GOLIATH SAFARIS
Wandering and wondering
November 2007

As the sun sets on the 2007 season in the valley and we toast the end of a wonderful year, our sadness is definitely being served up with a little side order of relief. Relief, certainly not that it’s over for the year but relief that we managed to make it through the last few months with a camp-full of well-fed guests, staff and four-legged nocturnal visitors!

As you all have no doubt experienced first hand, or heard third hand, Zimbabweans have become expert foragers of late. In fact honey badgers and squirrels could take lessons from us.

All through October, as we watched the animals of Mana scrape away at the bare earth, desperately searching for a missed blade of grass or pod, we couldn’t help but see the parallel as we scraped around in our handbags or on the top of Stretch’s head for the phone number of the “bread†or “beer†contact we just knew we had written somewhere!. Any mention from Stretch that the camp may need more flour or salt or other such luxuries were met with looks of incredulity by the ladies in the office. En masse they offered to protect the guests from charging elephants and lions rather than face another round of negotiations with the informal grocery sector that had sprung up. Stretch, in turn, sped back to the bush to face the charging animals and the domestic violence amongst the baboons rather than the ladies in the office. The last few months have definitely kept boredom at bay and dark humor in business.

The desperate and dry months have indeed been here, but like everything else in life, nothing is forever and soon the rains will set in and with them bring fresh hope. The skies above are pregnant with expectation, the clouds build up each afternoon and like the animals and trees we have sore necks as we look up to the heavens for some relief. As always, Zimbabweans, whether two or four legged, leaf-bearing or child-bearing are resilient creatures and 2007 will definitely leave us with stories to one day bore our grandchildren with. Here’s to a great 2008 and the new challenges it will no doubt bring. The very imperfections of Africa makes it the perfect habitat for those who thrive on a challenge or an adventure and one thing we do know for sure, is that next year will certainly bring plenty of both. This is why the adventurous continue to visit and it is why those of us living here are happy to continue taking on the challenges.

Talking of adventure and challenges, being a lion in Mana over the past few months has not been without its own drama. If you were a male cub and your mother had strayed from the fold to seek fresh genes for the pride, you were in real danger of being hunted down and killed by the pride males. If you were a migrant male looking for new turf and a new harem you had some serious fighting in store for you and if you were a ‘teenage upstart trying to grow a mane’ the resident males were making it fairly clear that it was time you moved on. Lastly, if you were an ageing and tired male then we don’t need to tell you what lay in store for you!! Stretch empathized with them all, particularly the elderly, as he always maintains that male lions (and humans) have a really arduous life contrary to what we all see, ie a lot of lying around dozing or posing.

All through these powerplays , the lionesses did what all successful females do best. They kept their cool, fed their families and ignored and avoided the strutting hormones once they’d served their purpose. With knowing glances between them, they got on with life whilst continuing to allow the males to think that they rule and control their kingdoms.

On a serious note though, the Nyamepi males have killed two of the three little cubs mentioned in our last newsletter. As mentioned above they will not brook new blood coming into the pride and so their lioness’s wandering never went unnoticed. However the surviving cub seems unfazed by it all and is friendly and gregarious, never shy to climb up onto an anthill for a photo- shoot. Stretch and his guests were also privileged to see one of the other adult lionesses gingerly carrying a newborn cub in her mouth, shortly after giving birth to it. However, despite seeing her almost daily since, Stretch can find no trace or indication of her cubs and she has rejoined the pride along with her sister who also has no cubs in evidence. The subadult male of the pride, born about two years ago is, to quote Stretch, growing up to be a ‘magnificent specimen’. Already he has perfected the thousand yard stare as he gazes across the floodplain at his future turf, knowing as we all do that no-one reigns forever and that his turn will one day come. He will have serious competition though as Stretch has seen two very big-bodied blonde males (whom he has named The Beach Boys) in the vicinity of Long Pool on numerous occasions.

With this plethora of lion activity going on, it is little wonder that the wild dogs have made themselves scarce this season and denned in the Mopane forest. The open floodplain is without doubt their preferred hunting habitat, relying as they do on their sight and speed and not stealth, but when it comes to denning down, the Mopane Forest is an old favourite.

‘White-back’, who is now the alpha female of the scraggly Nyamepi pack will have stored in her memory bank, a terrible windy and stormy night in October 2005 when the lions surprised the Vundu pack, killing five of her siblings. She is a survivor and knows that in a year like this and with the scraggly dogs she has chosen as her beaus, it is best to keep a low profile until she can build up the strength and numbers of her new pack. Stretch has been extremely sensitive to this fact and only just started taking guests to view her litter from a respectful distance, the pack having just recently left the den and started free-ranging. The pups are still young and at last count only three remain of the original seven. Stretch is not sure if lions, starvation or illness have been responsible for their deaths but it will be an uphill struggle for Whiteback to raise them to maturity, both foodwise and predatorwise and it will be years before she can get this pack to be the efficient killing machine that they need to be in order to compete with the other predators of Mana. We are holding thumbs that on our return to the valley next year White-back and her family will be a common sight on the floodplain. We also raise our caps to her for her exceptionally clever mothering skills this season, despite all the odds stacked against her. She moved her den at least twice in the space of a few weeks to stay ahead of the pack, which in the wilderness is not always a canine or feline one.

Elephant-wise, Mana Pools is still home to some of the grand old fathers of the valley. Mana, Slotted Ear, Severed Trunk, Grumpy and a host of other magnificent bulls are still regular visitors to the camp as they reach up to the topmost branches of the Albidas for the remaining few pods. An elephant bull weighing up to six tonnes, up on his back feet is a wondrous and Mana-specific sight. Incredible strength is needed for this feat and is why only the very mature bulls can manage it. When they bring a branch down laden with the last few pods, it’s a lesson in elephant pecking orders as the bull decides who may eat with him at his table. Trunks are lengthened as assorted subjugates try to steal a stray pod or two from under his watchful eye. As the rains set in, these breeding bulls will follow the cow herds into the interior and it will be well into the dry season before the pods and pools of Mana lure them back. It is always such a relief for us to see these great old tuskers back in the fold, their magnificent ivory testament to at least six or so decades as residents of the floodplain.

Every twenty or so years, Stretch is surprised by something. After a life lived in and on the wild side there is not much that can surprise him in Mana, but the appearance of a pair of duiker on the floodplain certainly has him puzzled. Although solitary in nature, a male and female have been spotted in close proximity to each other. Shy and elusive creatures that much prefer the cover of thickets, a dry and very bare floodplain is certainly not their habitat of choice. Seen on a number of occasions they seem to be quite at home even with vehicles, delicately nibbling away at the last remaining leaves, flowers and twigs on the bare shrubs that they are able to reach. Although uncertain to stay, they were a delight to see and topic of much discussion.

On the birdfront, recent visitors have had some great little cameos to file away into their memory banks. A Pearl-Spotted Owl perched by the side of the road on a bleached hippo skull, African Skimmers nesting on an island sandbank, a fly-past at sunset of over forty Open-Billed Storks and a Jacana male defending his nest of beautiful chocolate-lace eggs from being trampled on by an old Elephant bull in the hyacinth..None of these sightings are rare but as always it’s the light, the proximity and composition of the players and just the pure specialness of the moment that counts for a great photograph, whether captured on camera or in our minds eye. As Stretch always maintains, the most important part of any great photograph is being there in the first place.

And whilst on the subject of being there, a late afternoon canoe trip always provides guests with wonderful opportunities to see special water-birds. The sighting of a Rufousbellied Heron, Ruff, Painted Snipe or an African Skimmer is enough to get even Stretch twitching. To this end we intend putting together some specialized Mana birding safaris in 2008 for those of you keen on the feathered big five. In addition to birding safaris, Stretch has up his sleeve, or somewhere equally as unsavory, a few plans for other specialized safaris next year. Although his ‘wise old’ bones are exhausted from a long and busy season, he is already bouncing around the office with tales of his dreams and plans for next year. Predators and elephants will definitely be high on his list, but as always, he will be up for anything that involves adventure and something a little unusual. We do hope that those of you who Stretch was privileged to host in camp this year took away with you something special, something a little different from the norm, whether it be a unique approach to observing nature or just a unique way of laughing at life in future. We certainly felt privileged to show you Mana Pools from a different perspective and we can’t wait to do the same again next year.

In closing, Stretch, Jenny, Shanese, the camp staff and I would once again like to take this opportunity to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your support this year. Your support, concern and encouragement have not only gladdened our hearts but most importantly contributed both financially and emotionally to the continued upkeep and preservation of one of the last true wilderness areas in Africa. Mana Pools is the jewel of Zimbabwean National Parks and we owe it to future generations, both human and animal, to keep it in a pristine and unspoilt condition. We salute National Parks, our fellow operators and all the friends of Mana for their collective efforts in this direction and we look forward to working equally as closely with them again next season.

To you, our valued guests, agents and friends, we wish a safe and stress-free festive season, shared with the special people in your lives. We hope that some of your dreams came true this year and wherever you are, may we send you a Mana floodplain vista, from whence your mind, when stressed, overworked or overloaded, can both wander and wonder. Do send us in return, your thoughts and news, we love hearing from you all and it makes Stretch feel wanted in a better sense of the word!

Do not hesitate to contact us with any enquiries and those of you who have already booked your safari for next season we thank you very much and like you, we are also chomping at the bit to get back as early as possible. As always, our season will run from the early May to the end of October. We can’t wait!

Take special care.

With kindest regards

Flo Coughlan


For Goliath Safaris
Traditional Tented Camp/ Canoe Trails
Mana Pools
Zimbabwe
Tel; +263 4 739836/7
Email; goliath@africaonline.co.zw
Web; www.goliathsafaris.com

Thanks for posting this Bill. I enjoyed reading it, she writes very well.

Great read... I have been close to Mana Pools but never made it there. I need to take the time and visit someday. Sounds magnificent!

I missed this until now. Thanks for posting Bill as that was a nice read.