Adventuring in Harare

Mom and Dad Giraffe
On Thursday, June 25th, Michael Mereki drove John, Rachel and I to Harare. We needed to renew our visitor's visas and pick up a new guest, April, before we flew to Victoria Falls. While we were in Harare, Michael needed to run some errands for Chidamoyo. But, there is another car in Harare and Kathy graciously told us we could drive it (thankfully, an automatic, so John could drive). So, on Thursday, when we arrived, John and I decided to check out a place called Mukuvisi Woodlands that Michael had told us about. So, after Michael gave us some directions (which I was not sure we would be able to follow), we headed out. Thankfully, we found the place. We thought it was going to be a drive around a game park. But, when we got there, we were told that you could either horse back ride, walk, or check out the animals from a platform. Since we didn't know anything about the place, we decided to just look at the animals from the platform (plus, it was only $4). We saw crocodiles, eland, zebra, impala and four giraffes. It was really beautiful and we loved seeing the giraffes, especially. They are so majestic and graceful. There is really nothing like them. There were two young giraffes (which we later found out were two and four years old) and two adults (mom and dad). John and I had an amazing time there and it was really nice to have a little date time. While we were there, we decided that we had to come back (and convince Rachel and April to come too!) and horse back ride on Saturday. It was only $12 and we knew it would be an unforgettable experience.

Giraffe family

On Friday, we had to renew our visas in downtown Harare. I was a little nervous about this because dealing with government in Africa can be time consuming and frustrating (to say the least). However, we were able to renew our visas pretty quickly and without very much frustration. Afterwards, we went back to the Harare house and relaxed because we were without a car that day. We watched movies, made popcorn, and planned our day for Saturday. We knew we wanted to horse back ride at Mukuvisi Woodlands, but I also found a place called the Lion and Cheetah Park in an old Lonely Planet that was at the house. We decided to try and fit both in on Saturday. In the evening, when we had the car back, we drove to dinner. Driving at night in Harare is very different that driving in the States. There are not many street lights and it is really dark. John did a great job driving. Driving in Africa can be really difficult because people do not really follow all of the driving laws. People generally drive very quickly and pass without knowing that it is truly safe. It can be very chaotic. Also, in Harare at least, the stop lights are out half of the time because of power outages. We had a great dinner at a place called News Cafe in Borrowdale (a suburb of Harare). I discovered a Greek cheese called halloumi that I loved.

The sign at the entrance to the Lion and Cheetah Park

On Saturday, we set out with ambitious plans to accomplish both the Lion and Cheetah Park and horse back riding at Mukuvisi Woodlands in one day. John was driving as usual and I was navigating. On the way, we passed a police stop (there are many of these all over Zim, the police just stop random people to check their licenses and sometimes to hassle the drivers over random things, but it is not like being pulled over for speeding). The police signaled for us to pullover. The police asked John for his license and what did he do? He handed them his passport (because, he had of course, left his drivers license at the Harare house). I was afraid they were going to try to get money out of us because the police tend to do that here, but the officer was very nice and simply asked if I had my license with me. I, of course, did. So, we switched and I drove the rest of the day to avoid further issues. Driving in Harare and on the left side of the road is not my favorite thing in the world. However, I think I did pretty well and it was good practice for Nairobi. After asking for further directions at a gas station (because we did not really have directions-I really miss using my phone for directions!), we finally found the Lion and Cheetah Park. John took over driving inside the park (I was a little nervous to drive with lions). We closed our windows, double-checked that our doors were locked, and got our cameras ready. A man opened the gate for us and we drove in. We turned the first corner, and there were seven lions laying right by the road. There were three male and four female. The male lions looked pretty old, so I wasn't too worried about them. But, there was a HUGE female lion. I thought she might be pregnant, but we later found out that "she is just really fat." It was definitely a huge rush being so close to lions. They were very lazy, though, and didn't seem to mind our presence. We circled around the enclosure (which was pretty large). When we got back, some of the female lions decided to get up. Two of them actually blocked us from exiting by standing right in front of the gate for a few minutes. The guard didn't seem too worried, though, and opened the gate to let us out. I think he might have been penga ("crazy" in Shona). After finishing with the lion enclosure, we got to see the other animals the park had to offer. There was a game drive that included zebra, eland, warthogs and impala. Then, there was a little "zoo-like" area. We met a 300 year old Galapogos tortoise named Tommy, saw more lions, monkeys, and one hyena.

Some of the female lions

The lions blocking the gate


We had booked horseback riding for 1:00 at Mukuvisi Woodlands, so we had to leave the Lion and Cheetah Park around 11:45 (we weren't sure how long it would take to get there). I set out driving again. We made it to Mukuvisi pretty early for our appointment, but they let us get started anyway. I will never forget my dad telling me about horseback riding with giraffes (he has a pretty good story about this-you should ask him). So, I have ALWAYS wanted to do this. I was not disappointed. I have done many cool things in my life, but I think that this experience was one of the coolest. I love horseback riding as it is, but horseback riding with giraffe, eland, zebra, wildebeest and impala is incredible. It was so surreal. We were literally RIGHT NEXT TO THEM. I could have reached out and touched several zebra and eland, and we were able to get really close to all of the giraffes. Our guide, Simba, was really funny. Near the end of our ride, one of the young giraffes made eye contact with John and started to follow him. The guide, Simba, had to shoo her away. I guess the giraffes can be kind of cantankerous sometimes. During the whole ride, Simba had been joking that we should gallop and that we were going too slow. He said it would be really funny if one of us fell off and that "falling off is good exercise." Rachel did not really want to because it was her first time horseback riding. I was teasing her and encouraging Simba to let us trot. He finally let us trot as we were heading back to the stables. I almost got some really good exercise; I'll just leave it at that. We made it back safely and had a wonderful time in Harare.

Eland, zebra, myself and our guide, Simba

Sacha, my horse, and I
-R

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