South Africa
Southern Africa
UK
Campsites (Africa)
We had intended stopping at the campsite at Lake Chivero Recreational Park which, according to the National Parks website, "offers braai stands and an ablution block that includes showers both cold and hot water, firewood is also supplied at the spot.." However we just found a deserted site!! Fortunately we found a brilliant place nearby. Gary and Elcine run the Kurimba Shivi Bird Park (S17 52.198 E30 48.111, email: birdpark@mweb.co.zw), it's right next to the lake – and much cheaper than the Park fees. They, made us very welcome and said that although the campsite had not been developed we could stay and use the facilities in one of the dormitory units. We had the use of this boma. We stayed for 5 days and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The lake is only 30km from Harare and there's also a game reserve nearby so we intended to visit both but were so content at the camp that we spent nearly all the time there! They used to have hundreds of birds here but had to move most of them to South Africa a few years ago. However they are now building up the bird park again. Many of the birds have been injured or humanised so cannot cope in the wild. There's also a restaurant and pub in the gardens plus a slipway for boats to access the lake. One section of the park contains birds of prey in large aviaries and I spent lots of time looking at them. There are also some falcons and eagles that Gary flies. Spotted Eagle Owl Saker Falcon Jackal Buzard Wood Owls I got up early one morning and took these photos with the mist rising from the lake. We also saw some lovely sunsets. There were plenty of wild birds about so I spent a lot of time birdwatching. There were always herons, egrets and jacana around the lake. Goliath heron Grey heron Jacana Grey hornbill At Great Zimbabwe Kev had noticed a problem with the power steering. He and Clive discovered that there was no oil in the unit so Clive kindly filled it up for us. After arriving here Kev again found that the unit was nearly empty and, on further investigation, found that one of the seals was broken. Gary contacted a friend, Dave, in Harare who has a workshop and we arranged to take the Prado in to get it fixed. Dave's wife made us very welcome and we chatted to her until Elcine picked us up and drove us to a posh shopping mall in the northern suburbs. Here you could buy just about anything (at a price) and there were also plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables on offer. On Sundays there is live music in the gardens and we enjoyed our afternoon listening to the band. We loved our time here and are looking forward to returning. Hopefully next time we'll get to see some of the falcons and eagles being flown. How do these buses get through the police roadblocks??? 1, Kokomori Bush Camp, South Africa 9. Senyati Safari Camp. Botswana Diary (Word '97 document)elow white-eye Wild birds seen ( not ones in the bird park) greyheaded gull On this occassion I didn't get to see the 2 rareties they have here, the lesser jacana and the spotted creeper but perhaps next time...
Zimbabwe 2010 - Lake Chivero
hoopoe
whitebreasted cormorant
squacco heron
grey heron
purple heron
goliath heron
cattle egret
little egret
great while egret
yellowbilled egret
hamerkop
sacred ibis
egyptian goose
whitefronted duck
dabchick
moorhen
black crake
african jacana
wattled plover
spotted dikkop
fish eagle
cape turtle dove
laughing dove
little bee-eater
giant kingfisher
pied kingfisher
striped kingfisher
grey hornbill
pied wagtail
forktailed drongo
blackeyes bulbul
blue-eared glossy starling
bronze mannikin
grey go-away bird
wiretailed swallow
blue waxbill
scarletchested sunbird
yellow throated sparrow
redbilled firefinch