Zimbabwe, Mana Pools, November 2016

After the sad happening with the wild dog (see here) I had to leave the park since you’re only allowed into Zimbabwe for 30 days on a normal tourist visa. Not a disaster, since I also had to resupply. I was out of… well almost everything! So off to Lusaka in Zambia. I went for shopping, to the workshop for some minor things and I even got invited by a friend to stay at his place. Always much nicer this way then staying somewhere in your own.

The next day I was all set and ready to drive back. After all I’m on a photographic mission and Mana Pools was calling! So I left very early, but right after the boarder the engine suddenly screamed and all of a sudden switched off. I had no idea what just happened. When I got out and opened the bonnet to check what was wrong I was shocked: everywhere was oil! Well, everywhere except in the engine itself. A pipe broke and driving further was out of the question.

Since Harare was much further away, I decided to try to get back to Lusaka (and so cross the boarder again!). I managed to get towed back to the boarder. Luckily a friend of mine in Lusaka owns a workshop and he organized a towing car to get my car to his workshop. It all took quite some time though and only late at night I arrived back in Lusaka. I was exhausted and lost all trust in a smooth continuation of events. It might be the end of my car.

You can imagine my relief the next morning when it turned out nothing was damaged as the engine switched off because it had been overheated without the oil. Pfieuw!

So with a slight delay and an extra boarder crossing I was back on my way direction to Mana Pools. Fully loaded as you can see!

Back in Mana Pools and so back in the game! One of the first days there, was this magical late afternoon with the dogs. I positioned myself against the light and when the dogs started playing, I was ready to play as well! To be honest, I’m very pleased with the result myself…

Another morning I heard they spotted six lions who killed an elephant close to the BBC camp. The pack of six is known as the spice girls (I know they where only five…). At a certain moment it got interesting when an elephant came and tried to chase the lions away. Without much success since the lions stayed around and where not going to leave there catch easily. It got even more fascinating when another elephant walked in a little later and he gently started sniffing around the dead elephant, touched it with his trunk and while leaving, he stepped very lightly on the tusk as if saying goodbye. It looked as if he was really mournful. Elephants are such social and kind beings.

Since there’s always something going on in Mana, when you look well, I’ve got some random pictures to show it’s magic once again. From the Mana haze to an old injured lion, fishing crocs and a wild dog having a terrible hangover…

It got hotter and hotter each day. I positioned myself a few days at the drying out Chine Pool. Around November different birds arrive for the rainy season. One of them is the broad billed roller. He flies very fast over the water during the hottest time of the day. This is how he drinks. You can imagine, it’s not easy to take pictures of. Not only because it goes fast, but also considering you’ve got to wait for a long time in the boiling sun in the heat of the day and stay concentrated since you can miss it in a blink of an eye. The other bird is a woodland kingfisher who just made a dive to cool down and get some refreshment. I was a bit jealous from my extremely hot office that day! But nevertheless not a bad office at all…