A Mana Pools Smorgasbord

A hippopotamus yawns at sunset over the Zambezi River.

Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe.

An elephant stretches for its lunch.

A zebra stares me down, a bit skeptical of my presence.

Zebras are very alert and always had one eye on me.

Well almost always.  Not this one, kind of a bit distracted by lunch...

I love how their stripes always seem to blend in even with each other.

And since I heart elephants, I naturally needed to include one more photo..

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He's wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.

A mighty male lion in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe.

His lioness.

They were breath taking and one of the highlights of the visit to Ruckomechi Camp.

I've a friend whose son loves, loves, loves animals.  He always asks for videos of anything I see in Africa.
Thus far, I've videoed everything from lizards in Senegal to elephants in Zimbabwe.

And now! My chance to video lions for him, beautiful lions.  He'd be so stoked.  I was so stoked.

And then....we soon rapidly learned that the video I made may not be appropriate for a 4 year old.

I defer to his mom, but here's what happened (thanks for warning us, safari guide!):

Apparently this pair had been mating for just under a week and during the day would mate approximately every 15 minutes for about a minute.  It was insane.  And, how to say it? Progressively more rough each time.  And loud.  Very loud.  I felt his roar after each session reverberate through me.

And to be honest, while he's here roaring, she never quite appeared to have enjoyed any of it. 

Mating males are more aggressive than normal and very territorial.

Which makes it easy to understand why our guides are always armed on safaris in Zimbabwe.

Bonus points if you recognized the quote from this post's title!!

It's from C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:

"[Aslan will] be coming and going" he had said. "One day you'll see him and another you won't. He doesn't like being tied down--and of course he has other countries to attend to. It's quite all right. He'll often drop in. Only you mustn't press him. He's wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.” 

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Take My Breath Away: Mana Pools Style

Oh, be still my heart!  Mana Pools, I believe I have fallen in love with you.

Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe.

The beautiful sunset over the Zambezi River and its lovely baobab trees.

Preparing for the very Zimbabwe custom of a sundowner at sunset.

Mana Pools with the Zambezi and the mountains of Zambia's Rift Valley in the background just left me speechless.

How can a morning not be perfect when you have a walking safari through this landscape?!

This sunset on the Zambezi River reminded me of this sunset in Senegal.

The tree swing at Ruckomechi Camp in Mana Pools.

The rays of the setting sun on the Zambezi River.

Ruckomechi has this tucked away spot to take a bath while the elephants saunter past.

Those of you (lucky enough?) to know me, know I have a ridiculous obsession with taking jumping photos

where ever my adventures take me.  Voila!  My jump for joy at sunset at the Zambezi!

(Thank you, friend, for humoring me and taking the photo.)

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Ruckomechi Camp!

After arriving in Zimbabwe's Mana Pools National Park, we stayed at the Ruckomechi Camp.

And our "tent" was wonderfully relaxing (when the hippos weren't startling us outside!!).

Here's the tent I stayed in (please ignore my forgotten to hide bag on the floor...)

I loved, loved, loved the rock walls.

The tent overlooked the open floodplains of the stunning Zambezi River and the mountains of Zambia's Rift Valley.

The personal facilities.  Word of the wise: either know your traveling partner really well
or be willing to get to know them really well (advice for basically all of Africa!!!!)
...because standards of privacy (such as no doors...) aren't always what you're used to when you visit new places!

The lounging area with its wonderful relaxed air.  Ruckomechi/Mana Pools is by far my favorite place I've visited in Zimbabwe thus far!

A perfect spot to watch the Zambezi River as elephants wander past with the Rift Valley mountains in the background.  Divine.

The paths leading to the tents.  More than a few times I found elephants hanging out here.

And while this skull really has nothing to do with the camp itself, it was too cool not to share.

For more information on Ruckomechi Camp.

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And We're Off to Mana Pools!

Recently traveled to Mana Pools National Park in northern Zimbabwe in the lower Zambezi River region.

This the Parks and Wild Life office--easy to miss and a must stop to register with the park authorities.

Zimbabwe is crawling with these lizards. I have no idea what kind they are but this photo doesn't do their startling blue tails any justice!

The entrance to Mana Pools.  My favorite rule? Please avoid behaviour likely to disturb wild life or people.

Um, yes, please don't give the lions any reasons to attack...

While the dry season is the best for seeing wildlife (it's the dry season now), it makes it difficult for more drought-prone areas in Zimbabwe to survive.  Here, the park entrance makes do with a water tower (and public bathrooms!).

I thought baboons frolicking and leaping were a fitting way to start the new safari adventure!

And a sign of the difficulties of obtaining fuel in more remote parks of the country: the line of jerry cans...

And voila! Immediately entering the park we spot one of the big five: the African buffalo. 

And then this impressive bull elephant that stared us down!  This bodes well for the safari...

and to think! We hadn't even reached our safari lodge yet!

For more information on Mana Pools.

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Snapshots From the Air: Blue Ridge Mountains Ballooning!

I recently took a hot air balloon ride over the glorious Blue Ridge Mountains outside of Charlottesville, Virginia, United States.

This is what the whole world should look like.

Okay, maybe I exaggerate, but I have never once seen the Blue Ridge Mountains and not felt extraordinary joy.

Okay, maybe I exaggerate, but no, no, I don't really. Mountains bring me great joy.

How cool is this?  I must say this is an experience that I'm now looking for excuses to do allllll over the world.

The balloon's shadow over houses near Charlottesville.

The mist rising off the morning reminded me of the awesome mist from this fantastic hike in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe.

The barn near where we touched down after gliding across the Charlottesville skies.

Excellent views, even better company, and my glorious Blue Ridge Mountains--how can this not be beyond wonderful?

Charlottesville from the balloon.

At times the ride felt like a tour of all the fantastic homes on the outskirts of Charlottesville.

I saw a few I wouldn't mind having...but suspect I couldn't afford :)

So incredibly different from my last snapshots from the air!

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