At the end of April I was one of a number of agents invited to The Hide to check out their lodge renovations. I drove up from Bulawayo with a colleague, making a short diversion at the Gwayi River. I used to have family who lived behind the hotel, and many friends lived in the area. It was just a few years ago, but it was amazing to see just how the hotel has been reduced to ruins, and will soon be totally reclaimed by Mother Nature.
Anyhow, I did not linger there too long with my memories. I did try to get to see my Mom's cottage which is now hidden behind a huge amount of bush growth that was never there before, but the locals were not happy with that. Well, it was time to push on anyway, we still had to get down some 30 kms of dirt road to Kennedy Siding and then The Hide, and we could see a storm brewing in the distance.
The drive was straight forward enough, the road was easily handled by my Ford. There were elephant tracks virtually the whole way along the road, but we didn't see them. It did not take us quite as long as I thought it would to get to our destination. At one point I took a wrong turning (blatantly ignoring instructions and directions for some unknown reason), but my navigator soon saw me right, and we arrived safely at The Hide, luckily just in time for lunch.
I was shown to my tented room - one of the very recently renovated ones - it was REALLY comfortable and tastfully furnished. Whilst there I made sure I made use of both the deep bath with view of the vlei, and the open air shower.
The weather was quite moody, and wet, but that didn't stop us seeing animals and the beautiful bush sights.
For the next two days I was treated to the most comfortable accommodation, delicious meals, an early morning walk in the bush, game drives, and a bush dinner. The next time I visit The Hide, I am going to spend a night in the "Dove's Nest". This "room" is set about a kilometre away from the main camp, and is basically a tree house where you are left for the night. There is a lofty bedroom, and a large viewing deck beneath it, and the shower and loo at the bottom. Once up the tree, the hefty trap-door is closer, and you are alone in the middle of nowhere. How fantastic !!!
The other treat was a visit to Mbiza Pan .. this was previously in a part of Hwange National Park that was not accessible by the public .. in fact it still isn't, only vehicles from The Hide and Wilderness Safaris can take their guests there. It was such a priviledge to visit this amazing place .. when we arrived I thought we had landed on the moon or somewhere else very unusual ... it was flat flat flat as far as I could see, but dotted with hundreds of ilala palm trees. We stopped near the water, but there were no animals there that day .. it was no matter because we were treated to possibly the most spectacular sunset I have EVER seen.
The guides who took us out on the walk and drives - Daffy and Nicholas - were very entertaining company and kept our interest up in our surroundings. Being a bit of a birder, it was great to ride next to them and share in their knowledge. Daffy has such an awesome huge smile that I think he should be used as the "welcoming face of Zimbabwe" .. what a great guy !!
The Hide is definately a spot to visit again and again !!
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