and snacks, and I sip a gin and tonic I look out at the reddening sky reflected in the Zambezi.
It’s still along the banks of the river and the green grass on the small island just across from us takes on a luscious hue in the fading light. As we finish up our drinks we see an elephant upriver wade slowly across, its body silhouetted by the light.
On our drive back we stumble upon a small family of elephants, the young ones between the elders as they walk into the night.
And then, as we near the camp, a lion laying across the road stops us in our tracks. It’s a thrill to see them again this late in the day. I don’t know what it is about seeing lions at dusk, but it gives me a special sense of excitement.
Our guide seems to be in no great rush to return and so we stop and wait to see what the lion will do. After observing us for a bit it stands and stretches and walks to the side of the road where it rubs its head against another lion before the latter stands and they walk off together into the trees.
Before dinner the staff come out dressed in colorful outfits and sing and dance in welcome. It’s a beautiful, fun start to the night. Afterwards we are seated at a communal table and I meet the large group of seven who have taken over the rest of the camp.
They’re a group of friends from the States who had met each other on an eclipse trip to Rapa Nui. There are three (mostly retired, mostly doctor) couples and their guide, who lives in Hootsbright, South Africa.
They’ve come to meet up with one of the retired men who had just spent a month taking a course to become a safari guide. He has no intention of becoming one; he’s genuinely interested in the flora and fauna and being able to identify them. I ask them if they have any plans to move to Africa. Nooooo. Split time? Noooo.
They’re a great group of people and we eat and drink into the night. After the trip they’ll invite me to visit them in Georgia, and we’ll end up meeting up once more in Cape Town the night before they are to fly back to the States, sharing one last meal before they depart. 🇿🇼
