Sunday, April 5, 2015

Imire Wild Life Conservatory

Once again, it has been a long time since I wrote on this Blog.  I guess I write on it when I have had a profound experience.

On Friday I had a profound experience

I took my son, Ian and grandson, Connor to Imire Wildlife Conservatory near Wedza.  It was a two hour journey from Harare.  It is the first time I have been outside Harare for some time.  I was amazed at the excellent condition of the highway between Harare and Marondera.  So many roads in the city are filled with hundreds if not thousands of potholes of varying sizes and depth.  Yet the highway to Marondera - still under construction - is in great shape.  The road surface has been re-surfaced since I was last on it.  The white lines, the yellow lines have been painted, there are 'cats eyes' to be seen.  I had no qualms about paying my $2.00 toll fee at the one toll-gate between here and Marondera.

But the Bridge Road that leads from the main highway to Imire is another pot-holed motoring danger.

At Imire we were met by Always, a most pleasant young man who was going to be our tour guide for the day.  We had tea and scones.  We also met Mike, husband of Kate.  They are the post-creators of Imire, Kate's father, Norman Travers was the creator.  Now deceased, I read how the elephants at Imire attended his funeral.  I recently heard how the family is being threatened (again) with eviction by some high powered politician.  Mike said that the last week had been quiet but the week before there were visits and demands being made that they leave to make way for 'the rightful owners of the land'.  That means a ZANU PF politician or a senior army/police officer/civil servant.

Others arrived while we had tea and then we all set off with Always.  We met wildlife of all kinds.  A lion, some spotted hyena, sable antelope, impala by the hundreds, nyala (imported from South Africa), white rhino, black rhino, buffalo, zebra, giraffe and of course, several elephant.  Always was extremely knowledgeable of the habits and idiosyncrasies of the wildlife.  The downside to all this is that the rhino and the elephant are guarded - have to be guarded - 24/7 by armed security guards.




The landscapes were as alluring as the wild life.  Beautiful Msasa trees, rich veld, kopies with amazing balancing rocks, serene and magnificent, Several dams filled with water such that the animals are never without.

We stopped for a hearty lunch by one of the dams and then fed the elephants who came for their own 'lunch hour'.  Then back to the farmhouse and finally home to Harare.

There was a lot of time to think as we ground our way round the conservancy.  I thought much about land ownership.  This land does not 'belong' to the black people of this country any more than it 'belongs' to the white people.   Essentially it belongs to the animal kingdom, of which we humans are just a very small part.  Throughout the world I am aware that people are destroying the environment.  Other members of the animal kingdom do not destroy it - that is unless they over populate it.  We humans are destroying it largely because of greed and also because of over population of the human race.

So the land belongs to the animal kingdom and only to those members of the human race who can use it wisely and conserve it for the future.  Those who either misuse it or don't use it have no right to be on it.