By the river's edge in Mana Pools
Posted by Christina | | Posted On Sunday, July 17, 2016 at 3:53 PM
As we flew northeast to Mana Pools, the landscape changed dramatically below us. The open, sand-blown savannas and agricultural fields were replaced by the vast Lake Kariba and beautiful mountain ranges. We buzzed above the heads of elephants drinking from the shore of the lake and rose just above the tops of the highest mountains before landing down near the shining Zambezi River.
Our camp, Zambezi Expedition, was the most rustic yet. Just what we asked for. Low-impact, tent-style camping along the river bank with just enough creature comforts like solar lanterns, bucket showers and flush toilets to make us comfortable, and nothing else to distract us from the beauty of nature all around us. Our nighttime lullaby was the sound of hippos laughing and hyenas calling, sometimes mere feet from our tent.
The luck we had at Hwange followed us right to
Mana Pools with an incredible, right-off-the-bat sighting of a pack of 13 African Wild Dogs, also called Painted Dogs, lying in the road on our drive to camp from the airstrip. Endangered and heavily protected to preserve their numbers, they can be a rare sighting. We quietly and joyfully watched as the pack rose from their roadside nap and trotted off to continue on their evening hunt, tails a-wagging behind them.
Though our game drives weren't as abundant with sightings as Hwange, we managed to see all of the wildlife we had not yet seen including an early-morning sighting of hyenas loping across an open field in their awkwardly bent and hunchbacked way, a herd of 60 buffalo slowly queuing their way across the road, waterbuck grazing alongside impala, crocodiles sunning themselves on the banks of the river, and hip
pos grunting and chuckling in the water.
Our guide even tracked down the den of the pack of African Wild Dogs we had seen on our drive in and took us on a hike into the woods to see the pups just as the pack was arriving back from their morning hunt. It was an incredible and precious sight rarely seen be guests or even other guides.
When we tired of game drives, we took to the river. Both Matt and I were excited, but a bit anxious about actually getting into the water where some of the deadliest animals - hippos and crocs - reside. But as we glided along, led by our expert guides who zagged and zagged across the river to avoid the hippos, we started to relax into the experience and revel in the sightings of fish
eagles, storks and geese. That is, until our guide accidentally missed spotting a hippo up on the shore. If you know one thing about hippos, it's that you never want to come between them and the water. The hippo grunted a warning and began charging for my canoe. The guide waved his arms and began slapping the water with his oar to create a big enough commotion to get the hippo to stop. Unsure of what to do, I waited for the guide to give me a command. Matt, in the canoe behind me, watched the whole scene unfold in front of him with anxiety. Thankfully, the hippo responded to our guide's commotion and stopped, but not before our hearts were heavily pounding at the close call.
Despite the hippo experience, we didn't get completely scared off the water. Though one heart-pounding canoe ride was enough for Matt, we did wake up early our final morning to do some fishing from the banks of the river. We cast our lines for a solid three hours, working our way up and down the banks and looking out for the crocs that would pop their little eyes up long enough to spy us on their morning hunts before ducking back under the water. Despite the effort, our fishing came up fruitless, but the morning spent looking out over the clear water and mountainous views brought back sweet childhood memories.
Our final nights were spent on the forested side of Mana Pools at Kanga Camp where our plush honeymoon suite tent overlooked the Kanga watering hole to give us full view of the animals coming and going. With just one final full day, we focused the last of our safari energy on nighttime game drives to take in all the unique nocturnal animals we hadn't seen yet including genets, civets, porcupines and more, and spent our day soaking in the last of the beautiful scenery on the deck of our room. The elephants and baboons kept us entertained. A pair of
bachelor elephants played together in the water and wandered up to our tent for a snack from the trees, while a troop of baboons thrashed through the branches, slid down the walls of the tent, ran around our deck, bickered over food and generally made a ruckus that kept had us giggling at their silly antics. It was the perfect ending to a perfect trip.
The luck we had at Hwange followed us right to
Mana Pools with an incredible, right-off-the-bat sighting of a pack of 13 African Wild Dogs, also called Painted Dogs, lying in the road on our drive to camp from the airstrip. Endangered and heavily protected to preserve their numbers, they can be a rare sighting. We quietly and joyfully watched as the pack rose from their roadside nap and trotted off to continue on their evening hunt, tails a-wagging behind them.
Though our game drives weren't as abundant with sightings as Hwange, we managed to see all of the wildlife we had not yet seen including an early-morning sighting of hyenas loping across an open field in their awkwardly bent and hunchbacked way, a herd of 60 buffalo slowly queuing their way across the road, waterbuck grazing alongside impala, crocodiles sunning themselves on the banks of the river, and hippos grunting and chuckling in the water.
Our guide even tracked down the den of the pack of African Wild Dogs we had seen on our drive in and took us on a hike into the woods to see the pups just as the pack was arriving back from their morning hunt. It was an incredible and precious sight rarely seen be guests or even other guides.
When we tired of game drives, we took to the river. Both Matt and I were excited, but a bit anxious about actually getting into the water where some of the deadliest animals - hippos and crocs - reside. But as we glided along, led by our expert guides who zagged and zagged across the river to avoid the hippos, we started to relax into the experience and revel in the sightings of fish 
eagles, storks and geese. That is, until our guide accidentally missed spotting a hippo up on the shore. If you know one thing about hippos, it's that you never want to come between them and the water. The hippo grunted a warning and began charging for my canoe. The guide waved his arms and began slapping the water with his oar to create a big enough commotion to get the hippo to stop. Unsure of what to do, I waited for the guide to give me a command. Matt, in the canoe behind me, watched the whole scene unfold in front of him with anxiety. Thankfully, the hippo responded to our guide's commotion and stopped, but not before our hearts were heavily pounding at the close call.
Despite the hippo experience, we didn't get completely scared off the water. Though one heart-pounding canoe ride was enough for Matt, we did wake up early our final morning to do some fishing from the banks of the river. We cast our lines for a solid three hours, working our way up and down the banks and looking out for the crocs that would pop their little eyes up long enough to spy us on their morning hunts before ducking back under the water. Despite the effort, our fishing came up fruitless, but the morning spent looking out over the clear water and mountainous views brought back sweet childhood memories.
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