The Hippo Pools wilderness area is in the Umfurudzi National Park some 140km north east of Harare. Located on the banks of the Mazowe River it is hot and humid in summer. That did not deter my brother and I and apparently enough other people to ensure the lodges and chalets were full (I would guess the camp site was one third full) so we managed to book a permanent tent and settled for “glamping”. It suited our purposes fine and we followed the standard practice of game drives in the early morning and evening and just dozing during the heat of the day.
The road from Harare is fine until the mining town of Shamva then has some very bad stretches until the turnoff into the park at Madziwa Mine which appears derelict. Then one has to slow down. It’s still passable to passenger cars but once in the wilderness area the roads preclude low clearance vehicle. For the energetic that’s not an issue as the area has no dangerous animals (apart from crocodiles and hippos) and walking and cycling is encouraged. At this time of year the horse flies are a problem to the extent that we had the windows up and air-conditioning on to keep them out but once we got out the blood-letting started. They were absent from the camp region.
We enjoyed our time there even though I feel certain areas could be improved. For the hard core game watcher there are better parks but they are further away from Harare so this one is convenient. Would I go back? Probably, but not in summer.
Glamping = glamorous camping
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- Impala batchelors. Herds consist of several males who hang out together until they can displace a dominant male and take over his herd of females.
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- There’s nothing like a “road closed” sign to tempt the explorer! Actually the sign was for those not in 4×4 vehicles when the road was wet. It was dry and easily passable though other roads were challenging even for my 4×4 pickup
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- The chalet and camping area was green and well tree covered. Each chalet and lodge had exclusive river views.
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- Our glamp site. Perfectly adequate. Bathroom en suite, a double bed and 2 bunk beds
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- There are worse ways to pass the heat of the day than in a hammock in the shade of massive trees.
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- The bar and dining area. Self catering is also an option. The menu was a bit limited but adequate considering the remoteness of the camp.
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- Love me tender… A liana provides what might be a deadly embrace to a tree.
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- The Mazowe River from the bar/swimming pool area. The dirty colour is as much a result of mining upstream as the recent rains.
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- Orange flower and cricket. Nope, maybe someone else knows what the flower is called.
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- Impala spoor. A mother and likely her newborn calf.
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- Wildebees. The bush is not conducive to game viewing so what is encountered is often very close and as a result they are skittish. My brother claimed the one with the blonde forelock on the left was likely a rebellious teenager.
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- A fascinating blue flower. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.
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- A purple flame lily. The national flower – most usually a vibrant red though also exist in the yellow.
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- There were lots of young impala. They are at the bottom of the antelope food chain and breed prolifically. The wilderness area has only one leopard that anyone knows of and no other predators. What the National Parks will do to control the population is not clear at this stage.
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- One very prickly character.
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- A tributary of the Mazowe River. No people, no cellphone signal, no plastic. Bliss.
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- The epitome of patience.
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- The dawn sky from our camp site. Tourists love the African sunsets which are often spectacular but for me the dawn skies are worth getting up early for. Watching the colours change and listening to the bush come awake is magical.
Zimbabwe Absurdity 
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