Nyangombe Lodge: Sebakwe River wonder

Simba Jemwa, recently in Kwekwe

IF you are looking for a fresh, earthy vacation next to a swirling, rushing river, Nyangombe Lodge along the Sebakwe River in Kwekwe might just be the perfect place to do so.

The lodge was built in 1996 as a hunting lodge, and is being majorly revamped by its current  owner.

Uniquely positioned some 38 km from Kwekwe on Mvuma Road along the banks of the Sebakwe River, Nyangombe Safari Lodge offers a private, authentic safari experience of untamed African wilderness.

Well positioned within the 65 000 hectare Midlands Black Rhino Conservancy (MBRC) the safari lodge’s diversity of woodlands and grasslands have made it one of the Midlands biodiversity hotspots.

Members of the media were recently invited to a tour of the lodge which is part of a 1 300 hectare Bemthree Kuguta Estate property that also includes a productive farm, a dam, and black rhino conservancy. The family resort is slowly being transformed into a fully-fledged game safari, fishing, and agro-tourism property. 

Nyangombe Safari Lodge is unique among safari experiences in that it is situated within the Bemthree Estate a fully functioning commercial farm.

Visitors have the opportunity to encounter and explore the surrounding farm life.

There are also opportunities for younger children to interact and pet young livestock including goat kids, calves and piglets. The larger part of the estate is reserved for wildlife conservation, leaving 400 hectares for commercial farming.

“I think Nyangombe is a game changer for the community,” said Jed Moyo, Nyangombe Lodge’s experienced manager. 

“We are refocusing Nyangombe to take advantage of the wonders that the Sebakwe River offers.

We want to focus on game safaris, bass fishing safaris, rhino walks as well as agro-tourism,” Moyo revealed.

Originally built as a hunting lodge by its owners during settler Rhodesia, the key focus areas were originally game, cattle ranching and commercial farming.

The property is home to leopard, kudu, eland, giraffe, zebra, impala, warthogs, bush pigs, baboon,  monkey, but draw card is the black rhino.

It was part of a conservancy measuring one million acres that took in the rhinos from national parks across the country.

Twenty black rhinos were brought into the conservancy from the Zambezi and another 20 from Gonarezhou National Park.

“That is why we have decided to resuscitate this aspect of the farm and re-introduce game and hunting safaris in addition to the other tourism activities.

Rhinos are very territorial and one rhino needs about 15 square kilometres forming its territory. We have been blessed because the owners have managed to ensure that the virgin forests and thickets within their property have remained untouched and as a result, we have maybe eight black rhinos on the property itself. They prefer our place because of the type of feed available to them due to the maintenance of acacia thickets which they favour and the peace and tranquillity.”

Lodge One consists of three lodges, one of which has two double rooms, one ensuite, the other just shower and basin. The top deck has four beds. 

Lodge Two consists of one double room and two beds on the top deck while Lodge Three has one double room ensuite and one wing with two beds.

The boutique lodge also has overflow accommodation of three cottages. BEM 3 Kuguta Estate is part of the original Midlands Black Rhino Conservancy which was established in the late 1980s, an approach embraced by 15 farmers in the area who shared a common goal and developed the concept of a combined force to manage their areas as one entity. 

During this period, the country was faced with rampant poaching of the black rhino and it was at this juncture that some rhinos were moved from problem areas into safe zones.  Nyangombe is part of the MBRC which is recognised as the second fauna and flora hot spot in Zimbabwe after Chirinda forest in the Eastern highlands.

In addition, Nyangombe Safari Lodge and tourism marketing firm, Club Likhoma have entered into a partnership to boost recognition of the tourist destination to domestic and international buyers.

The partnership injects critical new event-based marketing strategies from Club Likhoma into a multi-faceted marketing programme focusing on domestic and international tourism opportunity markets, in an effort to stimulate and drive preference for Nyangombe as a leisure, education and business destination.

Target markets have been carefully selected through a detailed market and tourism data analysis, and will include the immediate locale of Kwekwe and the Midlands, followed by the rest of the country and the region with the possibility of new markets being introduced over time.

In the initial stages, the types of activity undertaken will include the introduction of events such as bass fishing, safari drives, rhino walks and in the long term, hunting safaris to market Nyangombe, cooperative marketing campaigns with other tourism players to drive sales, the introduction of new travel trade cooperative marketing activities, and in- language digital and social media content development to allow the destination to promote itself effectively in new markets.

 Moyo, Nyangombe Safari Lodge manager, said the partnership will build on the great work done to date in increasing the lodge’s reputation as a desirable international leisure tourism destination.

“This partnership and the commitment of significant additional marketing by Club Likhoma and Nyangombe represents a significant turning point in the ability of the property to market itself internationally.  Over the past few years and for several more to come there has been significant infrastructure development and tourism product enhancement within the Midlands, so the time is right to further enhance the international marketing capabilities of the MBRC along with Nyangombe, in order to drive future passenger growth.”

 Jonathan Kaliyathi, Club Likhoma operations manager, said the collaboration with Nyangombe was part of a broader strategy to raise its profile in key markets and to drive visitation.

“By pooling our marketing and intellectual resources and presenting a united front to achieve a common goal, we have the opportunity to grow Nyangombe’s reputation as a leisure destination, drive up visitor numbers, attract more international rhino conservationists to study in the MBRC and build stronger relationships in priority markets. We can also increase overnight expenditure by enticing visitors who visit Nyangombe to stay longer,” Mr. Kaliyathi said.

@RealSimbaJemwa