Gonarezhou: The Place of Elephants

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Gonerezhou, the name alone sounds alluring. True wilderness, wild and dangerous. During the war the park was closed to the public, a no go area. My dad was mates with a Parks Warden, Tommy Orford, a character of note. As soon as Tommy felt it was ok for us to visit off we set in the trusty Peugeot 404 bakkie. The kids slept in tents next to the house and game viewed from the back of an open bakkie. Helicopter Moms hadn’t been invented yet. It was on this trip that I developed a healthy respect for grumpy elephants and executed a James Bond style transition from back of bakkie via the open window into the front while Dad evaded a charge. Under new management the Park is returning to it’s former glory. Poachers are discouraged by teams of armed guards, roads are being repaired and the facilities upgraded. First stop Shimuweni (Place of Boababs). Perched on a hill above the river,every chalet has a boabab and a patch of green lawn. Nyala roam around the camp without a care and the birds had Greg in a twizzle. Above the view point at the Rossi Pools site.

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Chipinda Pool was next on the itinerary. Denise and Shane Warth from Chiredzi joined us for our 2 nights there and added valuable local knowledge, good company and Denise’s famous granadilla syrup. The first night of proper camping. There are no fences surrounding the camp sites so all animals are free to roam wherever and when ever. I upgraded my sweet little lantern for Brett’s powerful torch without hesitation. No need to view elephants and others on the way to the loo in a subtle glow! The hippos and a strong aversion to camping kept Mick up most of the night. This was remedied by an extra dose of medicinal grape juice the following evening. At 3am I woke Brett to share an elephant update. They were grazing about 20m from the tent…………ok maybe a bit more but it sure felt close. They casually lumbered on up to their daytime spot via the ablution block. #justweeasclosetothetentasyoucan.

Spring in Zimbabwe has the colour pallet of autumn. The park was full of Mopani trees getting ready for the new season.

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The magnificent Chilojo Cliffs seem to appear out of nowhere in complete contrast to the dry mopani scrub and bush veld. They are equally as good as the Drakensberg, even have an amphitheater, ok maybe I’m slightly biased. We traded our booked home at Chinguli for a spot at the cliffs. After the solitude of the previous camps Chinguli seemed strangely overcrowded with 2 other family groups in residence. We arrived to the perfect setting. Shady trees, gentle breeze and the Cliffs in the background. Little did we know……..After an evening drive, a 30 minute stand off with grazing ellies and a by chance sighting of a leopard cub in the tree we returned to a different scene. The gentle breeze had evolved into something close to cyclone Idai’s little sister.

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Greg had dropped a pin to mark the leopard’s tree. It showed 10m away from our tents. Key tachycardia. Leopards we could do but the wind. It howled and blasted sand in a fury. About 630 I gave up and settled into Florence for the night. Claire joined shortly after while the men soldiered on in the face of the storm. Sorry Alan and Lydia, your tent was the first to go. We took Greg’s down and Brett decided to anchor ours by sleeping in it! Seriously. Out of the darkness a set of lights. A family from Newcastle arrived, how no one knows, but they did. Sometime around 11 Claire and I were woken by the presence of an extremely large grey shape right next to the car window. A lone Bull has sauntered in and took his merry time fiddling with a few leaves before moving on a few meters from a sleeping Brett. Cardio workout complete………….no need to wee tonight! The storm continued all night, even chucking in a shower of rain for good measure. At first light we called it quits and packed in what ever manner we could. Covered in a few layers of sand we set off in our different directions. Brett, Claire and Mick home. Greg and Gail next stop Chimanimani.