Mana Pools National Park
The wild and remote Mana Pools National Park is situated at the northern tip of Zimbabwe on the Zambezi River. The Park is a breathtaking wilderness haven and World Heritage Site. Just across the river is Zambia’s Lower Zambezi National Park, forming a naturally defined peace park.
The meanders of the Zambezi in years gone by have left behind the remains of old ox-bows, shaping small seasonal pools scattered over an area of 2,000 square kilometres. The Park is named after the four main pools on the old riverbed, with Mana meaning “four” in the Shona language. The pools support a variety of game and numerous species of bird life, along with the unique vegetation of the Zambezi valley, dominated by Nyala berry, natal mahogany and winterthorn trees.
Whilst Mana Pools is bordered by Rukomechi to the south and the Sapi River to the east, it actually forms part of a 10,500 square kilometre Parks and Wildlife Estate that stretches from the Kariba Dam in the west to the Mozambique border in the east. There are no physical boundaries and wildlife can freely move through the area, even crossing the Zambezi River into Zambia’s Lower Zambezi National Park without clearing customs.
The Park attracts an abundance of big game including elephant, buffalo, kudu, eland, sable, zebra and waterbuck. Marine fauna like fish, hippo and crocodile are prolific. Lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena and wild dog are all present although less frequently seen. The leguminous Acacia albida tree is common along the riverbanks and the protein-rich pods attract many herbivores, particularly elephants. Mana Pools also abounds with over 300 species of bird life. During August to December the banks of the Zambezi are burrowed by nesting carmine, white-fronted and little bee-eaters. Colourful kingfishers include the malachite, brown-hooded, chestnut-bellied, woodland, pied and giant. Black-winged stilts, African skimmers, goliath herons, little and black egrets are also found here.
The open Albida woodland provides good visibility and allows visitors the unique privilege within Zimbabwe of walking escorted by a guide or unaccompanied in an area with carnivores and larger mammals. A guided canoe safari is another unforgettable experience, as you negotiate your way past territorial hippos and sly ‘flat dogs’ as the crocs are known locally. As you drift slowly downriver herds of elephant and cantankerous ‘dagga boys’ – the nickname for old grumpy male buffalos thrown out of the herd - swim across the river in front of you.
Although Mana Pools can be visited year-round, the best time to visit is May to early October during the dry season. In June and July, the atmospheric early morning mists on the Zambezi are highly photogenic. July to November is the prime game-viewing period when animals concentrate around the Zambezi River in a quest for water. During October and November the valley gets incredibly hot, prior to the first rains. During the rainy season game drives become more difficult due to the thick silt soil of the floodplains and canoeing is the best option.
Hwange National Park
Hwange National Park is Zimbabwe’s largest national park, located in the far west of the country along the border with Botswana. Covering an area of over 14,000 square kilometres, Hwange is one of Africa’s finest havens for wildlife. It is actually sub-divided into three smaller parks, namely Main Camp to the south & east, Sinamatela to the north - near the Hwange coalfields - and Robins to the west. Hwange is named after the hereditary chief of this district.
Image supplied courtesy of Wilderness Safaris
Situated on the edge of the Kalahari Desert, this vast wilderness area comprises sands, saltpans, acacia scrub, vleis, Zambezi teak and large leaved false mopani forests. Ancient fossilised rivers have since become grassy plains in the region of Main Camp. Red lowveld and black cotton soils support mopani woodlands around Sinamatela and Robins. The semi-arid vegetation makes Hwange excellent for game viewing, and a scarcity of water means that man-made waterholes have been introduced to sustain the animals through the dry season. The game congregates at waterholes as the surface water diminishes making game viewing very easy.
The terrain supports over 100 species of mammals including zebra, buffalo, hyena, lion, leopard, cheetah, sable, kudu, steenbok, eland, waterbuck and impala. It is the immense number of elephant that are truly spectacular though. With up to 30,000 elephant, Hwange is rated amongst the finest elephant conservation areas on the continent. The Park is also home to the largest concentration of giraffe in Africa and shelters a stable population of one of Africa’s most endangered species, the wild dog. The specially protected gemsbok, bat-eared foxes, roan, white rhino and brown hyena occur here in reasonable numbers.
Hwange is birders paradise with over 400 species identified to date. Bird life includes the kori bustard, secretary bird, red-crested korhaan, shaft-tailed whydah, violet-eared waxbill, shrike, martial eagle, crimson-breasted bush shrike including the yellow form, little grebe, dark-chanting goshawk, cape penduline tit, red-eyed bulbul and cape shoveller, along with red-billed, yellow-billed and Hottentot’s teals.
Hwange is a year-round destination. The driest months, September and October, are the prime game-viewing months when animals converge at water holes, providing excellent photographic opportunities. During the rainy season, mainly December to March, the game is spread out across the Park. For birding enthusiasts this is a wonderful time to visit, with all the migratory birds present and most breeding. This is also the best time for flora and is an opportunity to examine a variety of other small and interesting ecological features.
After the rains the vegetation is green and lush, with colourful wild flowers carpeting the ground. This is the ideal time to see an abundance of newly born animals cavorting with their parents on the plains. Prey and predator interaction hits its peak at this time, as snacks are readily available for the ever-hungry carnivores.
Linyanti Wildlife Reserve
The private Linyanti Wildlife Reserve is a 125,000 hectare concession area on the western boundary of Chobe National Park. A remote and pristine wildlife area, it is bordered by the Linyanti River, which runs from west to east. On the far bank of the river lies Namibia’s Caprivi Strip, the long wetland of this otherwise arid country.
Image supplied courtesy of Wilderness Safaris
The Linyanti area is renowned for its predators and large concentrations of game, particularly elephant. Dereck and Beverly Joubert made the region famous in their National Geographic films. "Eternal enemies" is a classic, and chronicles in detail the interaction between lion and hyena.
There are three main features of the Linyanti Wildlife Reserve: the Linyanti River, Savuti Channel and the woodlands of the interior. The last stretches of Africa's Great Rift Valley separate the forests of the interior from the rivers and floodplains of the Linyanti and it is along this ridge - and along the Savuti Channel - that the best wildlife can be seen.
The Savuti Channel is a "dry waterway" that used to connect the Linyanti River at Zibadianja Lagoon with the interior of the south Chobe National Park at the Savuti Marsh. The Savuti has only ever flowed intermittently and dried up for the last time in 1980. Two thirds of the famous Savuti Channel savannah is in the Linyanti concession and guests are able to view the abundant wildlife privately and exclusively.
Elephants are one of the prime attractions, especially during the dry winter months when they congregate along the waterways and around the waterholes as the rainfall-filled depressions and pans of the interior dry up. At times the reserve must have several thousand elephants roaming around. Red lechwe, zebra, wildebeest, impala, waterbuck, sable, roan, eland, giraffe, baboon, monkey, warthog, crocodile and buffalo are some of the other animals to be found here. Predators include lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog and hyena. Night drives provide a chance to see nocturnal animals such as bushbaby, spring hare, aardwolf, serval, genet and pangolin. Birding is excellent from the Okavango "specials" such as slaty egret, white-rumped babbler and wattled crane through to the bushveld species.
Kwedi Reserve
This private concession is situated in the extreme north of the Okavango and is known locally as the Kwedi Reserve.
Image supplied courtesy of Wilderness Safaris
The vegetation ranges from the vast open flood plains to dense mopane bushveld and offers spectacular game viewing and birding opportunities all year round.
The area has both the wetland and savannah species of wildlife, including red lechwe, waterbuck, hippos, crocodiles, as well as sable, kudu, wildebeest and tsessebe who roam the open plains. Herds of buffalo and elephant also occur here, along with the major predators - lion, leopard, wild dog and cheetah. Guests who enjoy their birding will love the combination of all the Okavango water "specials" with acacia and dry woodland species.
The entire Kwedi area of over 100,000 hectares has been ceded by the Botswana Government and the Tawana Land Board to the people who live along the Okavango's northern boundary so that they can derive direct benefits from the wildlife and the environment on their doorstep. Wilderness Safaris is the joint venture partner with the Okavango Community Trust, and manages the lodges and tourism activities in this area.
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