My beloved Zimbabwe

overlooking the Pungwe River Gorge, Eastern Highlands (1984)

The country of my birth, childhood and early adult years has been much on my mind lately.

The news reports have been depressing, and a dearest Aunt who still lives in the small country town of Chinhoyi is close to the end of her long and fulfilling life.

on Gambuli Ranch (1977)

My Aunt and Uncle were largely instrumental in introducing me, city born & raised, to the beauty and wonder of the African bush. This was during the frequent school holidays spent on their large cattle ranch where, starting at dawn, I shadowed my very patient Uncle on all his daily rounds........

Being the wonderful and eternally generous hosts that they are, we also accompanied them on many excursions to Lake Kariba and other parts of Zimbabwe.

As I grew older and more independent, those early influences guided me in where I chose to go on my own holidays.

Remembering both my home, and my family still there, I thought I would share with you a few of my favourite Zimbabwean spots.

These pictures have been taken over the course of the last 35 years, so please accept the quality accordingly........

Lake Kariba

Lake Kariba - looking south - 1990

I've probably spent more time at Lake Kariba than anywhere else in Zim. Lying on our northern border with Zambia, it is a vast  body of fresh water teeming with kapenta (fresh water sardines), bream and the fighting Tiger fish.

Lots and lots of crocodiles and hippo as well!

Scuba diving was the main reason for my frequent trips to the Lake, but fishing, drinking and wild life spotting also played an important part.......

Easter weekend at Kariba, 1985

On our diving club trips we usually chartered one of the big ferries that operated up and down the lake. With their shallow draft they could be easily beached, and provided lots of room for all our equipment. Unless the island we beached on was full of wildlife, we usually slept on shore under the stars.

Raising a kapenta net, 1984

A useful form of income for our club was locating and recovering kapenta fishing nets, which were often snagged in the submerged trees.

Over the years we also located and helped recover several boats that had sunk into the deceptively calm waters of Kariba.

The storms can be very nasty.......

Kapenta fishing boats resting up during the day - 2015

Visiting cousins from the US - 1988

Of course, it wasn't all work......

Kariba is an ideal holiday destination. Steamy hot during the summer, but mild in the winter.

And perfect water-skiing conditions when in the shelter of the Kariba hills.

Wildlife can still be spotted on the southern and eastern shores of Kariba, despite decades of poaching.....

a signature Kariba sunset (2015)

Mana Pools / Zambezi River Valley

The daily visit to the camp ground... (1984)

Further down the Zambezi River, starting close to Chirundu is the Lower Zambezi River Valley. For centuries hostile to human settlement due to it's baking hot climate, malaria and tse-tse fly (sleeping sickness).

Sunset over Zambia - 1984

Where few humans dare to settle, wildlife flourishes. This has, for over a century, made it the winter play ground for hunters and eco-tourists alike.

I've posted before on Mana Pools (Paradise Revisited), the National Park located in the valley, hunched between hunting areas on both sides. Once you have been to Mana you will always yearn to return.



And that's what I did every year from 1983 to 1993. Sometimes more than once a year. Apart from camping and walking in an unfenced wilderness, one can also do canoe trips down the river. I've done 5 of those, varying from 3 to 5 days, sleeping on sandbanks every night, or twice with luxury tents at each overnight stop......

My first canoe trip - Chirundu to Mana 1988

If it isn't already on your bucket list, and you enjoy my blogs, then I would urge you to add Mana Pools and a Zambezi River canoe trip to it.

Baboons down at one of the "pools" for their evening drink (1989)

It's still wild and very, very special.

The Eastern Highlands

I'm going to wrap up this long posting with a last "favourite" spot. One wouldn't think that with annual Mana Pools trips and Kariba at least twice a year there would be time for more.

View from Susurumba Rock, Easter 1993

However Zimbabwe's spectacular Eastern Highlands are only a short 3 hour trip from Harare and became a favourite weekend destination - I've even been there on a day trip with visitors!

at the top of Mtarazi Falls, 1985

There's many places to spend time at, both north and south of the mountain town of Mutare.

The Nyanga area, however was my favourite.........



Well that's a short list of my most visited, and special Zimbabwean places.

There are obviously a lot more - Victoria Falls, Gona-re-Zhou, Hwange, the Bulawayo area.....

and the list goes on.

Despite the political and economic problems, Zimbabwe remains one of the most beautiful countries in Africa, and the people one of the friendliest.



Even though I am proud to be a South African now, and I love my new home country very much, there is still a large part of my heart and soul that is reserved for Zimbabwe.........

Mana Pools, paradise revisited

After a too long a gap of 21 years, I was fortunate enough to revisit Mana Pools Zimbabwe, earlier this month.

Mana Pools is a wild, relatively untouched game reserve situated in the very north of Zimbabwe, on the banks of the mighty Zambezi River. It stretches from the sparkling waters and baking sand banks of the Zambezi, across the old flood plains and their ancient shaded pools, through the thickets of jessie bush, tall mopani woodlands, up to the looming hills of the Zambezi Escarpment.

The most special part of the reserve for me, is the river and flood plains. I'm not going to try and describe in any more words what's so special about this small piece of Africa, but let my photos speak for themselves.

My very first visit was in October 1983, the last, before now, in October 1992. In that 10 years I visited the area at least once a year - either on camping trips or canoe trips. For your interest I've included a couple of old photos I took on that first and last visit. In many ways nothing has changed in the intervening 30 years...

1983

Our first camp, right on the river bank. Our equipment was very basic, no cooling, so we ate tinned food and had wind cooled water in our gin and orange.

1992

By 1992 I had a camping fridge but couldn't fit it into my little Mazda - so again cold drinks only as long as our ice lasted!

Most of my other trips to Mana were with friends in their pickup trucks so we had more equipment and cold drinks - a necessity in Mana during the hot dry spring!

2013

In 2013 we had more and bigger vehicles, better equipment, fresh food and cold beers!

2013

My "tent with a view".  Facing the Zambezi River and the hills of Zambia.

1983

2013

Views from our camp......

and a visitor......

Almost every time I've been to Mana, we have had elephants visit the camp site - mostly to feed on the Acacia Albida pods that fall to the ground at this time of year.......

This ele was hoovering up the albida pods from the ground sheet. He manoevered his way through the gap between the vehicle and table without knocking anything over!







And when not in camp, the game viewing on the flood plains can be quite awesome.........

Cape Buffalo, in 1983

Female waterbuck, 2013

Waterbuck out in the open

Plains Zebra foal

Plains Zebra

Elephant, in a typical floodplain landscape....

and some more favourite landscape pictures........

To wrap up this posting on one of my most favourite places on this planet, here are some pictures taken at Mana Mouth - a great place for bird watching, fishing, sun-bathing, or just watching the sun set with a cold beer in hand........

Looking up river... sadly the heavy smoke haze this year mostly obscured the Zambian hills

Sunbathing in 1983

Sunset in 2013

Haunting Hwange (3) – A Mopani Spring

 

Desolation, despair, death.

Skeletal trees reach
Stunted bushes crouch
By parched, muddy puddles
The waterholes of Hwange.

Desolation, despair, death.
Vultures soar, wheel, dive
Hazy, cloudy skies
Over shadeless, naked earth
The pastures of Hwange.

Desolation, despair, death.
Ribcages etched
Dry skin sagging
On just alive bodies
The elephant of Hwange.

Desolation, despair, death.
Bleached bone, carcass stink
Hyaena whoop, lion roar
Each starless dawning
The graveyards of Hwange.

Desolation, despair, death.
Lightning flashes,
Thunder grumbles
Wet earth scents the air
The spring storms of Hwange.

Resurrection, hope, life!
Puddles fresh in hollows
Green fuzz on bare slopes
Red butterfly shoots
Mopani spring in Hwange!

Haunting Hwange (2) - Masuma Dam

In Haunting Hwange part 1 (read it here) I described our journey into Masuma Dam, Hwange, Zimbabwe, and our first evening spent there.
 

Masuma Dam - hide and camp seen from "main" road

In all we spent 4 nights at Masuma Dam. The original plan had been for 2 nights but we realised within the first hour what a special place this was. Radio calls between our camp attendants and the office at Sinamatella Camp established that we could spend an extra two nights provided we travelled to Sinamatella to pay the extra bucks.

Our camp

In Hwange, there are camping “facilities” in the 3 main camps and in addition there are three or four picnic / camping sites based at waterholes. Masuma Dam was one of these.

It was located on the “main” thoroughfare between Robins and Sinamatella Camps in the north and west, and Main Camp and the road out to the rest of Zimbabwe in the east. Admittedly we did not spend all day in camp, but during the three days that we were there we only saw 3 other vehicles come by on that road – of which only one was other tourists.

Meves Starling

A beautiful Emperor Moth

The camping ground, hide and dilapidated shower / toilets were kept spotlessly clean by the two attendants, MyBlessing and Thabeni, with extremely few resources and back up from the Park management. They get paid so little that they cannot afford to buy shoes or much in the way of clothing, and one can't even guess how long it has been since they were provided with uniforms.

Nevertheless they were cheerful and hard workers and a poignant reminder for me of just how different the culture and attitude is generally, north of the Limpopo.

On the evening of our arrival, the water pump for the waterhole had started giving trouble, and lacking any basic tools (like a monkey wrench) they were delighted to see us, so that they could borrow the necessary and sort out the pump the next morning.

MyBlessing & Thabeni off to fix the pump

As mentioned in my earlier posting we had wonderful rain on our first night, obviously the first in a long time, and after that it rained / stormed every afternoon we were in Hwange.

Whether it was the rain, or our noisy, human, presence close to the waterhole, we had no more visits from elephant during daylight hours. One large buffalo herd came in on day 2, but apart from the hippo squeezing together in the small remaining puddle we saw no more mammals at Masuma Dam. We heard hyena and the hippo every night, lion once and the elephants came back for a very noisy drink late one night, but the birds and other creatures kept us entertained most days.

Too many hippos in too little water!

Marabou Stork

Saddle-billed Stork

 

And of course the sunsets over the waterhole were spectacular every night........