Southern Africa Scouting Trip May 2018

Zimbabwe: Journey to Jozi, Nehimba, Zambezi Sands

Botswana: Duba, Zarafa, Bushmans Plains, Shinde, Okuti, Footsteps, Dinaka

Cape Town: Save the Rhino party, Robben Island and Foodie Tour

April 29 - 6:15AM  Ghost at the waterhole

Good morning African Sun - I am home again!

I am sitting on the terrace of the iconic Victoria Falls hotel with coffee in hand as I watch an orange ball of fire rise through the thundering mists of the fall just before my eyes.  Hues of saffron, ochre, tangerine fold into each other in the nebulous ether. Moisture laden clouds tower up hundreds of feet into the awakening blue of the Africa Sky and I feel home again.  Birdsong rings out from the lush forest surrounding me.  African doves distinctive coo are joined by a myriad of more colorful sounds as the bravest males take the risk of calling out first in the new dawn to attractive a mate.  Manicured lawns glisten in the morning dew as I notice the hand carved Shona tribal stone sculptures come alive as the sun illuminates the green and white subjects; a round face catches the first rays, crocodile ridges appear, a marble elephant trunk glows crazy white.  All the while the constant thunder calls out from the deep chasm below as millions of gallons of water launch over the edge to the swirling pools of the Zambezi below and then off into the rapids on there way down to Kariba, Mana Pools, and across Mozambique to the Indian Ocean.  I reflect back on my river running days with Sobek expeditions when we took guests down the river on a 7 day river rafting odyssey filled with giant reversal waves over 15 feet high, huge crocs watching from the beach, pods of hippos snorting in warning, silent canyon walls looming almost a thousand feet above, and over all the brilliant stars of the African sky.  I am home again and ready to fall in love all over again with my Africa.

An hour later I transfer to meet my group at Gorges Lodge, the first successful community involved tourism project in Zimbabwe, now the model of a growing trend towards integrated tourism that actively involves locals and generously gives back to the community.  Gorges is a special place, set directly along the cliff over the Batoka Gorge where one can enjoy a gin and tonic at sunset while watching black eagles soar on the thermals and swoop into there cliffside perches.  

Next we are off to the newly refurbished Vic Falls Int’l airport where we meet our pilot Nick who loads us on to his 7 seat Navajo and off into the blue sky we soar away from the “smoke that thunders” and towards Hwange National park, the jewel in the crown of Zimbabwe’s national parks.  Hwange is massive at over 5500 square miles and boasts one of the largest concentration of elephants in Africa (over 46,000) on the planet.  Our goal today is to reach the most remote camp in Zimbabwe and possibly in all of Southern Africa:  magical Jozibani.  Another success story pioneered by my good friend and business partner, Mark Butcher (Butch) who is a leading force in conservation and community work in Zimbabwe.  Butch is a former park ranger at Hwange who has been a key player on both the conservation and community fronts.  His conservation work includes digging hundreds of wells that provide water for thousands of elephants, supporting anti poaching squads like the Scorpions that remove snares, undertake species census, and monitor for poachers in remote areas of the park.  His community work includes building the Ngamo Primary school, feeding families during the recent drought (over a thousand meals served daily to kids), providing pipelines with running water to villages, and employing several hundred staff at his various lodges.  He also runs a dental and an eye clinic every year.  Good stuff and I am proud to be working with him.  Plus he is a great guide for my groups and a barrel of fun to be with!

The story of Jozibani (Jozi for short) is typical of the project that Butch undertakes.  Jozi is located in the most remote reaches of Hwange.  It was a former ranger station that was abandoned due to lack of funds.  Naturally, once the human presence left the poachers moved in with no one to stop them.  Butch decided to take a risk and establish a camp in this wildlife rich area.  He paid to have an anti poaching team set up with facilities nearby and partnered with the park service to re-establish a ranger station in the area.  Since its opening in 2016, the poachers are long gone and the wildlife is thriving.  Butch established waterholes and soon the elephants were coming in huge numbers.  Another success story supported by tourism.

The camp is lovely set on a small rise above a large watering hole.  Only four tents on raised platforms make this an intimate camp.  Meals are taken al fresco under the stars and the only lounge is the fire place where comfortable charrs are arranged in a circle. nearby Butch has built one of his classic “look up blinds” which is essentially a shipping container buried in the earth next to sweet spring waterhole so that guests can safely observe massive elephants only a few feet away in total comfort and safety.  This ranks as one of the top safari experiences that we offer.  On our first night we went down at sunset to wait for the elephants to arrive.  As it was full moon, it seemed the elephants were not coming so we all clambered out of the blind and stood on top to watch the enormous yellow moonrise sipping our sundowners.  Soon we were lost in talk enjoying the balmy evening and looking at the stars.  Suddenly, our guide Ty hushed us and told us to be very very still and not make a noise.  A huge bull elephant appeared out f the dark only feet away from us.  It was surreal to be standing exposed such a short distance from this powerful male.  Clearly he knew we were there but he calmly came up and starting slurping the sweet water from the bore while.  It was as if time stood still as we marveled at his huge silhouette outlined against the rising full moon. Despite being only feet away from one of the largest creatures in earth that could easily kill us, I felt completely calm and at ease - almost reverent.  It was like he could feel the respect and awe we had.  Absolute magic and one of my top ten all time wildlife experiences!  We called him the ghost after he left.

After a delicious dinner and some banter around the campfire we retired to our “sky beds” under the stars.  Our tents had a large raised deck where the beds were rolled out and set up so we could sleep under the African stars.  With the full moon casting its beam on the waterhole below us everything was lit in a golden hue and the stars burned brightly in the unpolluted sky.  What a start to my journey.