It is almost a fairy-tale, how could it be real, we may ask when told of the stories of Mana Pools. The red fire of the African day’s final moments cuts through the deep blues of the Ana tree forest and paints the land in a way so unique to the inexorably beautiful Mana Pools. You are on foot alongside some of Africa’s most renowned pro-guides, who will lead you into something you could never have prepared yourself for. Your heart rate will rise, naturally, when you first accept you are approaching a group of elephants or wild dogs or lions, on foot, without a jeep or barrier between you and them. But when you are with them, and under the safe guidance of Zimbabwe’s pro-guides, the world falls away. All you can hear is the sound of elephants rumbling gently around you. The breath exhaled from their trunk can be heard as they search the forest floor for pods to eat. And then you see it, time stands still, one of the old bulls stiffens, stretches his trunk upwards, contracts his hindquarters before rising on his back legs, reaching up for higher, otherwise unattainable branches. You brace as he descends, his trunk wrapped around a branch, yet only small plumes of dust escape his feet as they softly land back on the ground. You breathe again, the elephants have come and gone, yet you are content, you are changed forever. The perfect place to unlock your true creative voice.