I am guilty of using every moment that I am in Zimbabwe to spend hunting. As a consequence I feel that that there are many things I have yet to experience there that I would love to see. Here is my start of list:

1. The Great Zimbabwe ruins
2. Victoria Falls
3. Cecil Rhodes grave in the Matopos Hills
4. The Eastern Highlands
5. Hwange and Gonarezhou National Parks

What other sites would others add to that list?

After several trips to Zimbabwe, I finally saw the falls last year. It was very much worth the time to go see it. We had dinner at the Boma that evening which made the whole day really nice.

Also did a tour around Lake Kariba and ate dinner at a Catholic orphanage in Binga. Also an enjoyable day.

Hwange was a great dissapointment. It is very run down. The infrastructure appears to have been built in the 60s or 70s and no maintenance has been done for a long, long time. Seeing it was just a sad reminder of what Zimbabwe once was. Maybe when the park is fully owned by the Chinese they will fix it up.

The Great Zimbabwe ruins are next on my list.

I'm in the same boat but will see Victoria Falls this July with the wife and two daughters after our hunt with Thierry Labat on Sango.

I'm sure I'll enjoy the hunting a lot more than the Falls but it'll be a great time nevertheless!

Seen most of those spots and would ad camping out at Ngwesha Pan, Wankie and a side trip into Mana Pools before a hunt in Chewore or Dande.

Mike,

Take a day to drive the Caprivi, maybe charter a small plane to fly you from Livingston to Kasane, then drive back. Stay on the small roads on the Namibia side, not Botswana, and do it after July, when the water is lower. Best game drive you will make, better than the parks.

Plus you can see the Falls from the air. If the option was offered, maybe take a small boat from Salambala back to the east, instead of the drive. Don't think anyone is offering this, but that would be a unique trip for sure.

I think I need to do a short 7 day hunt for a buffalo or something. Then leave my rifle in Harare and just do a road trip for 7-10 days and see the country. I love the people and there is a lot of history to be seen there that I will miss if all I ever do is go hunting. Might even convince Buzz to do a little fly fishing in the Highlands.

Interesting that you say that.

I told Kobus last year, I wasn't going to fly as much next time. I wanted to ride with the crew when we changed places, seems as if they are having a lot of fun while making those long drives from place to place. I've seen most of it from the air, want to be in it and on it next time.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
I think I need to do a short 7 day hunt for a buffalo or something. Then leave my rifle in Harare and just do a road trip for 7-10 days and see the country. I love the people and there is a lot of history to be seen there that I will miss if all I ever do is go hunting. Might even convince Buzz to do a little fly fishing in the Highlands.

Mike:
I do this each time I go to Zim. I drive and won't fly. The geography and the people are wonderful. I've often thought of going over and not hunt, just see the country for 2-3-4 weeks. Stay at the Vic Falls hotel, see Matopos Park and the stacked rocks, the three big game parks, falls, highlands, etc.. If I didn't have a dog I love more that life itself I would have moved to Zim after I retired in 2005.
Cal

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
I think I need to do a short 7 day hunt for a buffalo or something. Then leave my rifle in Harare and just do a road trip for 7-10 days and see the country. I love the people and there is a lot of history to be seen there that I will miss if all I ever do is go hunting. Might even convince Buzz to do a little fly fishing in the Highlands.

Was going to do just that - minus the fly fishing - with David Hulme. Sadly he died two days after we kind of planned on what to do.

The Eastern Highlands was to be the focus of the trip with a drop of to hunt in the Save.

I think a self drive in Namibia and Botswana would be fun. In Zim I would want someone local.

Mike

Imagine taking a 28 day Elephant hunt with CM Safaris. Take everything on the list the first two weeks, and just have Buzz or Myles play tour guide the rest of the time...

Every thing on MJines' list would make the trip a total success.

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
I think I need to do a short 7 day hunt for a buffalo or something. Then leave my rifle in Harare and just do a road trip for 7-10 days and see the country. I love the people and there is a lot of history to be seen there that I will miss if all I ever do is go hunting. Might even convince Buzz to do a little fly fishing in the Highlands.

Was going to do just that - minus the fly fishing - with David Hulme. Sadly he died two days after we kind of planned on what to do.

The Eastern Highlands was to be the focus of the trip with a drop of to hunt in the Save.

I think a self drive in Namibia and Botswana would be fun. In Zim I would want someone local.

Mike

Mike - by all means do the fly fishing if you get a chance. I spent a few days with Mike Payne and his family in the Eastern Highlands last April after my leopard hunt, and it was fantastic. It is hard to believe the change in scenery from Harare - the Eastern Highlands reminded me more of South Lake Tahoe than Africa. We stayed in a beautiful time share overlooking a crystal clear lake surrounded by pine trees. It took a while for me to locate where the fish were feeding, but after switching to a sinking line and a fly that looked like an olive drab Hornberg, I started catching rainbows in the 18-20" range. It is a part of my annual trip to Zim I hope to repeat!

I did a selfdrive across Zim a few years ago and loved it!

I've been to the falls twice. Go as early as you can before the tourist bus arrive.

Go camping in hwange! I spend a week in a tent at various pans and loved it!

Matobos Np is very scenic but hardly any wildlife!

Mike,

The She-Wolf and I have been blessed to have been able to see several of the points on your list.

The Falls are a definite must-see. We've been there and seen the difference from mid-drought conditions to the river being at a fifty-year high. Not sure that I've ever felt closer to the Creator...

The Victoria Falls Hotel is a must see as well, if you do nothing but have a cold Castle in the bar and wander the grounds for a bit.

Heading east there's phenomenal raptor watching to be done along the Batoka Gorge.

Lake Kariba is special, especially if you know a bit about Operation Noah. The upper end, above Msuna, has (or at least had) a number of rocks painted with the names of Rhodesian troops who fought the flow of troops coming out of Zambia...

Rhodes and Jameson's graves, along with the memorial to Alan Wilson and the Lost Shangani Patrol (as well as the cave paintings) make the trip to Rhodes-Matopos time well spent.

If you're a bit of a Rhodesia buff like me, sniffing out the site of the actual battle ground of the Shangani Patrol is worth the drive. It stands east-northeast of Lupane on the north side of the Shangani. Mark Butcher (ever the professional hunter!) tracked it down for us in 2009. It was a sad obelisk then, with the plaques torn off and pockmarked from the "Independence War"...but I got to see the country where my personal hero (Major Frederick R. Burnham) avoided capture by the Ndebele to attempt bringing aid to Wilson's detachment. Sacred ground to old fools like me...

Hwange Park was wonderful in '95; can't speak for it now as I haven't been back since. The game was wonderful...the people, well they were just being humans. Never have been that impressed with my own species.

We're booked back into Zim in 2015, with a spottie on the books for the She-Wolf and a bigger tusker for me (providing my own Government changes their mind). If they don't, well...that'll give us plenty of time to wander down to Masvingo and see Great Zimbabwe (something I've wanted to do for twenty years). Or we may just hang out on the Zambezi between the Batoka Gorge and Msuna and see about the tigerfishing...or maybe try to drag in a big vundu.

Visiting one of the local (rural) schools is always an experience and those little faces hold the key to Zim's future. Want to help shape the future? Our daughter saw "how the other half live" when she was 15...and it was an eye-opener for her!

Whatever you choose to do, I'm sure you'll have great time!

Mark

Mark,

That all sounds great. And of course there is the connection between the Lost Shangani Patrol and the Great Zimbabwe since that is where the initial gravesite was located. I just bought Burnham's book, Scouting on Two Continents and I look forward to reading it. Anyone that H. Rider Haggard describes as, "Burnham in real life is more interesting than any of my heroes of romance!" has got to be an interesting character.

I definitely need to arrange to take a break from the hunting and see some of the other things in the country.

Mike,

Yep, Burnham was the real deal. I'm bettin' that you'll enjoy his book (and it's companion, "Taking Chances").

If you're ever interested in seeing the site, whistle at Mark Butcher of Matupula Hunters...he's been there once; likely he could find it again!

Drop me a line if you're interested in seeing pics...

Mark

I've seen a majority of those things in conjunction with my hunting safaris in Zimbabwe. My wife and I make it a habit of spending time seeing the sights and moving among the people as well, including taking school supplies to communal schools. I also enjoyed a trip down the Zambezi River one year, launching from Chifuti's Tafika camp and going 60 miles downstream, through the gorge, landing at various areas and eventually going overland to our hunting camp in Dande South. I am always about seeing, meeting and doing the sights, history and people. I have also done this same thing in Namibia and South Africa. Makes the safari experience so much more enjoyable!

quote:

with David Hulme. Sadly he died two days after we kind of planned on what to do.

Hang on! David DIED??????????


.

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:

quote:

with David Hulme. Sadly he died two days after we kind of planned on what to do.

Hang on! David DIED??????????


.

Yes early Jan - natural causes. Good man left this world too early.

Mike

Having already visited pretty much all the spots already mentioned, the ONLY thing remaining to be seen...my "personal bucket list"... would be the funeral procession for Bob Mugab.

quote:

Originally posted by Don Edwards:
Having already visited pretty much all the spots already mentioned, the ONLY thing remaining to be seen...my "personal bucket list"... would be the funeral procession for Bob Mugab.

+1

I am actually looking forward more to the wake for Uncle Bob than the funeral. I have a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue set aside for that very sad day

Mike

All of those suggested sound like great destinations. I'd like to visit them all. Hopefully, I'll be able to.

I've been trying to figure out when I can retire and when I do, I'd like to take my family on a hunting trip to Lake Natron. They would all enjoy the scenary. Then, after sending the children home (they really aren't children anymore)I'd like visit friends in Arusha and Dar, and then take a trip to the coast with my wife, spend a little time on the beach and do some off-shore fishing and then visit Zanzibar, Pemba and Mafia. That would be enough for one trip.

I've hunted Namibia in the North East, but have never hunted the Caprivi Strip. I'd like to hunt elephant along the Kwando and then meet up with my wife at Swakopmund or Walvis Bay and do a little fishing,maybe some surf fishing in Angola, see the Skeleton Coast, maybe go through Etosha, and of course, spend a few days in Windhoek on the way home.

I might have to forego some hunting, but at this point, I'd almost rather just travel.

218BEE I had a chuckle when I saw that you would go and look at the rock with the troop names painted on. It is actually on the lake side of the junction of the Zambezi and Gwaai rivers. The names are members of the British south Africa Police who worked on the river. I have two pics, one of me having just painted my name on the rock and the second is some years later with more names scattered over the rocks and the original name overgrown and partially hidden by foliage. I will post them if someone will help me out.
Cheers,
Norm.

One thing we did was a little shopping in Harare
for furniture. We bought a dining room set and a couple end tables made out the beautiful teak railroad ties for about 1/3 the cost here in the states and this was totally custom and included shjipping. Just a thought.