Boxing Day Safari

OK, so we went back to Imire. We've been 5 times now. The reasons why we end up taking so many guests there:

• proximity to Harare - it's around a 1.5 hour drive from home

• variety of animals: lions and hyena (in safe enclosures), both black and white rhino, elephants, giraffe, kudu, zebra, ostrich, bushbuck, eland, hartebeest, antelope, tsessebe, sable, cape buffalo, wart hog, monitor lizard, crocodile, baoons, vervet monkeys and a hippo. 

• proximity to animals - because this is a private game park and rhino sanctuary, the animals there are semi-wild. The elephants and rhinos come close to us. We can touch them, feed them - it's cool. 

Because of the rains, we came back to the main lodge to fee the elephant - thus, the fence.

• information about animals - the guides know a lot about the animals who have lived on the sanctuary for years

• picturesque - the area is hilly and lovely with the typical Zimbabwean kopje rock formations. They have a couple of great picnic spots, and the farm house and thatch-roof cabins are a nice camp base.  

• family/service - the owners of the ranch/sanctuary are such interesting people who love what they do and host college kids to work on the land and with the animals throughout the year

• affordability - safari's can be expensive, as you can imagine. Imire is so close we have the option of going up for the day for less than $70 per person or overnight for not much more. In fact, the house we stayed in this time easily accommodated 7 adults and 6 children, came with housekeeping, a cook and a guide for afternoon and morning walks, canoes and lake access, swimming pool, etc, and cost $150 total.

All to ourselves.

• activities - ride on the largest elephants I have ever seen, horseback riding, fishing, and of course, game drives and walks.

Stables where the big animals are kept at night to keep them (and others) safe.

• safety - because we're not in the wild parks, there is a degree of predictability and control - staff monitor and know the animals well, and I feel safer and more comfortable with our little kids there.

BTW, if you're interested in volunteering, check out the work schedule we saw! My favorite: dip the lions at 2 on Thursday.