Hwange N.P.

This series of pictures and text in the following pages has been provided by Bruce Lombardo, our Education Coordinator to showcase a sample of the beauty of the area the project operates in. It is only a small insight into what may be seen and some of the areas can only be accessed by project staff with the correct permits. Ecovolunteers, generally have an opportunity to visit such areas when in the normal course of work undertaken by the Project's staff.

Flame Lily - A long-lived perennial, the aptly named flame lily sprouts up to a metre high from an underground tuber each January. The tuber grows in a zigzag pattern under ground. Elongating at the head and dying at the tail, it makes its way slowly underground like a slow-motion snake, as it searches for untapped nutrients. It tends to support itself on nearby shrubs like this white bauhinia; the tips of its leaves morphing into tendrils as needed. The flame lily is Zimbabwe's national wildflower. It is often found along the edge of woodlands, where there is more light, like here along the sandy road leading through the teak woodlands to iganyana Bush Camp. A blue morning glory blooms in the background.

Hwange National Park is the largest park in Zimbabwe, located in the Matabeleland North Province and has an area of about 14,540 square kilometres. Kalahari sand, geologically the youngest of three rock strata's, covers approximately 90% of the land mass and can be dated between 12 and 15 million years old. It was about this time that the known canids of today branched out with a common ancestor from which Lycaon pictus came into being about the 3 million year mark.

There are nine vegetation types to be found however the main type can be described as woodland and open woodland for much of the park. Of the flora there are listed some 250 different trees and 200 grasses of the over 1000 plant specimens recorded.

There were over 100 species of mammals recorded in the park which has one of the biggest herds of elephants which are estimated to number in excess of 30,000, with buffalo, giraffe, hyaena, lion, leopard, impala, kudu, sable, eland, roan, bushbuck, duiker, warthog, painted dog to name a few.

The bird list exceeds some 420 species.

Reference: Hwange Elephant Country Zimbabwe © David Martin

Updated: 09 September 2007

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