Eminently Eve
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- Introduction
- Charges & Contact details
- First impression of the actual Game Park
- The Animals
- Other activities
- Conclusion
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Introduction
Close your eyes for a minute and imagine this…
Giraffe, Eland, Kudu, Zebras etc strategically situated in the bush, on every highway connecting 2 cities. How fulfilling & relaxing would it be, to take a detour & spend an hour or so in this mini heaven?!
Location & directions
Well! You better open your eyes now & start planning for your next trip because there is such a place in existence right here in Zimbabwe. Gosho Game park is found along the Harare – Mutare highway just waiting for you in all its glory. For 8 years, I have been going up and down the Harare – Mutare highway, little did I know there was one exceptional gem hidden just 4km from Marondera town (less than an hour drive from Harare). Gosho Game Park is an initiative of Peterhouse Group of Schools & is located just next the Peterhouse Girls School.
Charges & Contact details
I know after reading, “Peterhouse” you’re probably thinking, “Okay… so how badly is my bank account going to crack after this visit”. Surprise! Surprise! It’s actually one of the cheapest Game Parks you will ever visit in Zim, for just $5 per adult, $5 per vehicle & $3 per child , you would have reserved yourself the front seat in this tranquil gem. Their contact numbers are (+263)(065)2323599/ 2324951/ 2322200 – 4. Only to contact them if you would like to book for camping. If it’s just day visiting, there is no need to make a booking. They are open everyday from 6am to 6pm.
First impression of the actual Game Park
Driving in the park, the first thing that hubby & I noticed is how well managed the place is. Specifically, by someone who does not only have excellent knowledge of wildlife but probably, very passionate too because of his/her meticulous attention to detail. I’m talking about the neatly maintained drainage passages, soil erosion control barriers, game fence, and then then the “obvious”, fire guards. Yeah! Hands down – Gosho Game Park is run in such a way that it imparts highly beneficial conservation skills in the young pupils of Peter House,other schools & anyone that visits with an open mind to learn something… Did I also mention that we were given a well detailed map of the park 🙂 ?! This is a tradition which seems to be dying slowly in many self-drive game parks. So we really appreciated it as it allowed us to explore the park fully & with confidence.
Animals
We arrived at the park around 11am & for some reason we were already hungry. So we just thought of stopping right at the first dam because of how inviting it was mainly as a perfect spot for our picnic. Turns out it was actually the best decision ever because that’s actually where most of the animal species were.
Sable
So the first animals we spotted were sable. If there is one thing that sable are popularly known for, it would be how difficult it is to see them up-close. They are always ready to move away & hide as soon as they see something peculiar. So I have “seen” sables before but from quite a distance. I could only tell they were sables due to the sexual dimorphism (where the females are more brown in colour while the males are more blackish in colour). I was super duper excited to finally see them so up-close. The HORNS! WOW! What a master piece. No wonder why even lions have to be highly cautious when hunting them. TV & pictures actually do these horns no justice. I was mind blown.
Blesbok
YES! You read right! They do have Blesbok & of course, this was my very first time seeing them. At first they were a bit further away & we were wondering what they were. When we finally got close enough hubby then confirmed they were Blesbok…. “No way!” I thought to myself because I knew they are said to be endemic to South Africa (confined only to one specific geographical location & not naturally occur anywhere else in the world). I was super thrilled to see them. They looked healthy, grazing right next to the Sable. What a beautiful surprise!
Eland
While still enjoying the sight of the sable & blesbok, we noticed a herd of eland from a bit of a distance. I don’t know if it’s just me, but there is something about spotting animals in a Game Park. Others actually call it a skill because no 2 people in the same park, at the same time will see the exact same number of animals species. Some will see more, while others will see less. So it feels quite like an accomplishment for me when I spot the animals. Although, of course, even if it’s your first time in a Game Park, you will definitely see a lot of the animals species they have in Gosho because of how chilled they are & they also maintain healthy populations… Anyway, I’ve digressed. The eland we came across were mostly females with a number of young ones too, probably a few weeks old. So observing the social setup was quite a treat for us.
Wildebeest, Zebra & Impala
It didn’t take us long before we saw a herd of wildebeest staring right at us. Weird feeling to think that you’re all alone, admiring the eland then out of nowhere, you see a big herd of wildebeest, just a few meters from where you are, watching you closely. But then they were not the only animals staring. Right next to them were groups of zebra & impala. WHAT ON EARTH… I was ecstatic. How lucky I am to be born in such a country with this much beauty.
Kudu
After a while, we decided it was time to continue exploring. We didn’t drive long though before spotting yet another precious animal species. It had been a while since I had seen Kudu and especially the females. Being highly matriarchal, the female herd was quite big with some young ones. We later found the male moving around alone. Which is quite common behaviour in kudus. The males leave the stable maternal groups at the age of two and join smaller male herds where the associations formed are loose and temporary. The kudus all looked calm and relaxed in this park. An indication of no poaching and little human disturbance as well.
Giraffe
Finally we came across these 2 phenomenal Giraffes, male and female. At some point they looked like they were kissing… or maybe I am just a sucker for love lol. They were also very chilled and continued browsing without minding our presence. One fun fact about giraffes by the way, that you can think of when you next see them is how they spend 16 to 20 hours eating and only 5 to 40 minutes sleeping in a day. How crazy is that?!… Hopefully, you’re already following me on instagram where we do a lot of quizes on some wildlife fun facts.
Other activities
Gosho Game Park is a perfect park for walks, bird watching, hiking, mountain biking, camping and has an aesthetic landscape. The rocks are absolutely stunning. As you may already know from my blogs, rocks have a special place in my heart. Gosho Game Park also has picnic sites and rock paintings which are worth checking out.
Conclusion
We spent over 3 hours in this park but it felt like we had only been there for 30 minutes or so. I can’t wait to go back because there are some amazing spots we didn’t manage to explore enough because of time. I absolutely recommend this game park. Not only is it quite affordable, but it also offers you a lot of value for your money. I appreciate the way it is conveniently located & the emphasis they put in conservation of the wildlife therein over anything else. This Is A “Must Visit Game Park!”
Remember to always have a little intimacy in your life, & as always I’m talking about intimacy with nature.
