Travel Blog

It is 6am and I am about to leave Charles Prince, a quaint little airport to the west of Harare, on the final leg of my itinerary to Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe. The sun is rising behind me into a cloudless sky. Tourism is the focus of my visit to Kariba. I have come to advise on the upgrading of the Cutty Sark Hotel (see picture below)- one of ...

News from Goliath Safaris July/August 2011 A crisp and clear Mana winter s evening is so still that you can sometimes hear the night fall. Unlike in summer, when at the end of the day the sun wearily lays itself down on the horizon; in winter it rushes to put itself to bed. One minute it s a giant red orb just above the mountains acros...

The Victoria Falls, one of the largest waterfalls in the world, lies in southern Africa, on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. This is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. The falls are fed by the Zambezi River. This is locally known as ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya‘ which means the ‘Smoke that Thunders‘ For a considerable d...

One of my most enduring memories is that of one of my first visits to Nyamepi Camp in Mana Pools in Zimbabwe. Our children were under ten at the time, and our photographs show sunburnt, healthy youngsters, with big smiles on their dusty faces as they played. In many of the prints, there is an elephant browsing nonchalantly in the background. Thi...

News from Goliath Safaris January 2011 October in Mana Pools is not for the feint-hearted, or for that matter, even the kind-hearted. Celsius temperatures that start in the 40s and nudge the 50s don t lend themselves to offers of let me do it for you . They slow down brains and bodies to levels of activity and thought that are only absolutely...

News from Goliath Safaris - August 2010 Spring has sent advance notice that it will soon arrive in the valley. A little earlier each day, the morning light steals the night, and amongst the trees the first cassias and knobthorns, with their vivid yellow and soft buttery white flowers have begun to brighten up a dusty floodplain. Their cheerfuln...

News from Goliath Safaris - July 2010 A full moon rising in Mana Pools will lighten the darkest disposition but a new moon setting is equally therapeutic. As its backlit crescent follows the sun below the horizon in the west, it leaves behind for us a perfect indigo backdrop for a galaxy of nightlights. Luminescent fire flies dance their court...

A cheetah in the Matusadona: where there were none before. This cheetah pictured on its impala kill by lucky photographer, Derek Smith, in December 2009, is a descendant of a small population of 14 of these lovely animals re-introduced into the Matusadona National Park in the1990s by conservation organization, The Zambezi Society. Cheetah are...

News from Goliath Safaris - Jan 2010 As the sun set on the year 2009, the blue moon rose in all its solar-reflected glory in the east. Its spectacular and partially eclipsed appearance on New Year s Eve did much to silence some of the lingering and discordant notes of the year past. Global warming, financial crises and fallen golf idols were re...

I have just returned from a week-long fishing trip to Mana Pools. We were one of the first parties allowed into the park under the new boating proposals. Our group consisted of four people, two vehicles and two boats. We stayed at the National Parks self-catering Nyati Lodge. I would classify myself as an outdoor enthusiast - I love outd...