HORSE &
HIPPO SAFARI -
7 Nights 8 Days Valid 2007 & 2008
Day 1: ( Begins weekly on Friday)
On arrival at Harare airport you will be met and transferred
by road to the Mavuradonha Mountains, a 3 hour drive to Kopje
Tops Lodge — is a magnificent stone and thatch structure
sitting high amongst the trees.
1 Night at Kopje Tops Lodge (inclusive all meals, local drinks
and beverages)
Relax in the comfort of the lodge or get to know your horse with
an afternoon ride before drinks and dinner.
This 3 level lodge is where you meet for meals and drinks
Accommodation is in 6 chalets scattered at the
base of Kopje Tops, sleeping up to 12 guests all with full en
suite and hot showers.
Day 2 and 3: - Bat Caves Camp
2 Nights at Bats cave camp (inclusive all meals, local drinks
and beverages).
Includes route on horse back from Kopje Tops Lodge in the direction
of the Tingwa River,
Includes tracking Elephant and other game,
Visiting cave paintings,
Swimming in waterfalls,
And having 600km of mountainous wilderness to explore.
Bat Caves Camp is a more rustic yet very comfortable
bush camp situated a day’s ride from Kopje Tops Lodge.
After a long day in the saddle you will appreciate the hot bucket
showers, comfy beds and wholesome, freshly prepared meals. Set
above the Tingwa River, and very remote, all our supplies will
be brought in via porter or pack-horse as there are no roads.
Day 4: Kopje Tops Lodge
After breakfast, at 07h30, the professional guide will work
out the route along the valleys, mountains and rivers for the
horse ride back to Kopje Tops Lodge
. Some routes are mountainous with precipitous paths, some quick
and relatively easy. Some are best for rock paintings, others
meander along rivers lined with tall waterberries and through
open vleis. There are at least ten different ways back through
eight different valleys ensuring you never take the same path
home. Arrive back into Kopje Tops at approx 16h30.
1 Nights at Kopje Tops Lodge (inclusive all meals, local drinks
and beverages)
Day 5: Mana Pools - canoe safari
There is a chance of an early morning short walk before breakfast
An early breakfast before the 45-minute drive to Siya Lima air
strip.
It is then a short air charter flight (approx 1 hours) to Mana
Pools National Park.
After being collected by your guide and then paying your National
Park entry fees at the Parks office, you are driven to the first
night’s camp, a distance of approx 30 km. This is a leisurely
game drive through the spectacular Mana Pools floodplain
On arrival at ‘Vundu’, your first camp, you will
enjoy lunch of a fresh camp cooked meal, salads and freshly baked
breads.
Then it’s a short drive to the launch spot near the confluence
of the Ruckomechi and Zambezi Rivers.
Your guide will give a full safety briefing and will also run
through the basic methods of steering and controlling the 18ft
Canadian style fibre glass canoes.
A slow paddle gives you time to get used to the canoes. You
should start to see some of the multitude of animals and birds
that are attracted to the water’s edge. Hippo, buffalo,
elephant and crocodile as well as a variety of antelope species
may be seen.
Your arrival at camp is around sunset. The camp is fully prepared
and you will be able to sit back and relax with sundowners, snacks
and hot showers all waiting for you. Dinner and overnight in spacious
walk-in tents.
Day 6: canoe and walk
You are woken just as the dawn breaks. Hot water is placed in
raised basins
outside each tent, while tea, coffee and biscuits are already
waiting by the campfire.
While everyone gets their personal kit together the support staff
load the canoes
With everything that will be needed for the day. Guests need
only worry about a
small daypack carrying the essentials such as sunblock, camera
and spare film, hat and binoculars.
We try to be in the canoes and on the water in time to watch
the sunrise – one of the most magical times of the day.
You paddle for a further one or two hours before stopping to
breakfast under a grove of acacia trees.
After breakfast you will be taken on a walk into the floodplains
and surrounding woodlands. This is a great time to try and catch
some of the predators before they hide up for the day. You will
spot a variety of animal spoors and may even find yourself engrossed
in tracking down a particular species.
Returning to the canoes you head downstream to an area renowned
for its huge, old elephant bulls. We try to time our trip to catch
them swimming or wading out to the grass islands. Our break for
lunch coincides with the heat of the day.
After you’ve refreshed yourself with a great lunch and
ice cold drinks you have the choice to either take another short
walk or just to relax and enjoy an afternoon siesta.
The late afternoon and evening is spent drifting down to camp,
arriving at sunset. Overnight at camp ‘Chessa’ in
comfortable tents.
Day 7
Today you continue drifting down the Zambezi and enter the ‘Wilderness
Area’ of Mana Pools National Park, where there is limited
access to people and vehicles. Paddle through a maze of small
channels before once again joining the main Zambezi River. Lunch
is on one of the shallow sandbanks in the middle of the river.
This afternoon is your last of canoeing. There may be time (depending
on water levels) to explore on foot Chikwenya Island, a unique
island which is host to a prolific bird population and a number
of interesting mammal species.
In the afternoon you will paddle into Illala camp to spend your
last night on the river.
Day 8 - fly back to Harare
On your last day relax in camp or go for an early morning walk
and then have a late breakfast before transferring to Chikwenya
airstrip and your light aircraft charter to Harare. Connect onto
your flight to Johannesburg.
NOTE: There is a maximum luggage limit of 10kgs per person on
the charter flights. Soft bags only.
Also included:
· All charter flights and transfers
· accommodation including all meals throughout
· all safari activities including riding, walking, birding
(and canoeing – 8 day package)
· all local drinks (soft & alcohol)
· conservation fees for Mavuradonha Wilderness
Excluded: Airport taxes, Mana Pools national
park fees (currently USD 30 per person for the 4 day canoe trip),
and items of a personal nature.
TOTAL PRICE:
per person
LOW SEASON USD 2945 | € 2185 : April – end
June
HIGH SEASON USD 3150 | € 2335 : July – mid
November
Bookings: We
require full names and dates
You can email us at
|
Kopje Tops
Elephants
encounter
top 