daniel chigunwe
Isdore Guvamombe
Tourism Talk
The mighty Zambezi River flows through the Lower Zambezi Valley bordering Zimbabwe and Zambia, as a huge rift in the earth’s crust. Over the millennia the Zambezi has rushed through this valley creating islands, channels and sandbanks.
Old river meanders, left in the mineral-rich volcanic soils, have formed into small ox-bow lakes surrounded by lush vegetation and tall old stands of mahogany and ebony.
This abundance of water and luxuriant greenery accounts for the valley’s wealth of big game. Within the stunted bush shrubbery and lush vegetation surrounding the four huge pools, buffalo graze hurriedly conscious of stalking lions and appear always restless while on the trees, chirping birds somersault from one branch to another.
Under the canopy of whipping riverine trees, a spitting distance away, elegant eland mix with shaggy water buck, radiant butterflies flutter gently between flowering shrubs while dragon flies hover above lily flowers.
For those who have fallen in love with nature, the effortless aerial displays of dragonflies on the lily-studded water ponds are a spectacle to watch. There are also flycatchers, white-collared pratincole, banded snake eagle and yellow spottedi nicator birds.
It is common spectacle to see a huge elephant bull, stand on its hind legs, its trunk attempting to reach for its lunch from a sausage tree. This is Mana Pools, where Zambezi River changed its course a long time ago due to massive siltation, forming four distinct ox-bow lakes.
The national park is home to magnificent and enormous elephants that return year after year to the same places and are well known to the locals in the area. Big, beefy and stocky black buffalo are always about and predators like leopards, lions and cheetah are seen regularly.
The pools are also a haven for crocodiles and large hippo pods. To the south, far distant blue hills of the Zambezi Escarpment, give a good background for the human eye.
But it is the four main pools and several smaller pools scattered along the river course and the cliffs hanging over the river and floodplains that provide shelter to a large and varied wildlife population.
The Long Pool is the largest and extends some 6km in a west to east direction. Lovely big old trees, provide a shady canopy with sparse undergrowth. This makes for easy walking and is one of the reasons why this area is perfect for walking safaris.
Mana Pools National Park stretches across 2 000km² of prime Zambezi river front vegetation, much of which is inaccessible except on foot and as a result is completely virgin.
The geomorphology includes islands and sandbanks fringed by dense forests of baobab mingled indigenous trees, as well as the rugged Zambezi escarpment.
Full story on: www.herald.co.zw
Online Reporter