WOW-your photos are just incredible and I especially love those shots of the hippos and the wild dogs! What a trip, and to be on the ground yourselves for some of the action must've been fantastic.

Thanks for taking the time to write the report. Looks like you had a wonderful time and you got some amazing shots, particularly the birds.

Marina,
You had a great safari in a destination not many people get to. Excellent pictures- some of the finest wild dog images I have seen. What camera and lenses did you use? Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the kind comments. The photogenic subjects make it easy!! I use a Canon Rebel XTi, with a Canon lens 75-300 mm with IS. Nothing fancy.

Amazing photos. Particularly the dog pics and the chase are awesome!
I wonder the guide sat with you close to them.......

It certainly was a special safari!

jjmb,

thanks for this enjoyable and informative trip report. I really ejoyed your photos, what great animal sightings you had.Thanks for sharing.

Regards,

Pol.

This might be of interest to you:



MANA POOLS ANOTHER WORLD HERITAGE SITE UNDER THREAT?

CONSULTATION: OCTOBER 2010

MANA POOLS WORLD HERITAGE SITE:

ZIMPARKS AUTHORITY PROPOSES NEW TOURISM DEVELOPMENTS

Zimbabwe's Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) has asked The Zambezi Society and other stakeholders to ratify its proposals for the following:

three new semi-permanent" 24-bed lodge tourism development sites along the Zambezi River frontage of the Mana Pools National Park and World Heritage Site,
one new "semi-permanent" 24-bed lodge tourism development at the Ruchomechi Research Station inland within the Park
one new tented camp operators' site as a replacement for one being displaced by a river frontage lodge development site above

more - scroll down the page - :

http://www.africatalks.co.za/2010-october-newsletter.html

What a special safari! You were wise to stay so long in each location. Your wild dog experinces were amazing.

OH I wanna go to Zimbabwe and Zambia!

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. Definitely wonderful places and sightings. If there weren't so many other places that I want to visit, I would certainly go back, but we always try new camps each trip.

Forgot to mention that I believe the balloon ride at Shumba is included if you book 3 nights or more (I think it would apply at Busanga Bush Camp and Kapinga as well). You can also rent a helicopter for a 1/2 hour or 1 hour tour over the area. We didn't do that, though, but those that did seemed to enjoy it.

Hello to a fellow Canadian! Such lovely photos - my favourites are the sunset on the Busanga Plains, the puku with the headdress, the rosy-throated longclaw, and especially the martial eagle glaring at you from the tree - wonderful!

There is more water in the Busanga Plains (based on your photos) than I would have expected for September - is this true or is what I see in your photos the norm for September?

You mention a previous trip to Zambia - was it also to Kafue?

Unfortunate way to end your journey! Robin

Hi Robin,

Hello to a fellow Canadian. Glad you enjoyed the pics.

It's always interesting to connect with another Canadian on this site, just because it seems like we meet so few of us on safari. It seems like over all our trips, we've only ever met 2 or 3 Cdn couples.

Based on what the folks there told us, the water level was normal on the plains. We could see where only a few days/weeks before, certain areas had not been driveable, and also where bush fires stalled because the grass or ground had been wet. But the actual river was quite shallow, and many channels had become impassable by boat.

Previous trip to Zambia included 2 camps in Lower Zambezi, and 1 in South Luangwa. That was our first safari - the beginning of the ongoing love affair!!!

It's true isn't it - you don't meet many Canadians on safari. The last time we drove through Chobe National Park in Botswana, we met four South Africans who visit the park every year and have been done so for many years. We were the first Canadians they had ever encountered. We met a Canadian father and daughter from Toronto near Ngorongoro Crater in 2009, and a group of 4 Canadians at Serian Camp outside the Mara on the same trip, but that's about it.

We are heading to Lower Zambezi NP and South Luangwa in Oct 2011 - I'd be curious to know where you stayed and how you liked those parks compared to Kafue - we debated adding Kafue to our 2011 itinerary, but the trip was becoming too long.

Ah yes - the love affair with Africa - we too are hooked! Robin

Great photos. Made me feel like I was back on the Zambezi.
Thanks for sharing.

What a treat to see those photos. You really have an eye for catching the little details and the whole setting/ambiance. Thanks for sharing. Mana Pools is definitely beckoning me...
Sounds like you had a wonderful trip to both places.

Thanks Sangeeta. Mana Pools really was lovely....

Robin, our first safari in 2002 included Kiubo and Kulefu in Lower Zambezi NP (3 nights each), and then 3 nights at Nsefu in SLNP. Sanctuary now owns Kulefu, and from the looks of the pics on their website, they have definitely made it more upscale. I don't know who owns Kiubo now, or if it was still there. Both camps were in great spots along the river, and the game viewing was good. Saw a few leopard there, as well as an aardvark! Lots of action on the river with the elephants, crocs and hippos so there is always wildlife about. Every night there were regular 4-legged visitors to camp, including buffalo, hippo and ellies.

South Luangwa is great, and Nsefu was also a nice camp. They have rondavels, which is the only place we've been that has that. Even though it is more like a chalet, because it was partially open, you still feel connected with the outdoors and can hear all the sounds (we love that part which is why we always like to stay in tents). The game viewing was good, with lots of diversity.

If I think about it though, lions were a bit scarce in all 3 locations - whether that was our bad luck or reality I don't know. We eventually did find a pride in SL, but only once. We definitely saw more hyena and leopards. At Nsefu, we had 1 day where we saw 5 different leopard. Leopards were so regular, it made us think that was normal on safari!

We took a terrific long walk in Nsefu, and we saw lots of wildlife - elephants, hippos, bushbuck, baboons, lots of different birds, giraffe, and more. It was quite productive.

Our experience with guides so far in Zambia is that they are very good. We certainly enjoyed our trip and have absolutely nothing negative to report on the camps or the experience.

LZ and SL compared to Kafue? I would have to say they are very different, and that you see less diversity in Kafue because it is so vast and the animals have many sources of water (although the volume of animals may in fact be higher in Kafue), and because the tse tses make it difficult to explore any of the forest. So if the question was which of the 3 parks would I be most likely to return to first, I think I would say SL, but I would pick a small camp that is not in 1 of the over developed areas. I always like it when the only jeeps I see are the ones from my camp.

Happy to answer any questions you might have.

jjmb - curious about the criteria you used to pick the parks and the camps that you did. Were you mainly guided by your TA or did you explore a bunch of options before settling on your choices? If the latter, could you recommend some good sites/books/other resources you may have used to plan this trip?
Thanks.

Sangeeta,

My travel agent is an Africa expert and is very helpful, certainly when we were planning our first safari, her input was crucial. But now we've figured out what we like and don't like to be able to build a trip that is perfect for us. I do a lot of the research myself, and then bounce ideas off her. Because she knows us well now, she will take my ideas and tell me whether it really fits with what I am looking for or not.

First criteria for us is that we aren't repeating camps (yet), so even if we loved a place, we aren't going to revisit it unless we've tapped out all other interesting possibilities.

Next we look at the types of animals we'd like to see, and choosing the right ecosystems to deliver it. On 1 trip, we might pick 2 or 3 ecosystems so that we can get diverse game viewing. For example, my husband loves the big cats and really wanted to see lions hunting - so we went to Duba Plains, where that kind of action is pretty much "guaranteed".

Then we pick small camps with no fences. I never like more than 6 tents (Ruckomechi was 10 so that was a bit of a stretch for me), and open vehicles are a must and day and night drives. Having a variety of activities is nice, such as walking or canoeing, but I steer away from places that offer massages and luxuries that are a bit over the top for me. Also little things like allowing kids in camp, or places that pack people into the jeeps are not for us.

I like to go to places where there are no "crowds" at the sightings, and I love the feeling of being the only people out there, so I lean towards large concessions that only have 1 or 2 camps, or areas that are not as trendy, or go during shoulder season so the camps aren't full.

The internet has made all my research so much easier, and I spend a lot of time scouring sites like Fodors, other travel forums, tourism sites, etc. But a couple of books that I refer to the most are Africa's Top Wildlife Countries (Nolting), and Watching Wildlife - Southern Africa (Lonely Planet). The former helped me narrow down what was a must-do for our first trip, and gave me some ideas for subsequent trips. The latter I read before planning every trip, and again before I leave on the trip.

I love planning holidays, and I enjoy it almost as much as the trip itself! I would have to say that the extra effort on the front end has greatly improved our overall experience.

I hope that helps.

JJMB - Thanks so much for taking the time to reply in so much detail. I could tell from the quality of your trip report, your destination choices/length of stay at each camp and the quality of your sightings that this was a very "thought-through" itinerary. So glad it worked out as well as it did for both of you.

Thanks also for describing your planning process. Always interesting to see what people prioritize. I think I'm with you on pretty much everything you said, so I'm bookmarking this report to use as a basis for a future Zim-Zam trip

And finally, fully agree with you that extra effort on the front really pays off in the end. I have spent this past year planning a Serengeti mobile in great detail & hope to come back with memories that are as wonderful as the ones you describe in your report.

Wild dog success in abundance with great photos! Was getting out of the vehicle to see the dogs commonly done? It's nice that cheetah are now found in Mana Pools. How fortunate you saw them. The fighting hippo sequence is amazing. I've never seen an upside down hippo like that. The roan must not have been very skittish. The solo warthog is a real classic shot.

I recall a lot a fires enroute to Kafue when I went and see you had some too.

Did the helicopter interfere with your game drives? Was it distracting or did it scare the animals? Was it used for transport or sightseeing?

You stayed a nice long time at each location.

Thanks for your input. Most helpful! I cringed at your mention of the tsetse flies in Kafue - I have unhappy memories of them from the Serengeti, where I was eaten alive. Robin

Atravelynn, glad you enjoyed the pics.

Zimbabwe is famous (apparently) for its walking safaris that get you up close and personal. But with strict guide licensing, if you don't have a guide certified to walk, you can't get out of the jeep and approach. And they carry rifles even if you are going only 20 ft. And, as we were told, the wild dogs don't seem to mind humans on foot. Reading their body language when we were with them, they were sleeping soundly and never blinked at us, and when the puppies approached us, none of the adults seemed the least bit interested. They just acted like we weren't there.

In fact, the way we found out the dogs were in the concession was that the morning guided walk had found them, and had been able to sit with them.

The incident with the rolling hippo cracked us up! Our guide was as shocked as we were. I don't know what the hippo was thinking, or what his buddy underneath was thinking!

The helicopter was mostly for transport, a 6 min buzz from the airstrip to camp. But you could rent it for something like $600 for a half hour, and have a spin over the area. The herd animals seem to run when they hear/see it as it is quite low to the ground at times. We didn't bother to rent it because we didn't think that we would any great pictures, and we didn't want to freak out the animals any more than necessary. The trip to and from the airstrip was enough for us.

Thanks for the responses. It's always interesting to get your guides' perspective on unusual occurrences like the rolling hippo.

I'd be ticked if other folks were doing helicopter buzzing over the herds if I were out for some peaceful vieiwng.

Fascinating account of your personal connection with the dogs. You can imagine that's how man and dog first became friends, with interactions like yours over the centuries.

I meant to ask if it rained while you were in Zambia or Zimbabwe. I gather the rains have been coming a bit earlier in recent years - no longer waiting until November. Also, what sort of temperatures did you endure? I gather the month of October is considered "suicide month" because of the high temperatures. How hot/humid was it when you were there? Robin

Hi Cdn Robin,

No rain. Only 1 day at Ruckomechi was cloudy enough to make you think it might be possible for rain. Our guide had heard from his mother in the highlands of Zim that it was raining, though.

It was hot at Shumba. In the middle of the day, if you weren't somewhere where you could catch a breeze it was a bit sticky. But luckily, the camp does get breezes so that helped. In fact the wind would start blowing up around 2 or 3 pm each day. Not a chance of rain, though, as there were no clouds in the sky.

Ruckomechi was also hot, but not as much as Shumba. Maybe it was the cooling effect of being right on the river, or the fact that there was more tree canopy.

Both camps had the canvas tops on the jeeps. It would have been uncomfortable by the end of the morning or the start of the afternoon drive without them.

I've been following this thread since first posted. Beautiful pics, great info. Thank you all. I have the Kafue Rivers and Plains tour plus Zim on my bucket list. Your experiences sound exactly how I imagine it.

Oh, I am so jealous. Like atravelynn, I've never heard of being able to get our of the vehicle and sit with dogs. Those puppies are adorable--those ears!--and the chase sequence is thrilling. Also loved the skirmishing hippos. But the dog pictures are very rare indeed. Zim has always been on my list. It just moved up.

That Martial Eagle peaking out of the tree is also a cool shot.

I have a Kodak Gallery question for you. When I view your album, I have an option in the upper right of mosaic or carousel. I like being able to offer viewers of my albums a mosaic option so all the photos appear at once. When I choose mosaic in your album, all of your photos appear as thumbnails in two columns along the right side. In my Kodak albums I do not have a mosaic option to offer viewers. It immediately goes to slide show. Now it is true that all of my photos in the album appear as thumbnails along the top of the page. But the inactive ones are dark and clicking on different thumbnails works slowly. Did you do something special to get the mosaic option to work?

Even if you cannot answer that question, your account and photos have sold several trips to Zim and Zam I'm sure.

Thanks, atravelynn. I'm glad you liked the pics, and hopefully others enjoyed them as well. It's fun for me to share them with this group, because very few people I know have been on safari and don't understand the experience behind what is captured in the photo.

I didn't do anything special on Kodak gallery to set it up that I can think of. The only difference perhaps is that I am using kodakgallery.ca and maybe you are using kodakgallery.com? I would have thought it would be the same, but maybe not.

I noticed the .ca too. Bet that's it. Thanks.

Any plans for a return?

I would happily return to either of those regions, but as much as we might enjoy a particular camp, we are trying not to repeat any yet. There are still some other areas that we want to explore before we start repeating. Haven't been to Hwange yet, nor Tanzania, and we really love Botswana, so no idea where we'll go the next time.

Fortunately or unfortunately our list of places we want to visit is long, and we only have enough vacation time for 1 major trip a year, so we try to mix it up by exploring other countries and our own. Next year we're aiming for Arizona/Utah and all the canyons. An Arctic or Antarctic cruise may be the next year, then maybe back to Africa.

I do go through withdrawal between Africa trips, and I think about it everyday. It's in my blood....

Where is your next trip going to be?

Too many places, too little time.

A very well traveled friend of mine went on an Antartica cruise and said it was the most boring trip of her life. FWIW. She's very active. I had always wanted to go but her report made me strike it off my list. But I still want to go to Scandinavia and friends say the same thing about that.

My next trip is a Thanksgiving Train to Toledo! I'll look for mud hens.

Though it is hard to equal the active excitement of a Zim/Zam trip, I would think an Antarctic cruise would be visually exciting.

Kavey, who just got back from Kenya has done 2 Antarctica cruises. One might have been just close by and not Antarctica Proper, I forget. She obviously liked it well enough to go back and she understands the special excitement Africa offers.

Hi Lynn

Yes, Antarctica is a wonderful wonderful destination for wildlife lovers and also offers some amazing scenery and photographic opportunities.

Our first visit was in Nov/Dec 2004 - we did a 3 week trip including a few short stops in the Falklands, 5 or 6 days at South Georgia and then down to the Antarctic peninsula.

We loved it so much we were immediately thinking of when we could return and went back for a similar trip in Nov/Dec 2008.

The first trip was aboard the Akademik Ioffe with Peregrine and the second aboard the Sergei Vavilov with Quark - sister ships. I would give the first trip the edge because of staff choice. Quark had a lot more short term staff with less experience than Peregrine's expedition crew. But both trips superb.

South Georgia is an absolute highlight and should not be missed. Shorter itineraries miss it.

Then in Jan/ Feb this year we went to the Falkland Islands for 4 weeks, staying on a few different islands there, sometimes in hosted accommodation with the island owners/ managers (full board) and sometimes in self-catering. Depending on what was available. We were there for penguins and birding and again, wonderful scenery. Fantastic experience. Not at all expensive once there, just costly on flights from UK.

Can thoroughly recommend it.

And yes, we still love Africa, we went to Kenya again this September!

OK Lynn, we want a trip report on the Toledo mud hens. Make sure you get a private vehicle.

Re Antarctica, well, to each his own I guess. Not my friends cuppa tea clearly, and she loves wildlife. As for the Falklands, Kavey, I can't imagine staring at sheep and penguins and British shell casings for four weeks!