Into Mana Pools with John Stevens

Separated from Zambia by the Zambezi River, Mana Pools is essentially the most lovely nationwide park in Zimbabwe. Some folks, together with John Stevens, the nation’s most revered safari information, would go even additional, declaring this UNESCO World Heritage Site to be the loveliest large sport sanctuary in Africa.

Encompassing a pristine wilderness roughly half the scale of Surrey, it’s a land of giants, of colossal timber and large elephants. In the native Shona language ‘Mana’ means “four”, referring to a quartet of idyllic oxbow lagoons left by the Zambezi’s former meanderings.

Now in his 70s, Stevens has been wandering round Mana Pools for shut on half a century and has misplaced none of his enthusiasm for what he describes as “the best walking country in Africa.”

As warden of Mana Pools within the Nineteen Seventies, he obtained to know each inch of the park when finishing up anti-poaching patrols. Then in 1981, he left the Parks Department to construct Chikwenya Safari Camp, and 4 years later struck out on his personal to develop into certainly one of Zimbabwe’s first non-public safari guides.

His camp was revived by his daughter Sarah and her husband Milo in 2009, they usually entered a partnership with Robin Pope Safaris in 2017, when it was renamed John’s Camp. As you would possibly anticipate with such skilled pedigree, John’s Camp is a real no-frills bush camp that also offers the important luxuries: smooth beds, scorching showers, alfresco eating below the celebrities – and a location to die for overlooking the huge Zambezi floodplains.

With John’s Camp as your base, his staff of skilled native guides will present you the wonders of this distinctive sanctuary on every day sport drives or on foot, strolling down the infinite aisles of winterthorns, the place impala flit by way of the dappled shade and elephant bulls come to shake down the ripe seedpods.

With luck you could spot the wild canines filmed by the BBC for Dynasties, one of many best-ever Attenborough blockbusters. And luckier nonetheless, ought to Stevens himself be round, you would possibly get the prospect to go strolling with this extraordinary man, as I did throughout my keep.

Having heard the Nyamatusi lion satisfaction roaring throughout the evening, we set out at first mild to search for them. The solar was barely over the horizon, however already one million Cape turtledoves have been exhorting the world to “work harder, work harder”, as we discovered the lion tracks and adopted them throughout the plains.

For greater than an hour we pursued them, with Stevens offering a grasp class within the artwork of monitoring. It grew to become apparent that we have been getting shut when he all of a sudden stopped to level out a tuft of dry grass that has been flattened below their toes – and which was now slowly rising!

“Isn’t this marvellous?” he whispered with a boyish grin. But after we got here to the Jesse – the impenetrable bush nation that covers the park’s hinterland, he held up his hand. “Don’t think we’ll push them any further, he said. “It’s so thick in there we could walk right into them.”