Thursday 13 December 2012

Mon 10 Dec - Wed 12 Dec 2012 - Imire Game Park

We left Harare and headed out of town to Imire Game Park near Marondera for our three day trip.  The latter part of the journey was on the old strip roads which brought back memories.  On arrival at Sable lodge we were greeted by the wonderful happy and friendly staff at the lodge.  A quick cup of tea and we were whisked off for our first game drive of the day. 

 
 
The 'Bar'
 
Our room
 

We saw a herd of buffalo and an old female elephant who arrived at the park years ago and was the only elephant at the time.  She decided to join the herd of buffalo and even after more elephant arrived later, she still thinks she is a buffalo and remains with the herd unbelievably as the matriarch.  Sadly, due to the large amount of poaching of wild animals in Zimbabwe, she needs to be guarded round the clock and followed wherever they wander to graze in the park! Chris wants his job!

'The Buffolant'


The next stop was at the crocodile dam.  Our driver tried to entice a croc out of the water with a sack on a stick but he was not in the mood for posing for photos and remained in the water with just his eyes peeping out! 



Back to the lodge for afternoon tea and then we were off again for our evening sundowner game drive.  We saw numerous herds of various buck including blesbok, eland, sable, impala, kudu as well as zebra and even a family of jackals peeping over an anthill.  We stopped at a hide and enjoyed a sundowner while looking out over the water of the dam. We were joined by a little local mouse who mopped up some spare cheese we had. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to enjoy a typical african sunset but the view was awesome nevertheless. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


As darkness was drawing in we were priviledged to be taken to see the black rhino in their night enclosure.  They are also guarded by an armed guard during the day but are brought into an enclosure at night for their own safety.  Imire has been involved in a black rhino breeding and conservation programme for many years but tragicaly lost 5 of their rhino about 5 years ago when they were massacred by poachers for their horns which are highly valued by the chinese medicine market.  Their remaining 4 rhino were all babies at the time and although they are growing and flourishing they are still not old enough to breed hence the breeding programme is on hold at present.  It was such a privilege to see these beautiful animals up close and we even got a chance to give them a few handfuls of their supper!!



Our evening was spent having a drink out under the african stars and then a lovely dinner.



Next morning Chris and I were up at dawn to head off for a highlight of our trip - riding the incredible bull elephants.  Getting on was very tricky as they are HUGE and I still have a sore back and bottom after my quad biking accident.  However once I had clambered aboard I was glad I had not chickened out as it was an experience I will never forget.  Chris climbed onto another one and were were off on an amble through the african bush.  We stopped every now and then at the elephants' whim while they reached up and ripped whole branches off trees then tore a trunkful of green leaves off and popped them into their mouths. Then we wandered off across a field, at one point I thought he was going to walk straight into one of the small dams for a swim.  Luckily the guide who was with me spoke sternly to him and he carried on walking.  We continued on the walk for a good hour with buck and zebra in the distance.  Dismounting was almost as tricky as getting on as our legs had gone to sleep but we staggered off ungracefully after an amazing experience!  One more thing ticked off on my bucket list!

 
 
 
 
 
 

We were ready for our breakfast when we returned and then set off on another game drive for the day.  We saw many more buck, 3 black rhino which had been born on Imire,  giraffe, elephants and a family of warthogs and then the white rhino who are also under armed guard.  Due to the risk of poaching the rhino are protected and actually owned by the state.  Imire Game park are custodians of these animals.  Every two years the horns of the rhino are cut off under strict control measures in an attempt to protect them from poachers.  What a sad world we live in!



 
 




Lunch was at a stop on the Kopje sitting on the rocks overlooking the dam.  Below us the rhino were enjoying their lunch at the same time.  The lodge cooks the lunch and transports it to this lovely spot where you can enjoy it in the african bush - a lovely touch!

 
 
 
 
 
Later we enoyed another evening drive to the hide for sundowners, we managed to have an even better view over the water as there was less cloud.  On the way the truck stopped abruptly to show us a 10 ft python who was lurking just off the road!  Needless to say I shot to the other side of the seat and graciously allowed Chris and mum to sit on that side - well he needed to take the photos!  In all my years in Africa I have barely seen a snake in the wild and this was by far the biggest.



As we pulled back into the car park at the lodge at the end of our drive I couldn't believe it when there was another snake slithering across the car park!  Luckily it was only a small grass snake and quickly disappeared into the bush!  I made sure I was not walking barefoot again for the rest of our visit! 

Another pleasant evening with drinks and dinner.

 
 


We left after breakfast the next day to return to Harare after a most incredible few days!

Imire is a farm as well as a game park and is the only farm remaining in the Wedza area where once there were 87 farms.  All the others have been taken over and lie abandoned.  The family who run Imire have been through very hard times but sheer determination and hard work mean they give people like us the pleasure of escaping to a little bit of Africa in the bush.

1 comment:

  1. HELLO! I'd been wondering about your blog, haven't been on Facebook for ages... just caught up with it all now, and it's brilliant reading! It sounds like you're having an absolutely wonderful time - so many fantastic experiences!! (I laughed all the way through your 'desert day' with Ryan... how funny! Hope the bruise is better now though!)

    Looking forward eagerly to future updates... and so glad you're having such an amazing trip!! Take care :)

    Lots of love and hugs from Pock! (Adam says hello!) xx

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