Antelope Park

Antelope Park is a conservation project located just outside the town of Gweru, Zimbabwe. Antelope Park is also a complex complete with a river, lodging and campgrounds, elephants that cut through our campsite whenever they want, miscellaneous lion activities on offer, mosquitoes, shoddy/expensive Internet, and volunteers who pay $3000/mo to take notes on lions. I don’t paint the nicest picture but it’s actually a lovely place where we’ve had our trucked parked for five nights =) Originally booked for three nights, we’ve extended our stay here and in other parts of Zimbabwe to give our passports more time to get to Harare.

I opted for Antelope Park’s Lioness Package (with substitutions):

Lion Feeding (substituted for the Boat Cruise): Gruesome. The lions are fed every six days or so and only the most aggressive ones get enough to eat. We were on one side of what seemed to be a very thin fence, the food was on the other side. The lions were called and it seemed like they were charging at us. Really scary. They growled and fought each other for the best pieces of cow flesh, intestine, and other miscellaneous parts. While eating, some of the lions were bleeding, having received territorial smacks from their fellow lions. Watching the King of the Jungle eat was gross, but not enough to put us off our enormous Sunday roast 20 minutes later :)


2x Lion Walks: I had the opportunity to walk with 18 month old cubs Meeka and Kali. In dog terms, I thought they would be roughly the equivalent of Pug size, still being young. But they were more Great Dane size. Big, big cats! We were advised not to crouch because height is a measure of dominance. We were also made to carry sticks—not for hitting but to extend the length of our arms. On the morning walk, the two were very active, wanting to play/fight with each other constantly. On the afternoon walk, they had just been fed so they would walk a few steps and collapse from the weight of their huge bellies. At one point, the two lions started to stalk some impala. But having been fed recently, they couldn’t be bothered to attempt a hunt.


Elephant Training (was not allowed to substitute for Internet…): I think these elephants were sadder than the ones I saw in the Moscow Circus. The elephants were made to stand on one foot or the other, turn themselves about, and joylessly take turns at kicking a deflated soccer ball. Then, the four African elephants allowed each of us to climb on top, though mine was a bit temperamental when letting me back down. I think it’s safe to say I look pretty stupid on an elephant =) I was on top of Amay. At 24, she is huge and still growing.


Elephant Ride (substituted for the Breeding Program Tour and Cub Feeding): Heather and I rode on 22 year old Chibi for a mini elephant safari. Animals spotted: Impala. I had heard that you couldn’t ride an African elephant so I was intrigued; I also had no recollection of what it felt like to ride some variety of elephant in Indonesia when I was a kid. You basically sit on top of a mat and it’s like straddling an overly wide and lumpy bench. As the elephant lumbers along, you get gently rocked from side to side and try not to feel bad for the elephant that really would rather sit and eat than carry three people on her back.

Horse Ride: Two days earlier, Zoe had fallen off a horse and was driven to a hospital to tend to her wrist. Her horse was named Rum and coincidentally (?), another rider had fallen off of Rum a few days before Zoe fell off. I was very relieved to be given Jackson, a white horse of unknown(-to-me) breed. Jackson was nice enough and we got along pretty well. Like me, he’s a multitasker who can walk, eat, and game watch at the same time. And, when Jackson would trot, I’d laugh until he stopped. Jackson Did walk me into a tree at one point, but the only injury I have is a bruised bum and resulting (temporary) aversion for hard benches.

Antelope Park was well timed because most of us on the rhino safari got sick the first night we arrived. It was also very nice being able to crawl back into “bed,” something I realized I really missed. In South America, I would have had to check out of the hostel or I’d be out sightseeing. With the truck, we rarely stay in the same place for more than one night and when we do, it’s usually not safe to leave anything in the tent. I most enjoyed having a tent to myself because a lot of people chose to upgrade to a nice room, leaving extra tents available. =)

Next up: Zimbabwe Ruins, Chimanimani Mountains, Lake Chiberu, and Harare!