I am hopefully going to Sengwa in July for Buffalo and Sable and if time permits transferring to the matopos area for Leopard and am very interested in any and all input any of you might provide. Thanks in advance.

Adrian,

Hunted the Plumtree area in '02 (just west of Matopos) with Mark Butcher of Matupula Hunters. It's a ruggedly beautiful area that's ratty with leopard.

Pry a little time away to visit Rhodes-Matopos park. Climb up to see the cave paintings. Visit Rhodes grave and the monument to Alan Wilson's Lost Shangani Patrol. There's a helluva lot of human history wrapped up in those hills...and some damned nice spotties, too!

Good luck,

Mark

Mark, Thanks for the suggestions I will do all the things you have mentioned. BTW my leopard hunt will be at Plumtree so that is good news as well. I will let you know how it goes. Adrian

Will you be hunting with a Zimbabwe operator?
If so, it should be good even with all the poaching going on.
With the leopard area, will they be using dogs to hunt for you?
ozhunter

Ozhunter's query above is seminal.

The areas you mention are in general, good for the species wanted.

However in the areas mentioned there are also one or two less than desirable people operating, so it is excellent advice to hunt with a well recommended ZIMBABWEAN outfitter.

Would this be in the "Sengwa Research Area"?

Seeing you are from the US (and not Canada or other), have you checked the ownership of the area yet, to make sure that there are no ties to individuals on the US Banned List? Per the 5/9 Consular Information Sheet:

quote:

Tourists who wish to hunt in Zimbabwe must be accompanied by a licensed operator, who is required to be registered and licensed by the Zimbabwe Ministry of Environment and Tourism. Travelers to Zimbabwe should ask for the operator’s license number when booking a hunt and should check the authenticity of the license by contacting the Zimbabwe Association of Tour and Safari Operators (ZATSO) at: pangeti@zct.co.zw or bown@zct.co.zw - EDIT an alternate and perhaps more current address for Sally Bown is soaz@mweb.co.zw.

Ask about the operator of the hunt - as well as the owner of the exact concession(s) you would be hunting on, and confirm it is not a "General" or other person on the List.

Brigader-general Ben Matiwaza has the area. Was a fight over the quota at the beginning of the year but presume it is sorted by now. Company is Three Pegs Safaris.

Neighter Ben nor his brother are on the US banned list, and much as I strongly object to the destruction of what was Africa's largest research station, that wasn't Ben's doing.

...the sign I saw at the entrance to the Sengwa, read: "TENT PEG SAFARIS".

We were in their safari camp for a brief time in April. We came up on one of their trailers sitting in the bottom of a dry river bed with no means of locomotion. Seems their 4-wheel drive vehicle "lost" a drive shaft, and was unable to pull the trailer. Sooo, being good samaritans, we gathered the "boys", and hooked up the trailer, and hauled it back to the General's camp.

We were greeted by two of Gen Matiwaza's P/H's. Quite dark of skin, by the way. They were quite "chuffed" we recovered their trailer. They invited us to have a cool drink, but we declined, as we were off to the bottom of Gokwe South looking for jumbo.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my post you may rest assured that I will spend NO money with any of the SA PHs or any of the other operators who are trying to make a fast buck by picking through the bones of what should have been the future of Zimbabwe. In 2000 I hunted with Rodie Tourle at Luma in the Matopos and then the Turk Mine Dollar Block. Luma was a wonderful place that is now an occupied property I'm told. Having never hunted Leopard I hope late July is not too late in the season. This part of the hunt is to occur at Plumtree. Thanks especially for the info on the ownership of Sengwa and it's status. BTW Ganyana when you get some of your articles and recollections together in book form I'm a customer. Adrian