Latest Update from Godfrey in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe
The park has been under fire for the past 3 weeks and it was nearly completely burnt out. First there was a fire which started near the Botswana border and it stretched out as far as Little Tom in Robins area and we had a second outbreak which started at the railway line near Inyantue dam and it stretched upto near Robins turn off after Masuma. The fire mostly affected the left hand side of the road from the turn off, through Masuma, Shumba up to Inyantue Dam. Near Masuma the fire jumped the road but we managed to put it out near the river. So now we are afraid there won’t be enough food for the animals as most of it has been burnt. Up to today no one knows the cause of the fires.
Shumba
The dam is 3/4 full and there is a lot animal activity around the waterhole most of the times. Elephants are coming in large numbers and they start coming from midday and they drink all night. There is also a big herd of Buffaloes which is coming to the waterhole everyday, and there is also a a pride of about 12 Lions which is usually hanging around.
Masuma
The dam is also 3/4 full and there is also a lot of activity around. Elephants are coming from midday and they drink all night. Lions are always around and it seems they have made the area around the bridge their home as most of the time they are always there. The other day our resident honeybadger was eaten by a Lioness, she came with it in her mouth. At first we thought she was going to take it to her cubs, but when she got at the waterhole she lay down and started eating it. She had mud on her feet and l think she dug it out somewhere. Our resident Leopard is still around and it still comes by the caterpillar at night. Wilddogs dogs are around but l haven’t seen them lately. Buffaloes and other animals like Giraffe and lmpalas are still coming.
Mandavu
The dam is still full and there is a very big herd of buffaloes, the one which usually goes between Sinamatella and Mandavu. There is a pack of wild dogs which is always around, there is also a big pride of Lions which is also seen along the dam wall most of the time.
Tourists arrivals are still low. Sometimes the camps are full but most of the times they are empty.
With the game count around the corner we hope there will be more people counting compared to last year when some of the pans had no people counting there, and we also hope that it won’t rain towards the count as we are starting to have clouds now and again.