"Wherever you camp in the bush you leave a part of yourself behind. "

En route from Harare to Mana Pools, we stopped off at Chinoyi Caves, eerie and mystical. In fact we "stopped off" for so long that we realized we would not get down the Escarpment and make Mana Pools before the end of day. 

This is now a really deep hole in the ground! Depth unknown.

Water is so blue and clear.

Underground exploration of the Caves.

So we pulled in to Makuti Travel Lodge for the night - rather deserted but they were so pleased to have guests for the night and could not do enough for us! Rod, however, ended up sleeping in the car halfway through the night - it was so dark and we had seen freshly broken car glass lying around !?

A bygone era but they are trying!

15 Aug 2015

Mana is wild, make no mistake. The nightly cacophony of noises, oh so close! , made us very pleased that we were off the ground. But daytime drives and walks revealed not much in the way of numbers or variety of game. We were a bit disappointed with the lack of game, but actually more heart sore, because what has happened to all the animals? 

Of course these creatures were in abundance.

We were camped at Nyamepi campsite beside the mighty Zambezi River and longed to jump in and swim but the multitudes of crocs and hippos made us ultra cautious.

This Ellie passed Necia within 2m.

Early evening visitors sent us scurrying with the salad in hand!

The landscape is dry, bare and interspersed with spectacular trees. We really did leave a bit of our hearts there and fervently hope that continued poaching does not destroy this legacy further.

After three nights we decided to head for Chirundu border post and Zambia. Kariba can wait until we return with our family and significant others and hire a houseboat ( soon! )

Chirundu was interesting - even Interpol tried to get a bribe from us but we acted extra doff and madala !

Been wonderful, but goodbye Zim, hello Zambia!