Camp Life at Camp Hwange

Great shower

Eight thatched, 2 bed en-suite chalets with canvas and gauze walls are set either side of a central boma (dining area, bar and lounge) all overlooking a pan.  We are free to move around the camp during the day but at night we are escorted by one of the guides to the boma and back to our rooms.

View from my bed

At the Boma

View from my en-suite

The first night I awoke hearing munching outside my room and on getting up to see could see quite clearly three buffalo only a couple of yards from me.  They're pretty big so close but felt quite safe with the protection of the canvas wall!   Saw elephant spore on the walk to breakfast the next morning and, in fact, on the last evening, as we sat around the fire, an elephant walked up to the bird bath to take a slurp.

On our last morning early just after our wake up call I heard whistling but didn't think much of it.  I was on my verandah having coffee and if only I had taken notice I would have realised that it was Julian alerting us to a leopard who was crossing the pan by the hide.  Penny never heard the whistling so we both missed it.............as did everyone else who was staying; too busy getting ready for the day ahead.

Too busy taking photos to see the leopard!
You can see the tree and the hide in the distance

Early morning

First light at the boma

Ready to go

Breakfast

Neil and Shelley

The tree by the pan has a hide made from teak branches and logs surrounding it.  On our first night after watching elephant at the pan and the hippo in the water when there was a lull in activity we drove over to this hide and very quietly scrambled from the vehicle and hid ourselves behind it.  We waited then for the next herd of elephant to come down.  We were very up close and personal and we all secretly hoped that those few branches really would protect us.  We were reassured by Adam and since then have learned that his brother Daniel helped build the hide.  Teak is very heavy.  We would have looked as one with the tree and unless we moved or made a noise animals would not detect that we were individuals and potential prey.  We were very quiet and moved very slowly.  It was a very special viewing.

At the hide

Upon arrival at the Camp we had been met by Julian and his wife Ashleigh who were running the camp whilst Dave Carson was away (with guys from Disney who were in the Park filming).  Adam Jones was also there to greet us.  He has certainly grown up since I last saw him which was when he was about 7!  He has just done is final professional guiding exams and deserves to do very well - he was excellent; I know I am biased but I wouldn't bother to write here that he was if I didn't think so.  Later at supper we also met Spike Williamson, another seasoned professional guide who grew up in the Park at Dete.  His mother Pebbles (ex UTC) was a friend of William's as Boots was a development officer in the Hwange area in the seventies and later became the Provincial Officer for Mat North after he moved to Vic Falls.  It was really enjoyable talking to him about National Parks and names of people I knew and had seemingly forgotten and who kept popping back into my memory.  Long forgotten jargon also returned and an expression I haven't heard for a long term - "it's mushe"!

Some of the Camp Hwange Team

Good food and sociable - mixing with other clients and sharing our experiences.  This really is an excellent place to stay if you want to enjoy a good experience of life in the bush.