Gonarezhou National Park

The Gonarezhou National Park is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. This park covers three countries; Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa. It is like an extension of the famous Kruger Park of South Africa.

Contrary to the Kruger, the animals in this park are very timid. In fact, they are the most skittish animals I have seen in all the parks and reserves I have visited. Even the elephants, which are normally not easily scared, are afraid by the presence of a vehicle near them.

I can summarize this park by saying that I had never seen elephants so scared and also that I have never been so scared by elephants. An elephant that feels threatened reacts by strongly shaking its head and ears, by trumpeting loudly and finally by charging the vehicle that gets too close. Even though the charge is false and the elephant stops a few metres away from you, it is still quite impressive to see an elephant as big as a truck rushing towards you. I was charged 5 or 6 times in this park. There are a lot of trees and sometimes one stumble upon elephants before getting a chance to see them beforehand.

I managed to take a few pictures, but the majority of the animals were fleeing before I could get close to them.

Elephants are very nervous in this park. They are not used to visitors and there was a lot of poaching in the past.

I had to cross the river a few times. Unfortunately, that time, I got stuck in the sand and I had to wait for someone to help me get out of this mess.

It was nevertheless a nice spot to get stuck.

Another crossing of the river.

This bridge was destroyed in 2000.

Notice the number of footprints in the sand. The largest cuttings are made by elephants.

The Chilojo Hills are one of the highlights of this park.