Article: Mike Garden | Images: Margret Verwijk
I drove down to Chilo Lodge on the edge of Gonarezhou and spent 3 nights staying in their self-catering lodges. Our outward journey took us through Mutare returning via the alternate Gutu route. They have patched up all the potholes on the 260km stretch between Chiredzi and Chivhu so the long return journey was a whole lot more enjoyable. I must rate the countryside views along the road near Zaka as some of the best in Zimbabwe right now with lots of high-standing granite kopjes littered with trees sporting beautiful, verdant green leaves. We also saw only one large truck on that long stretch. Imagine the difference if we had the same scenario on the Chirundu / Kariba roads.
On Sunday we were driven to the Chilojo Cliffs some 70km from the lodge – a full day’s trip but we had an excellent guide, Dumisani, who entertained us with some great sightings and interesting facts. As I’ve stated in the past, the best guides know when and where to comment or introduce some humour to your day. Impala is generally split into two distinct groups: one with a dominant Ram and multiple females; the other with just males known as a Bachelor Herd – Dumi’s tongue-in-cheek term was “A bunch of Losers!” Impala is known to most regulars in the bush as the McDonalds because of the similarity of their black rear-end markings.
My bucket list for the day included the Grysbok – a rare timid little antelope that Dumi found for us late in the afternoon. We also came across two pairings of Steenbok – something I had never seen before. Gonarezhou National Park is some 5,000 hectares with several different vegetation types with each having its own range of wildlife. Over the course of the day, therefore, we were witness to all sorts of animals – Giraffe, Wildebeest, Eland, Jackal, Dwarf Mongoose and many more. Lots of Nyala around this park with the darker male seen more often
The Bird Raptors are prolific – my favourite is the Martial Eagle with one of them given us a magnificent flyover. As we came around one corner a tenacious Tawny Eagle swooped into the bush alongside us and used its very strong claws to whisk away a very unfortunate Mongoose.
The views from the deck at Chilo Lodge are a sight to behold with many crocs coasting the Save River below. With this being such a dry year, the Elephant must wade through the river every day looking for greener pickings on the other side. One of the resident crocs was spotted taking out a baby Elephant on Sunday afternoon from the midst of a breeding herd showing no fear of being taken out by the Matriarch. The law of the jungle makes its own rules.
