Heat Waves and Tsetse fly*

[Moggiedog]

As we meandered along enjoying the scenery and the odd animals thrown into the mix - time was marching on. We decided if we were going to meet the rest of the gang for sun downers we better make a u-turn and head for the river mouth. We pulled into a turn out and admired the scenery. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a

all thoughts of meeting up at the river mouth disappeared as we noticed there were three of them. Was this part of the pride of eleven that we had been told had killed?
We looked around and under the tree was another lioness feeding. We could not see what she was feeding on but we think it was an impala.



The animals not feeding were extremely hot and the panting could have been heard from a long distance. Needless to say - watching lion was far more interesting than meeting the gang for sun downers - instead we had our own sun downers with the lion.
Although there are not gates or fences there are still time restrictions on getting back to camp. We were running out of time and reluctantly left the panting lion to the night and headed home.
This did not stop us stopping on the way to watch some ellies - almost hidden by plant growth!

We arrived back at camp - making the deadline by the skin of our teeth!

We joined up with the others and told them about finding lion. Then all hell broke loose. I will not go into detail except one member of the groups behavior had been unacceptable. A lot of discussion took place on how to handle the situation. Unfortunately the majority wanted the person gone - sent packing - out!. I did not want to get involved but unfortunately I was asked to get the car keys from the person. What happened next - well - lets just say the roof of the ablution block was lifting off its nails and bouncing around as I totally lost my temper and let rip. I don't often go ballistic but when I do _ I do.
I must be honest - My heart went out to the person - the heat was horrific and they were totally out of their element - but at the same time - if you are in a bad situation try and adapt and make the best of it. Alcohol does not help either!

With steam coming out of my ears - I apologized to the rest of the group for my outburst - but thankfully they all agreed someone had to throw their toys to try and alleviate the tension that was being caused! I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

As the sun closed her eyes the haunting "horn" of the ground hornbill could be heard. I made my way to my inferno of an igloo and lay pondering the days events. Fortunately I am not one to carry a grudge and was able to but the ugliness of the night out of sight and out of mind.
The heat did not make falling asleep easy but the sounds of being where my heart belongs soon had me in dreamland.

[Moggiedog]

Once again woken by the Impala rampaging and barking through the camp. The horn bills mournful call could be heard in the distance. I enjoyed my tepid shower and had drunk my coffee before the next head emerged from the tents. I realized another hot day was in store as the temperatures were already in the mid thirties and the sun had only just poked her fingers over the horizon.
The previous night we had agreed to take the rest of the crew to where we had seen the lion the night before. There was soon a hustle and bustle in camp as people made their move out of their sleeping quarters. Mutter and grumbles from the late risers was hushed with a cup of coffee and rusks.
We set off with our newbies (fondly named ventertjie as they drove so close) behind us. This gave us some grey hairs as we wondered if our car was going to go through a change of shape as they were so close when we stopped for general game they shot up next to us – unable to stop in time. Not having developed bush eyes and with the passenger so busy texting whenever coms were available often the driver did not realize we had stopped.
The side striped jackal made a dash to safety when he saw the convoy approaching. Elephant gave us a wary look as we wended our way to where (hopefully) the lion would still be sleeping.
We found the lion on the opposite side of the road from the previous night. We watched them doing – nothing! Some of the youngsters were driving the adults mad as they attacked the twitching tails and generally made a nuisance of themselves.




A few other vehicles pulled in to watch the pride and the lion crawled into thicker scrub and could hardly be seen.

We left them to their rest and had a beautiful scenic drive into the more remote areas of the park. We stopped for a tea break on the banks of the river and discussed our plans for the rest of the day. The majority decided to head back to camp but we decided to pay long pool a visit.

We were not disappointed. The water was framed by open bill stork, yellow billed stork, various other water birds as well as crocodile and other creatures of the wild.
A small croc, with great ambition swam towards a fish eagle cooling its heals in the shallows. Nature is not that simple and with the unmistakable call the fish eagle was soon air born leaving the croc looking slight bemused.






A hyena shot across the road and made a mad dash for safety from the roaring monster that was bearing down on it.
Having stretched our legs and made the most of walking in the bush around the water without other people disturbing us we headed back to camp.
Back at camp we were soon settled on the bank of the river. We were armed with binocs, bird books and enthusiasm. We were kept entertained by more than one breed of monkey!






I headed to the fridge to organize cold drinks when I saw people scatter. Grabbing my camera I hid behind the car to try and capture what followed next. An unexpected visitor had silently entered the camp and was making his way to get a drink!



Two intrepid souls stayed put. Whether this was because they were foolhardy, frozen or wanted to tell their grandchildren tales about “Under the Ellie’s Belly” we will never know!

[Sprocky]

Hey MD, you seem to have the knack of finding stray ellie's in the camp by mistake. Reminds me of a certain evening down at the river.

[Moggiedog]

Once again - thank you all for sticking with me as I share the good, the bad and the ugly.
@Sprocky - -O - I thought of that night when the ellies came through - but they just gave us "the look" I was more concerned about them wandering round my tent at night when I could hear but not see them.

What is so nice about Mana Pools is the amount of wildlife wandering through the camp at all hours of the day and night. Close up and personal

[Moggiedog]

It was M's birthday and E and I had taken some champagne up to the "shop". They had kindly put it in their fridge - which wasn't working. The shop consisted of an outbuilding - lots of empty beer bottles and a fridge full of semi-cold beer. When we drove back into camp M was sleeping under a tree and an inquisitive warthog was inspecting this strange creature with the long white hair. Deciding it was not going to steel his roots he stepped over her and wandered off. Where are the camera's when you need them.
With the intense heat the people in caravans were suffering with fridges not working and the complaints were getting louder and louder about no ice for drinks. This was a concern!
P had asked a ranger if he could use a generator to get some power going. He was given permission to use one for a short period of time as we were the only people in camp at the time. I took the opportunity to go over and chat to the ranger. We never got much chatting done as we were too busy laughing. His body was shaking so much from laughter it almost knocked me off my feet -

and I could not understand why! I was stretching up as tall as possible as he doubled over with laughter. Another example of the wonderful people in Zimbabwe.
A quick lunch and we headed towards long pool as E wanted to see a crocodile and M wanted to drive around in an air conditioned car. Our lot - still seeking doggies. We didn't have much time as we were going to Mana Mouth as M had never had a picnic in her life and all she wanted for her birthday was a picnic. Long pool delivered once again. Although the wall to wall croc where gone there was still plenty to be seen. Two hippo on the bank looked as if they had the energy for an all our ding dong battle. We stood and watched for a bit then tried to find a better view point to see two hyena that were on the far side of the pool.

Unfortunately we could not get any closer - we could have walked down - but in my opinion that would have been foolhardy as any predator would see us long before we even knew they were around.

Time to head towards Mana Mouth for M's picnic and to watch the sunset.
The bee eaters were still hustling and bustling around as Mob and Gob surveyed the endless river. The far bank was covered in carmine bee eaters. Unfortunately no photo opportunity presented itself.


Time for a bit of champagne in one of the most beautiful places you could wish to be. M's enthusiasm for a picnic soon waned as everything was covered in ants and flies in a blink of an eye. Fortunately the tsetse fly were not in evidence in this area of the park.





After toasting M on her birthday the men (boys) decided it was time for E's initiation. This being his and M's first ever time in the bush and camping at that! How do you do that - select your favourite size and shaped impala dropping. Explain the rules carefully - as they are rather complicated and then into the competition itself - what else but a bokdrol spitting competition. E' won it easily - but then he didn't fully understand the winner is actually the loser!



The sun was inking lower and lower so a quick pack up of the leftovers and it was time to head for home.



Pouring drinks and preparing food some very disturbing conversation filtered through to me. I could not believe my ears. It wasn't possible!

[Moggiedog]

A lot of the group were complaining about the heat, not enough ice and were debating leaving the next day. The problem with this - if the majority wanted out - we would have to go with them! When my sis came and spoke to me I told her in no uncertain terms how I felt - and not only that I was working on a budget and could not afford to pay for an extra nights accommodation. I was not a happy chappie!
I am not sure what was happening but I do know there were three very disgruntled people. Three and a possible fourth who did not want to leave. The other problem was after a few days stay we liked to start packing up most of the stuff early so that on the day of departure only the basics had to be packed. The rest of the crew being in caravans did not have this problem.
Whether it was a good thing or not - another person came down with the dreaded bug! This I think was the deciding factor and the decision was made to stay as at least he could spend the day in bed rather than travelling over the bad roads and then still have to find a place to stay for the night. It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
Next morning bright and early we were out - our last chance to find the elusive dogs.
This time some of the others decided to follow us as it seemed as if we had the luck (or the eyes) to see animals they did not see. The side striped jackal and his mate were in the usual place



and the elephant were enjoying breakfast




We were heading off to finish the drive we had started the previous day and had not completed. It was towards the airstrip - as we had been told cheetah had been seen in the area. We never made it to the air strip as a radio communication told us wild dog had been sighted in the opposite direction. Were we finally going to find our doggies?

We turned back and head along the road we thought the dog may have been spotted on. Finally!



Not only wild dog - but they were on a kill. We parked the car and headed out on foot to get a good view of these wonderful creatures. Every now and again the alpha male would leave the back and walk towards these two legged creatures who dared watch them at their meal!



One of the dogs looked very strange. It started a huge discussion as we wondered where and how it had come about its looks! ( Back right of the picture - lying under a tree)



We noticed some of the dogs had collars.



What a moment. We stood awestruck. Not only had we found a wild dog pack but we were out of the car and could hear and smell them as they ate, played and generally did what wild dogs do.




I could only think of how close it had been to us being on the road and heading home - yet here we were standing in a furnace and being bitten alive by tsetse fly yet we felt none of it. The adrenalin and excitement dulled all feeling of reality. My face was aching from the smile that I couldn't seem to get under control. As more and more people arrived we decided to leave the dogs.



Once we were back at the car when I couldn't believe my ears. One of the party stated she was bored and couldn't understand why we were all so excited!!
She had no idea how many people would have killed to be in her shoes! We tried to explain just how special the time had been and all she could say - "but there were over 20 dog, how can they be endangered?" Some people just don't get it!

[Moggiedog]

Still on a high we turned around and headed back the way we had come. A lot of general game was seen as we headed back to camp to start the packing up process. We wanted to get as much done as possible so we could do an evening drive.
BIL had organized that we could go beyond the mouth and have a look see at the private camps - conditional to there being no residence.
The heat had not abated and packing was a slow process as we kept stopping to wet our clothes or have a drink. A huge debate followed on whether I would be sleeping in the penthouse or the igloo.
The elephant and buffalo stopped and watched our activities then followed their normal meanderings through camp.
Time to get into the car for our last game drive in Mana Pools - although the drive to the gate could be classified as a game drive. However I knew full well that we would not be stopping as we had to get to Kariba and pack what would be needed for our two nights on the houseboat. I was not particularly looking forward to the Kariba leg of the trip - but it would be something different and there would definitely not be any tsetse fly.
We set out towards the private camps. No tents or sign of life so we went in and drove around commenting on how nice it was even if there were no ablution blocks. We must have driven around the one tree at least twice when BIL in a very surprised voice said "Lion".
We had been so busy discussing the pros and cons of the camp - none of us had seen - not one - but three young males. It was not as if they were hidden ......




One was very shy and slunk into the long grass and disappeared from sight. We sat and watched for a time - then noticed three buffalo - total oblivious to the lion. They slowly made their way directly towards the danger! We had planned on driving further but it looked as if there may be some action!

The lion were not over enthusiastic to hunt and they looked like they had eaten recently - fat and lazy.



Then the buffalo realized the danger. Dust and flying hooves! A short dash by the lion. The buffalo snorted and closed ranks. The lion lay down and watched. This went on for some time but it was not a serious attempt by the lion.

We moved off and headed onwards through the private section of the park. Then a shout from my SIS. "Dogs" - We could not believe it. This time this was our pack. We had spotted them and no other people were around



It seemed as if they were coming out of their den. They disappeared from view and we carried on driving until we came to the end of the trail. The sun was starting to drop lower and lower as we made our way back towards camp.
One of the dogs appeared over and embankment and found a stick. He started playing all on his own when another one decided to join in the fun.









We watched them until they made their way back towards the other side of the bank. Oblivious to the enjoyment they had afforded some humans in a car.

We could not believe we had seen two separate packs in one day. Mana Pools had blessed us this day.

We headed back to the lion and buffalo and the staus quo was still in evidence. The buffalo watching the lion - the lion watching the buffalo.

We drove bank to camp as the sun slid over the horizon. Only in Africa can the skies be painted in such vivid colours. A blood red ball against the purples, yellows and mauve's of the painted sky. No photograph can ever do such a sunset justice

[Mel]

Read through this from beginning to end - and enjoyed every bit.
Having said that - your trip was filled with quite some ups and downs...

Do I understand it correctly that if you want to self-drive in Mana Pools,
you have to go in a larger group. Otherwise you'll have to book a lodge?
The group thing is rather a downer, methinks - and you gave the best
examples as to why.

Anyway, fascinating stuff - and painted dogs and lions in one go - WOW!

[Moggiedog]

@mel - Not at all Mel a single vehicle/person can go with no problem what so ever. The only reason we had to go with the majority vote is that my BIL was a group leader of an organised tour and they were paying customers. Part of his job is taking groups (self drive) into Lesotho, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe - anywhere people want to go.
Although it was my family I was a paying customer but my BIL was not happy about me driving alone in my own vehicle so I landed up going in their vehicle - which I was very happy about as it cut my costs down by a small fortune -O Although I was a paying customer I tried not to get involved with the politics of the various couples as it could have reflected badly on my BIL as I am positive the rest of the group had their doubts that I was in fact paying the same as they were - except for petrol and border crossing costs on a vehicle. I was willing to go with the flow - but at the same time I was not prepared to be a door mat

Again I want to thank you all for sticking this trip out. It may have had some bad moments - but honestly - those were gone and forgotten and it was an incredible trip. Heat and all I loved it. The rough spots just made the good even more enjoyable.

There is plenty more to come - as we head to Kariba and two nights on a houseboat before heading to Livingston, Kafue and Hwnge

[Moggiedog]

Vehicles packed and on the road to Kariba. Our original one night on a houseboat had been extended to two nights. I had no idea how I would keep myself occupied on a boat. We had long discussions on what the boat would be like. The fishing competition that had been in progress as well as it being a late addition to the Itinerary meant we had to take what was available.
All too soon we were back on the worst road of our trip. The sun baked down on the convoy as it jolted and juddered its way down the corrugated road.
It wan't long before we realized there was a problem with one of the vehicles. Pulling over we got out and walked back. The springs on the one caravan were kaput/broken/non functional. Stuck in the middle of nowhere without any form of communication it was up to our hard working leader to sort out the problem.
Two of the vehicles made a decision to go on to the closest town as it was too hot for them to "hang-around". This did cause a bit of discontent! A lot of muttering followed - but as we say - what is what is.
Once again it was a case of making sure the men did not dehydrate as BIL brought out his tools of the trade and got the caravan jacked up and started the major operation of getting the caravan mobile.


Unfortunately the caravan belonged to the person who had got the "bug". We were very concerned about his health. He was not looking good and I had visions of him having a heart attack!
Cooling down - and tsetse fly mootie

It was actually amazing the amount of different animals that crossed the road not far from the immobilized convoy. Leaping and taking off at high speed when they spotted this strange vision on the road. The ladies that had remained discussed what we would be taking onto the boat in way of food. Although we would not be cooking - we had to supply all our own food and drink. A lot of vehicles passed us and the majority of them slowed down and offered help. But even on this remote road a car went flying past without bothering to slow down - spraying us with dust and small stones. Staring ahead, pretending we were invisible, as his young child watched out of the back window. What a wonderful example to give a child. My belief is you put yourself in someone else's shoes - then make a decision on how you would feel if they didn't stop to help you!

Finally we arrived at Makuti. After a re-fuel and a quick cold drink and leg stretch we headed towards Kariba. The sign board at Makuti had one very interesting and important pointer:



A couple of things had us amused and broke the tension of the drama that was now history. The one was the signs on the road:
Worms
red worms
Super Worms
Special Worms
Anaconda Worms
Pufadder Worms
Supreme Worms
Supreme green worms
Lucky Orms
Kariba Best worms
Chinoyi Best worms
Fishermans Worms
This started a huge debate on what worms (if we were going to be fishing) we would be tempted to buy. Advertising and competition at its best.
The other sign we found amusing was of a more official nature. - Deadly Hazard - this sign could mean anything from hairpin bends to potholes. I suppose it is one way to save money. One description fits all.
On arrival at Kariba it was a case of sorting out what we need to take onto the boat and and securing the cars that would be left at the camp sight for the next two nights. A quick trip to replenish our depleted freezes and fridges, then waiting for our transport to the harbor.

I couldn't help wondering what was to happen as it became obvious that no-one was willing to give a helping hand to the people who had left us on the side of the road while they sat in the coolness in Makuti eating lunch and drinking!