![]() Then, ten minutes after we closed the books on that running tally I found myself staring into the eyes of #1119 – a huge male leopard that gazed back at me from a distance of about six feet. One day I resisted the temptation to go out game-driving and instead spent an entire day on the verandah between dawn and dusk we clocked up a grand total of 1118 animal sightings without leaving the sofa. Since this classic tented camp is located beside a waterhole that at times offers the only reliable water within a 30km radius it is usually teeming with wildlife. One of my favourite camps on the entire continent is the secluded Kanga Camp. The famous Boswell, in particular, is blessed with a talent for rearing circus-like onto his rear legs to reach for the highest branches.Īfrican Bush Camps (employing some of the best guides in the safari industry) has two properties overlooking the great river and on the evening I arrived the local pride had killed a buffalo virtually on the doorstep at Nyamatusi Mahogany Camp. A highlight for many visitors comes with the obligatory introduction (at a respectful distance) to tuskers so massive that they seem to have walked straight out of the journals of Livingstone. Leopard are more elusive but still frequently seen. You’re almost guaranteed to see lion here and have an excellent chance of seeing both painted dogs and cheetah. Sure, rhino have become locally extinct in the area, but almost everything else you could hope to see is stunningly visible in these 2,196km² of riverine forest, savannah and baobab-studded bush on the banks of the mighty Zambezi. The park is largely closed during the rains, when roads are flooded and access difficult. Nights can be noisy, with hippos grunting from the river while lions and spotted hyenas add their voice inland. Birdlife is prolific throughout, with Lilian’s lovebird and Narina trogon among local specials, plus African skimmers and easily photographed carmine bee-eater colonies along the river. Canoeing is also a must, where available, with great game viewing from the water’s edge and guaranteed close encounters with hippos and crocs. Indeed, this is one of Africa’s very best parks for walking safaris, offering an excellent chance of encountering elephant, buffalo and even lion. Mana Pools is not a park for racing around on game drives and ticking off sightings: it is more about relaxing by the river, soaking up the wilderness and eschewing the vehicle to head out on foot. Notable herbivores include eland and nyala – though giraffe and wildebeest are conspicuous by their absence. ![]() Spotted hyenas are numerous, and both leopard and cheetah also occur, though neither is easy to find. Several lion prides operate along the river front, and also around the Salt Springs area inland, where clashes with the local buffalo produce some dramatic confrontations. Certain individual elephant bulls are celebrated for their trick of rearing up on hind legs to get at winter-thorn pods, and have been much photographed as a result. In the process, I was reassured to find that this remote park remains as wild as ever, with its breath-taking river frontage, alluring winter-thorn groves and looming escarpment views unspoilt by any recent developments.īeside the wild dogs, the park is known for the great aggregation of game along the river during the dry season, with buffalo, hippo and alarmingly tame elephant wandering casually through the lodges and camp sites. On my last visit, in November 2019, I was lucky enough to spend several days following the movements of one particular habituated pack, much of the time doing so on foot. ![]() Wild dogs have indeed been extensively researched at Mana Pools, which gets its name from four permanent pools trapped beside the river on the floodplain (‘Mana’ meaning four). Several new lodges have opened, both along the Zambezi waterfront and inland, and it has received an upsurge in interest in the media – notably in 2018, when an episode of the BBC’s Dynasties series saw David Attenborough tell the story of a pack of African wild dogs in the park. In recent years, however, its profile has risen. Mana Pools was once one of those ‘best-kept secret’ parks, celebrated by locals and aficionados for its scenic grandeur, hair-raising safari yarns and general wilderness appeal, but relatively little known to the broader safari industry.
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