"The trip to camp will take us four hours if we don't stop" Sean tells us. He has met us at Chipinda airstrip at the entrance to Gonarezhou National Park in the south-east corner of Zimbabwe, near the Mozambique border. We were here 18 months ago but this is the first time that we have visited during the winter. The rains have been good this year and as we climb into the hills we can see how green everything is. From the grass to the mopane trees, even some of the baobabs have leaves. There are plenty of flowers, particularly hibiscus, and we see butterflies everywhere. Very different from the parched conditions of late September. There are plenty of animals as well. Herds of impala and kudu graze while mongeese and squirrels dart under logs or into holes in trees when they see us coming.
Most noticeable are the elephants. When we were here in 2024 we were held up by one jumpy group but this time they are really going for us. We weave past several on the road and are held up by a big group that proves hard to pass. Several trumpet at us and one charges the vehicle. They are said to be more scary than in other parks because of all the fighting and poaching that took place here over the years. We decide that they may also have decided that charging at vehicles is a new fun sport. Eventually we get to camp after six and a half hours! Mahove camp will be our base for the next four days. The camps are owned and staffed by the park for rental by groups like ours. We bring food and they prepare it. The standard is very high and we are delighted by our tent and the dining room with views over the Runde river.
Baobab in leaf
Grumpy elephants by road, Mahove camp
As well as all the greenery it is great to see how much water is around us. The pans, ponds in the bush that often dry up in the hot season, are full of water and the rivers are so full that causeways are uncrossable - and often washed away by the rainy season floods. We are working on our bird count again and happily tick off herons, ducks, geese and storks as we stop for coffee at Tembwate pan. The next day we visit the confluence of the Runde and Save rivers - when we visited in 2024 this was rather a disappointing trickle but this time the rivers are full and flowing strongly. Small bushes are full of butterflies - white, yellow and orange. These bushes will be eaten to the ground later in the season as food becomes more scarce but right now the zebra, kudu and waterbuck are looking very healthy.
After Tembwate pan we have another confrontation with elephants. This time after being trumpeted and charged at, one particularly grumpy cow comes round behind us and chases us 200m down the road. 'Bitches, bitches' Cindy calls them, not at all amused. We are more relaxed when we come across a pair of mating lions who Sean calls 'the honeymoon couple'. They must be pretty far into their honeymoon as they look pretty exhausted to us.
The National Park which is managed by the Frankfurt Zoological Society has rented us an almost new vehicle and also supplied a local learner guide. Polite (classic Zimbabwe name) is as charming and good natured as his name. He is Shangan, the local tribe that extends into Mozambique, and tells us about the local wildlife and also about Shangan customs and stories. Before becoming a guide he worked as a park ranger for ten years including a number of years monitoring the rhinoceros population - something that will come in handy when we get to our next camp.
Tembwate pan, Hippos by the river
Honeymooners, Polite and Sean
Confluence of the Runde and Save rivers
Sleeping in the bush is fun but can be noisy. One night we have a hippo outside our tent and the next we hear lions close by. Friend Cindy prefers to stay in the vehicle but we go for a walk with Sean to try and find them. We know he is close and as we turn around a clump of bushes he is just there, looking back at us. He retreats into the bushes and looks back before ambling off. The bush smells fantastic as we walk along and we realise that we are walking through wild basil. Too strong to flavour food but great as an infusion apparently. It is cloudy and as we approach a pan some heavy rain starts. We shelter under a tree which turns out to be a baboon lavatory. Very smelly!
After four nights at Mahove we say goodbye to the team there and drive to Chilojo Bush Camp where we stayed in 2024. On the way we come across Sean's car which Polite has been driving by the side of the road. Has he broken down? In fact Polite has come back to show us some sleeping lions near the road. We check into camp and come back later when the lions are waking up. We watch them while we sip G&T and then get stuck behind a huge herd of elephant. It is getting pretty dark and rather nerve-wracking. We finally get through and make it back to camp with pulses racing.
Butterflies at the confluence
Kudu buck with ladies, Stalking lion
We are doing really well on our bird count thanks largely to Sean and Cindy's sharp eyes and Sean's encyclopeadian knowledge of species and habitats. We eventually spot over 140 species which is pretty good considering that many of the migrants have not returned.
Lilac-breasted roller, Blue Waxbill, Speckled Mousebird
Red-billed hornbill with catapillar, Ground Hornbills, Great Egret
African Jacana with chicks, African Hoopoe, Open-billed Stork
Our first full day in Chilojo Bush Camp (CBC) is amazing. After our early start we reach an area of open ground where the impala are looking really stressed. As we turn the corner we see why. Two Hyena are on a freshly killed impala. One runs off but the other continues to eat, its face covered in blood. There is nothing left when we return a few hours later.
Gonarezhou reintroduced black rhino a few years ago and more recently also reintroduced white rhino - in fact the white rhino is not really white but gets it's name from the Dutch for 'wide' describing its mouth. The rhinos are in a beautiful, hilly area of the park surrounded by an electric fence which must be 50km long at least. We cross the rhino fence and turn into the Sililijo loop then stop to watch two secretary birds. Then we see a wild dog and then a whole pack. We watch as they taunt a wildebeest and are then chased off by the herd. Some of the dogs have beautiful light markings.
We drive on through beautiful landscape and hillside. Through some branches Sean spots three white rhino in the distance. Polite takes us on foot and we slowly move up the slope in their direction. Four rhino are grazing and they get more alert as we approach. Polite explains that if we stay still they won't see us as they have very poor eyesight. They are strange looking beasts with long jaws for grazing. We have plenty of time to watch them although I get uncomfortable about being so close to those sharp horns!
Hyena with gruesome breakfast, wild dogs with fine markings
White rhino
The rest of our days at CBC are fun and rewarding. Birds by the river. Giraffe in the rhino area. Fine views from the top of the hills. Several visits to the picnic area under the Chilojo cliffs watching birds and elephant. The one photo that I fail to get is the elusive leopard. We spot one in the road but it is off into the bushes before we can reach our cameras. On our third evening in CBC we hear a great comotion from the baboons in camp. One has been taken by a leopard. We jump in the car and find a carcass by the side of the road just outside the camp. There is rustling in the bushes. We move the vehicle away, turn around and wait in the dark. After 15 minutes Brighton and Polite turn on our spotlight and catch the leopard staring at us, the baboon clutched in its jaws.
The next night we are having a BBQ on the sand below the camp when Cindy spots some green eyes with her torch. We turn on a brighter light and there is our leopard again, sitting in the bushes on the river bank watching us.
On our last day we head off early for the airstrip and all is going well until we find that a fallen tree has blocked the road. Sean tries to pass and a rock by the side of the road punctures our tyre. Lucky that we left enough time for the plane. As we drive through the hills on the way to the gate Cindy spots some shapes in the distance. Two lions are surveying the landscape - so far away that none of us know how she saw them.
Gonarezhou is described as the 'next great park of Africa'. We certainly enjoyed it. Fabulous scenery, great game (including one day when we see all of the big five) and really good roads and facilities thanks to the work of the Frankfurt Zoological Society. We have only visited the far Eastern side of the park - what does the rest have to offer? Click here for page 2 and our return to Mana Pools. Here is a link to Vicky's blog and here are more photos. Continue reading below for Polite's stories.
Young baboons, Malachite kingfisher by pool
Lions in the distance
Polite's Tales
Around the camp fire our local guide, Polite, tells us stories about the local people and of his time as a ranger in Gonarezhou. These highlight the dislike for the park and sense of lost land that is passed down among the Shangan people from generation to generation. They also show the real risks of working as a ranger and three narrow escapes.
Shadrek the Mozambiquan Poacher
After the local Shangan people were displaced from Gonarezhou to create the national park there was lasting resentment and a lot of revenge poaching. The most notorious poacher (and a local hero) was the Mozambiquan Shadrek Muteruku. He would visit the park and kill many elephant with a home-made gun and ammunition. He then buried the ivory and hid in a hollow Baobab fitted out with pots, pans and food. When the coast was clear he would dig up the ivory and escape to Mozambique. He was caught twice but escaped both times. The first time he was taken to Harare but was released after three days. The second time he was held overnight but hit his captor with an axe, handcuffed him and disappeared into the night.
Close encounter with an Elephant
Polite had returned from a tour in the field and was at the main gate to the park late at night. It was two in the morning and he decided to walk back to the staff village. The moon was bright as he walked through the bush. Suddenly he bumps into something large and solid. An elephant! He starts to run but the elephant chases him. Each time he looks back the elephant is getting closer. He looks over his shoulder again and feels a trunk touch his back. Thankfully he has reached the park office and darts in to safety.
Buffalo rescue
Polite was in the bush with his ranger 'bud'. They come across an old lone buffalo - known as a 'widow maker'. The buffalo charges them. There is only a small amount of cover so Polite's bud shelters there and he runs. The buffalo chases him and he has to dodge its horns. It then turns and goes for Polite's bud. His friend is pretty badly gored before Polite is able to rescue him.
Itchy snake
Polite is sitting one day and feels something scratching his back. He ignores this and goes on sitting in his chair. Eventually he stands up and to his horror he finds that a spitting cobra has been behind him in the chair. 'Thank you for saving me snake' he thinks. His colleagues are not so understanding and kill it!