Rio Elefantes Canoe Trail
Our trip through to the start of the canoe trail was possibly the best part of the trip. Firstly Mozambiquans have had it tougher than most throughout the world with 2 civil wars, poverty and hunger as well as other challenges such as the catastrophic floods in 2000. Yet despite this they are a warm and friendly people who strive to keep trying, working and remain proud. Well this was at least the impression we got from the local Shangaans that we met along the way. There are still a number of villages located in the park but plans are in place to move these residents to areas which are not only similar but supposedly better than what they currently have. This process is however taking sometime as most of the local families have lived there for generations. Many of the villages, particularly those close to the rivers, have to compete with some of the wildlife with their day to day lives. Lions occasionally eat their livestock whilst elephant and hippo help themselves to the crops. All of this makes the PNL a truly authentic African experience where the focus is not just on the fauna and flora but also that of the local people and the their relationships with the wildlife. 
The start of the canoe trail is on the Rio Elefantes River downstream of the Massingir Dam wall. Getting there was a tad tricky but we had given a local woman a lift and with Jake skillfully conversing with her, in what I guessed was supposed to be fanagalore although it sounded more like something out of an Ace Ventura movie, we finally found our way to the park’s head quarters. There we jumped in to a Land Cruiser to be transferred to the river. This next leg was quite scenic and again we passed a number of villages all surrounded by signs of elephant activity. Eventually we left the road and Patrick, our camp assistant, seemed to make it up as we went along leading us through the villages and bush. Eventually after dismantling one of the villager’s thorn fences to create a new access point to the river we reached the canoe trail starting point.
The Rio Elefantes Canoe Trail is a three night, four day trip between the Limpopo and Shingwedzi Rivers. Guests camp wild in rustic fly-camps which are located on different sections of the river. The river is exceptionally scenic and one will often encounter locals swimming, fishing and washing their clothes. Local Nguni cows are very common along the banks and reed beds and if one is lucky you may see elephant, hippo and occasionally buffalo. Our guide Chris, a laid back Malawian, had brought some rods along and encouraged us to try our hand at tiger fishing. Chris mentioned that fishing on the river had been slow so far and that they normally pulled out fish no larger than 2-3 pounds.
The one that didn’t get away…
Fishing was pretty quiet most of the day but as it cooled down the activity started. At one point Jake and myself, whilst trawling a lure behind the canoe, entered a deep and narrow channel. Suddenly the ratchet started screaming but the line was pointing towards the reed bed. I figured we had hooked onto the reeds and Jake paddled us back up river. As I brought in the slack line an enormous tiger fish leapt out of the water right next to the canoes. We were all shocked but the size of Chris’s eyes was priceless. I had hooked onto a pretty decent Tiger fish and after a decent fight and some trouble in finding a beach to stand on I landed the fish. Jake and Chris estimated it at around 8 pounds however I think it might have been slightly bigger. We released the “monster” fish and made our way to our first camp site. That evening we relaxed to some cold beers and a great braai (barbeque) listening to the cries of bushbabies whilst being mesmerized by the large numbers of fire flies flying above the river.
The next morning we started early as the sun first crept through the surrounding fever and sycamore fig trees. Whilst eating breakfast a herd of about 20 elephant waded across the river providing for an excellent view. The day was fairly similar to the last with lots of fishing, swimming and great scenery. The local children found the strange collection of outsiders on canoes quite amusing and I feel we were often the butt of the cheeky youngsters’ jokes. When Paul, one of the Swedes, caught his wide brimmed hat in a thorn tree a bunch of children watching us burst into fits of laughter. It seemed that this was the funniest thing they had ever seen and we could hear them as we drifted all way down the river.
Something else which seemed funny to the rest of the group was the colour of my shins. I had neglected to put sun screen on my legs and the result was a pretty decent roasting. Jake found this particularly funny as he said that my legs resembled those of a male ostrich in breeding display. Back at camp Chris and Jake both managed to hook into some decent tigers both of which were around 4 pounds. Again a great evening was had with the group trading stories to a few beers and a spaghetti bolognaise dinner. During all this ringing bells could be heard from the nearest village- a sign that the herd elephants had decided to pay the crops a visit and the locals were trying to scare them off.
For more reviews, please visit, The Game Lodge Index
No comments:
Post a Comment