The agents’ educational I was invited to at Fothergill was such a success that, a couple of weeks later, I was invited to another. This time there were just 6 agents and it was a combination educational to Rukuru Bush Camp and Nyamoumba River Camp. Both are located on the Zambezi River not far from Chirundu, Rukuru 10kms downstream and Nyamoumba 40kms upstream.
The trip started early on a Thursday morning for the other ladies in the group as they drove down to Chirundu from Harare with me meeting them at Makuti. Under an hour later we were at Mana Transfers Office, on the banks of the Zambezi River, on board our transfer boat heading downstream to Rukuru. It took us a very pleasant half hour to get to Rukuru, but you are also able to self-drive in via dirt road which will take you longer depending on the condition of the road and the time of year. Blake, who is the owner and a professional guide, met us at the boat to drive us the short distance back to the camp. We hadn’t even been on the game drive vehicle 2 minutes and we were already driving past elephants! What a way to enter camp!
Rukuru Bush Camp is located on a private concession with 8kms of river frontage, which is absolutely stunning. There are currently 8 tented en-suite chalets that all overlook the river, each named after an indigenous tree. The central entertainment area has an open-plan lounge and dining area with kitchen adjacent to it. There is a swimming pool to the back of this and a fire pit area on the left. My room for the weekend was called Albida and no sooner had I settled in than 3 young elephants wandered past. Talk about a loo with a view!
After a nice afternoon rest it was time for a game drive with Blake showing us around some of the concession. Tiffany, in our group, has great bush eyes and was the first to spot a lone lion on our drive. Sadly, he disappeared into the bush before I could take a photo. We ended the drive with sundowners and snacks on the banks of the Zambezi River … absolute bliss. And if we thought the lion sighting was the excitement of the day, we were wrong. While sitting around the fire pit waiting for dinner we had those same 3 elephants come up to eat the leaves scattered on the lawn. All of us agents have been to various lodges, but we could all honestly say we had NEVER been as close to wild elephants as we were that night, the one actually sneezed on my foot!
After a comfortable night’s sleep we were up early for a game walk with Blake to show us more of his concession. Many, many years ago Rukuru was actually the site of an old sugar estate (called Sugar 2) and on our bush walk he showed us the ruins of the old pub. We ended the walk at the river where we were met by the pontoon boat and we proceeded to drift down river as Blake cooked us breakfast. We had timed it perfectly, as we ended up down a small side stream where there was a large herd of elephants feeding. Nothing quite beats a bacon and egg roll cooked straight off the skottle while watching a herd of elephants and, as if that wasn’t enough, as we were heading back to camp we watched as another group of elephants swam across the river to feed on one of the islands, a fantastic sighting.
After a couple of hours relaxing and lounging by the pool, it was time for our afternoon game drive, which turned into a game walk when we heard an alarm call by a group of impala close by. Up we went, quick as a flash, following Blake along a pan. Sadly we never found the source of their alarm, but we suspected it was a resident leopard known to inhabit that area. After another magnificent sunset with sundowners and snacks we took a slow drive back to camp after dark in the hope we would see some porcupine, as we had seen a lot of scat while on our walks. We were not disappointed and came across not one but TWO! I have never ever seen a porcupine and neither had one of the other agents, so it was most definitely a highlight of the trip. Just a pity I couldn’t get a nice picture of them in the dark.
Back at camp we had another lovely meal before a good night’s sleep, listening to hyena calling along the riverbed. The following morning we had another early start as some of us wanted to fit in one last game walk. I just couldn’t get over how much Rukuru bush looks like Mana Pools bush, especially with the Albida trees in the morning light. We had a nice long walk in a different part of the concession and walked back to camp for a light breakfast to end off the trip.
I would say the unique selling point for Rukuru is that it has the feel and magic of Mana Pools National Park, but you are not surrounded by lots of other families driving around a limited space, looking for the same animals. You really are in your own piece of paradise and I can’t wait to go back.
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