hwange elephant zimbabwe safari

The Zimbabwe Great Elephant Safari Trip Report

In 1930, as many as 10 million wild elephants roamed the African continent. But decades of poaching and conflict have decimated the African elephant population, leaving less than 415,000. But not all the news is bad. Botswana & Zimbabwe are home to nearly 200,000 elephants, the largest population in Africa. In October 2022, our Zimbabwe…

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zimbabwe safari hwange national park imvelo

Join us on Zoom: The Great Elephant Safari

Thursday, June 16, 2022 @ 7pm EST The Great Elephant Safari Virtual Information Session on Zoom Please join Dan Hopkins, owner of GrassTrack Safaris, and Tad Bradley, owner of The Kusini Collection, for a Zoom information session about The Great Elephant Safari.  Tad is Imvelo’s marketing consultant and he just returned from Zimbabwe after witnessing the historic rhino relocation.  During this…

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Botswana Safari

New 2021 Dates for The Great Elephant Safari

We have new dates for our Great Elephant Safari!  Originally scheduled for Oct 2020, we had to postpone a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Please join us from October 15-27, 2021 for this elephant focused safari through Botswana and Zimbabwe.  Read on for all the details. Hwange Elephants In 1930, as many as 10…

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lilac breasted roller

African Birds: The Lilac-Breasted Roller

One of Africa’s most colorful and abundant birds, the beautiful lilac-breasted roller is commonly seen in game parks throughout eastern and southern Africa. The rainbow of colors this bird displays is truly stunning. Both males and females exhibit a range of pastel colors from the lilac breast, olive head, and rusty cheeks to vivid wings…

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lion

The Lionscape Coalition

Lions are facing serious threats across Africa.  The continent’s lion population has been cut by 50 percent in the past 25 years, and the species is now officially classified by the IUCN as “Vulnerable”.  Factors contributing to this decline include habitat loss and fragmentation, illegal wildlife trade, bushmeat poaching and human-lion conflict. However, a turnaround…

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Living With Wild Elephants

Living in the proximity of wild elephants can be challenging and dangerous.  These iconic animals we travel so far to be see can ruin a farmer’s livelihood in one night or worse, can kill local people.  I came across this story about local villagers in the Okavango Delta region of Botswana and how they feel…

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leucistic animals

White Giraffes in Africa?

Leucistic Animals Back in 2015 a rare white giraffe was discovered in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.  Dr. Derek Lee, an ecologist with the Wild Nature Institute, first spotted the young calf while doing a giraffe survey in Tarangire.  Three years later while on safari in Tanzania, my group was fortunate to see this rare giraffe. …

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hydroelectric dam threatens tanzania's largest game reserve

Hydroelectric Dam Threatens Tanzania’s Largest Game Reserve

A proposed hydroelectric dam threatens Tanzania’s largest game reserve, the Selous.  The Tanzanian government plans to begin the massive dam inside the UNESCO protected wildlife reserve in July 2018.  In preparation for construction more than 2.6 million trees will be removed from the dam and reservoir site.  The dam will be built on the Great…

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uganda gorilla trek

Mountain Gorilla Population is Rising

Good news for the mountain gorillas!  A recently published survey of the mountain gorilla population in the Virunga Massif has found the numbers of these endangered gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) is on the rise.  The study was conducted in the Mikeno Sector of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Volcanoes National Park in…

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