MDONYA OLD RIVER CAMP

Sightings of the month

One of the thrills of being in the bush and going on safaris is that the wildlife behaviour continues to surprise you and give you unexpected encounters.

This month we had several unusual carnivore sightings that surprised even our most experienced guides.
We saw a male leopard who had killed and was eating a small lion cub just minutes drive from camp.
Some of our guests then had a rare sighting of 6 wild dogs and the remains of a cheetah which they had killed. Watch a short video with the elusive dogs.
Another unusual sighting of interaction between different carnivores occurred when two female lionesses chased a leopard off its recently killed impala, the lionesses then fought over the impala and in doing so tore the impala in half. Leopards are notoriously solitary animals so it was an special sighting to see two honeymooning leopards together during the middle of the day in the shade of a big tree.
Lion sightings have been numerous this month, lions eating kills, lions mating and to everyone’s delight the Mdonya Pride and Ifuguru Pride have small cubs and have been seen regularly. Watch the video “Mdonya – wild wild experience!”

Our good friends the elephants have been seen increasingly in and around the camp, always ready to entertain our guests.

By Rebecca, Andrea and all Mdonya Team.

LAKE MANZE CAMP

Sightings of the month

The thunderous roar of the king of the bush, the grunting of the hippos at night, the snorts from the herds of Impala and Wildebeest and the whooping of Hyenas. All sounds from the Selous that will linger on in every guest’s memory forever and a day.

Game drives have gone extremely well with the fortunate few experiencing a couple of kills this month from the various prides of Lions in the area. The camp was lucky enough to have a pride stroll through camp late one evening only to have them disappear into the bush by the next morning. The concerted effort by the guides and drivers who managed to spot them later in the day to the delight of the many guests we have had here at Lake Manze in the month of August.

Two great finds of Serval and the elusive Jackal on a morning drive were a talking point around the dinner table that night that led to extensive planning for the next day. A group of guests on an all day safari earlier this month managed to track down a group of five wild dogs but seemed to have disappeared into thin air by the next day. The pack of eleven wild dogs were also spotted a couple of days ago close to the hot springs and we are hoping that they will move closer soon.

There is a saying that goes something like this “There are many bugs in Africa that bite but the biggest bite is the urge to experience Africa again.” Hopefully the Selous and Lake Manze travel experience bites the hardest.

Thank you very much to all our August guests, for your company and stories we could share. We hope that the bug has bitten and that you will all be back soon.

Safe travels.
See you all soon,
By Shaun, Milinda and all Manze Team.

FANJOVE PRIVATE ISLAND

News from the water side

We have had plenty of fantastic things happening in Fanjove in August.
With the great weather, our guests were all buzzing with happiness.
We were “Wow”ed by the migrating whales that we sighted just a few meters from our shore.
This indicates that the area is an important calving ground for them in the region.
A team of renowned architects visited the island to come up with a restoration plan for our beautiful lighthouse.

Our activities roster was a major hit and plenty of dolphins, rays, lobsters, sea turtles and beautiful coral sightings have been reported.
We have also completed the building of our new dive center.
At evening, when the tides were low, we walked our guests to the nearby sea ponds for a unique experience of sea creatures sighting. Tiny shrimps, moray eels, crabs, sea hairs and many other nocturnal creatures were out there in the silence of the night.
Last but not least, our attractive shore land and natural beauty keeps bringing tourists from all around the world and we hope to preserve this for the future generations.

Fanjove is like nowhere else on earth. It’s its own world.

By Hassan, Hakim and all Fanjove Team.