As lock down due to Covid 19 was resumed a month ago, and enforced in Zimbabwe, Woody and I were once again reminded of how very blessed we are to live in Kariba and have access to some gorgeous accommodation options in our part of the world. Wild Heritage is one of our favourite places to go and just unwind when life gets a little bit too busy. The fact it is only a 40 minute drive from us is an added bonus.
During a lull in bookings after the school term started again, we were invited to view a lodge at Wild Heritage that we were not familiar with. Number 6, which is also known as Acacia Lodge, is located on the opposite side of the peninsular to the other lodges we market, this lodge overlooks the bay going in to NAUZ Charara and the Charara River, with the banana farm in the background. Instead of sunsets, they have beautiful bright sunrise views instead.
One of the unique things about Acacia Lodge is that the current family that own the lodge have owned it since it was built, it has not changed hands during all the years since Wild Heritage was founded. The caretaker, Fred, has been looking after Acacia since 2002, and is therefore a wealth of knowledge about the area. He is quietly spoken and just gets on with the job at hand with no fuss. He enjoys cooking and made us the most delicious fish and sweet potato chips for dinner, ensure you ask him to cook you at least one meal!
The weather was still a little chilly as we were coming out of our winter, so we didn’t take a dip in the crystal clear swimming pool, as inviting as it looked. Instead we spent most of our time on the comfortable outdoor lounge chairs reading and watching the phenomenal bird activity. The opposite side of the peninsular has more game, but this side has a LOT more bird life, truly a “twitchers’ paradise.” Woody and I were able to add a new bird to our list, a ‘collared palm thrush’, apparently only found in 3 or 4 locations around Zimbabwe, but we saw a group of 8!
In saying the game is not as abundant on this side, we couldn’t believe the size of the waterbuck herd we saw come past on our first evening, we counted 18 in total – the largest herd either of us has ever seen of this species. We were never bored as the resident white-browed coucals and squirrels kept us entertained and so did the 2 elephant bulls who would walk past every day.
One of our favourite things to do when we go away is to get up early and have our coffee with a treat of some sort while watching the sunrise. I had managed to get a couple of croissants at our local supermarket and we had the pleasure of enjoying these while watching the sun rise and all the different birds waking up, all from the comfort of the upstairs verandah. Aggghh… writing about it makes me want to go back!
We thoroughly enjoyed our weekend at Acacia Lodge and we are really pleased to be able to add it to our portfolio and offer the opportunity for other families to experience this special place, right on our doorstep.
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