Great Enclosure, Great Zimbabwe, near Masvingo, Zimbabwe, Africa
Great Zimbabwe is the largest stone structure ever built south of the Sahara. In its heydays (between the 11th and 14th century) it served as the royal residence of an empire that reached from Botswana to the coast. Trading gold and ivory for clothes, beads and ceramics with far away places like India, Arabia and China made the city rich. Continue Reading →
Volunteering has become a fast growing industry, a very profitable business fed by well-meaning people, who for various reasons devote some time of their life to helping others. Africa seems to be predestined for such endeavors. During our many trips we learned that the continent is swarming with volunteers, working at schools, villages, game reserves, hospitals, with blind people, handicapped people, you name it! Most of them are young, spending anytime from a day to a year for a good cause. Continue Reading →
Training & Riding Elephants, Antelope Park, near Gweru, Zimbabwe, Africa
Having already spent 85 USD per person on the lion walk the day before and being happy that the sun was out, we felt like what the heck, let’s splurge again! Elephant training was on the agenda, for only 20 USD. This included elephants performing all kinds of tricks (lifting their legs, kneeling down, kicking a ball) and putting up with us. Hopefully they did not mind us sitting on their legs, on top of them, grabbing their trunk, touching their rough skin and taking photos as if there is no tomorrow. The only thing that irritated us was that one foot of each elephant was tied down with a chain. What looked like a precaution still felt funny. Continue Reading →
Walking with Lions, Antelope Park, near Gweru, Zimbabwe, Africa
Antelope Park, a game reserve with a resort-like touch, offers something very, very unique: a “Walk with Lions”! Expecting cubs, as promoted on the website, we were rather surprised to find two large lionesses lying in the grass. The trainers introduced them as 20 months old cubs (!) A bit embarrassed by their slackness the trainers explained, “They had just been fed and are a bit lazy“. Trying to make the lions rise, they pocked them with wooden sticks, which only triggered repeated yawning, revealing a set of mighty teeth. With the powerful fangs clearly visible, we certainly did not mind the big cats being lazy and sleepy! Continue Reading →
Harare, Zimbabwe, Africa
Looking back, we still find only one reason for staying in Harare: to break up a trip. A good place to do so is at “It’s A Small World” guesthouse. The lovely garden with pool and nicely decorated rooms are truly inviting, all for 40 USD a double. Only the kitchen could need some improvement, but no worries. The mall down the road features a cool café, where mainly white and Indian business people sip their café latte and some restaurants. The Bon Marché supermarket fits right in. Even though it was too pricey to shop there, it was great for looking. Continue Reading →
Suddenly signs popped up along the road claiming Chinhoyi was the city of the “best worms”. We were baffled. Was this a local delicacy? All the information we could find in our Bradt Guide was that Chinhoyi had spectacular limestone caves with large blue underground pools, a cave divers’ paradise. Curious, we decided to give it a shot and stay for the night. Besides we had left Mana Pools National Park only early afternoon and could not make it into Harare before night fell. Continue Reading →
A group of 13 of the very rare Painted Dogs or African Wild Dogs (Lycaon Pictus) after an Impala (Aepyceros Melampus) Kill, Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, Africa
Death is never far in the wilderness. After decaying hippos, crocs killing crocs and the discovery of all kinds of skeletons, the most fascinating incident was yet to come. It happened on our last morning walk, when Gus was trying to find a big cat, as he put it. All of a sudden a large pack of funny looking creatures raced by us, very close. Some even sped towards us, stopped short as if confused and then followed the pack. “Painted dogs!” Gus hissed, “They are extremely rare. Let’s follow them, they are hunting.” Continue Reading →
Lappet-Faced Vulture or Nubian Vulture (Torgos Tracheliotos), Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, Africa
The stench we noticed first, whiffing across the water! Gus immediately knew what it was, a decaying carcass. A few more strokes with our paddles and we could see the corpus delicti, a dead hippo lying on a small island. A vulture had already landed on its bloated body. Others were circling above. Next was the skeleton of a hippo, on one of our morning walks we stumbled across it in a dried up pen. Diligently we studied the enormous bones and how they were spread around the dried up water hole, probably by those in the food chain who did the cleaning job. Continue Reading →
Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus Amphibious), Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, Africa
Of course we remembered what Gus had said during the briefing, “There are times where you need to concentrate on other things than taking a photo.” When we approached a narrow passage littered with hippos, we sensed that this might be such a moment. Gus was knocking the paddle against the canoe to make them move, to no avail. We sensed it was not the usually “let’s pass a bunch of hippos” situation.
Should anybody ask us what we liked best about this entire trip, the answer is very simple: the four days canoeing on the Zambezi River, camping on its bank and being in the midst of all this wildlife. And let’s not forget, listening to Gus’ exciting stories, a resume of 20 years of experience in national parks all over southern Africa. Continue Reading →
