Struggled with a title for this blog – but have had quite the learning experience and realised a lot of what I’ve learnt about things in Africa has been wrong. It’s been a bit like reading Freakonimics and finding your understanding being turned upside down. (or at least your eyes opened to new possibilities)
Bulawayo
The ‘City of Kings’ continued to build my appreciation of Zimbabwe. The cities are well-planned and the locals are less pushy then some other countries we’ve been in. Unfortunately I haven’t had the opportunity to get friendly enough with a local to fully understand how all the issues Zimbabwe has but if you had no geopolitical understanding you would think Zimbabwe is a fantastic country since it just has a positive feeling – very difficult to describe but it’s one of my favourite countries so far this trip.
Big Cave Hotel
After leaving the city centre we headed to our campsite. Took advantage of the upgrade and stayed in an amazingly unique hotel – it’s situated on the top of a massive kopje (huge rocks on the African plains) and they’ve made great use of the area. The bar has one of its walls as a massive rock and the swimming pool was a natural depression which has been sealed. The view from the room was superb – looking over the African wilderness and got to see a full moon rise. Was a great way to end the day.
Matobo National Park
The hotel was situated right next to the National Park and we all piled into open safari trucks and headed off Rhino trekking. We had a fantastic guide who reminded me a bit of Steve Irwin – just the amount of passion he had when talking about his job and the dangers of poaching to the existence of these animals. (more on poaching later)
He was able to lead us on a walk to try and find some rhinos which was so much more exhilarating then sitting in a truck and hoping for them to come by. After following some tracks on the road for a bit we all got out – had a safety lecture (ie. You’ve got no chance of outrunning a rhino – try not to piss them off) and headed into the bush. After getting information about all the dangerous plants I can now use to poison people we stumbled upon a rhino called Gumboots about 20 minutes from the car (which was incredibly quick – could have been 3 to 4 hours). Gumboots is an old rhino and we got so close to him. Obviously (if you know your animal behaviours) he is a white rhino – black rhinos are a lot more aggressive and will run away or attack if people get this close.
(Rhino and I - finally first photo in Africa uploaded...)
After a quick drinks break (it’s very hot now – absolutely roasting in the open-truck and getting a massive t-shirt tan) our guide led us to some rhino bones. The first and more complete set we saw was a natural death due to old age. Even rhino bones are worth a lot of money but they’re not worth the hassle compared to tusks for poachers. The head alone as seen in this photo is worth about $1 million.
(expensive rhino bones)
The 2nd skeleton we were taken to was a young male rhino who had been shot by poachers. You could see the single bullet hole into its brain and it was done with military precision. Scary how quickly they can remove the tusk before the armed rangers can arrive.
Myths and Scary-but-True Stories
Our guide was incredibly informative and was able to tell his stories in such an imaginative and passionate way. He would be a great teacher! One of the myths he debunked (or at least put a big query on) was the question of the most dangerous animal to humans in Africa. I thought I was well-informed and ready for that trivia question with the answer of hippos. However, while that may be the correct government recorded answer the truth is a bit more confusing. Obviously a lot of deaths occur due to hippos being separated from the water but the reason why a man-killing hippo is reported so often is that ranger/hunters are required to put them down. (same as any animal – the other main contender is an elephant.) Obviously getting a hunter to a village takes time (T.I.A.) so elephants have usually left the area while hippos are content to stay close by.
But the big factor that our guide bought to our attention is the fact the local village gets to keep the meat of a hippo or elephant if it’s killed nearby. Obviously a hippo who doesn’t move far is more likely to be reported compared to an elephant – and our guide couldn’t count the number of times he’s been called to a village due to a ‘rampaging hippo’ and asked to see the body of the person killed and been met with silence. So challenge that question at a trivia night!
Most of his other stories were concerned with rhinos and poaching and I can’t remember them all. An incredible 20-25 poachers are caught per month with the rangers having a shoot first and ask questions later policy. There were quite a few guards around but even they can’t patrol everywhere and rhinos are unfortunately fairly predictable in their movements.
The other interesting point he raised was that rhinos could possibly be farmed. All the rhinos at this national park are de-horned – much like chopping off a nail without taking the stump. Unfortunately this stump is still worth a lot of money (approx. $100,000 – massive fortune for an African) and it keeps growing back. The rangers are not allowed to sell the horns – maybe depreciating the price – and South African authorities even tried to sell off some rhinos to private owners to hopefully protect them but no luck. It’s so sad to hear how outraged but accepting the guide was in what he believed to be the Rhino’s imminent demise from living free in the wild.
Bushmen Art
This blog is getting long already and still lots to cover so going to get quick – bushmen were a race who lived in this area and painted nice artwork in their caves. Some of it actually looked a bit Aboriginal. Also some great stories regarding them like how to get a wife (shoot with a small bow and arrow) and how they stored fat on their backside.
Hwange National Park
We left Matobo and headed to another park with some more game drives. I’ve never seen so many elephants. Because we’re in the dry season, this park has manmade watering holes which the animals have to come to. And the elephants come in droves. Nice photo of a baby one.
(baby elephant)
Also were lucky to see another lion – heard it call for the rest of its pride but the animals aligned and managed to catch this lucky photo.
(3 of Big 5 in one photo – buffalo on right, elephants in middle and lion above far left elephant)
Night and Sunrise Safari
Had a final 2 safaris here – with a night safari driving around and using a huge spotlight from the truck. Saw some different animals but camera had no hope. Best part was seeing a pack of hyenas walking directly towards us along the road and getting within 5 metres.
The sunrise safari meant little sleep (but at least avoided the heat of the day somewhat) and saw even more elephants (so many photos of them now…) and quite a few other animals. I think I’m getting harder to impress after so many days in Africa but was fun seeing a giraffe drinking from a waterhole. What a mission…
(giraffe drinking)
Now heading to Victoria Falls which should be fun! And 3 nights at the same place – luxury.
Week Ahead
Tues, 18th of Oct Victoria Falls
Wed, 19th of Oct Victoria Falls
Thurs, 20th of Oct Chobe National Park, Botswana
Fri, 21st of Oct Chobe National Park
Sat, 22nd of Oct Bagani Community Camp, Namibia
Sun, 23rd of Oct Okavango Delta, Botswana
Mon, 24th of Oct Okavango Delta
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