The
Big Five Challenge
Animal Planets Big Five Challenge held at The
Hide from the 18th to the 28th of October was
a great success and enjoyed by everyone! We
had the 6 contestants, 12 cameramen, 2 still
photographers, 4 directors, 6 guides, 2 wildlife
analysts, 10 crew and 2 micro lights descend
on the camp and Hwange! Quite a crowd!
Herewith a few highlights without giving too
much away before the screening. Some insider
stories too that will not appear in the final
edit or never made it on the cameras!!!
Our underground hide at our waterhole with wild dog in the background
The group arrived on a Tuesday and sadly some
without luggage! This was a bit of a dilemma
being in the middle of the bush but we manage
to get the luggage to The Hide once it had arrived
in Vic Falls. My guess is that the team with
the least luggage won due to the L’eau
de Naturelle!?
The contestants and crew had a few days rest
and acclimatize before the filming got underway.
It was hard going in the October heat but the
animals put on a fantastic show. They had incredible
elephant and lion sightings and saw Mpofu (our
resident lion) and his brothers killing several
elephants – this has all been caught on
camera so don’t miss the screening in
April next year to see this and much more incredible
footage.
Mpofu with one of his elephant kills
The filming was only interrupted by the Rugby
World Cup Final between England and South Africa.
30 people managed to squeeze into Barry and
Bridget’s lounge trying to get a glimpse
of the game on the TV. There were several staunch
South Africa and England supporters and the
usual peaceful night sounds were drowned out
by raucous calls made by Homo Sapiens.
Friends of Hwange Update – Praying for
Rain
Everyone in Zimbabwe is waiting for the rains
to start. Especially in Hwange the first rains
will be welcomed graciously by animals and the
people fighting to keep them alive. The last
few months have been draining and the earth
is dry with only a few waterholes remaining
with water pumped by diesel engines. However
we can not relax just yet – the rains
have not arrived and we still need to keep pumping
the engines for a few more weeks, even for a
few weeks after the rains start. Please, please
if you are able to help with funds for diesel
or in any other way please contact Maha (maha@friendsofhwange.co.zw).
Also we are holding the draw for the Tammy Pöhl
Raffle, which we launched last year on Friday,
9th of November at Richard Rennie, 7 Downie
Avenue Alexander Park, Start: 5:30 (draw approx
6:30). Tammy will be exhibiting her latest work
and there are still some tickets available to
win one of her amazing paintings! Please support
the trust and Tammy – a great friend of
Hwange! Please contact Maha for more information.
Buffalo in camp (Barry Wolhuter)
Best Regards from Barry, Bridget, Lauren, Lorraine, Angus, Gavin, Maha and everyone at The Hide.
Proud Winner of the ASTA (Association of Zimbabwe
Travel Agents) "Best Tented Safari Camp in Zimbabwe
2006", for the 8th year running!
The Hide is featured in the new book "1000 places
to See before you Die - A Traveller's Life List."
Contact & Reservations
The Hide Safaris, The Triton Centre, 176 Enterprise
Rd, Chisipite
PO Box HG 261 Highlands, Harare, Zimbabwe
Tel: +263 (0)4 498835-6
Fax: +263 (0)4 498480
Email: info@thehide.co.zw
Bookings: lorraine@thehide.co.zw
website: www.thehide.com
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WTM
We will be at WTM (World Travel Market) again
this year after a few years break. The worlds
largest travel expo will take place in London
from the 12th of November to the 16th November
2007. Please visit Gavin at the Classics Safari
Camps of Africa Stand - Stand No. AF4550. Please
email Lorraine (lorraine@thehide.co.zw) if you
would like to book an appointment to see Gavin.
See you there!!
Also Maha will be attending next years ITB in
Berlin in March 2008!
New Years 2007/2008
We still have some availability over the New
Year period. There is no better way to start
the Year in the magnificent African bush!
The Hide and vlei line
Guest Comments
What an experience, absolutely fantastic...will
definitely be back. Thank you to all the staff!!!
From Roy and Lara Puzey, Zimbabwe
Beyond descriptive words, camp is beautiful;
staff is great, I’ll return to bird with
Peter... Good luck with Friends of Hwange water
supplies Gary, and to you Lauren, thanks for
the fantastic food!!! Thanks everyone!! x Sharon
Fredericks, USA
Loved every minute, everyone helpful happy
and smiling as well as knowledgeable. I’ll
do my best to get others to come here!! Joan
Scafe, Australia
What spoor is this?
Recently a white rhino was spotted with a very
young baby around Kennedy 1 waterhole. Then
a few days ago Barry spotted a spoor of the
baby rhino but the spoor of the mother was not
to be found. Barry was obviously very concerned
about the baby's and the mother’s welfare.
He immediatly contacted National Parks, The
Lion Research Projects and everyone in the Park
to please help with the search for the baby
rhino and its mother. The baby rhino would not
survive very long without the mother’s
protection. Several teams made up of National
Parks scouts, the Lion Research team and guides
and trackers in the area were sent out to track
the rhino and everyone was very concerned. After
hours of hard tracking and worrying for hours
the "baby rhino" was found, however
it had little resemblance with the prehistoric
animal they thought they had been tracking.
It turned out to be a fully grown zebra with
deformed hoofs! We were all much relived but
did have a good laugh too! The zebra is not
hindered by its deformation and should still
be roaming the plains of Hwange.
Member of Classics Safari Camps
of Africa
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