AMONG ELEPHANTS IN BOTSWANA AND ZIMBABWE, Guest Post by Owen Floody

African elephants, Zimbabwe.

With many thanks to Owen Floody, a frequent contributor to The Intrepid Tourist. In 1971, Owen and my husband Art participated in a field course in animal behavior in Uganda. The descriptions of the animals in Owen's post below bring back many memories of that first trip to Africa.

A few months ago, I traveled in search of one charismatic mammal, the mountain gorilla.  What better complement than a September 2025, trip focusing on a second large, highly intelligent and charismatic, mammal, the African elephant?

The Great Elephant Migration Safari was run by Wilderness Travel and expertly led by Vusa Ncube.  It began in Botswana but quickly shifted to Zimbabwe, where it covered a lot of ground, in part by replacing two long drives with charter flights.  Most of our time was spent in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park.  At first glance, this seemed too dry and overgrazed to support large elephant herds.  

Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.

But appearances can be deceiving, as the elephants certainly were there.  One factor contributing to this abundance must be the large number of human-maintained waterholes that dot this part of Hwange.

Vultures, Chobe National Park, Botswana.

My first few days were spent in Botswana's Chobe NationalPark.  An elephant carcass provided an early focus, as it was scoured, first by lions, later by a flock of fractious vultures.  

Elephants in Chobe River.

But the live elephants were even better, socializing near or frolicking in the Chobe River.

Ringside view of nighttime visit of elephants to waterhole at Nehimba Lodge, Zimbabwe.

Our first stop in Zimbabwe was Nehimba, a lovely small lodge perched on the edge of a waterhole calculated to attract animals in the day and night.  

Napping lions.

Lions again proved very entertaining, as they worked over an old carcass and then recovered from their labors as only cats can.

Rhinos at rest at Camel Thorn Lodge, Zimbabwe.

From Nehimba, we traveled by train (The Elephant Express) to Camel Thorn Lodge, in the shade of a Camelthorn tree. Here, we had to be cautious moving on or near the grounds.  The surrounding community is creating a preserve for endangered white rhinos and the area's first two residents seem to love napping at the lodge.  It's not everywhere that animals as rare and formidable as these can be approached (carefully) on foot!

Elephants at waterhole near Camel Thorn Lodge.

A waterhole near Camel Thorn provided my favorite elephant-viewing opportunity.  This was memorable partly due to the large number of elephants that showed up.  But even more compelling was the obvious glee exhibited by the young elephants as they frolicked in this waterpark of their own creation.

Young elephant and herd at waterhole near lodge at Jozibanini.

Our last and most isolated stop was the tiny lodge at Jozibanini.  This provided a variety of entertainments, most focused on the lodge's waterhole.  By far the most thrilling of these was the opportunity to view elephants from a ground-level blind adjacent to a favorite water source.  This provided a dramatic perspective along with the opportunity to view huge and highly charismatic animals at a range of inches.  Our trip couldn't possibly have concluded in any more dramatic and satisfying fashion!

ANIMALS OF HWANGE NATIONAL PARK, ZIMBABWE by Karen Minkowski at The Intrepid Tourist

52 Places to Go: Week 10

Impala at Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

My friend Karen Minkowski spent several months in Africa in 2018-2019 and sent me some of her wonderful photos taken on a trip to Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. Karen and I were on the same memorable trip to East Africa in 1971 that I wrote about in my post on May 16, 2011. Karen has been back to Africa many times since then, both for work and for pleasure. I thank her for sharing her terrific photos and observations of African wildlife with The Intrepid Tourist.

I've been coming to Zimbabwe almost yearly since 2009, and at the end of 2018 I returned, hoping to spend six months volunteering for a foundation, while also seeing as much wildlife and birds as possible. Not long after arriving, an unexpected opportunity came up to spend four nights at a wonderful lodge in Hwange National Park at a special "rainy season" rate. Here are some of the highlights of this visit.

Young eland

The rainy season is birthing time for many antelope and gazelle  – here are some young eland from a herd of about 200, the largest eland group I've ever seen. Below, a bull, with his velvety coat.

Bull (male) eland

Hwange has one of the largest elephant populations in Africa, between 49 and 60 thousand.  In the dry season elephants concentrate in and around water holes. With the rains they disperse widely, as water is everywhere, and we saw elephants only once. This young teenager mock-charged our vehicle several times before rubbing his rear on a dead tree stump. As we started to drive away, he approached our vehicle, raised his trunk and trumpeted at us, convinced he was chasing us away.

Young elephant

When I go to Hwange I am accustomed to joining a walking safari. I love this way of seeing wildlife, following the tracker as he picks up the spoor of a lion or rhino. There's nothing between me and the wildlife, and ... I get to walk. On this safari we viewed everything from a vehicle, but I did appreciate that we were able to approach wildlife more closely without disturbing them and saw many more animals than when on foot.

Hwange has a great diversity of ungulates (hoofed mammals.)

Resting waterbuck

 

Sable

The sable is one of the most beautiful of all antelopes. We saw them in woodlands and grasslands.

Impala

Impala are one of Africa's most common gazelles, but I never tire of seeing these elegant, graceful animals. One afternoon we watched in amazement as a group of young impala raced round and round in large circles, seemingly for the pure joy of running and kicking their legs high in the air...they continued for quite a while.

Zebras are very affectionate!

In this season of abundant food and water, the animals seemed more relaxed than during the dry months – the need to be vigilant for predators is always present, but there's also time for fun and play and socializing. Meanwhile, the black-backed jackal (below) often hangs around on the grasslands, awaiting perhaps a lion kill? The jackal scavenges and preys opportunisticly.

Jackal

While parked late one afternoon to enjoy drinks and watch the sunset. A lion begin to roar from perhaps 1/2 a mile away; soon he came into view, about 100 meters from us, still roaring. It is the best sound in the universe, soothing and comforting when you know you are in a safe place.

Lion

We continued watching as he roared his way towards one of Africa's spectacular sunsets...

 

For more about Hwange National Park, see Karen's post The Birds of Hwange National Park from March 4, 2019.

 

All text and photos copyright Caroline Arnold at The Intrepid Tourist
www.theintrepidtourist.blogspot.com

BIRDS OF ZIMBABWE, Part 1: Guest Post by Karen Minkowski

 Southern Masked Weaver(male) near Dete, Zimbabwe

My friend Karen Minkowski is spending several months in Africa and sent me some of her wonderful photos taken on her morning bird walks. Karen and I were on the same memorable trip to East Africa in 1971 that I wrote about in my post on May 16, 2011. Karen has been back to Africa many times since then, both for work and for pleasure. I thank her for sharing her terrific photos and observations of African wildlife with The Intrepid Tourist.

For six weeks I lived in Dete, a small town of about 3,000 people in western Zimbabwe on the border of Hwange National Park, while I was volunteering for a foundation that works with local communities. A dirt road separated my house from the bush and the nearby national park boundary. Early each morning I walked along the road observing and photographing birds. The abundance, diversity and beauty of Zimbabwe's birds were a continual source of enjoyment for me. Here are some that I managed to capture with my camera.

A female Southern Masked Weaver is inspecting a nest that appears to be undergoing repairs, as suggested by the juxtaposition of old and new grasses. The male builds the nest, and if the female accepts it she'll line the inside with soft plant materials. Like many weaver species, this one also nests in colonies.

The birds chatter away as they prepare their nests. Each bird extracts a single blade of grass from the surrounding bush or gardens and then flies back to the colony to weave it into the nest. Taking a break to feed, small flocks of Southern-masked Weavers gorge on grass seeds or forage for insects.

The Blue Wax Bill's small size and habit of flitting quickly in and out of bushes made it difficult for me to get a photo. I finally resorted to continuous burst shooting in hopes that one of many images might come out in focus and with the bird acceptably posed.

This is the stunning, yet somehow oddly put-together Southern Red Bishop in full breeding regalia. He looks to me as though he'd donned a red head scarf and then casually tossed the end around his neck before showing up at his display site. Perched below him is his rather drab-colored (potential) mate. 

I loved watching birds interacting. Sometimes an encounter lasted just long enough for one bird to land and another, nearby, to fly off, clearly ceding space to the first; at other times a prolonged interchange would occur.

These two African Golden Orioles faced each other while one chirped at the other. Then they would separate, likely foraging for insects, but never more than a couple meters away. Then they came close together again, with more chirping, and again separated. I couldn't tell if they were mates or a parent and offspring. After a few minutes one flew off to another tree, and the bird remaining behind suddenly changed its call from chirping to a lovely warble. Soon it, too, left the tree and both flew out of my sight.

Late one afternoon, I photographed these Arrow-marked Babblers through my open bedroom window as they huddled together and engaged in mutual and self-preening. They forage in small groups of 9-12 and babble as they move through the lower strata of vegetation and on the ground. The babbling probably serves to keep the group together.

Quite a bit of commotion - movement and noisy vocalization - attracted my attention to these two very animated Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills.

Eventually one, I assume a parent, fed its hungry, insistent young. 

Look for Part 2 of BIRDS OF ZIMBABWE next week.