19-22 August 2023
Today was not a terribly long drive. We headed south along the main tar road towards the turn west to the border between Botswana and Zimbabwe, a small border post called Pandamatenga. Again, small border post, not many people, friendly and helpful officials on both sides. No worries, except that while we were completing paperwork on the Zim side, someone must have reversed into our bakkie, inserting a nice dent into the passenger side, rear end. Richard was furious – mostly because whoever did it, never tried to find us and apologise. No serious damage at all, thank goodness. Anyway, that meant the first 10 minutes of our drive leaving the border was at break-neck speed, on a narrow dirt road. I kept very quiet and focused on my crocheting – tricky at that pace and being flung and bounced around in my seat! Eventually Rich calmed down and we proceeded at a respectable speed, enjoying the scenery in the wildness that is the Matetsi Safari Area bordering Hwange National Park.
We had only 2 nights in Hwange, as the main focus of the trip is to get to the birding and fishing areas, not that the birding in Hwange isn’t bad…it’s fabulous! First night we camped at Robin’s Camp, a semi-private camp pretty much at the western entrance to Hwange. There is a beautiful lodge, restaurant and pool, and the campsite is slightly below the lodge area under huge trees, overlooking the bush. It is fenced, great very clean ablutions, and bonus, the water is drinkable, in fact really good!
While the Hindmarch’s went off on a guided game drive, Richard and I relaxed a bit, and caught up with more admin. We also did dinner – Pork fillets on the braai, with veggies and salad. We had a festive supper under fairy lights we dangled around the tree over our table, and some of us headed over to have a “loop dop” with our camping neighbours.
Next morning, after a leisurely start to the morning, we headed off to Masuma Dam. The Hindmarch’s took one route, and we did another. Our route followed a river – beautiful scenery, beautiful bush, not much game. We came to a dam, I think called Crocodile Dam – yup, loads of crocs, some hippos and herons. The road became a track, littered with fresh ellie poop…me starting to practice my calming breathing exercises. The track was squashed between the river and quite dense Mopane bush, and, we basically drove into a herd of elephant. We kept our distance as much as we could, but I spent 20 minutes sitting in the well of the front seat with my head buried into the seat. The elephant were really calm. Richard waited for 20 minutes before it was clear to move on … me with my head buried in the seat. I am just way too nervous, but I trust My Knight. Safely past the herd, we enjoyed a rather bumpy drive back to the main dirt road.
We stopped at Deteema Dam for lunch. There is a hide alongside the dam, semi-enclosed, and one can book these dam sites to camp overnight. Basic ablutions are provided, and an incredible view of, what Hwange is famous for, a steady stream of elephant coming for their morning or afternoon, or evening drink. These dams are also a great spot to enjoy the birds. We were lucky to see a lone Secretary Bird stalk past on the opposite side of the dam. All of a sudden a Tawny Eagle swoops down to scare the Secretary Bird off. The Secretary Bird was having none of this and promptly leapt in the air and launched a counterattack on the low-flying Tawny. Wisely the Tawny turned tail and swooped up to a nearby tree.
Then, while watching little waxbills drinking close to the hide, we noticed an interesting wader…after watching it carefully, we realised it was a Common Redshank – name a bit of a misnomer in terms of common in Southern Africa. It still had much of its breeding plumage, and a great sign of spring being on the way, as it would have flown across Africa from somewhere far north. Lifer for me.
Time to hit the road to Masuma Dam and set up camp. What a fabulous place to spend the evening! The hide and campsite is raised above the dam, so incredible views over the dam and the surrounding bushveld. We sat in the hide, watching the elephant at quite close range, drinking, interacting, having mud and sand baths, chasing the crocs into the water. Hippo soaked up the last of the sun’s rays on the bank, and then made their way to the water. Kudu, Impala and Buffalo came to quench their thirst as well.
We cooked our supper, and carried our plates down to the hide and enjoyed a delicious supper watching the ellies. Amazing.
In the safety of our roof-top tents, we slept in fits and starts as the nights was punctuated by the sound of a lion roaring every few hours. We had heard that there was a mating pair in the area. Around 4am, the roaring was dam close – Shelley and Scott got up to try to spot the lions, which they eventually did – well the back end of the lioness sidling onto the bush next to the camp. Apart from the sounds of lion, the hyaena whoops and jackal yips, insect sounds and night jars calling added to the evening chatter.
At sunrise, we woke up slowly, began packing up, drinking tea, when the two lady camp attendants spotted the lioness heading back past the dam. Eventually the male followed, sniffing the air to find his lady. Great way to start the day.
We left Masuma and headed for the Main Camp where we would exit the park. En route we stopped at Shumba Dam and were rewarded by a sighting of a herd of around 20 Sable Antelope coming to drink. Following suit came a large herd of zebra and impala. Red-billed Teals and Grey Herons added to our bird sightings.
Thereafter no game was spotted, but the road was awful – broken pot-holed tar interspersed with bone-jarring corrugated gravel. Beautiful flat open expanses though.
After leaving Hwange we stopped at the Painted Dog Rehabilitation Centre. It is impressive, with most of the funding coming from overseas. The Visitor’s Building is built using wire snares used by poachers, collected from the veld or confiscated from poachers – the building is really big, and that means a lot of wire! Very sobering. Snaring is used to “harvest” mostly antelope species for meat, however Painted Dog are often “By Catch”. More often than not, these animals die in the snares. Injured rescued dogs that cannot be fixed in the veld are brought to the centre to recover and be rehabilitated for rerelease. Animals that recover but their injuries are too severe to allow them to survive in the wild are kept at the Centre, in huge camps, all with natural vegetation. Loads of security. Currently they have one permanent resident, Lucky, now 5 years old. She was badly injured as a teenager – lost her sight in one eye and has a bad limp which prevents her from being able to hunt effectively. She has now become an ambassador for the species.
On we drove – destination – the western shores of Lake Kariba, for a completely different adventure.
