An African safari tour to Hwange (pronounced wh-ungee) seems to play out in tones of sepia, with your abiding image likely being a cloud of Kalahari dust enveloping a group of elephants jostling around a waterhole, the limbs of dead leadwood trees groping in the dying, crimson sunlight.
In times before farms and fences, Hwange was a vital corridor between wetter, higher ground to the east and Botswana’s wetlands to the west, (and to some extent it still is). As the human footprint enveloped the region, waterholes were sunk by early conservationists and these are now the lifeblood of the park, as well as the focal point for game viewing.
Elephants aside, Hwange boasts enviable numbers of lions, leopards, cheetahs and wild dogs, as well as a royal flush of antelopes, namely sable, roan, eland, gemsbok and kudu (wildebeest are the jokers in the pack). It is said once the dust of Africa gets into your blood you are smitten for life.
