ZIMBABWE’S MANA POOLS in the green season

So here we go, 5 days in Mana Pools in a mobile camp. It will be set up for us, and after we leave there will be no traces of us ever having been there. Leave only foot prints, take only photo’s. And that’s exactly what we are going to do ! Beware :  don’t try any of the things we do here in any other place in Africa, this is not a “normal safari”!

DAY 1 : WHEN THE TOUGH GET GOING

At noon we reach Harare. We get a visa for 30$ each, then move on to domestic departures. We then wait in the very old, very worn down, and very deserted departure hall, what better to do than have our first G&T.

Another 1hr flight, this time in a 14-seater, gets us to a dirt airstrip in the middle of no where. It is deserted. The camp manager from nearby Chikwenya Camp comes to pick us up, our Humphrey is no where to be seen and we can’t reach him or the camp, not on phone or sat phone, this is weird. We relax on the deck, enjoy the brilliant view, have a few beers, watch a small herd of elephants walk by. At 17:30 we decide to spend the night here, not that we have much of a choice without a jeep and driver ….

DAY 2 : WALK WITH DOGS

Thank God, Humphrey arrived late last night and at 06:00 we leave for Mana Pools. We stop at a gigantic old baobab, a waypoint which has been used by travellers for centuries, it is beautiful. Only 2min later there is a pack of wild dogs right in the middle of the road. Humphrey backs up then tells us to get out of the car. We sit in the middle of the road and the dogs pass us left and right as if we were not there, a few curious ones stop to check us out.

We move with the dogs and repeat the whole procedure, this time they are almost too close, as one gets to close to focus and more than fills the frame I put my camera down and look straight in the eyes of a dog, 1m in front of me, looking at me, a baboon arm dangling from its jaws. This is cool !

We move on, cross a few muddy riverbeds, drive through dense bush on very muddy and slippery roads, and keep having to duck to avoid branches sweeping back. We see hippos, baboons and impala and lots of lovely scenery till finally we make it to our camp at the Mucheni camp site. Wow, this is camping the Hemingway style.

After a late lunch we leave at 16:00 for the next drive&walk. We walk with the elephants this time. Most of them are far away and we need our 400mm lenses, but to some we get close. When they see us they mock charge, flap their ears, shake their heads and take a few steps in our  direction. Oh boy, when you are kneeling in the grass and are getting rather close, they are very, very big ! Slowly we are getting used to this very special safari feeling.

DAY 3 : THE RAINS IN AFRICA

It started raining in the night and hasn’t stopped since. It’s not just raining, it’s pouring, we are stuck for the day. Even if the rains stop it will have to dry up quite a bit before we can drive anywhere, and it doesn’t look like it’s clearing, it’s just grey all around as far as one can see. My bed is wet, it’s dripping from the roof of our tent, so we move the bed to the side and place an empty tea cup  under it. I really have to go to the toilet, which unfortunately is an outdoor one …. So I put on my rainjacket and head out in the rain, better hurry ! Later we heard others went out stark naked, which was the only other option… I will not show this photo !

At last at 14:30 the rains stop and 30min later we are on the jeep. We go to two beautiful ponds, filled with water hyacinths which are blooming, lovely blue flowers on them. There is an elphant beside the one pond, a hippo which keeps popping it’s head out of the greens in the other. Such great photo opportunities and after that a beautiful sunset to end off the day.

DAY 4 : LEOPARDS AND LIONS

The staff overslept so we just missed the sunrise, never mind, there wasn’t any, it is again very overcast and cloudy. After a coffee we get started. We hear a baboon alarm call, then impala alarm calls, probably a leopard around ! So what do we do ? We get out of the car and start walking….! We found nothing but it was exiting anyway.

Now to find the lions, which is very hard I tell you, there are so many bushes, the grass is a metre high and there just about a million places to hide. We do find them, but honest, it is mostly just ears above the grass and really hard to get a good picture. Good thing we all have big lenses ! In the afternoon we’ll try do another walk with elephants. Hope we succeed, that is such a terrific experience !

We didn’t walk, not an elephant in sight, not much of anything, so we head back for camp to do sunset on the river. We don’t really succeed there either, one car gets stuck, of course it’s Humphrey’s.

We hurry but even taking everybody in one car and quickly moving on, we are just a little too late to get a nice red sky, it might also be the very big grey cloud hanging over us….we might as well proceed to sundowners. They have set the table right at the water’s edge, which is absolutely stunning, a long exposure photo of the scene here is actually better than the sunset !

DAY 5: BOSWEL AND NEAR DEATH

All starts well, it is not raining and we are on time. We head towards the east, the lions have been spotted near the next campsite. Plans change as usual, we see a small herd of elephants under a big fig tree, one of them gets up on his hind legs ! We drive closer and are told this is Boswel, one of the iconic old males of Mana Pools, his tusks are huge, the biggest I’ve seen in the past 10-15 years. So we park and walk. It is a lovely scene, about seven elephants under a huge fig tree, and this time we are ready as Boswel gets on his hind legs to go for the lowest branches which are stil at a considerable hight !

At one other point we are told to sit in front of a bush and stay put whatever happens. Here comes Boswell through the bushes, straight at us, stops only 5m away, shit he is close. He mock charges, then just shakes his head and moves on. Humphrey tells us if you are there first, the elephants will always take care and move around, just don’t get up or run, stay frozen. I now get the 3 F’s, the freeze, fight or flight reaction. This is when you freeze ! Honest, this could give some of the faint hearted a heart attack !

The other car is already out of sight, we are trailing behind, suddenly we see another big, lonely male elephant. Here we go again, we sit below the fig tree, the elephant approaches. He stays behind the tree for quite a while, checks us out, waits for something to move. We don’t, so slowly he comes round the tree, lovely wide angle shot with the fig tree and the elephant. He seems to move away. Humphrey sneeks to the jeep to Leoni’s other lens, we face the elephant all alone, right at that moment he decides to suddenly turn and come at us, mock charging, flapping ears, shaking his head, throwing dust, I keep shooting, this is cool, come a little closer big boy.

Lovely this wide angle lens, well…..as I put the camera down he is 5m in front of us and towering over us ! Not quite so cool, but very, very exiting, my pulse is up, my legs are near dead from being folded under me for ages but we don’t move an inch and keep shooting. If it’s the last thing I do, at least it will be an impressive photo. Boy, oh boy that was an experience ! It makes you feel very small and humble, we are the intruders in their territory here, and we got to feel that rather well !

At 15:30 we leave for the afternoon drive. This time we go south, to the zebra plains. On the way there is another green pond with two hippo’s in it so we have another go at the hippo in the green shot. The blue flowers are missing, but otherwise it is great, and of course we get out again, sit right at the side of the pool, imagine being so close to a hippo. As said, don’t try this for yourself !

Humphrey gets stuck once again, very stuck this time ! So We move to the first jeep, a little crowded and bad viewing from the back seat but we’re moving. We drive all the way around long pond, one of the four big ponds in Mana Pools that never dry out. Mana means four in the Mashona language, and the ponds give the park its name.

Back in camp just in time to set up for the star & milky way and startrail shot. Unfortunately our wide angle lenses are in the Humphrey’s jeep which still seems to be stuck. So we sit at the fire with Nic and have a G&T whilst the others have fun at the river’s edge composing a lovely shot with a big tree and a sky full of stars. We get our shot a few hours later.

Day 6: TRACTOR PULLING

A gorgeous sunrise to start the day gets us all at the riverside with our wide angle lenses by 06:00 am. We leave at 06:30 sharp, well almost, only 20min late, but we had to get the sunrise shots ! It is muddy as usual, we’re so used to that by now that we stay totally cool and relaxed, no matter how big the mud pool in front of us, no matter how wild we bump up and down.

Near park headquarters we see a lion, at Mana that means you see something moving in the green and if you’re lucky you identify an ear or a tail. They can’t leave the roads here, so there is only one other option, you’ve guessed it…. we walk !  At about 20m distance we stop, hear them munching away at something, but we still don’t see much and somehow we are all even more impressed (better say scared) than with the elephants, so all are happy to let the lions be, and move on.

From here a tractor accompanies us, just to be on the safe side. Good thing he is ! Once Fischer, who never gets stuck, gets stuck going around a tree which fell right across the road since we passed here four days ago. It is so muddy we would never have gotten him out, even the tractor has it’s trouble and is slipping and sliding. The second time we need the tractor is at one of the river crossings, the new road Fischer and Humphrey created when they came to fetch us, is more or less gone after the rains on Saturday. So the tractor has to go first, up a really steep ramp, then pull us up. All goes well and we reach the airstrip just in time, the plane is already waiting for us. After some last hugs and goodbyes we leave them behind and board our plane back to civilisation.

Thanks to all our fabulous photography friends for the most exiting 5 days in the greens

This wasn’t just a safari, this was an experience !

(one that puts hair on your chest….)

For our best shots:  go to gallery

Copyright : Astrid & Juerg Bluemel for www.bluemelphoto.ch