HWANGE GAME-TRACKING SAFARI

Most of my adventures throughout Africa often last between two and five weeks, but one can also have a great short adventure as well. The duration of our Walking Safari was four days.

A good friend and I made our way to Victoria Falls. We met-up with our Professional Guide and Tracker. From the Falls we departed to Hwange NP. Hwange is the largest National Park in Zimbabwe. There is a dedicated area within the park for Licensed Professional Guides to host their clients and the focus in this area is walking or game-tracking on foot. This is truly my favorite way to see game.

We were led by my friend, Professional Guide Leon Varley and his tracker Obert. I have been out with these guys several times in the past. Our goal this time was to track Rhino on foot. They are very difficult to locate, but I knew if were to see one, Obert could find them. The first day we were only in our second hour and suddenly Obert gave us the signal, he had seen a large male. As I got my camera ready, the Rhino moved so fast that I only caught a quick glimpse of him. What a thrill!

In addition to the excitement I feel game-tracking, I also experience a quiet and peacefulness, the colours of the morning sky, the brilliance of the mopane trees and the amazing sounds of the birds darting from spot to spot. You simply have to come out here and experience it yourself.

We covered about 50 Kilometers in the four days, meandering from one direction to the next, through thick mopane trees, across rocks, up hills and through river beds. It is a bit more difficult to get close to the game on foot as they can pick-up our scent often. When this happens, off they go and fast!

Our final day was the highlight for me. As we headed back in the direction of our camp, we sat on the top of a ridge above a dry riverbed. When we arrived at this idyllic spot there were about fifteen Elephant digging down with their trunks until they hit a bit of water. The winds were in our favour, so they could not pick-up our scent. Then all of the sudden they just kept coming and coming to this spot. We counted eighty-seven in total. Leon stated that he had never seen that many at this particular spot ever before.