Ant Kaschula’s A Luxury Zimbabwe Adventure

• A privately guided safari developed exclusively for Chalo Africa by Ant Kaschula, one of Africa’s best known and most respected safari guides
• An in-depth exploration of  Zimbabwe’s wildlife for those who value luxury, exclusivity and terrific guiding
• The ability to seek the Big Five, Little Six, Big Seven and a whole host of rare and elusive bird and mammal species – all on a single safari
• Activities include game drives, bush walks, visits to ancient San Bushman rock art sites, rhino tracking, fishing, boat cruises, canoeing or simply looking for wildlife from the deck of your villa, or the riverbank, or from behind a hide… wherever you happen to be!
• Spa, yoga and massage facilities available

I am a big fan of properties such as these for the yeoman work they are doing to help Africa’s people and to conserve and protect its wilderness and wildlife. Malilangwe means “Call of the Leopard” and it is a 100,000 acre private reserve & a non-profit trust taking great care to include the local communities in its running and development. It is a source of livelihood for all the people who live in the region, who also benefit from improved healthcare and education.

The reserve has diverse lowveld ecologies and its trustees undertook a mission to try and give protection to endangered and rare species so that they could reproduce in their natural habitat. This they have done with black rhino to great success and now include white rhino, roan antelopes and Lichtenstein’s hartebeest amongst their most valued breeding animals. Along with the Big Five, Malilangwe likes to show you their Little Six – six species of small beautiful antelope – klipspringer, Sharpe’s grysbok, grey duiker, steenbok, rare Livingstone’s suni and oribi who reappeared after almost dying out in the great drought of 1992-3. Some rarely seen shy animals that you may be lucky enough to observe here are aardvark, painted hunting dogs (wild dogs) and caracal (lynx cat) with long tufted ears.

Malilangwe is a haven for birds with over 400 species and one of the highest concentrations of large breeding eagles in the world. There are 14 species of eagle, 11 hawks and 9 different owls. Unlike the large mammals who reside here all year, birds come and go. February sees huge colonies of tiny quelea that come to nest here in their thousands. In June purple rollers arrive from Mozambique and in November woodland kingfishers pull in from West Africa. From the Asian steppes migratory eagles and falcons come to join the resident raptors. Amongst the team of Malilangwe guides are some highly respected and passionate bird experts.