appreciated the ablutions, and the comfort definitely added to
my enjoyment of the trip.
In true Mongwe style the campsite is shaded by big trees,
and with the sound of the river flowing by, birds chirping and
singing and a gentle breeze blowing, I marveled at the beauty
and serenity of the place, and could feel the stress and strain of
daily life in Harare melting away from me. There is nowhere
quite as magical as Mongwe, in my opinion, and it was good
to be back in that special part of the world.
We had taken enough food and drink to cater for twice the
amount of people and double the amount of time, but had
forgotten useful items such as the skottel and a frying pan, but
made a plan, as we always do. Four delightful days followed,
with lots of chilling on the river and in our campsite, sundowner
cruises and hilarious times around the campfire at night. The
fishing was good, but could have been better, according to
the men on the trip, but the ladies were quite content with the
lunchtime gins and tonics, and the great wines at sundown.
As is normal at this time of year, the surrounding bush is green
and overgrown, so if there were any wild animals, we didn’t
see them. I did hear a lion though, early one morning (no-one
in camp believed me), and Oscar confirmed that lions had been
spotted in the area the day before. Having spent lots of time
at Antelope Park these past eight years, I know a lion when I
hear one! The baboons and vervet monkeys were troublesome,
but a lot of that was due to our carelessness in dealing with
rubbish and not locking everything away in our cars each time
we left the campsite.
The weather was warm so we took the fly-sheet off the tent,
and spent each night sleepily tracking the path of the full moon
and glimpsing the stars reflected in the river when awake, then
snuggling back into our camping mattresses, feeling blessed to
be sleeping under the night sky on the banks of the Zambezi
River, in our beloved Zimbabwe.
I can highly recommend a camping trip to Mongwe Campsites,
and we will be going back there as soon as we can.
Lesley Bredenkamp
Harare
Kariba Lions
Over the last several months, various reports of lions
roaming in and around Kariba city limits have been causing
alarm. Regular sightings had residents on alert, and pedestrians
were warned against walking in the bush or at night.
Early in March, The Kariba Animal Welfare Fund Trust
(KAWFT) received rumor based reports that a motorcyclist had
been taken off his bike by lions, while riding along the Kariba/
Charara dirt road. Following investigations, they reported “A
worker at one of the lodges in the Charara area was travelling on
the Charara dirt road when he ran out of fuel. When he looked
up, he saw lion in front and behind him.” Luckily for him, he
did not panic and run - there is nothing a kitty likes more than
chasing food - and he was able to get a lift with a vehicle and
left his motor bike where it was, presumably confident his
newfound “watchdogs” would keep it safe. KAWFT continues
P a g e 10
“That evening, a few Y[