ZIMBABWE: THE HIDE SAFARI CAMP

Our final destination in Africa was a private safari camp in Hwange National Park called The Hide. A driver took us to the entrance of the park, two hours from the city of Victoria Falls.


The scenery along the way was really interesting. Our driver pointed out residential/farm compounds made up of grass huts:

Although the compounds looked primitive, they all seemed to have power lines:

We saw women walking along the road carrying packages in typical African style:

Having a painted dog cross the street in front of us would have been Bob's dream come true:

Instead, we saw some rather ordinary animals moo-ving along the road in front of us:


At the entrance to the park, we transferred to a safari-outfitted vehicle, and we drove another 1.5 hours to The Hide Safari Park, where we were greeted by the managers, who gave us a damp cloth to clean up with (a nice practice followed by all our camps) and a delicious "mocktail" of orange juice, passion fruit, and grenadine syrup.

We dumped our stuff in our room and headed out on a game drive before dark.

There were lots of elephants:

. . . and lots of kudu:

. . . and a few monkeys:

. . . and lots of other animals. However, as the sun started to set, it started to get pretty cold:

We headed back to camp. Before dinner I checked out the eponymous "hide," a tunnel that is accessed by steps from the common area and which leads to an underground viewing area next to a waterhole. Out of the one-foot-tall window I could see four sets of elephant legs, almost close enough to touch. The four trunks swung rhythmically down to the water, swung past my little window, and swept up out of view.

The food at dinner was AMAZING, as has been the food at all our camps. We learned that professional chefs travel from camp to camp teaching the camp chefs new dishes. Dinner at this camp was extra fun. There was quite a unique assortment of couples from around the world--Britain, South Africa, Switzerland, the United States, and even a couple originally from Zimbabwe who now live in Oxford but who have been coming back every year.

By bedtime it was really cold, and when we got back to our room, it was hardly warmer than the outside. Nevertheless, it had been two days since I had taken a shower, and I determined to take a bath in the huge free-standing tub in our room.

The shower, located outside and surrounded by concrete walls but open to the star-covered sky and the frigid night air, was out of the question. (It was too dark to take pictures, so these are from the next morning.)

I filled the tub with about 8" of warm-hottish water and dove in. It was GLORIOUS, like being in a spa in winter, but instead we were in a tent in Zimbabwe, which is ever so much more thrilling.

It was agonizing to get out and dry my wet hair, but well worth it. Besides, the king-sized bed had two hot water bottles under the covers, so I warmed right up after crawling in.

Pretty glamorous, wouldn't you say?