Mana Magic
"The escarpment sits and watches. Ever still, but never stagnant.
Mana Pools, place of meaning. Where water parted mountains a millennia ago.
Escarpments looking north and south, watching, waiting, guarding."
Tim Marks
On the edge of the mighty Zambezi river, Mana pools is named after 4 pools which are former channels of the Zambezi. Long, Chine, Green and Chisasiko pools.
These pools retain water as the flood plain dries out and attract a lot of birds and animals. Mana is “four” in the Shona language.
The landscape is sandy on the flood plain with Ana trees on the slightly higher ground along with sausage trees, wild mango and beautiful mahogany trees. Inland it is mostly mopane, eaten to stumps by the eles, with scattered baobab trees.
Mana is one place travellers almost always rave about. In all our travels it is the most commonly cited when we ask for peoples favourite reserves and we have long wanted to come here. It is famous for its elephants wandering in the camps and close encounters with lions and other carnivores. We were pumped and ready.
The Fruit Debate
One of the slightly ironic experiences we had traveling to Mana was the amount of fruit on sale by the road. The centre of Zim is either really fertile or Harare attracts the sellers, or both. Punnets of blueberries and strawberries and sacs of oranges were arranged by road as a visual feast. Peaches and pears and apples, water melons and pawpaw. Ian could never pass a watermelon without acquiring it.
Well we were 3 cars, all suffering with a relative fruit deficiency, and different tastes, and by the time we finished 3 days on the road, the cars were bulging with fruitarian variety. Everyone was munching away on healthy padkos.
Clearly we were not familiar with Mana etiquette. No fruit at all is allowed in this park. I did vaguely remember that oranges may be a problem with the elephants but I have never encountered a total ban on fruit.
What to do? We clocked the signs as we approached the office at Makuti and we all started to munch faster in desperation.
Finally at the gate we unpacked our remaining stock and it was still a lot. We sat down to try and eat as much as possible, a Herculean task. There would be no constipation in our camp anytime soon.
Here is the permitted fruit of Mana, a fresh Ana Pod. Yum.
Good monkeys.
Eventually the gate guards had to help out. We continued our picnic while sorting out a bad cut on the hand of one of the guys. They are clearly used to asking visitors for medical help.
Everyone was feeling a bit queasy. I wondered why the guards looked so healthy, they get a fruit bonanza every day! Every car behind us was trying to eat kilograms of blueberries unearthed from fridges and boxes. So we were not alone in our stupidity at least.
I was tempted to stash a bit away for later but in the end we were law abiding. As things unfolded later it was a good move!
First Look
The Mana Pools game reserve was established in 1963 and in 1974 the National Park was proclaimed. In 1984 it became part of a UNESCO world heritage site.
There are several large safari areas contiguous to the park in Zimbabwe, as well as the Lower Zambezi National Park in Zambia. It is possible the whole area will be declared a transfrontier park at some point. To all intents and purposes, except for a formal cohesive management, it is anyway. The area runs down the Zambezi valley floodplain which is an extension of the Great Rift Valley, protected by escarpments to the north and south.
There is relatively little permanent human settlement in the area because of seasonal flooding, malaria, bilharzia and sleeping sickness and so it is one of the last true wildlife wildernesses and huge numbers of wildlife gather here, especially in the dry season.
As we entered we could see it was dry. The first 40 km was rather devoid of game, but as we got closer to the Zambezi we saw antelope and some elephant. Grazing was very scarce.
Down from the escarpment the temperature was much higher and the mosquitos and tsetse made their presence felt.
The camps are divided into individual wilderness camps with a long drop toilet and no water or shower, and a communal campsite at the HQ with ablutions and water. Our first camp was a wilderness camp called New Ndungu in the far west of the park.
In reality, in the dry season, you will only roam the river flood plain where the animals remain because of the water. Inland routes are much less productive so the game viewing area is quite restricted despite the overall size of the park. By starting in the west we had the opportunity to explore that side of the park before looking to the east from our next camp.
New Ndungu
New Ndungu is on the bank overlooking the river and Zambia on the opposite side. A few hippo honked below us. It was very isolated and wild.
We searched the camp for the long drop toilet only to realize that a random toilet bowl under a tree, no sides or roof, was infact, it. Good job we lost all our inhibitions a few weeks before.
We had plenty of tree cover for shade. There was a lodge visible across the river on the Zambian side which was prone to a bit of noise at night, including a memorable karaoke evening.
Not quite as remote as we thought then. Fortunately they were playing music of the 80s, our generation, and after joining in with a rousing chorus of ‘I will Survive’ we fell asleep anyway.
At night we had all the night noises, especially the hippos honking. Elephants came through camp a few times and once a lion strolled through. We did not see him but we heard him roar and his prints were fresh in the morning, right past the toilet. No one was tempted to walk to the toilet at night after that.
We spent a glorious 5 nights at New Ndungu. The night skies were spectacular, the sense of isolation, karaoke not withstanding, and the sheer simplicity of the bush, was balm to our souls. We were a bit dirty at the end but that was nothing new.
Game Viewing
The route for game viewing offers many scenic opportunities. In the early morning and evening light, the little glades between the trees are hit by a magical orange and gold light which frames anything you find there in a mystical warmth. Of course that does not mean the animals stay still long enough for you to take advantage of it but it does explain why, if you have ever visited Mana, you can recognize any photo taken there.
Long Pool is the largest of the 4 pools and one of only 2 pools that still had water when we arrived. At its largest it can measure up to 6 km but it was much shrunken by the drought. It remained a magnet for water birds and boasted a healthy croc and hippo population. We spent quite a few hours there practicing flying shots from the various view points, and on one glorious occasion, saw an African skimmer catching frogs and fish as it skimmed the mirrored surface.
Long pool
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African Skimmer fishing -
African Skimmer with his catch -
Egyptian Goose -
Fish Eagle drinking -
White Fronted Bee Eaters -
White Crested Helmet Shrike -
Maeves Starling -
Greater Egret -
Yellow Billed Stork and Greater Egret -
Fish Eagle in flight -
Yellow Billed Stork
Some of the birds of Long Pool.
Boswell wannabe
There are many view points across the river and we would visit them all on our slow drives. We could get out and look at the view, elephants walking across the river, hippos and crocs, animals grazing and drinking.
The Trinchilla view point was one of our favourite spots. It is accessed across a flat plain dotted with Ana trees and a popular spot for the elephants. Ana pods are a favourite of elephants. They are rich in carbohydrate and protein so a good dry season food. The elephants go to great lengths to get them. Shaking the trees to get them to fall and hoovering them up from the ground.
A small group of older male elephants have learned to reach up into the canopy, even going onto their hind legs to reach.
This is a pretty unusual circus act for wild elephants, the elephants that do this are known by name, the most famous being Boswell and Freddy, large collared tuskers. It is one of the iconic sights of Mana. The trees themselves have been trimmed with razor precision by the animals which feed on them.
Although Mike insisted on identifying every elephant we saw as Boswell, even the females, I am not sure we found him.
The Trinchilla look out was the scene of one of our closer elephant encounters. We got out for a light breakfast and were surveying the scene. Sonia was looking through her binos across the river when a large bull elephant just appeared out of nowhere 1m behind her shoulder.
We saw it too late and told her to stay still and not look around while we hid behind the cars. Plan B was for her to jump in the croc infested river! Luckily he walked straight on by her and proceeded to examine the cars with his trunk, reaching inside, slobbering on the steering wheel and then blowing the horn!
Good job we ditched the fruit is all I can say.
In general, and a bit counter intuitively, the male elephants are much more relaxed than the females in Mana and the guides warned us the males were safe but the females could be unpredictable. Because it is so dry, and food so scarce, they were often alone with their calf, and not in a herd, so maybe that made them feel defensive.
Anyway, although smaller, we treated them with lots of respect.
Trinchilla was also where we found our first Mana wild dogs, sleeping under a tree. Lots of guided groups from the high end lodges tried to walk in to get closer. It was amusing to see them tiptoeing from tree to tree all wearing matching Out of Africa khaki. The dogs slept on.
The next day the dogs were right by our camp and came out on the road after a hunt. We did not see the kill but the pups were playing with the impala skull.
Eventually they settled under a tree in the middle of the road to sleep it off.
For the next 3 hours we had pole position to watch them play and sleep. The sun was high in the sky, light was harsh and the heat intense but it was a great sighting.
They left the area after this, apparently chased off by lions.
The safari vehicles searched high and low for them to no avail.
The next day a herd of buffalo crossed the river and almost ran into us. They crossed the road behind us and stampeded in a cloud of billowing dust.
The only day we decided to drive inland we went via Zebra Vlei and Skull Road to Long Pool. The game quickly thinned out as the bush became drier until we came to a remarkable plain dotted with huge Lala palm trees. This had an eerie ethereal misty atmosphere and scattered around were the skull and bones of various animals and hyena foot prints.
We saw a huge elephant skull and could study the teeth and the hollow bones. Elephants have 26 teeth, 12 premolars, 12 molars and 2 incisors which are the tusks. They have 6 sets of teeth and as one set wears out another set moves forward to replace them. Old elephants die of hunger when their teeth run out.
Where are the elephant dentists when you need them?
Lala Forest
Nyamepi
The HQ of Mana Pools is at Nyamepi. This is towards the Eastern boundary of the park and is the only camp site with running water, showers and 3 sets of rather ramshackle ablutions.
We headed there from New Ndungu, looking forward to the chance to clean up.
Nyamepi is a pretty famous camp site. On the river bank, it is fairly large but was far from full.
Elephants and other game roam the camp freely and are clearly pretty habituated to the campers.
During our stay there we saw elephants every day and heard them at night. It was normal to dodge them when walking to the toilet. One calf had a limp and was likely using the camp as a place of safety. The rangers said he was born like that and would not survive in the wild for long.
One particular bull came into camp on the first afternoon and investigated each camp site in turn. After a cursory sniff and a perfunctory interest in our used tea bags, he left us alone.
This was not the case for another set of campers along the way. They were South Africans with a trailer caravan. The elephant had a thing for their camp. He sniffed and rubbed and banged the trailer trying to get in. Initially we thought he was just chancing his arm but that night he came back and again showed extra interest in them.
As he walked by our camp Vicki nearly climbed onto his back as she made an emergency descent from the tent with her pillow.
I am not sure where she was going but she practically landed on Carmen heading out for an emergency loo stop.
Elephant, people, squeaks of alarm from the rest of the gang and we had a few minutes of adrenaline but he walked on by and all was well.
The next day he made a beeline for the caravan trailer again and repeated his behaviour. I met the campers in the office when they were laying a complaint but I am almost certain they had contraband fruit in there. Rumour was that someone had been feeding him watermelon. Anyway they left early and in a huff. I was once again happy we had behaved ourselves with the fruit.
The frequent elephant encounters with campers has a potential to go south very quickly if another dynamic, eg irresistible food group, is added to the mix. The result will be elephants being shot. God forbid.
We took extra precautions by smearing the cars with home made chilli oil which seemed to work.
From Nyamepi we drove out to explore. The river bank to the east and west of camp was dotted with wilderness camps and some private tented camps as well. We stopped off at the BBC camp, built by the BBC when they were filming the wild dog here.
Predictably it was in a gorgeous spot overlooking the river and lots of animals grazed near by. The long drop had walls to spare David Attenborough’s blushes. We decided the least we could do was sit on the toilet that had graced the great man’s bottom. Consider it a tribute.
Davids throne room
To the east we found the last of the 4 pools, Chine. It had a very small amount of water in it and we had a brief hyena sighting. We tried to find the mouth of the Mana river but the route was impassible.
Instead we spent a couple of spectacular sunsets at the Chessa wilderness camp, fortunately unoccupied, looking out over the river as the water turned red, orange and gold and silhouetted the elephants as they crossed the river.
Walking in Mana
Mana is unlike any other reserve I have been in. They actively encourage you to get out of your car and walk. You are allowed to get out and walk at your own risk in the floodplain. I think this is because visibility is good for pretty long distances. The landscape is flat sandy plains dotted with trees. No long grass for the lions to hide in. They do suggest a guide with a gun if you don’t have experience, or cannot run fast enough! If you are going to hike anywhere you need to get a permit at the office, maybe to check your competency. It is common to find people milling around.
I like that I have choice. Imagine what Kruger would say to that. Still we never strayed far from the cars. I am under no illusion. A dung beetle could give me a run for my money in a head to head race, never mind a lion. In 2021 a South African was trampled to death at Mana. He was 40 m from his car so complacency has no place here.
After seeing so many groups walking around the park we decided we really needed to book a guided walk and experience it for ourselves, so when we moved to the main camp at Nyamepi we organized a guide for a morning walk.
At $10 per person per hour it is surprisingly affordable.
Strangler fig on an Ana tree. Below is the end result, the Ana tree has died and fallen.
We got up early and met him at the reception. His name was Lovemore and was tall, lanky and laid back with a gun slung over his shoulder. We drove to the dry Chisasika Pool. The plan was to walk to Long Pool and back and we set out across the sandy plains. Impala bounced around in front of us.
We looked up close and personal at the Ana trees and pods and also the Zambezi fig which frequently parasitises the Ana trees.
The birds drop seeds in their poo in the bole of the tree branches and when it germinates the roots grow around and encase the tree. Eventually the Ana tree dies.
Sausage tree flower
Look carefully and you will see the imprint of the crocodile belly where he has rested. Also his back foot print. The central line is from the tail.
We saw a lot of sausage trees and Lovemore told us the eles really love the green leaves. Other animals, especially hippos love the pods or sausages. Some of the flowers had opened and fallen in the night and he squeezed out a lot of fluid from the petals. Good to know when you are next lost in the bush.
We saw the tracks of crocodiles that had moved in the night between the 2 pools. Periodically they rested their bodies down and it left a perfect impression of crocodile skin in the sand. The tail made a continuous wavy line.
At Long Pool we saw the birds and also a huge pod of hippo close to the bank.
Long pool
If you see green leaves on the ground the chances are it is a Sausage tree.
Leaves of the Sausage tree, a tasty snack.
At the start of the walk, 6.00 am, the temperature was very comfortable but by 8.00 the heat was rising and we turned for home. Elephants had appeared in our path and we spent a bit of time dodging them.
Lovemore was very wary of the females and we had to scurry across the dry river beds to try and avoid detection. Hearts pounding and palms sweating we arrived safely back at the cars.
The privilege of walking in a game reserve should not be underestimated. It adds a dimension that is lacking when you are observing everything from the car. The smells and the sounds are more intense, the sound of leaves crackling underfoot is a better soundtrack than the noise of an engine, and you feel more connected somehow. Next time we will spend more time walking I think.
In addition to walking in Mana you can also do canoe safaris on the Zambezi River. This is only possible during the wet season and had been closed by the time we arrived. When the water level is too low the hippos are too dangerous. Another facet in the prism of bush therapy we need to experience. A project for next time.
Chitake Springs
The other area with camping at Mana is at Chitake springs, close to the gate and 50 km from the river. It is a permanent spring with 2 public camp sites and a private operator site as well as a baobab forest sometimes used for camping or sundowners. It is renowned for predator action, especially lion.
We had missed spotting lion in Mana, despite a lot of tracking. Their footprints were often around our camp in the morning and we heard them at night in New Ndungu.
Although we had not secured a booking, we shelled out US $100 to go visit Chitake on our way out of the park.
The spring is a permanent water source in the dry Chitake river and, especially in dry season, is the only water source around, attracting large herds of game and their attendant predators. When we visited it was a mere puddle at the bottom of a steep cliff where you could sit under a fig tree and keep watch.
We arrived in the late morning and it was hot and still. We saw a few nervous impala but otherwise the spring was quiet. We met people camping at one of the adjacent sites. They had seen lion every day but mainly in late afternoon and early morning. Buffalo are known to come down and drink here at midday and can empty the spring, which takes about an hour to refill.
Baobab forest
That day most of our entertainment came from the birds as we made breakfast.
Our best sighting of Meyers parrot was at Chitake.
It is a wild place and I can see how a few days here can be rewarding but the view down into the spring from the high bank is not ideal for photography. The game is nervous for good reason and the predators do walk through the camps. A man was famously eaten by a lion here back in 2012 when he set up his shower 50 m from camp for privacy. Always keep one hand on the car when you camp here I think. Privacy is relative.
Anyway it was a scorching hot day and we were hot, dirty and dusty and so, after a couple of hours, we loaded up and left for our next destination at Lake Kariba. Next time!
"Advice from the river. Go with the flow. Immerse yourself in nature. Slow down and meander. Go around the obstacles. Be thoughtful of those downstream. Stay current. The beauty is the journey”.
Ilan Shamir