Day 3
“Until the lion tells his side of the story, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” Zimbabwean Proverb.
After breakfast, we headed over to Ethendweni Children’s Home to have a tour, hopefully meet some of the children and of course, Lucien who runs the operation. Ethendweni is just one of the many non-profit groups under The Mother Africa Trust which is affiliated with the Amalinda Collection – our home in The Matobos and Hwange (our next stop).
Working with very few resources but lots of creativity and determination, Lucien and the team are able to get or trade just about anything to take care of the children and keep the operation going. As they say in Zimbabwe, “you always have to have a plan”.
Some of the soccer balls, bags and clothing were going to this location (thanks Diane and Bridget Zeppieri). I now “have a plan” for the next time and will distribute everything throughout all the bags (vs all in one) and/or just call them “samples”. Everything was greatly appreciated and as I think about it, the experience I had on arrival was the most interesting “negotiation skills course” I have ever taken!
Our private transfer from Camp Amalinda to Khulu Lodge in Hwange was give or take 4 hours. All trips here are “give or take” durations as you never know how many police stops you will have along the way. With unemployment being over 90% in Zimbabwe – everyone has to “have a plan” – including the police apparently…..In any case, the trip was easy and pleasant. We feel very safe here in Zimbabwe!
We were met by the friendly staff at Khulu Lodge and taken to our very cool room complete with an outdoor shower. The luxury tents on stilts (that’s what I call glamping) overlook a waterhole and salt lick – you never know who might come to visit! Also, the lodge is not fenced in and animals can/will walk through the property – fortunately for us, Khulu Lodge most certainly has a plan to deal with that!
We arrived just in time to head out for the late afternoon drive. Our guide is Dardley who we quickly determined was nothing short of a “rock star”! We all remember Hwange as the home of the late Cecil the Lion. While this was all happening, many of the journalists from around the world came to report on the incident and it seems Dardley was the go-to guide. Not surprising, as he is extremely knowledgable about the wildlife, birds, environment and pretty much anything else you can think of – all that and a really great guy too!!
Lions are my favourite animals in Africa and like many other people, I was very disturbed by the whole situation. I believe my friend Pat and I may have even seen Cecil and his brother Jericho on a previous trip to Hwange in 2009. I have asked numerous people here what their thoughts were and received some mixed responses as Big Game Hunting injects a lot of money into this struggling economy. I have no issue with responsible hunting but I don’t understand how anyone can hunt an endangered animal – at one time, lions numbered around 200,000 and now it’s closer to 20,000. I got one response that confirmed my concern around hunting lions and he also said if they stopped hunting the lions, they would increase in numbers substantially in only a few short years! That was the answer I was looking for – I’ve stopped asking!
Had a great drive through the park. Many animals drop their babies at this time of the year and we got to see some little ones. This zebra looks like he is still trying to figure out his legs and as for the baby baboon, I believe the term “a face only a mother could love” may apply!
Day 4
We started our morning drive bright and early at 6am. Here are just a few of the friends we met along the way including a rather ruffled crown crane…
We returned for a little lunch and rest before we headed back to the park. From the moment we met Dardley, we heard about a new male lion in town named Mopane. It seems Mopane has never seen vans and open jeeps before and in the 3 weeks he has been in the park, he has taken to charging the vehicles. Everyone was talking about Mopane – the park rangers and all the guides but most of all, Dardley. He was determined we would find Mopane and sure enough, we did! The lions had killed a baby elephant and were all happily feasting on it. Guess who else showed up! Jim and I had the back seats in the open jeep so we had a perfect view and could see Mopane as he crouched down and suddenly sprung up to start chasing our vehicle. I only got one picture of Mopane- the rest of my shots consisted of the ceiling, the back of my seat, my knee and the floor. Jim didn’t do much better with the video (with the exception of capturing the yelling on tape-most of it coming from him) as Dardley raced away and Mopane chased us! Clearly National Geographic won’t be sending us on tour any time soon. A great time to have free laundry!!!!
The other guests at the lodge are delightful – 3 from Zimbabwe and 1 from Australia. We were also surprised by a visit from Khulu himself. A charming host with a wealth of life experience and a wicked sense of humour, Khulu regaled us with tales and stories throughout dinner and later at the Boma (fire). The Brai we had for dinner was spectacular and the company even better. A perfect day and evening was complete with a send-off from a couple of elephants who dropped by the water-hole next to the Boma!
Goodbye and goodnight Khulu and friends.
