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    • Galana
      Welcome @mungoparkAnother great explorer of a different river system. (My wife is actually related to this family but now confines her peregrinations to the local High Street..)
    • Peter Connan
      Better late than never I hope. Thanks for a wonderful report filled with interesting events, wonderful humor and lovely photos.
    • Peter Connan
      Another beautiful and informative report Elena, thank you.
    • Peter Connan
      The Swartberg is still my favorite mountain pass. Those are about the closest we flatlanders get to real mountains. And I have a lot of wonderful memories of Prins Albert. My grandparents resided there when I was a kid. We spent many hours playing in the water troughs along the roads, and even some uncomfortable hours in that beautiful church.
    • Tom Kellie
      Sagittarius serpentarius in the Morning     Taken on 29 June, 2023 at 8:06 am in Manyeleti Game Reserve, Buffelshoek Camp, using an EOS 1D X camera with an EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II super-telephoto lens   ISO 2000, f/5.6, 1/5000 sec., handheld Manual shooting mode in a safari vehicle in regular morning light   **********************************************************************************************************************************************************   ~ Driving in tall grass in an obscure area we encountered a solitary Sagittarius serpentarius stalking prey in tall dry grass.   For my teaching assistant and his father it was one of the defining images of the safari in northeastern South Africa.  
    • Tom Kellie
      Aepyceros melampus Portrait     Taken on 29 June, 2023 at 7:54 am in Manyeleti Game Reserve, Buffelshoek Camp, using an EOS 1D X camera with an EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II super-telephoto lens   ISO 2000, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec., handheld Manual shooting mode in a safari vehicle in regular morning light   **********************************************************************************************************************************************************   ~ This female Aepyceros melampus was uncharacteristically near, exhibiting demure self-confidence despite our proximity.   The graceful profile and subtly wary gaze were a lovely moment when life's cares briefly faded away into insignificance.  
    • PeterHG
      Thank you @TonyQ, @Soukous I'm trying, I'm trying...;)  
    • ElenaH
      sounds great!! and where is a trip report?  What time were you at Chitake? Which dates?
    • Galana
      Pt 3. Eastwards from Chato. Bridging the Gulfs. After another uneventful night at Chato Beach Resort we set off around ‘the lake’ to our next base on the eastern shore. Geographically we would leave one stretch of water carrying the name of one explorer to another stretch named for another. Emin Pasha to John Hanning Speke. But we were not going to do this by water. We will drive around the lake. A drive of about 330km mainly on Tar which should take us about seven hours. There would be little time for wildlife but no doubt we would see something of rural Tanzania and the way of life of the people who live there.       We made good time south and soon picked up the main east west highway T4 at Bangwa before encountering the mobile road block known to Emmy as Katoro which is always busy with vehicles and pedestrians on both sides of the road as well as down the centre. Then the scenery improved as we approached Geita and the wooded mineral rich hills that support Tanzania’s gold industry. Then it was more open country until the road appeared to split and we took the left turn towards the almost estuary like large inlet that we must now cross by way of Ferry. This was very interesting and busy but as  Emmy knew the procedure the passengers got out of the car and made our way to the queue for tickets whilst he stayed with the car and kept his place in the line. Having gained the ticket counter we paid for three waZungu and one Uganda plus the car. I think the ferry on foot was about 14p per person and the car cost the enormous sum of 3000TZ sh or about a Pound. Hardly a huge sum for a crossing that would take about 30 minutes or so and provide us with a welcome break at the bar on board. Beats the heck out of our Ferry at home that takes 3 hours or so and costs a small fortune £170 for our car and two pax and only has two sailings a day whereas this ferry ran nonstop in both directions. Foot passengers gather in a large waiting shed to avoid the sun before the gates open to allow access to the boat whilst Emmy brought up the car and boarded alone.    The two boats have multiple decks for sitting out or inside during the short voyage during which we could see the new bridge under construction and very close to completion. On arrival at the far side we joined the throng to disembark to meet up with Emmy and the car and our seats. Quite an experience and worth every shilling.   We now took the road around the large city of Mwanza which is famous for its Port facilities serving lake traffic and some very interesting rock formations.   A Baboon?? A bird of prey? As we drove the scenery flattened once more and in places large areas were given over to Rice Paddies that looked very productive and green. This part of Tanzania is certainly quite unlike the drier arid areas of the ‘Northern Circuit.’ The coastal areas of Lake Victoria drew closer as we progressed and soon the west was given over to Palm trees and water which was also very attractive. We had pre-booked two nights at our next stop ‘Sandmark Lodge’ to give a break from travel and to hopefully explore the area nearer the Serengeti ‘border’ and were not disappointed. The Lodge is some sort of ‘resort’ right on the lake shore so quite ‘birdy’. Our rooms were well laid out and modern and there is a pool available. Meals can be taken inside or out in the grounds on request and all in all was a good choice (when Speke Bay could not take us). A strange oddity were the meals. A large multi page menu was produced with a flourish but T.I.A many prices had been blanked and overwritten and that was particularly irritating when having chosen a dish at a price it was found to be unavailable. One of our party , not me, voiced the opinion that the whole menu was a waste of paper and he would have been perfectly happy with the usual 3 course fixed ‘Meat and two veg’ offering. Breakfasts were taken outside by the lake although on our last day we were ushered away as some V.I.Ps were booked in for a conference.  Beer was cheap. We made a drive up close to Ndabaka Gate to the Serengeti where a track parallels the ‘fence’ through a WMA.  There was a gate but it was not manned or even womanned so we simply drove in. Lots of good sightings including a Montagues Harrier and various antelope and Zebra.  Several elephants were observed in the tall grass as we left.   Cut Throat Finch. Fischer's Lovebirds. Coqui Francolin.   Free range Ellies. Somewhere worthwhile and ‘free’.  The lodge was also nice and clean and the beds comfy after our seven hour drive. Two nights was nice but any longer and we would have struggled. More of the lodge and its surroundings. End of another day or two.
    • xelas
      A lot to enjoy, and a lot to learn, from the photograhy level. One heck of a trip, and even better trip report!
    • Africalover
      @ElenaHThank you for the most comprehensive and detailed TR of Mana pools. I met you and your husband on our way to Chitake last year. Our whole trip to Mana was fantastic - canoing 4 days and walking from our shoreline camp.Surrounded by wild dogs alone and much more. We ended up with 3 fantastic day’s in Chitake. Buffaloes tumbling down each day. Lions attacking buffaloes, mock charged 2 times by a female lion, leopard drinking next to campsite 2 and elephants walking close by our campsite towards the spring. I will be back. Thanks for sharing  Michael.        
    • ElenaH
      Conclusion   as @Atravelynnalready said Kavinga and Chitake, both strong contenders! In Chitake you will be very close to nature. I remember one night new guests were coming to campsite number 2 which is considered as the best one! It is difficult to book this campsite but the guests obviously booked it with manapools.com. On the website you can see that they book very good sites. And this night there was so much noise: lions were roaring, elephants screaming, hyenas laughing and all they were incredibly loud so that my Zimbabwean friends said: "We wonder what these new guests will think about it? They have got to a hell."   In Chitake you can witness a kill or perhaps even more than one.  On the turn to Chitake Spring not far away from the main road is a baobab. Wild dogs are used to rest there. There are some mobile tour operators like for example, Nature Ways, that have Chitake Springs in their Safari offers.   In Kavinga you can spent your time in the hide and you will definitely see a leopard and lions. If you are lucky you will see wild dogs and some kills as well. Unfortunately, Kavinga doesn't provide game drives in Chitake.   There are also two other camps near Chitake Springs: Mharariver camp and Kamakara (Nyamawani) camp. We visited both of them and I described the camps here: Mhara and Kamakara I liked Kamakara becasue they have a big pan with pumped water where buffalo are coming and the action between lions and buffalos can take place. The rooms are also better than in Kavinga IMO and very nice guides. The rates also were substantially better than in Kavinga.        The End
    • ElenaH
      Thank you, @Atravelynn!    THank you, @Julian!
    • ElenaH
      Kavinga   we spent 5 nights in Kavinga Safari Camp which I described in a thread in Zimbabwe section - Kavinga vs. Chitake - Mana Pools in Action It is worth to read it! There is a video and a number of photos!
    • ElenaH
      Thank you, Peter! And yes, I love the Bee-eaters as well. This shows that there is always something to see and take pictures of and sometimes the Bee-eater photo can be a winner and not the photo of lions ;-)
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