🙂 AMAZING camp, elephants everywhere including drinking from pool! Leopard and Civet came for a drink! Pride of lions and cubs 🙂
🙁 Nothing negative to report
Playing it forward – share the LOVE to make a positive difference … African Bush Camps (ABC) are very proud to partner with communities that are located near to their camps to improve quality of life and achieve long-term conservation. They focus on three Pillars: Education, Community Empowerment and Conservation in collaboration with the local community and their staff who come from these communities. Please support their ABC Foundation – your donation goes a long way to supporting these goals…
Saturday, 26 August 2023
We had left Madwike Hills in South Africa the day before and were extremely excited for our first visit to Mana Pools! We flew from Jhb to Harare where we met by a friendly chap to assist us in clearing customs which we cleared seamlessly paying for our USD $50 visas on arrival …it then got interesting … we passed through the x-ray machines with our luggage – the two officers there nodded at each other after clocking our cameras and pulled us aside and asked what our cameras were worth and suggested that we paid a US$1000 deposit to take them out with us (!) … I indignantly and angrily refused – twice … they then let us through looking angry … our chaps said this was very common and that usually people paid the bribe!! Not this African.
We were then transferred to a small plane which flew us to the small Dandawa air strip located about 30mins from Kanga Camp. I was mesmerised by the rolling hills and stunning scenery from the small plane’s window. We were welcomed by Reggie, our guide at the airstrip. On arrival at Camp (which was buzzing with elephants!) we were introduced to our Host, Jason. The face of African Bush Camps is a chap called Beks Ndlovu who is a professional Zimbabwean Guide. However, we have known a family through school for many years who are passionate about wildlife and the welfare of associated Communities. Enormous success in business has enabled them to undertake amazing work in resurrecting lodges in Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia … it was heart warming to hear all the staff at all the lodges that we stayed at speak so highly of this family. We felt that Kanga Camp ticked every box – simply spot on for an authentic bush experience with a light touch of luxury.
It is interesting as the animals were quite skittish – this is due to the fact that on the other side of the dry river bed an active hunting farm is in operation. There are tsetse flies in the area and they are attracted to black and blue stripes – these are treated with a solution which kills the flies when they land on them.
We were told that this is the Shaving Brush Tree flowers.
We received the warm African Bush Camp Welcome from the camp staff .
Our room was gorgeous. I enjoyed an outdoor bath every day!
We chilled for a while on the deck enjoying the sounds of the elephants rumbles as they came and went from the waterhole next to the deck. Elephants and zebra practice coprophagy … the young ingest the parent’s dung as this provides them with vital gut microbes.
It was soon time to head off on our afternoon game drive. This fellow was next to our vehicle and wasn’t in the mood to move on! The staff clapped and he reluctantly moved beghind a bush looking rather annoyed…
We met a very pleasant Ozzie Barrister who had been living in London for many years and who enjoyed wildlife photography. We decided to head along the river bed and were almost instantly rewarded with a full pride of lions including cubs! We decided to try and get a little closer BUT the vehicle got stuck in deep sand! Fortunately we were stuck just opposite where the lions were resting and had a good hour watching them – we had our sundowner on board the vehicle as we had to wait for the tractor to come and rescue us – fortunately it was a great spot to be stuck in the sand!
We headed back to camp and our elephant was still there…
We grabbed ourselves the cocktail of the evening and sat around the fire chatting to Reggie and Jason.
Dinner was delicious. We were so busy chatting that we nearly missed the leopard who came for a quiet drink… The lions were roaring in the background and then a few moments later a Civet came for a drink! Magic!!
As if that was not wonderful enough … a Civet came to drink next!
After dinner we were walked to our room and we fell asleep to the sound of lions roaring and hyenas cackling. When I woke up to go to the toilet in the early hours I could hear the leopard sawing …In the morning we were awakened by a racket and what sounded like a bucket of water on our roof – it was the baboons relieving themselves!
Sunday, 27 August 2023
We were up at 05h00 and met on the deck to enjoy a coffee around the fire before we set off. The dawn colours were spectacular.
We had one of my favourite sightings – a successful Matabele Ant raid. We saw them marching across the road in front of us and stepped out of the vehicle. They are so named after the formidable Matabele Army who wiped everything out of their path as they swept though south and central Africa in the 1800s during their military campaigns – if you pass your hand over them you will hear the hissing sound that they project as a whole to deter any would be aggressors – amazing… It wasn’t long before they marched back victorious after neutralising the soldier termites and killing the works and carrying the eggs and nymphs back to take to their colony as food. Incredible.
We drove to enjoy a coffee stop and tried to photograph some bee eaters nesting in the dry river bed walls as well as a few other nice bird sightings including a crowned hornbill, white browed coucal, snake eagle and a brown hooded kingfisher. We heard and then saw Southern ground hornbills in the distance – apparently they are the only species apart from chimpanzees where the female migrate to other familial groups, rather than the males! They are co-operative breeders and are always assisted by two other birds. They only reach sexual maturity at about 8 years and lay two eggs – the chick that hatched first kills the second hatchling. They love to about 40 years in the wild and 70 years in captivity.
We headed back to camp and enjoyed breakfast. Then it was time to relax… what a place to chill … elephants surrounding us at all times while we read and napped.
One could even spot elephants from the loo!
We were chilling by the pool and the gentle giants came for a drink… What a privilege to share this piece of paradise with these giant creatures…
It was all too soon time for our afternoon game drive….
We spotted a beautiful puff adder! These snakes are responsible for most snake bite fatalities in Africa – they are not aggressive but are well camouflaged and can easily be stepped on when bathing in the sun. Death occurs within 25 hours of the bite if medical attention is not sought.
We had a skittish group of ellies who ran across the river bed in front of us. A big eland also headed for the hills!
Sundowners was as always a delight … Reggie had been with guests earlier in the week when a pack of wild dogs ran past them at this spot during their sundowners!!
The sausage tree flowers are stunning. It wasn’t long before the sun started to set on another wonderful day in Africa.
Sausage tree flower and fruit.
We headed back for cocktails followed by dinner. Love the toothpick holder! Tonight we enjoyed a lekker braai! A group of Aussies had arrived and they were lively and entertaining company. We enjoyed a few beers with them and headed to be a little later than planned but soon fell asleep to the sound of lions roaring nearby …blissful…
Monday, 28 August 2023
The next morning was our last morning and we enjoyed porridge with the company of an elephant before heading off on what was our last game drive here and also our transfer to Mana Pools Shoreline to commence our walking safari. We said a sad farewell to all the staff who had just been exceptional … we will be back!
We enjoyed a Farewell song from the lovely staff and were on our way to our next adventure …. BUT Kanga had not quite finished with us yet … five minutes from camp the lioness and cubs were enjoying the dawn … we spent about 45mins with them watching them playing and feeding and playing – just adorable!
What a wonderful stay … next stop: Mana Pools Shoreline Camping and Walking … SO excited and everything crossed that we will see Boswell standing on his hind legs?!
Go to: Zimbabwe
