Talking about the trip to Zimbabwe last October: it was fantastic!!
I don’t think there could be a better way to celebrate ten years since my first trip to Africa. Without diminishing the great migration in the Masai Mara or Amboseli elephants, I think the two dinners in Chitake, in the darkness in the dry river bed, with the animals parading to drink a few inches from us, was my most emotional and intense moment that I lived in my ten years of trips to Africa. I would have stayed there longer if I could. The chef was also amazing, I don’t know how he could prepare such outstanding food in the middle of nowhere!
And it was great to cross the spring on foot, light up the dry elephant dung to chase the tse-tse flies, climb the river banks to follow the buffalos coming to drink, encountering two Civets chasing each other… all amazing moments. I would give Chitake a full 10 out of 10 and even if Federico said the tents were very basic (which is true), I wouldn’t change anything, it’s all perfect as it is.
Mana Pools was an amazing experience, thanks also to Nick, who is really an amazing added value. Having him makes you feel very safe even two meters away from a 5 tons elephant bull or ten meters from three Lionesses, or in the middle of a Wild dogs’ pack. Though he is quite expensive, I definitely wouldn’t want to do this safari with anyone else. The place is wonderful, and if Heaven exists as a physical place, or as a spiritual place, I really think it’s here in Mana Pools!
Beautiful tents on the shores of the Lower Zambesi with amazing landscapes and breath-taking sunsets, Lions and Elephants in the camp. Perfect cuisine, better than at any other camp I have been to.
The canoe trip with lunch in the middle of the river, with feet in the water, was an amazing moment. Encountering the Wild Dogs and watching the Elephant Stompy feed protected only by a fallen log, have been other unforgettable moments that will remain forever in my heart.
Should I describe this safari in just three words I would say: the ultimate safari. I don’t know if it’s clear enough, but I totally fell in love with Mana Pools, both Chitake and the floodplains.
I was forgetting about Matusadona. I loved it as well. The boat ride on the flat lake that looks like a sea, the dead trees forest rising from the water, the raised rooms on platforms with a stunning view on the lake, and the Elephants walking just around them, will remain in my memories.
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