Reviews
A unique, awesome and breathtaking safari experience.
Goliath Safaris' camp in Mana Pools sits on the bank of the Zambezi River. The day starts with some porridge by the camp fire as the first light of the day colours the Zambian escarpment on the other side of the river, turning it through a range of reds and pinks to its mid-day blue. In the evening the setting sun inflames the western sky to the guests' left as the hippos stir and grunt, ready for their night of foraging.
Stretch Ferreira hustles his guests to finish their morning tea and coffee and it is off to see what has happened overnight and to find where the wildlife has chosen to settle down for the day. Stretch guides, striding out at the head of his small group of guests, but he is so much more than a guide. I have been to over forty sub-Saharan safari camps and so feel qualified to say there is no one who equals his talents, skills and intuitive sense of how the wildlife is thinking and going to behave. It is a sense that brings his guests to the wildlife's very feet, time and again and with an unerring accuracy and consistency that is unnerving.
I have no idea how he does it - all I know is I return every year to benefit from his instincts and tracking skills, and that speaks volumes because amongst all my very regular travels, there is nowhere else I return to annually. For a wildlife photographer, the Goliath experience is sublime and unique and I shall be back.
If any reader is looking for adventure, with close and safe encounters with completely wild animals, I would start and end with Goliath - no point in going anywhere else as Goliath will have spoiled it for you.
Email Vicky Unwin | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Walk with the elephants in the company of Zimbabwe's most experienced guide
Mana Pools is my idea of heaven. Goliath camp is a collection of seven guest tents, bar, open-air dining room and braai/seating area overlooking the fast-flowing Zambezi. Simply furnished, each tent boasts a flush loo and wood-burning shower. A far cry from my earliest memories of camping with my Dad in Tanganyika, where the showers were from buckets and the loo a hole in the ground, or better still, the open air. In those days, my dad would build a little fire in the park, and do a great fry up…such memories fuel my great love of the bush and Mana, a world heritage site where you can walk, seems to approximate my recollection of a carefree childhood more than anywhere else
This is the fourth time we have stayed in Goliath camp, with living legend tracker and guide Stretch Fereirra, a huge man with a laugh like a hippo and a mane like a lion, who is best known as an elephant whisperer. The Stretch ‘experience’ consists of ‘moments’, as he calls them up, closer to elephants and lions, not without some risk and excitement. One such shared moment, when we were charged out of nowhere by One Tusk, Stretch says is up there with one of scariest he’s had…
The typical day starts with drums at 4.45, tea and porridge by the fire, then a scramble into the landrovers to see what tracks are fresh. Stretch and Reuben, the other guide, noses glued to the roadside, will say things like ‘fresh leopard/lion/wild dog here, only an hour ago,’ and we will disembark, don water bottles and set off for our early morning walk through the bush.
On the second morning we were lucky to find the local pride, the Spice Girls and their two litters of young cubs, plus their five adolescent males; the Back Street Boys were absent on a mission. You never approach a lion in a straight line, so we zig-zag from anthill to anthill until we get close enough to be able to sit and watch them quietly. The next day they kindly stopped by the road for us! ‘Cheap lions’, that’s called.
Coffee and cake under a tree at about 9 am, beside the river, by a pan or in a shady spot. On the second day we had been tracking the wild dogs in the Wilderness area, and as we sit down a tray of bacon and avocado sandwiches arrive as if from a local take away! On another, as we sat at Vundu point, a man appeared from nowhere, toting an MK47. ‘Do not be scared’, he said, ‘I am human.’ He was a ranger, part of the anti-poaching squad whose job it is to patrol the park and ‘shoot to kill’. He spoke excellent English and we learned a lot about the career path in National Parks!
After brunch we might go for a swim in the Zambezi with a glass of wine; the Zambezi mud is an excellent exfoliator, and if you stay in the shallows the risk from crocs and hippos is minimal. Elephants and hippos splash in the distance, the carmine bee-eaters and fish eagles swoop and call to each other, the pied kingfisher hovers and dives.
In the late afternoons we set out again, often on foot: searching for buffalo; the elusive Boswell, the old bull who stands on his hind legs to reach the acacias, but who on this trip remained elusive; lions and elephant ‘moments’.
Canoeing and fishing are other afternoon activities. Rick and Diego caught two huge Vundu (catfish), the largest weighing up to 40kgs. They were returned, of course, being protected.
Each time I visit Mana I visit the spot, an island mid stream, where we sent [our daughter] Louise’s ashes on a final journey to the Indian Ocean. This time Siraaj, one of the camp guides, had prepared a beautiful driftwood boat, loaded with flame-red combritum and fragrant white caparis blooms. As a small croc slithered into the water, I waded in to launch our boat, which bobbed merrily downstream, catching the fast current. As we paddled on, we could see it in the vermillion sunset, like an ancient Viking coracle going to its Valhalla.
Sundowners await us on return to camp, or by the river bank. One evening we went and sat by Mochumi pan, sipping chilled white wine while elephants and baboons frolicked in the murky water. Sometimes the cows and calves – the most dangerous of elephants as the mums are extremely aggressive – are a bit close for comfort .
Dinner is a delicious braai with Stretch doing the honours, or a civilized sit down affair round the huge wild mango table. Flo, co–owner of the camp, and now a good friend, has trained the two camp chefs, Richard and Nicholas, and the food is delicious. Sarah, a delightful Zimbabwean girl, is our hostess and looks after us beautifully
This visit we had taken over the whole camp and filled it with friends, many of who were celebrating birthdays. Quite an undertaking planning a trip for 14 people, chartering planes from the hugely efficient Executive Air, booking hotels, pick-ups, restaurants, briefing the team on essentials…and trying to enjoy the holiday as well!
But enjoy it I certainly did, and can't recommend the Stretch experience highly enough.
US
Email John D S Kelly | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Fire your therapist. Go to Mana
What can one say about a Goliath Safari at Mana Pools?
Well quite a lot actually. A safari with Stretch is not like other safaris in Africa. It is not a sterile experience looking at Hippo from inside an air-conditioned landcruiser.
No, it’s not like that at all. You are in the sand and heat and right up close and personal with the animals. You know who you are after you have been charged by three lions and have walked with the elephants. I have never experienced anything like it, and I loved it.
Go with a group of friends. Your life back hope fades as quick as the African sun goes down behind the Zambian hills. You bond with your friends in a way you can never do at home. The romance, the adrenalin, the shared experience with them is something you will never forget.
And even if you are traveling alone or as a couple, you will get to know your fellow guests at the dinner table under the stars (and what a bunch, royalty, stars, politics, it’s all been round that table)
If you are very lucky, Flo (Stretch’s business partner) will be there to add elegance and some wry wit.
I can’t recommend this strongly enough. Fire your therapist. Go to Mana.
J Kelly
New York
US
Email Snookie | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
back in 1995, my experience with Goliath camping to Mana Pools was as extraordinary back then as it
Back in October 1995, my friend,Terry,and I had an unforgettable experience with Goliath! Am thrilled to see that you 're still going strong....and better than ever! I'll never forget our guides Michael and Joshua, and their kindness and competence. Stretch, when you personally drove Terry from Harare ( after her late arrival) to meet up with the rest of our group, we wanted you to come work with us at Delta Airlines! How I wish that I could afford to go on another safari with Goliath. Blessings and love to you all!!