Blogs from Gweru, Zimbabwe, Africa

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Africa » Zimbabwe » Gweru July 24th 2012

Driving through the infamous Tete Corridor (well known in the days of Mozambique's long running civil war as the Gun Run) we entered Zimbabwe, our first stop the capital, Harare. Here we camped along Lake Chivero for two freezing cold nights. During the night zebra and horses would stroll around our tents and in the afternoon giraffe and sometimes rhino could be spotted across the lake. There were two zebras in particular that we often saw running around with a sheep that they had befriended. The camp grounds were also home to Zimbabwes biggest bird park, we were able to hold some of the birds and even nurse a young hawk. After the first freezing cold night and equally as freezing shower a group of us decided to venture into Harare city to purchase some warmer ... read more
Elephant ride
Cave painitng
Great Zimbabwe Ruins

Africa » Zimbabwe » Gweru November 8th 2011

You are welcome The phrase we hear most on this trip. A lot of the time when the locals are trying to sell us something. After travelling down through Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Malawi and parts of Zimbabwe we have reached Antelope park. This morning we walked with Lion cubs and this afternoon we are watching them feed. We then go on a night stalk with the lions and tomorrow a lunar safari on elephants. We are camped down by an oxbow lake in a campsite with hot running water. A bit of a revalation on this trip. The temperature outside is about 30 degrees and the beer is cold. Complete bliss. Just been chatting with the Zimbabwe cricket coach who is an interesting bloke. No sign of Bob mugabe or his henchman though. In a few ... read more

Africa » Zimbabwe » Gweru September 16th 2010

Wednesday (3/8/10) Up and at 'em early (again) we packed our gear back into the truck for a 7am departure. We stopped in Geweru picking up some supplies. We arrived at Antelope Park to an amazing reception drinks. traditional dance and music and a tour of the grounds. Antelope park is home to a Lion breeding program aimed at restoying Africa’s rapidly dimishing lion population. After viewing the activities DVD we signed up for a day of Lion experiences, made some calls home and had lunch in the sun by river. Jez and Chris joined the staff for the daily soccer match and then it was time to play with the five week old cubs. The three cubs were just like three very large kittens, fascinated with the mop (that’s lion sized ball of wool!) and ... read more
Meeting the 5 week old lion cubs
Walking hand in tail
pt 2

Africa » Zimbabwe » Gweru April 27th 2010

I have an internet connection, and I'm not afraid to use it :) Right then, where were we, oh yes Malawi (apologies if there's some repetition here): Lake Malawi is lovely, and we were all pretty gutted about having to leave there, it was just beautiful and Kande Beach campsite was fantastic. From there it was back into reality and civilisation via Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi to hang around while Mozambique visas were sorted. The following day we started our transit through Mozambique via Tete, notoriously a troublesome route during civil unrests and used as a trafficing route, but now a safe route through to Zimbabwe (most other overland trips still avoid this route and Zimbabwe, and choose the less impressive route between Lilongwe and Vic Falls via Zambia, but going via Zim was one ... read more

Africa » Zimbabwe » Gweru December 2nd 2009

Hello again, Sorry about that last message, I had typed the entire thing and when I went to publish the entry, the internet messed up and I assumed the blog entry was lost. I guess this website saved it automatically, so therefore there will be two updates entered today! The last two days here at Antelope park have been wicked! We started yesterday morning bright and early with the elephant training! It was pretty cool, but still felt a little weird - like a circus. I think I prefer seeing them out in the wild. But we got to sit on their legs and feed them, and then sit on top of them while they stood up. It was really neat. After the elephants, we were supposed to have "cub feeding" but it poured rain all ... read more

Africa » Zimbabwe » Gweru July 19th 2009

From Harare we went to Gweru , again another small town that was clean and no one bothered you. They had this great pizza place called Pizza Inn, which is located all over Zimbabwe, yum! It is one of my favorite pizza places now! I had to shop for cook shop again, it was my groups turn to cook. This was a challenging experience because Zimbabwe is still trying to recover for it down turn for the last 30 years and stores do not have the freshest products. We made due, it wasn't my turn to decide what cook anyway, I was just there for back-up support. From Gweru we went to Antelope Park, 6km from the city. This is the greatest place on Earth! I loved it so much there. I could go on forever ... read more

Africa » Zimbabwe » Gweru November 6th 2007

Hello everyone at home, it is me once again from Antelope Park outside Gweru, Zimbabwe. After leaving Lake Malawi, we spent another two nights in Lilongwe, Malawi, to stock up for the upcoming trip to Zimbabwe. Everybody, and especially me, was dreading it. Zimbabwe, in the news almost every night for a deluded leader and economic desaster! So we spent two days in Lilongwe to load up the truck with food, fuel and all other necessities. The next day we left for Mocambique. I can say that I haven't seen anything of this beautiful country except some monstrosities of spiders in the bushcamp - a shame! We crossed the boarder to Zimbabwe the next morning, and it was unexpectedly uncomplicated. While heading towards Harare, every single person on the truck was absolutely stunned: yes, there is ... read more

Africa » Zimbabwe » Gweru August 25th 2007

Hello! Ok so I've decided that Zimbabwe is my favourite country so far. Despite the hardships that the people face here, or perhaps because of the hardships the people face here, I've found them to be incredibly warm and welcoming people. Unlike other parts of Africa where being white is an advertsiement to locals that you are a tourist and therefore have money to spend, Zimbabweans were genuinely grateful that we had bothered to visit their country. The place that's swung it for me is Antelope Park where we just spent 4 days. Its amazing - just out of this world. It's basically a small privately run national park that is also the base for a lion breeding programme (as they are close to being on the endangered species list). There is so much to do ... read more
Yes I was that close!
Scary??
A morning stroll with the lions

Africa » Zimbabwe » Gweru August 24th 2007

Arrived at Antelope Park on the 21st August. What a beautiful place! We set up our tents on the river bank and were greeted by 4 elephants across the other side of the bank who were enjoying the cool water. It was a lovely sight. In the evening we had an intro DVD about all the activities on offer and then spent the rest of the night sitting around a sunken campfire under the stars. A very relaxing evening! We were in for a shock though because as soon as we walked away from the fire we realised just how cold the evening was. I hadn't anticipated that it would ever be that cold whilst on the trip especially as the days have been scorching! Needless to say, I didn't get the best nights sleep! The ... read more
Elephant ride
Lion feeding

Africa » Zimbabwe » Gweru June 25th 2007

We moved onto Antelope Park which is high on the plateau and very cold at night and fairly cold during the day! This place was set up in the 70's as a lion breeding program to re-introduce lions back into the wild as their numbers slowly dwindle. Set on 33000 acres complete with a lake and all forms of wildlife it is truely a great spot to camp for a week in the summer. They also raise elephants here along with a number of other projects. The main higlight here for us was to go out on their night time lion stalk. This is where the lions are taken out to hunt naturally and armed with spotlights we got to see the 3 lions in action and successfully catch an impala for dinner. The whole ... read more
Maximus
On the Lion walk
I'm not scared....




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