I recently spent a fantastic week camping in Mana Pools National Park with a great bunch of people. In Mana Pools you are allowed to walk around freely, despite the presence of big game including Lion, Elephant and Buffalo! Obviously, one has to be very careful whilst doing so.
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| Walking near Vundu Point. |
We camped at a campsite called New Ndungu 1, which is about 15km upriver from the main campsite, Nyamepi. The vegetation around the Nyamepi area is predominantly large trees spaced widely apart, with very little ground cover - it was mostly dust! The Apple-ring Acacia was fruiting, in this area, dropping seed pods which are loved by the animals. It was also very dry, with not much water in the pools, meaning most of the game was near the river. These conditions meant that the best game viewing was between Nyamepi and Mucheni Camps.
Our camp was somewhat different. The riverside vegetation was riverine thicket, and away from the river it was mainly Mopane woodland. Despite all the Mopane, I didn't see a single Arnot's Chat. There was not a lot of game in our area, probably because there were no pans, and few Apple-ring Acacias. We did have Hyaena and Elephant walk through our campsite.
The view from camp was lovely, overlooking a sandy island in the river, and the mountains over the river in Zambia.
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| Looking towards Zambia |
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| The sandy island, looking downriver from our camp. |
I watched the sun rise most mornings at around 6:20am, and at the same time there were often Waterbuck feeding on an island, making the sun rises that little bit more awesome.
The river in front of our campsite was quite shallow; generally about knee-deep, but getting very shallow near the island. Many birds were feeding in these shallow waters, including Common Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt, Yellow-billed and Saddle-billed Storks, Little and Great Egrets, and Egyptian Goose. Pied and Giant Kingfishers were also fishing here regularly.
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| Great Egret |
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| Saddle-billed Stork |
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| Giant Kingfisher |
I saw Grey-headed Gull and White-winged Terns flying past, and my friends saw African Skimmer whilst canoeing. One morning, a flock of 20 Bohm's Spinetail flew over.
On the sandy island were White-crowned Lapwing, Kittlitz's and White-fronted Plovers, and various other waders including three Curlew Sandpipers.
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| White-fronted Plover |
In the riverine thicket and the woodlands around camp I saw Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Terrestrial Brownbul, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Trumpeter, Red-billed, African Grey, Crowned and Southern Ground-hornbills, White-fronted and Southern Carmine Bee-eaters, Meyer's Parrot, Lilian's Lovebird, African Scops-owl (heard), various doves, Three-banded Courser, Ashy Flycatcher, Meves's Starling (the most abundant bird on the trip), Collared Sunbird, Green-winged Pytilia, among many others.
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| Southern Ground-hornbill |
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| Yellow-bellied Greenbul |
The raptors were excellent in Mana Pools, with 17 species seen by me during the week. Around camp I saw African Cuckoo-hawk, African Fish-eagle, Little Sparrowhawk, Wahlberg's Eagle and African Hawk-eagle.
I saw over 140 bird species on the trip, and the above were all seen near the New Ndungu camps.
Elsewhere, game viewing was much more productive.
We saw 17 species of mammal including the big stuff like Elephant, Hippo, Buffalo, Lion, Eland, Kudu, Waterbuck, Nyala and a few more. Small mammals included Bush Squirrel, Vervet Monkey and a stunning Slender Mongoose. Impala were the most numerous animal in the park, followed closely by Baboon.
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| This young baboon certainly knows how to ride in style. |
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| Vervet Monkey eating a green Apple-ring Acacia seed pod. |
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| Lioness and cub. |
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| Impala |
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| Elephant came into the campsite at Mucheni, looking for seed pods. |
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| Waterbuck |
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| Buffalo, with Red-billed Oxpeckers. |
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| Female Nyala and two young. |
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Slender Mongoose. I have never seen one this colour - it was quite lovely!
Sadly, it was obscured by bits of grass... |
On the very last day, on our way out of the park in fact, we were lucky enough to spot a pack of 10 Wild Dogs on the road lying on the road.
Birds elsewhere in the park were also fantastic. The list included Greater Honeyguide, the five previously mentioned Hornbills, Lilac-breasted and Racket-tailed Rollers, Southern Carmine Bee-eater, Meyer's Parrot, Lilian's Lovebird (my main target, and I saw a lot!), Namaqua Dove, waders, Goliath and Rufous-bellied Herons, African Spoonbill, Hadeda Ibis, Saddle-billed Stork, Retz's and White-crested Helmet-shrikes, Red-billed Oxpecker, Eastern Nicator, Long-billed Crombec, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow (everywhere), Meves's Starling, White-browed Sparrow-weaver and Cut-throat Finch.
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| Lilian's Lovebird! |
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| Southern Red-billed Hornbill |
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| Red-billed Oxpecker on the back of a Buffalo |
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| Meves's Starling |
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White-crested Helmet-shrike
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The waders were scattered sparsely throughout on the edges of pans and the river. One part of Long Pool (pictured) was particularly good for waders, and there I saw Ruff, Common Greenshank, Wood, Common and Marsh Sandpipers, Little Stint, Three-banded and Kittlitz's Plovers and Black-winged Stilt, plus other waterbirds like Storks and Spoonbills.
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| The wader spot, Long Pool. |
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| Saddle-billed Stork |
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| Yellow-billed Stork, among other species, at a different pan. |
Raptors? Yellow-billed Kite, Hooded, White-backed and White-headed Vultures, Bateleur, African Harrier-hawk, Martial Eagle, Ayres's Hawk-eagle and more.
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| Yellow-billed Kite |
I will leave you with a photo of our last sunset over the Zambezi River...
