Anyone having been to Gonarezhou NP with last two weeks

[chvogel]

Hi,
just wondering - has anyone any current information on the weather, accessibility etc..
I talked to guy, who'd been there 4 weeks ago and it was a little muddy but not bad.
We'll be there end of next week so anything would be highly appreciated.
I would guess the Runde is in full flood so no crossing there. How are the tracks?
We'll be coming in from Masvingo - so first Chipinda and the northern section and then the big detour to cross the Runde and to get to the southern section. Anyone in the park during the time?
We have been in SLNP and Mana during the wet - so no worries.
Thanks
Christian

[chvogel]

Hi,
I am just going to answer my own question.

We are back. There was quite some rain, as the cyclone passed through. Chipinda to Chilojo was OK. Runde was in full flood.
The Chinguli Section is closed. We were quite outraged since we took the 370 km detour from Chipinda to the Chinguli gate and it took a full day to get from one side of the broken bridge to the other. They would not let us in. None of the gate boys there spoke sufficient English and is was not clear, whether it was officially closed or whether they were just to lazy to check on the roads or else. At the Chipinda gate nobody told us about that even though they knew we were going and I will send a complaint to the management about that. It was 100s of km for nothing. Very unprofessional and very disappointing.

Mwenzi in full flood. We were the only party in that section of the park. Very few animals. Very bushy. The Mabalauta Camp is desolate. No water for the toilets. Staff doesn't care. No grass cut, concrete seats broken. Nobody cares. Camped at Rossi Pools as well - awesome location. Would be even better, if any animals at all could be seen from up there.

So if you are planning on going to Chinguli now, check before you leave to find out if it is open or not. The guys in the villages next there told us, that they will not start repairing the tracks before May.

Other than that, nice green vegetation, nice red cliffs with nice blue sky - great contrasts.

Cheers

Christian

[MikevR]

Hi Christian,
Thanks for your input. I have sent an email to Hugo and Elsabe van der Westhuisen for some clarity on this. When you confirmed your booking at Chipinda gate they should have told you the Chinguli area had been closed due to the cyclone and all the rain. Those tracks are all in Mopane veld and when you get stuck there you stay stuck.. I will give you feedback when I receive it. I have not heard from them in ages so I don't know if they are still at Chipinda Pools. Have you got any pictures of the rivers in flood. I would love to see them.

The Mabaulata camp status disappoints me. I will get the warden's name a write a note to him as well. They want tourism but they are not prepared to make an effort locally to make it attractive and cost effective.

Cheers for now

[chvogel]

Hi Mike,
actually, I was under the impression that permits can be bought at the Chinguli gate. When we checked out at Chipinda I asked about the vehicles permits because they still had two of the five valid dates and I was told they would figure it out at the other section. Whether they did not listen that we were planning on going to Chinguli or whether they did not understand what I was saying I cannot tell. It might also well be that the guys at Chipinda gate don't have a clue and are not instructed by the management accordingly. They should have pointed to the closure on the other side. I am still unclear if permits can be bought at Chinguli gate. On the other hand we were just glad that we didn't because that would have been a waste of money.

I would wish that at Chipinda gate they would have more information, especially at this time of year, about what sections are accessible. There are only 2 to no guests per day, so they would have plenty of time to prepare that on a daily basis. Actually I would guess that to be some kind of fun to have a table to specify the current status. Adding it would also be nice, if on that map special animal sightings would be noted so the visitor would know about where the chances of seeing any would be better.

If I might add - some of the little roads would need some cutting of grass or trees at this time of year. The road to the Runde Gorge Campsite was overgrown, on the little road to Rossi a tree had been partially fallen which we needed to cut in half because there was no possible detour and it must have been that way for quite some time.

Yeah, the Maba Campsite was a mess - and it is just 200 Meters from their camp so even if the pump is broken, they could have at least supplied say 5 buckets of water for the toilet - we were the only guests, so not much else to do all day. And we are talking about big bucks for camping. You would think that they are happy about people coming at this time of year but they don't care. All kinds of people were moving in the park and none of them were visitors. Some just hanging around and I have no clue what they were up to.

Cheers
Christian

[chvogel]

... by the way, just to caution everyone. We took the Warmley border post and one of my bags was made of camouflage since bought from army supplies. They almost arrested me for that and I had to get back to Botswana to dispose that bag - very much to the amusement of the Botswana vet post ... .
So careful with that!!

Cheers
Christian

[como]

we were in Gona from feb 17.
the first lady at the gate is brand new and knows nothing.
we asked for somebodyelse to come and waited an hour but he came. this guy informed us that the only option was to camp at Chipinda because they were afraid of the cyclone to pass.
at that stage it was already clear to us it would pass more south but agreed to stay at Chipinda. ( I do not like this place to camp at all )
next morning we pushed to go to chilojo campsite and they agreed at our own risk.
we tried some d-tours on our way south but got stuck and only continued to Chilojo. very nice place but because we could do nothing else we decided to go back to Chipinda and outof Gona.
very pitty becasue what we did see we liked very much.
my computer is crashed but in due time i will post video of our Zim trip

plse note: for your car you pay usd 10 for, I think, 1 week. we at first paid for chipind only including usd 10 for the car. the next morning we paid for Chilojo but we did not notice we again paid usd 10 for the car.
on our way out we went to the lady and after some argument she confirmed we paid double. But she was not allowed to return money ( she had nothing ) and insisted we contacted the headoffice to get our refund. We, ofcourse, did not agree. many ifs and buts past ( I made it very clear we were going nowhere without ur money) and at the end the same guy was contacted as the first day. After some time he came along and the problem was fixed within reasonable time limits. ( all together some 1,5 hours).

in general in Zimbabwe we had to deal with on or about 400 roadblocks :-) so you get expereinced in being friendly / patience / persistent

[chvogel]

Como,
what vehicle were you in? We were there from 16 to 19, so we must have passed.
We had two white Hilux.
Cheers
Christian

PS: Vehicle permits are USD 10 and they are valid for 5 days once off.

[como]

We were in a toyota hilux bushcamper - all alone :-)
we only saw a white landcruiser nearby chilojo

you must have been the guys who were hiding in the bushes when we were stuck in the mud:-)

[chvogel]

Hi Como,
did you have that older Hilux with the redish "4x4 safari" on it? We passed this one somewhere in the middle between Chipinda and Chilojo.
Cheers
Christian

Mike, here are some pics, from both sides of the bridge fragments, Fishans Causeway, Chiloja, Chipinda.
When the rain stopped levels actually rose the next day.

When looking at the bridge it became clear, that actually the sturdy rail construction seemed to be the reason it collapsed. Since those little steel enforced concrete pillars of the rails did not collapse, the entire pressure on them led to shifting the bridge parts of their pillars. And since those had been permanently fixed through the steel with the bridge parts, they broke off.
If the side rails had been thinner and cut off, the water and the debris might just have passed over that bridge.

There should be a private initiative to built a new bridge with no pillars in the main river bed. We would have happily paid USD 20 per vehicle to pass, as that would have saved an entire day of driving. Also that bridge seems to be vital to running the park more efficiently.

[MikevR]

Hi Christian.

Just to give you a feel for what the bridge pillars look like without the flood waters plus the causeway being used when the Rundi River is not in flood. See attached. bridge was washed away in year 2000 so it has been like this for 16 years.

Cheers for now

[Peter1949]

Hi Christian,
Thanks for your input. I have sent an email to Hugo and Elsabe van der Westhuisen for some clarity on this. When you confirmed your booking at Chipinda gate they should have told you the Chinguli area had been closed due to the cyclone and all the rain. Those tracks are all in Mopane veld and when you get stuck there you stay stuck.. I will give you feedback when I receive it. I have not heard from them in ages so I don't know if they are still at Chipinda Pools. Have you got any pictures of the rivers in flood. I would love to see them.

The Mabaulata camp status disappoints me. I will get the warden's name a write a note to him as well. They want tourism but they are not prepared to make an effort locally to make it attractive and cost effective.

Cheers for now

Hi Mike
When we were there in late 2015 there was a MR Powa or Power (spelling) who was in charge.
A friendly chatty guy who gave us permission and assistance in travelling the central route from Mabualata up to Chinguli.
The only problem we had with the camp was ablutions not well maintained and little or no hot water - some argument about the booking and reservations but that was later sorted out at Chapinda.
Peter

[MikevR]

Thanks Peter,
I have written to them and am patiently waiting for a reply. How have your other trips gone? Have you been up north again.

Cheers

[chvogel]

Hi Mike,
since you were interested in the flooding rivers in GNRZNP.
Here are some takeouts from above.
The first seven are from the Runde at Chilijo and Chipinda and the last two from the Mwenzi at Salema Gorge and Rossi Pools (where you can see the camp on the ridge)
Cheers
Christian

[Elsabe_Gonarezhou]

Hi Christian

Sorry to hear of the unsuccessful detour to Chinguli gate and the lack of information at Chipinda during your recent trip to Gonarezhou.

Do keep in mind though that the Park has always closed down over the wet season, and only really has access to Chipinda and Mabalauta, and, when dry enough, to Chilojo, been possible.

However, it seems that that information on this not readily available.

Just a note to say that there are some changes afoot, with the Gonarezhou Trust becoming operational as from March 2017. The Trust is a joint venture between Zimparks and the Frankfurt Zoological Society, and will be fully responsible for the management of the Park, including tourism.

It is a big step for both organizations, and in the transition phase there are bound to be some teething problems. There will be an online booking system coming into operation soon, as well as a dedicated website for information and feedback.

Will make sure that this forum is kept updated as to the progress of the Trust, and as and when new resources such as the online booking system comes into play.

All the best,

Elsabe van der Westhuizen
Technical Advisor
Frankfurt Zoological Society
Gonarezhou Conservation Project

[Mike N]

Welkom hier Elsabe!

[chvogel]

Hi Elsabe,
thank you for replying to that.

I can imagine what task it will be. Yes, I believe information ist the first thing you will have to treat. The gate and permit staff should have fun in what they are doing and they should provide updated information on tracks and animal sightings and such. And they have to be motivated in collecting all that and to spread it amongst the travelers. Maybe even go out once a week and check out the tracks - or maybe cut the trail to the camps, or even restore the water in the camp :-)).

We have been to Africa plenty so we are used to those kind of things and that incident will not keep us from comming.

It just would have been cool, if we could have just ventured a little in that southern Runde section. Maybe a small camp on that side of the river would do. And, as stated before, a bridge should be there a some time in the future to get that park merged again. As I wrote - we would have been happy to pay USD 20 or so for the crossing, just for the saved time and diesel.

In any case, it was nice being there, Gonarezhou is a very special place and we will be back in a different season to be able to get to Chinguli.

Keep the good work up and yes, please inform here on any progress that you make.

Cheers

Christian