For those who don't know, The Hub and I had the opportunity to go to Zimbabwe, Africa, for three weeks in October.  We have friends who are in the service, and he is the US military attache to Zimbabwe and Malawi.  When they got the position, we began working on how we could go visit them.  Thanks to frequent fliers miles and lots of saving over almost a year, we went on the trip of a lifetime.

We were "stationed" in Harare (where are friends are living) and from there spent 3 days at Mana Pools National Park, went back to Harare, for 7 days, then just the Hub and I went to Hwange NP and Victoria Falls NP for 5 days.  It was incredible.  Between the two NPs, we saw so much wildlife.  The pictures that follow are a hodgepodge of the over 1,000 photos we took.

Painted Dogs of Africa - Hwange NP.  The Painted Dogs are very endangered due to poaching, sickness, and their style of reproducing.  Seeing them in the wild can be very hard, but we were extremely lucky to see them at both Hwange and Mana Pools NP.

A pack of four out for a morning hunt.  They are extremely effective hunters.  We followed these 4 for a short while.

Giraffes, Hwange NP

Cape Buffalo at Sunset, Hwange NP.  About 300 of these guys passed right in front of our safari vehicle.  They are very dangerous in that they are extremely unpredictable.

Elephants, Hwange NP.  We took so many elephant pictures, but couldn't help ourselves as they are incredible creatures.

The elephant 2nd from the right was absolutely HUGE!!  The largest elephant we saw the entire time.  Our guide estimated her age at 45-50, so she is nearing the end of her life.  Elephants go through 5 sets of teeth, and when they lose their last set around the age of 50, they end up starving to death.

These sweet girls worked at Ganda Lodge where we stayed just outside of Hwange NP.  The unemployment rate in Zimbabwe is 90%.  15 years ago it was the richest country in Africa, but due to horrible leadership, it is now the poorest (go read some Zimbabwe history).  Working in the tourist industry is one of the better bets, so as part of their education, many young people will internship at places like Ganda Lodge.  These young ladies were so wonderful!

Full Moon over Ganda Lodge

The grounds of Ganda Lodge.  Our lodge was at the very end.  The fence to the left didn't do much to keep the animals, especially the warthogs, off the lodge grounds.

Our sleeping lodge

Dining Room

View from lodge grounds.  We went during the dry season so we could see the animals.  The rainy season begins around November, and within a month or two everything is so green and lush, you can't see the animals.

A pride of 8 lions in Hwange NP.  We watched them for quite some time and they couldn't have cared less that we were there.  2 males, 4 males, and 2 "yearling" cubs.

Went to a sanctuary in Harare called "Wild is Life."  This guys is one of the permanent residents.

Impala in Hwange NP.  There are a LOT of Impala in Zimbabwe.  A LOT.

Sunset, Hwange NP.  That's a fisheagle on the tree, Zimbabwe's national bird.

Hwange NP

Victoria Falls. We went to Zimbabwe during the dry season so we could see the animals, which meant there wasn't as much water coming over the falls. But it also meant we got to actually see the falls area. During the wet season, the spray from the falls can be so bad that you can't actually see the falls!

After we'd been in Harare for a day and a half, we drove 7 hours to Mana Pools NP and stayed there for three days at Chikwenya Lodge.

The view from the dining area, looking out over the Zambezi River.

Walkway to our respective lodges.  We weren't allowed to travel to or from our lodges in the dark without someone with us carrying a gun. A couple of days before we arrived, a group of 3 lions had decided to camp out on the lodge grounds for the day, elephants would wandered around the grounds, not to mention the baboons and vervet monkeys.

Our lodge.  All the roofs are thatched. Incredible workmanship. The biggest problem was the baboons and vervets tearing everything up.

Our deck and view of the Zambezi.

I have no idea who these people are.

View from our deck.

Our first elephant sighting on the way to Mana Pools NP.  Shorty and I were so excited!!

We went fishing our second day there and all four of us caught a tigerfish.  I was so excited!

A hippo pod.  Lots of hippo pods up and down the river.  Everybody respected everybody else's space.

We went on a walking safari.  We had so much fun.  Our guide was amazing.

Eland, Mana Pools NP

Eles at sunset, Mana Pools NP

The Hub, our safari guide Kaz, and Ed.   Kaz was an incredible guide. Very knowledgeable, and just a really nice guy. One of those people you would love to have in your life.

Painted Dogs, Mana Pools NP.  We had the unique opportunity to sit within 20 feet or so of these dogs. We had to walk in single file in a crouch position so as not to scare them away. Then we just sat there for about 20 minutes and watched them. Incredible.

Eles, Mana Pools NP.

Captain Fantastic, the largest elephant in Mana Pools NP, and a couple of friends.  He ended up walking within 10 feet of our vehicle.  It was so cool!

Wildabeast.  Not sure what God had in mind when He made these guys. It's like He had a bunch of spare parts left over and threw them together and said, "There ya go."

Traffic in Harare, Zimbabwe.  People walking up and down the roads trying to sell stuff to people stuck in traffic.

Entering downtown Zimbabwe.

One day, our friend's driver, Aaron, took us out for the afternoon and we went for a walk downtown for about an hour and a half. It's easy to see what this city used to be, when it was flourishing economically. Now, it's just sad. However, the people of Zimbabwe are so kind and generous and welcoming and hopeful. Ever hopeful that things will turn around for their country.

Outlying residential area of Harare. Everywhere you look, people are sitting on the streets trying to sell whatever they can in order to survive. We are so blessed to live where we live, to have what we have, and I am very thankful to God.

Market for the locals on the outskirts of Harare.

Aaron (our friend's drive) took us through the ghetto part of Harare, as well. Every big city has a place where the poorest of the poor live. Here, you don't even dare leave your clothes trying outside without watching them or someone will come by and steal them.

Market place in the ghetto. Amazing mural, isn't it? We saw so much incredible artwork, most in the form of rock and wood carvings.

(From Wikipedia) "National Heroes Acre or simply Heroes Acre is a burial ground and national monument in Harare, Zimbabwe. The 57-acre (230,000 m2) site is situated on a ridge seven kilometres from Harare, towards Norton. Its stated purpose is to commemorate Patriotic Front guerrillas killed during the Rhodesian Bush War, and contemporary Zimbabweans whose dedication or commitment to their country justify their interment at the shrine. Persons buried here are considered heroes by the incumbent Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front regime, which has administered the country since independence at 1980.[1] Indeed, most of the recipients of the 'hero status' were known to be Zanu-PF sympathisers.[2] The actual monument itself is modeled after an AK-47." This place is huge.

Harare sits at approximately 5,000 feet, which made this climb a small challenge (well, a bigger challenger for The Hub.)

View from the top.

View from the top looking out over Harare.

Okay - At this point, I don't know how many pictures I've posted, but it was really hard to narrow it down to these few.  I have a whole 'nother camera chip I haven't looked at, and the chip I pulled these off of had over 1000 pics on it!

This trip was incredible (except for the travel time - 42 hrs going, 45 hrs coming back).  The wildlife was more than we could've hoped for.  I think just about the only animals we did not see were any rhinos or leopards (darn it!).

If you got this far, you have stamina!!

Except for when we first arrived at the airport, because we really had no idea what anything was going to be like, we never once felt uncomfortable or afraid.  The only place we were warned against was the ghetto area.  Shorty asked if we could get out and walk around, and our driver, Aaron, said absolutely not - that not even he would get out and walk around that area and he was born and raised in/around Harare.

The only other time I felt uncomfortable was when we were in the town of Victoria Falls.  Lots of "street vendors" (people trying to get you to buy anything and everything).  While we were waiting for the shuttle to pick us up on sort of a side road, a couple of guys approached us about buying their goods (rock carvings, homemade necklaces/bracelets, worthless Zim money).  We told them repeatedly no and one finally left.  The second one just wouldn't give up and Shorty finally gave in and bought some things from him.  Within a minute or two of him leaving us, 4 or 5 guys came racing around the corner from where he had disappeared to wanting to work us for sales.  I got uncomfortable and Shorty started to get mad and was very strong in his "enough is enough.".  All but 2 finally left, and we ended up just standing around and talking to those two about their situation and the situation in Zimbabwe in general - people talking to people.

Zimbabwe is a very Christian country.  Considering the poverty level, there is a remarkably low level of crime.  It's just not tolerated by the Zims themselves.  The people are very open and welcoming, and just want their country to prosper again.  It was hard to NOT buy something from each person because you know how desperate they are.  I mean, you need to pay attention to your surroundings and be smart about your wallet, purse, etc., but not really much different than any other city of the world.

Even when we were walking around downtown with Aaron, we never felt uncomfortable, just very aware of the fact that we were the only white people around, so there was a lot of watching us like, "Hey, look! White people!"  

  Not even close!

One thing I am curious about is the fact that the signs are in English...

Uh oh!  The jig is up!

There are 2 main tribes in Zimbabwe - the Shona and the Ndubele, who don't really care for one another - and they have their own dialects, but it's mainly an English speaking country as it was once a British colony.

The only running I got in was when we were in Harare the 2nd week, specifically because of what TomW said.  When we were at the lodges, we weren't allowed to leave the grounds without a guide, specifically 'cause there are things out there that would like to eat you. This meant that when you weren't out on a safari, there wasn't much to do at the lodges, so you'd better have a good book or like to nap.  The morning and evening safaris usually lasted 3-4 hrs.  I think ours would go longer because when we were at Mana Pools, it was just us and our friends, and at Ganda Lodge, I think we went on 4 safaris and only one time were there other people with us.

The cool thing about Chikwenya at Mana Pools is all our safaris were included in the cost of staying there, so it was a much better deal than Ganda.

Looks like a great trip! Glad, however, that none of the critters in those pictures got to snack on you! But, as you said that is sort of why you had to cut back on your running. Although, I imagine "run away from jackals" would make for some pretty impressive speed work!