July 19-21: Mana Pools

After resupplying in the town of Kariba, we headed to the most famous park in Zimbabwe, Mana Pools National Park, located on the lower Zambezi River on the border with Zambia and its Lower Zambezi River National Park. Here, the floodplain turns into a broad expanse of lakes and sloughs after each rainy season, and as the lakes and sloughs gradually dry up and recede during the dry season large animals flock to the shores and few permanent pools in search of water, making Mana Pools one of Africa’s most renowned game-viewing regions. Mana Pools NP (2,612 sq. mi.), declared as a national Park in 1975, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984 based on its pure wilderness and beauty. Mana means ‘four’ in Shona, in reference to the four large permanent pools formed by the meanderings of the middle Zambezi.

We booked an exclusive campsite in Mana Pools called Nkupe, which is the most remote of the exclusive sites and beautifully situated on the banks of the Zambezi River, with expansive views over the river and floodplain and across the river to the Zambian escarpment (note, we shifted our actual campsite location within the site between nights, so the photos below may look like we are at different sites, but we are not). Here are a few shots of our campsite and the state-of-the-art pit toilet:

The most spectacular aspect of our campsite, in addition to the incredible morning and evening hippo and bird serenade (through in a few hyena’s to boot), was the sunrises and sunsets, especially the later. Here are few shots that don’t do justice to the sublime scene:

In addition to the sublime setting, we also ate like royalty thanks to Nancy’s ingenious cooking with the supplies on hand. I added very little to the cuisine other than some yeasted bread made in the Dutch oven, as seen here (note, I failed to take a picture of my Dutch oven bread at Mana Pools, so the photo below is from a similar effort at Chizarira):

In addition to the river and floodplain, the Park consists of extensive areas of mopane woodland (which you are now all too familiar with) and bushveld on the relatively flat valley floor, interspersed with patches of dry forest growing on outlying remnants of Kalahari sand. However, the floodplain area along the river, in which our campsite is located, is the most unique and interesting part of the landscape. This unique setting extends in from the river several kilometers and consists of a series of abandoned river channels (from the days before the regulated flow of the river from upstream dams) interspersed with old islands and pans. The riparian woodlands in this floodplain area support a diversity of tree species, but one gr\oup of trees known as “albida” have an interesting “reverse cycle” in which they lose their leaves during the rainy season and are in full leaf and fruit during the winter and spring dry season, providing desirable food for many animals during the hottest, driest times of the year. The riparian floodplain woodlands during this time of year looks like a muncipal Park, as the huge trees are spaced out and the understory is almost completely cleared of leafy shrubs, leaving only closely cropped grass and bare ground. Later in the dry season around September-October all the remaining grass and stubble will be consumed by the abundant termite colonies, leaving only bare ground under the spacious canopy trees, only to be flushed with new lush new growth as soon as the rains begin in November. Here are some photos of the landscape:

The open Park-like setting of the riparian floodplains makes for ideal wildlife walks, so Nancy and I took advantage of a credit we had on our account due to overpaying the Park fees online, and went on an early-morning guided walk with a “ranger”. The day begin with a partial pride of 7 lions on the hunt (and a couple of spotted hyenas close behind) crossing the track in front of us in full hunting formation. One half-hearted attempt at an impala was quickly given up and then we lost them to the riverfront, so we went on to meet our ranger guide. As you will see in the video below, our guided walk began quietly with a hippo emerging from a pool full of crocodiles and wading birds (mostly yellow-billed storks), but soon evolved into an exciting wild dog hunt. We spotted 6 wild dogs on the hunt (we were told that the remainder of the pack must have been back at the den taking care of the newbord pups) and were able to stay with them for about 45 minutes while they moved through the open understory, made an attempt at an impala (but gave up quickly), rested, resumed the hunt, and then rested again. After some time, we concluded that they could be resting for a long time so we abandoned them to visit one of the “mana” pools before returning to camp. The video below of the wild dogs sort of sucks, in part because we kept our distance so as to not interfere with the hunt, but at least it will give Mook something to drool over as he was keen to see wild dogs on our visit to Botswana where we were unsuccessful. Sorry Mook! Here’s a photo of Nancy and our guide:

Mana Pools composite video (18 minutes)

OK, that wraps it up for Zimbabwe. Next stop Zambia and Nancy’s sad departure.

Photo Gallery:

Hippos outnumber people here, probably by several-fold, but I failed to get any photos so you’ll have to take my word for it. Instead, here are a few other photos I think capture some magical moments:.