Africa Wild

Wed Feb 08, 2012

Zimbabwe's second largest game reserve is situated in the south-eastern corner of the country.

©ngoko.com

Size & Location: 5 000km², south-east border of Zimbabwe adjacent to Mozambique

When to visit the park: The park is usually only open during the dry season from 1st May to 31st October

Climate: Winter - Cool and dry (April to August) / Summer - hot and wet (November to March)

Gonarezhou National Park is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP), a massive Pan-African Park that includes South Africa's famed Kruger National Park and Mozambique's Gaza. This huge area is set to become one of the finest "peace parks" in the world and is dedicated to conservation, biodiversity and the economic development of the surrounding local communities. The vast and diverse nature of the mega-park will provide world-class eco-tourism to the visitor and strive to re-establish historical animal migration routes and fragile regional ecosystems. The combined Park will include more than 500 species of birds, 147 species of mammals, at least 116 species of reptiles, 34 species of frogs and 49 species of fish.

Gonarezhou means 'abode of elephant' in Shona, and the Chipinda Pools in the north attract hundreds of migratory elephant and eland from the adjacent Kruger National Park in South Africa. One of the most prominent and enduring natural features of Gonarezhou National Park is the beautiful Chilojo Cliffs. These magnificent red sandstone cliffs have been formed through eons of erosion and overlook the scenic Runde River valley.

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Four of the big five reside here (buffalo, elephant, lion and leopard), as well as hippo, crocodile and a range of antelope. This is the only other location in Zimbabwe, apart from Mana Pools National Park, where nyala and suni antelope can be found. Cheetah (including the rare king cheetah) are also found here.

Directors Camp is an undeveloped camping site on the banks of the Runde River at the base of the Chilojo Cliffs which offers camping sites only and minimal facilities.

Camping and caravanning is possible at Swimuwini at the Mabalauta Camping site which has ablution facilities.

There are 19 camping sites at Chipinda Pools Camp, each with basic shelter, braai area and ablution facilities.

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©kalahari-tours.co.za

There are 14 camping sites in the Runde sub-region at Chinguli Campwhich also have similar facilities to those at Chipinda.

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©alltravels.com

©overland.co.za

©africafreak.com

For reservation enquiries visit: http://www.zimparks.org/[/quote]

Restoring Gonarezhou National Park

016-06-05 12:30 - Scott Ramsay

National parks across Africa face immense challenges, but the resurrection of Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe is a shining example of what conservationists can achieve with support from international funders and local government.

The wilderness in the south-eastern lowveld of Zimbabwe has seen its fair share of bad times. In early colonial days, hunters like Bvekenya Barnard shot what they wanted; in his case, about 300 elephants.

Before the proclamation of the national park in 1975, in efforts to rid the area of tsetse fly, about 13 000 wild animals were shot and forests and pans were bulldozed. The land was enclosed with wire fencing, and sprayed with pesticides like dieldrin and DDT, which concentrated up the food chain, killing off apex predators like fish eagles.

When the park was proclaimed, wildlife populations started rebounding but during the Mozambican civil war soldiers fed themselves by snaring wild animals. Between 1971 and 1991, authorities culled almost ten thousand elephant.



Then the country’s political reputation worsened to an all-time nadir in 2005. Local governance slid into disarray. Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife receive no subsidies from national government, so when funding from tourism and hunting in the park’s buffer zones dried up, the organization had little money to fund Gonarezhou.

Trapped between financial and political constraints, the park was rescued by Frankfurt Zoological Society, a German NGO that funds restoration of globally-important wilderness areas.

Hugo van der Westhuizen and his wife Elsabe started working here for FZS in 2007, alongside area manager Evious Mpofu from Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife.

Hugo is a conservation manager and Elsabe is an ecologist.

Because of the collapse of the Zimbabwean dollar at that time, ranger salaries were effectively worthless.

“The first night I arrived in 2007, I woke up to gunfire outside my tent, and only realized the next morning it was rangers shooting impala for staff rations,” said Hugo.

FZS now pays almost all operational costs, including the salaries of 100 staff that have been appointed to work alongside about 80 existing park rangers (who are still paid by Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife). Anti-poaching patrols were ramped up significantly. All ration hunting by rangers were stopped.

FZS now fund rations, anti-poaching training, vehicles, diesel, aircraft, aerial surveys, vegetation mapping and the maintenance and construction of all roads, fences and tourism facilities.

A major step was the erection of a US$750 000 electrified fence on the north-western park boundary. About 3 000 Zimbabweans and about 7 000 of their cattle had started living inside the park. Although Gonarezhou would never make good agricultural or grazing land, local communities had seen few benefits from conservation in the last decade.

When the park was proclaimed, several Shangaan communities were moved out of Gonarezhou. There was inevitable bitterness, but local people still benefited from hunting revenue in the buffer zones, which also happened to protect the natural habitat surrounding the park.



With the decline of Zimbabwe’s political situation, revenue from hunting in the community buffer areas declined. Disenchanted and left with few options, the local Shangaans started using the park to graze their cattle.

“We lost 9 000 hectares of the park to cattle. It’s gone. As conservationists, we hate fences but there must be some fortress conservation, otherwise boundaries aren’t respected,” said Hugo.

Field rangers were appointed to patrol the parks’ borders. Gonarezhou has an unfenced 110 km border with Mozambique where nine hunting areas are interspersed with poor communities desperate for protein. Snare poaching and poisoning was once rife along the border, but has been reduced to manageable levels.

The results of all the hard work are now clear to see. Wildlife numbers are currently booming. The 2014 aerial survey counted just over 11 000 elephants in Gonarezhou, more than the whole of Mozambique, or 2 per square kilometre, one of the highest densities in Africa.

At the last count in 2014, there were about 8 000 impala, 6 000 Cape buffalo, 1 700 kudu, 1 300 Burchell’s zebra, 900 wildebeest, 500 giraffe and 500 hippo.

The predator survey in 2015 showed there are approximately 125 lions, up from just 31 in 2009. Other predators have also increased significantly: 642 spotted hyena (from 407), 279 wild dog (from 30) and 90 cheetah (from 22).



Roan and sable have never recovered to former levels, and Lichtenstein’s hartebeest and black rhino are now locally extinct, but on the whole, wildlife is once again thriving.

And visitors are once again returning to Gonarezhou. In 2015 more than 7 000 arrived, up from a handful in 2007.

Poaching for ivory has also increased, however. Rangers found 40 fresh carcasses in 2013, and 32 in 2014. By the end of 2015, there were between 57 and 66 carcasses attributed to poaching. (The exact figure is unclear, because some of the elephants may have been killed in previous years.) A large proportion of these were within proximity of the unfenced Mozambican border.

The current tide of elephant poaching from East Africa is coming south, and protected areas like Gonarezhou, Hwange, Chobe and Kruger, with their large elephant populations, are in the firing line.

“Gonarezhou is beginning to feel the pressure from the regional surge in poaching,” said Hugo. “We’ve put measures in place to deal with it, and we’re doing our best to keep poaching at a manageable level, so that when hopefully demand for ivory eventually drops away, there’ll still be lots of elephants.”



Travel advisor

For the self-drive traveller, Gonarezhou is only for fully self-sufficient 4x4ers and bush aficionados. There are no fences around the campsites, and wild animals are often in close proximity. There is no cell phone coverage, and the roads are poor, so it takes a long time to get anywhere. River crossings can be tricky. There is no food or drinks sold at the park, although firewood can be bought.

Alternatively, you can arrange with Chilo Gorge Lodge or Gonarezhou Bush Camps to fly into Gonarezhou.

For travellers who want a guided safari, Anthony Kaschula is the park’s most respected private guide, and offers fully serviced safaris from his private Gonarezhou Bush Camp. http://www.gonarezhou-bushcamps.com.

When to go

The best time of year is dry season, between May and November. This is when the park is most accessible. During wet season, the Limpopo, Runde and Save Rivers are in flood, and are impossible to cross in a 4x4. Even in July or August, the Save River can be flooded, so aim to travel to Gonarezhou around September or October.

Stay here

For the self-drive explorer, Gonarezhou has several small campsites. Most of the best ones are in the north-east of the park, on the Runde River.

Chipinda Pools has four tented chalets each sleeping four people, with en-suite bathroom and kitchen. There are also several campsites with thatched gazebos and communal ablutions.

The best campsites, however, are further into the park, but have more basic facilities. Runde Gorge, Fishans, Directors, Hlaro, Chilojo, Bopomela, Lisoda, Chitove and Chamuluvati are so-called exclusive campsites, so each camp can only be booked by one group. Only facilities are long-drop toilets. A maximum of 12 people and three vehicles per campsite. My favourites were Hlaro, Chilojo and Chitove.

Chinguli is a developed campsite, which has communal ablutions, thatched gazebos and running water. Only 6 people and two vehicles allowed per camp site.

For visitors who want a guided, fully-serviced and catered safari experience, then Gonarezhou Bush Camp is the best. Operated and owned by respected guide Anthony Kaschula, this tented camp on the banks of the Runde River looks out onto the Chilojo Cliffs. Visitors are treated to guided walks in the mornings, and drives in the afternoon. http://www.gonarezhou-bushcamps.com.

Chilo Gorge Lodge on the eastern side of the Save River has superb views over the Save River and into Gonarezhou. Guided game drives from the lodge into the park every day. SADC rates are $161 for self-catering lodge sleeping two people, and $150 per person per night for fully-catered luxury room. Tel +263-77-499-9059, e-mail info@chilogorge.com, http://www.chilogorge.com.

seems to be a very nice park and in good shape

As they are doing publicity it must be in order again I suppose Sounds good

Looks really beautiful and they obviously did a great re-establishing healthy populations of the species.

Now for some self-catering non-camping facilities, please.
(Oh, no! Please don't! Just kidding. Either people like me, who hate luxury and are scared of camping get into the latter or tough luck )

We visited Gonarezhou in March 2014, staying at one of the Chipinda pools camp sites.
The ablutions were very nice and also clean.

Unfortunately the Runde river had a bit too much water for us to cross so we were restricted to the
north of the Park.

Game was very scarce. We saw only 3 individual elephant, one hyena which ran past the campsite every
evening and morning, although we heard a couple more during the night!
A handful of impala, and several very skittish kudu. We heard hippo and saw 2, 1 crocodile and that was
about it in 4 days. The countryside is beautiful and the cliffs are majestic. It is certainly worth a visit
if you can be self sufficient. We will go again, but in the dry season when we can cross the rivers.

good advise
... and game coming to the waterholes ?

Gonarezhou - Land of Giants

ANCIENT LANDSCAPE RULED BY ELEPHANTS AND BAOBABS



by
Simon Espley
Friday, 20 September 2019



It was pitch dark and a bit chilly as I made my way cautiously to the outside privy, scanning the inkiness with my head torch for predators and things that go bump in the night. There had been plenty of hippo and elephant activity all night, and so I was wary. And there she was, 12 paces from me, all tawny feline grace and power as she stood staring, uncertain about what to do next. I too was uncertain, and our moment of mutual fascination and frozen indecision was broken when she merged with the ink to my right – a bit close for comfort. I concluded my privy business with all senses on full alert, and retired to bed, eventually being lulled to sleep by southern ground-hornbills hooting in the distance.

The next morning I found her tracks around my hut, and those of her companion – a very large male lion. My decision to close the wrap-around fold-out cane windows at night was a good one…


Elephants, dwarfed by the wide Save River © Sharon Haussmann

This was my first visit to Zimbabwe’s Gonarezhou National Park, and I was travelling with close friends Sharon Haussmann and Dex Kotze, who also had this iconic paradise on their life-lists. Guests of park management, our mission was to find out for ourselves why Gonarezhou has amassed such an ardent following as a ‘bucket-list” dream destination for experienced travellers. And, to better understand why Gonarezhou is a rising conservation success story.

Look, this is not your thing if you are into rim-flow pools and Paris-trained pastry chefs; it’s more for those of us that seek the wilderness solitude of truly wild Africa. That said, there is a luxury lodge to the north that I recommend highly – but more about that later. Accommodation within the national park ranges from rough and remote wilderness camping to very comfortable self-catering chalets, and park management are looking to invest significantly into further photographic tourism offerings inside the park.



Caption: The iconic Chilojo Cliffs is the most photographed feature of Gonarezhou National Park. This 13 km-long sandstone ridge dominates the landscape, looming 200 m above the wide Runde River floodplain. We arrived at the Runde River picnic and camping spots facing the cliffs in early afternoon, and decided to spend the remainder of the day there, absorbing the spirit of the area and taking photographs while the sun and shadows tracked across the landscape. Luckily, we had come prepared, with plenty of gin & tonic, ice and snacks. Two herds of elephants crossed the river in front of the cliffs during our time there, but they were too far away to be photographed.

TIP: Plan to spend plenty of time at Chilojo Cliffs, to absorb the spirit of the place and to get a decent photograph. The cliffs are best photographed from mid to late afternoon, but hazy skies and long shadows can influence your photographic results. There is a long and bumpy drive to the top of the cliffs, but we opted out, deciding rather to focus on the view facing the cliffs.