Gonarezhou National Park

Gonarezhou National Park is in southeastern Zimbabwe.

Understand

The Gonarezhou National Park is one of the iconic wilderness areas of Africa, with relatively few tourists but boasting an amazing diversity of landscapes, features, and growing wildlife populations. It is situated in a relatively remote corner of Masvingo Province, south of Chimanimani, along the Mozambique border. Owing to its vast size, rugged terrain and its location away from main tourist routes, large tracts of Gonarezhou remain pristine wilderness.

At 5,053 square kilometres (1,951 sq mi), Gonarezhou is the Zimbabwe's second-largest national park, after Hwange National Park. The name Gonarezhou is translated from the Shona meaning "The Place of Elephants".

History

The Gonarezhou National Park was first established as a protected area in 1936 as a Game Reserve, eventually being proclaimed a National Park in 1975. The park has had a turbulent history and was closed to the public during the Rhodesian War and again during much of the Mozambique civil war but was re-opened in 1994. Between 1994 and 2007, the Gonarezhou National Park was wholly managed by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, however the economic challenges in Zimbabwe up to 2007 meant that there was little reinvestment in infrastructure and protection of the Park. In 2007, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority entered into a financial and technical assistance model for the Gonarezhou National Park with the Frankfurt Zoological Society. This model lasted up until 2017 and focused on investing in infrastructure and the protection of the Park's resources. In March 2017, management of the Gonarezhou was handed over to the Gonarezhou Conservation Trust, a co-management partnership between the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and the Frankfurt Zoological Society. This co-management model, overseen by a board of trustees represented equally by both partners, was created to establish a platform to enhance investment into the long-term sustainability of the Park - a key feature of which being the retention of tourism funds at a Park level for direct reinvestment into the Gonarezhou.

Flora and fauna

A nyala in the park

Historically the park has been a habitat for the endangered Cape wild dog (Lycaon pictus); and in 2010 there were several sightings of wild dogs in the park. Other mammals that inhabit the park are elephant, giraffe, hippopotamus, Cape buffalo, zebra, nyala, wildebeest, black and white rhinoceros, lion, leopard, cheetah, and hyena.

See

• Chilojo Cliffs – sandstone cliffs towering 180 metres (590 ft) high and running for some 20 kilometres (12 mi) along the south bank of the Runde River
• Tembwahata pan and Machanu pan – formed at the junction of the Save River and Runde River
• Naymtongwe Plateau – a remnant of the Chilojo Cliffs
• Ntambambomvu Red Hills – densely wooded hill slopes standing above the Malvernia sand beds and the Mwenezi River valley
• Samalema Gorge – where the Mwenezi River carves through solid igneous rock-forming a braided river gorge

Sleep

• Swimuwini Rest Camp – managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Authority, this is self-catering accommodation on the Mwenezi River