Welcome to the New Year everyone!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season with your family and friends or out on safari. Here in Southern Africa, we have had a slow start to our rain season through November and December but thankfully we are now seeing some more meaningful rains and rivers and dams are now filling which is so important for all at every level on our landscapes. Everyone really hopes this momentum continues as we have had one of the driest and hottest years on record in 2024!

Looking back on the year just past amazes me as to how far and wide I travelled around Africa, and further afield when I scroll through my pictures and passport it is incredible what I have seen and been, so I would really like to thank all those that were there with me to enjoy some of these incredible places on this planet from Borneo to Botswana, it really is so much appreciated. Looking forward to this year I will again be seeing some big parts of Africa starting with a safari into Gonarezhou National Park of Southeastern Zimbabwe and then onto Gabon followed by Zakouma National Park and the Ennedi Plateau in Chad, what a way to start the year!

We had a team familiarization trip to Uganda in early December to update ourselves on the current situation there and to get a firsthand feel for things that have happened like the recent development of oil drilling platforms and paved main road within the Murchison Falls National Park which has been very controversial. From what we saw it sure has not affected the volume of animals you see and appears quite tidy and neat, but it is surreal seeing one of these rigs with a herd of Elephants or Hartebeest and Oribi nearby. Always a tough discussion to consider the economics and realities of these projects with no easy solutions that will suit all parties, how they are seen in the long-term analysis and the actual benefits from these projects remain to be seen. The big primates were as always incredible, and we had some amazing experiences with them.

Some Good news…

There is always good news around which we are looking forward to happening in the New Year – The Rewilding of 2000 White Rhino by African Parks from the Platinum Reserve in South Africa to other parks around South Africa and further afield in Africa will continue this year, some of these will be topping up populations to increase diversity and in other cases it will be the start of new populations. An immense effort ahead to get this done which is not only the physical relocation but the establishment of a safe environment to let these animals thrive is a huge task.

There are some excellent re-greening projects around Africa to recover very damaged areas that have had the compounded problem of overgrazing combined with excess or reduced rainfall and poor farming techniques. Getting these areas corrected is a multi-faceted project that will be area specific and is never a quick fix but at least they have started and with the right support will be successful, as often they are being driven by the communities themselves with the right education and support from various organizations working on this. You can see some of these at work in many countries of Africa especially East and Southern Africa – You can take a look at these links to show the type of work happening- Just Diggit or the Savory Holistic Management

Some More Good News…

In what I think will be a first for road development in Africa, well certainly Zimbabwe anyway, and reducing the road kills that happen annually for the wildlife when these roads route through wild areas is the development of wildlife underpasses - this project is being driven by Matt Parvin (Stacey’s Husband) here in Zimbabwe and will hopefully see a number of these underpasses being built at various strategic known wildlife crossing points, into some of the main trading routes including the road that goes through the Zambezi Valley, allowing wildlife to move without having to navigate the vehicle traffic. It is not a new concept and has been done with good success in other parts of the World with some interesting examples being the penguin tunnels in New Zealand or the 16-ft high bridge for the red crabs in Australia!

If this works well it can then become a blueprint for other road construction projects around Zimbabwe and Africa. I wish them all the very best in making this happen and hopefully a plan that can be used more commonly around Africa.

From the Campfire - Words by Lita Denny

“It’s been 10 years since I first set eyes on Mana Pools, and it was wonderful to be back soaking up the delicious sights and sounds on the banks of the mighty Zambezi. Doug introduced us to the delights of Zimbabwe in 2014 and that trip changed my perception of what is important on a safari forever.

Rolling into Mucheni 4 camp all those years ago I didn’t really know what to expect, but it took me all of 30mins to realise “oh, so THIS is what a safari could be and should be”. In your own camp, no set activities, walk where you want, eat and sleep as you please. Just you, a great guide, amazing game and enough home comforts and heart stopping encounters to leave you speechless every day.

Roll forward 10 years and I was back for a third time and to my beloved Mucheni 4 too. This time we brought with us two friends who had never been to Zimbabwe or on a walking safari. With the luxury of not moving for 6 nights we had the most incredible time with Doug guiding us, laughing with us and motivating us at 4.45am with good coffee and decisions on what to do today. Shall we walk from camp or maybe see if we can find that Lion’s den everyone is talking about? Perhaps drive out to where the dogs were and see if we can track them on foot or maybe head out for a drive towards Chikwenya to see what we can find. Of course, we did all those things and more and were rewarded every day due to Doug’s extraordinary guiding skills and our willingness to wing it when we couldn’t decide what to do!

Mana Pools is such a unique place; I’ve never been anywhere like it. The freedom to roam, meeting interesting people from self-drivers to millionaires; people from Zimbabwe to all over the world and from all backgrounds. It’s not a hermetically sealed private concession where you won’t see another living soul other than those in camp. You see lights over the water, hear the boats up and down the Zambezi. It’s all part of the charm, it’s not a wilderness preserved in aspic, with all mod cons that only the rich can access and its all the better for it. Perhaps I would describe it as more honest view of today’s world where humans and wildlife in national parks need to co-exist.  

Being able to retreat to your own simple camp, dine under the stars and listen to the hippos munching, hyena calling and lions roaring as you drift off to sleep is the ultimate luxury though and one, I will always find hard to resist.

We departed Mana chattering about our next trip which we are planning for 2026. I’ve had a Tsavo itch to scratch for 35years having been there on my first safari (in one of those sardine tins from Mombasa). I’ve always wanted to go back and walk in Tsavo and so we may decide on a Laikipia / Tsavo combo or maybe Mozambique which comes highly recommended. Tough but not unpleasant decisions and one is already made, we won’t be going anywhere without Doug!”