Elephant encounters and explorations along a dry river bed.
Mana Pools chapter four
We begin our day driving back to the dry river bed where we left the lions the night before.
Brian is curious to see if they’ve come back and wants to take a look at their tracks. He’s working on obtaining his walking guide certification and tells me that in order to get it he has to lead 80 walks and 20 approaches. You also have to stand your ground against a mock elephant charge and catch it on film. He shows me a series of photos of one. He tells me Cliffy has been an incredible mentor.
We find the lion tracks but no signs of the lions themselves. Brian steps out to take a look and see where they might have gone before we continue on our drive.
We circle around, following a dry tributary on our way back towards one of the pools, spotting a family of elephants that mock charge us before continuing on their way from one bank to the other.
We head back to the camp and I spend the rest of the morning watching the waterhole from the decks. It’s amazing how much activity there is so close to camp. The group on photo safari had decided not to leave, opting to spend their morning in the hide.
As the day warms up I head back to my tent to change into my swimming suit. I’m greeted by a family of elephants who have decided to relax in the clearing behind my tent and I sit and watch them before they decide to wander back into the bush, disappearing into the brush. One turns as if to say goodbye before following.
The pool has been drained and cleared and the water looks much cleaner than it did the day before. I lower myself in and stand along the far side as a large elephant approaches to drink. I slowly reach for my camera and shoot while it slurps the water before me. Soon, a small family approaches, their baby’s trunk just reaching the edge of the pool.
As lunch approaches I get out and wrap myself in a towel and put on a shirt, opting to stay in my suit rather than change. After our meal I linger on the decks and continue to watch the elephants as one group swaps out for another by the waterhole.
There are elephants both near and far depending on where I want to stand. On the main deck I can watch them as they walk along the muddy spots of the drying out waterhole. Whereas if I wander to where the pool is I can see them up close eyeing me as I watch to see what they will do.
In the afternoon we drive out once again to the dry river bed. Brian spots a leopard and we follow it until it walks up the banks and rests under a tree. Brian calls Cliffy to see if he wants to bring his group over in hopes of potentially being able to approach on foot. He decides against it. He’s not sure the leopard will stay and determines that it would bolt as soon as we put feet on the ground.
Brian tries to drive around for a better view but before we can position ourselves, the leopard takes off.
We continue driving along the riverbed as the sun sets to our left. The dust masks the sun well, letting us almost observe it as it lowers.
Brian spots elephants in the distance and we drive up alongside them. He stops to pull out his camera and we both capture images of it with the sun playing peek-a-boo in the trees.
At dinner we spot leopards once again but also civet cats drinking at the waterhole. The night before, Cliffy tells me that one of the leopards had walked right past my tent.
It’s an amazing camp, Kanga Expeditions. Months later, I’ll learn African Bush Camps will divest themselves of this and one of their other camps along the Zambezi River in order to focus on their higher-end lodges. I hope someone else will take it over as it’s an incredibly special place, and I feel fortunate to have been able to experience it.
My last sighting of the night is a hyena that comes to drink right by the edge of the deck. It looks around before drinking almost right from the tap. It’s a favorite spot of elephants as the water is most clean, and we’ve seen them fight each other for a spot.
But tonight, the hyena is alone. It looks up to make sure it’s safe then drinks its fill before wandering off into the night. 🇿🇼
— 13 Sep 2025
