Mana West.

[Bush dog]

@ElenaH

Thank you very much for your kind words and comments!

[Bush dog]

On the morning of the third day, we immediately headed towards the place where we had seen the female leopard and its cub.  It was there but not its cub.  Well, I guess it was there but remained in the thickets.

 

 

 

In a typical Mana Pools environment, a few zebras.

 

 

 

 

 

Along the Zambezi and nearby ponds: grey heron, African spoonbills, yellow-billed stork, marabou stork and juvenile fish eagle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only species present at this time of year with the little bee-eater, the white-fronted bee-eater.

 

 

[John M.]

   Wonderful leopard sightings, Mike.

   My viewing of posts tends to be like playing darts randomly😁

   I got a few bullseyes this time!

 

Edited July 4 by John M.

[Bush dog]

@John M.

 

Indeed, John and I am not done with them yet.

[Bush dog]

A bit of show off.

 

 

 

 

Upon arrival at the camp after the morning game drive, we were busy with the unchanging welcomes back as well as answering the question about how the game drive went when a large elephant bull suddenly appeared.  Vehicles generally stop one or two meters from the canvas wall of the central unit.  In this case to the left of the few steps, giving access to the raised platform, where the reception committee is stationed.  I got out of the vehicle.  A member of staff was handing me the refreshing towel when the pachyderm appeared from behind the left corner.  Most of the time, the elephants, to move from one wing of the camp to the other, do so by passing between the camp and the river.  It had decided to do it between the camp and the bush.  Between the vehicle and the wall of the central unit, there was just enough room for it to pass, which it did peacefully and at his own pace while watching us.  It was almost as if it were saying to us "Don't worry, I'm just passing through".  This time, the distance between it and me was even shorter, more or less a meter, than during my previous encounter narrated in the introduction to Ruckomechi.  Great experience if ever there was one.

 

In front of the camp along the river with the Zambian escarpment in the bafckground.

 

 

 

In the afternoon, digging for water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bush dog]

Let's start this fourth day with a crowned hornbill.

 

 

Honey badgers, mother and son or daughter???

 

 

 

 

Elephant and baby elephant at the edge of the thickets.

 

 

Small herd of elands and impalas in the river bed.

 

 

Young elands are always grouped together under the care of a few adults.

 

 

 

Lappet-faced vulture, white-headed vulture and some white-backed vultures on the remains of a male baboon probably killed by a leopard.

 

[Athene]

@Bush dog I am very much enjoying your trip report, great photos and detailed information about the concessions and the camps.  I totally agree with you regarding the attitude at the Wilderness camps, no family atmosphere at all (with one exception that was Little Vumbura) and strict rules.

[KaliCA]

@Bush dogMan, you are a meter away from a wild ellie, just passing through!!!!

What an experience and most likely with a slightly elevated heart beat. 
Love the H. Badgers and the mixed herd of Elands and Impala. Beautiful wooded area. 

[Bush dog]

 

@Athene

Thank you very much for your comments and also for following this report assiduously.  Regarding these strict WS rules, they are even more strict in Botswana than in Zimbabwe.  I've been to Botswana quite a few times but I've never set foot in a WS camp and I'm not about to do so in the future.

[Bush dog]

@KaliCA

Thank you also very much for your comments and for following this report assiduously.

 

This may surprise you, but this experience did not raise my heart rate.  I have in fact acquired a good knowledge of elephants mainly from Zim Pro guides.  These animals, like others besides, are not dangerous in itselves but can become so because they are wild.  As long as we respect them and follow what their body language wants us to understand, there is really very little chance of a problem arising. This is why you should never approach, on foot, an elephant or any other animal unaccompanied by a qualified guide, even if you are staying in a camp, like this one, where they are used to the daily presence. of human beings.  You never know, they could be injured, sick or in musth and then they can become extremely dangerous.  In this case that I experienced, it took us by surprise and as it showed no signs of forcing its way, we had no other alternative than to let it pass, in silence and without moving.  It is of course clear that if I had seen it approaching, I would have kept some distance from it.

[Bush dog]

As soon as we left camp for the afternoon game drive, we saw this elephant coming down the road straight towards us.  We stopped.  I didn't immediately notice anything unusual in its gait.  Then I thought maybe there was something weird.  It moved a bit like someone who had had one too many drinks.  Then it was covered in wet spots like it was sweating.  It actually didn't look very well.  It approached as if unaware of the vehicle's presence. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It only stopped because it found itself with its trunk against the front of the vehicle.  It then hesitated for a brief moment and moved to go around it, passing to the left of it.  Sitting in the front passenger seat, on my side.  From the start of this maneuver, it stuck to the bodywork and moved forward, rubbing energetically against it.  I still don't know what it was suffering from but it's certain it must have had a serious itch to act like that.  When its head came to my level, it stopped and slightly and slowly turned it inward with the result that its left tusk flicked the hood of my camera lens.  During this back-and-forth movement, the tip of the tusk passed 10 centimeters from my chest.  Still stationary, it then raised its head and began to rub it, as it had done along the bodywork, on the upper frame on which the canvas, which protects the passengers from the rigors of the sun, is installed.  As soon as he heard crunching sounds, Rinz immediately reversed and then started forward again.  Behind us, the elephant gave us a loud, short trumpet.  Not for one moment did the elephant show any sign of aggression or intent to cause damage to the vehicle.  Its only concern was finding a way to get rid of its problems.  Was it in musth?  Difficult to say because there were already these wet spots scattered on his skin and on the other hand, we almost always only saw it from the front.  Perhaps?  In any case, it was 10 centimeters from touching the wild.

[Toxic]

@Bush dogI have really enjoyed going through all four pages of this report, enjoying your narrative and the photos! Loved hearing about your two elephant encounters at the table and the side of the vehicle, loved hearing about the baby elephant drowning less, but as you have said, the circle of life... those hyenas were happy at least.

 

Hard to pick favourites as your photos as usual are excellent but I think I'm leaning towards the honey badgers and leopard (+ cub), what special encounters. Great job! 

[John M.]

@Bush dogMike, I imagine you were more concerned about the elephant's welfare than your own. Elephants can get a number of illnesses, some passed on by mosquitoes. This problem seemed more than ordinary itchy skin.

[madaboutcheetah]

Tusk 10 cms from my chest ...... OMG.  What a thrilling adventure, Mike !! Enjoying this report ...... 

[wilddog]

@Bush dogI had a similar experience in  Mana, many moons ago.

 

A bull approached us from the side; my side, and stopped immediately next to the vehicle, and me.

 

We ended up literally eye to eye for about two minutes; a sublime few moments of silent communication.

 

I was so disappointed that my companions did not get a photograph but the memory will remain for ever, as I am sure yours will.

 

@Doug Macdonaldwill no doubt remember this.

Edited July 8 by wilddog

[Bush dog]

@Toxic @madaboutcheetah @John M.

 

Thanks for your comments and nice words!

[Bush dog]

@wilddog

 

Two years ago in Hwange, I had an experience similar to yours.  In my case, it was a lone elephant cow, which is already quite unusual.  Anyway, it approached the car from my side and stopped very, very close to it.  We remained eye to eye for a time which seemed quite long to me and which was undoubtedly short before it moved on.  Having experienced this, you can certainly understand, more than anyone else, the intensity and magic of such a moment.  I was with Julian Brookstein.  Nothing can surpass the memory of such events which will remain forever engraved in a small corner of my brain.

[Bush dog]

We ended the afternoon with some elephants and buffaloes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bush dog]

Seen during the fifth day.

 

Western banded snake-eagle.

 

 

 

Elands.

 

 

 

 

Elephant in the middle of the road.

 

 

Little egret.

 

 

White-crowned plover.

 

 

Pid kingfisher.

 

 

Elephant and young one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bush dog]

What I did not see in the evening of this fifth day, despite the moon being full, was a leopard (could have been Leopard 5) and its kill, an impala.  It was right next to the star bed near the camp.  According to the guide who had spent the night there with his guest, the hyenas, during the night, stole the prey and chased the leopard.

[Bush dog]

 

Early in the morning of the last full day, we quickly came across the other two members of the coalition.  They were right in the middle of the road formed by vehicles in the river bed, asleep or rather drowsy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wilddog]

Lovely report @Bush dog. Thank you

[Kitsafari]

what exhilarating moments mixed I'm sure with thrill and calm with the various elephants at close proximity. I have always found when watching elephants browsing or drinking or simply walking that their calmness transfers onto me. Those moments are undescribable with words. 

 

love your shots of the leopard cub, the honey badgers and the sparrowhawk doing a bath! as always, I'm most enjoying your reports. May many more continue from you in the years ahead!  

[Bush dog]

What was planned for this last full day was, as we had not seen any more leopards the last three days, to explore the bed of the river and its arm as well as their banks.  The two lions actually only delayed this plan.  Very quickly, we spotted Leopard 5, a young adult male. 

 

 

It quickly returned to the bushes.  The driver-guide of another vehicle informed us that, in fact, there were two males and a female as well as a kill, an impala ram whose presence we could guess through the bushes.  The two hooded vultures confirmed the kill.

 

 

So we continued our exploration, in vain, finally returning to the first place.  The female, who turned out to be Leopard 1, had decided to show itself.

 

 

 

Later, to end the morning, we checked to see if the lions were still where we left them.  And they were there and had just moved from the riverbed to its bank. 

 

 

 

I think that since the space is open between where they were and where the leopards were and the distance between them is not great, it had picked up the scent of the kill.

 

 

 

[Bush dog]

@wilddog @Kitsafari

 

Thank you very much for your comments and for following this report!

 

And Kit, your wish that I continue to travel and produce reports for many years to come touches me deeply.