The Sunday News
Phineas Chauke
THE land in the south east of Zimbabwe to the borders of both Mozambique and South Africa is a rugged and rough expanse yet endowed with much beauty and inspiration.
It is an extensive geographical and cultural landscape with a conglomeration of features that endear it to any visitor to that part of the country.
The south eastern sun and the love of the native people will no doubt warm your soul.
High temperatures and low rainfall characterise these low-lying areas. Complemented by the rich and fertile soils that drain well, these conditions yield short and sweet grasses, which attract the grazing herbivores, and generally short trees whose leaves are accessible to the browsing herbivores.
Having grazers and browsers in abundance then attracts the carnivores, which predate upon the herbivores. This renders the low-veld a treasure trove in terms of diversity and concentrations of wildlife. In fact, the game parks in Zimbabwe are predominantly in the low-veld.
It is within this rugged and rough region that the Gonarezhou National Park is located. The name of the park may loosely translate to the pocket of elephants or simply ivory in the Shona language. Whichever meaning one may take, the name is a perfect fit for the place as it is teeming with large herds of elephants. It is one of the few areas in the country where one may view the full complement of the Big Five animal species that also include buffalo, lion, rhinoceros and leopard. The park also fits very well in the context of the more recent concept of the Big Seven animals, which adds the hippopotamus and crocodile.
The lowest point in the length and breadth of Zimbabwe is at the confluence of Save and Runde rivers in the Gonarezhou National Park as they merge into one large water channel towards the Indian Ocean.
The amazing, world-famous Chilojo cliffs are found in the National Park which is Zimbabwe’s second largest after Hwange.
Lately, the park was incorporated into an interstate conservation pact including Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa giving birth to the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park whose other components are the Gaza National Park (Mozambique) and Kruger National Park (South Africa).
Neighbouring the Gonarezhou National Park, the 12 400 acre Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve is another wonder in the South-eastern Zimbabwe.
This well managed wilderness is home to a wide variety of animal and plant species that make it a tourist hotspot and research destination.
It is one of the places with good numbers of the endangered Black and White Rhinoceros on private land. Pamushana lodge in the property represents world class hospitality tucked away in rustic African wilderness.
I am pretty positive American Billionaire, Bill Gates and hip-shaking Shakira will testify to that at any opportunity. Malilangwe, meaning “cry of the leopard” in vernacular is also home to a plethora of San rock art sites.
The people in this part of the country as well as across the borders of both Mozambique and South Africa are the VaTsonga who pride themselves as the earliest Africans to live in town (not for debate).
The addictive hospitality of VaTsonga, their warmth and generosity will leave a treasured mark in the heart of all manner of visitors to that part of the country. The people have hearts as big as the Baobab trees that surround them. “Avusheni”, they will greet you with heart-warming affection and before you know it, you are enchanted and you forget which way you came — you want to be part of this community permanently. It is not only the way back home that you forget, but all your sorrows wither away as well and you want to live happily ever after among VaTsonga.
This is one of the African ethnicities in which cultural practices and traditions are still observed in their untainted form (despite their early urban experiences). The Xibhelani clad women and girls will wow you with the waist-flexing Tsonga traditional dances while you sip on the golden home-made marula brew. Initiation schools for girls and male circumcision are some of the traditions that are still a big part of their social set up, with immense benefits to the community. For avoidance of doubt, these are the same people sometimes referred to as Machangana (Shangaan) though this is largely regarded as derogatory among the VaTsonga.
Phineas Chauke is a Tourism Consultant, Marketer and Tour-Guide contactable on mobile: 0776058523, email: [email protected]/ twitter @phinnychauke619
