Elephants, buffalo, hippo and crocodile work the sandbanks below the deck, close enough that no vehicle is needed to watch them. At night the hippo calls carry up the gorge from the water below. Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge stands on red sandstone cliffs above the Save River in south-eastern Zimbabwe, looking across into Gonarezhou National Park, the river itself the boundary.
At night the hippo calls carry up the gorge from the water below.
Gonarezhou translates as place of many elephants, and the park’s herds include bulls that still carry old, heavy ivory. Visitors are few enough that a morning drive can pass no other vehicle on the road. The lodge itself sits on land the Mahenye community chose to set aside for wildlife rather than cattle.
Clive Stockil grew up in the Lowveld speaking Shangaan, and qualified as a professional guide in 1973. He knew what the map had cost his neighbours: the Mahenye community had been moved off its ancestral land in 1966, years before Gonarezhou was proclaimed a national park in 1975, and poaching and conflict between people and animals followed. In 1982 he brought park authorities and seventy Shangaan elders to the same table.
People who live with wildlife must earn from it.
That agreement set the principle. People who live with wildlife must earn from it. The levy paid on every guest night at Chilo Gorge now funds Mahenye’s schools, a clinic and a grinding mill. Stockil opened the lodge and remains a director and a guide here today, and in 2013 Prince William presented him with Tusk’s inaugural lifetime achievement award.
The main lodge is built from local stone, heavy timber and thatch, a double-storey structure set among indigenous gardens on the cliff edge. Ten chalets face the river through glass doors, with beds positioned so the sandbanks are the first thing in view at dawn. The doors and cabinets were carved by hand, the headboards cut from jacaranda, the walls lined with woven reed. The pool sits within the timber viewing deck at the lip of the gorge, and after dark elephants sometimes browse the aloes and Sabi Star along the stone paths.
Because the Save separates the lodge from the park, reaching Gonarezhou after the rains can involve a short boat crossing before transferring to vehicles on the far bank. Full-day drives run to the Chilojo Cliffs, a long red sandstone wall above the Runde River, when that river is low enough to ford. Lions call across the gorge at night, though they are harder to find by day. Closer to home, guides trained in Shangaan tracking lead the walk to Chivilila Falls, roughly three kilometres from the lodge.
Lions call across the gorge at night, though they are harder to find by day.
Beyond the elephants, Gonarezhou carries wild dogs, leopard, lion, cheetah and large buffalo herds across country of baobabs, sand forest and river floodplain, with more than four hundred bird species recorded. Families and groups often take Nhambo Camp, set apart from the main lodge, with four double chalets and a family chalet sleeping up to six, its own kitchen, braai area and plunge pool. From May to October a seasonal camp of four twin explorer tents stands inside the park itself, on the banks of the Runde.
Meals move with the day, served in the high-ceilinged dining room, out on the timber decks, or as a braai on the sand of the Save, and sitting times flex around a morning’s tracking that runs long. Sundowners are carried up to Chivilila Falls or set out on the deck as the sandbanks turn pink and the hippos start up. Children of all ages are welcome at the lodge and at Nhambo Camp, though walking safaris are limited to those twelve and over. Most guests reach this part of Gonarezhou & Malilangwe by light aircraft, or by road transfer from Chiredzi.
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accommodation
Ten en-suite chalets stand along the cliff top, built of stone, timber and thatch, each with a private balcony above the Save. Beds face the glass doors and the river, and bathrooms have walk-in showers and separate water closets. There are ceiling fans, a minibar, a tea tray and a safe, and two chalets share a balcony for families.
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activities
Open-vehicle game drives run in Gonarezhou National Park, with a full-day excursion to the Chilojo Cliffs when the Runde is fordable. Guided walking safaris, fly-camping, the three-kilometre Chivilila Falls trail, birdwatching and visits to Mahenye village and its ilala palm wine tappers fill the days from Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge.
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conservation
A levy on every guest night goes to the Mahenye CAMPFIRE committee, funding the village's schools, clinic and grinding mill. Mahenye also set aside 120 square kilometres as the Jamanda Community Conservancy, reopening an elephant corridor running toward Mozambique. The lodge also participates in Pack for a Purpose.
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