Happy "64th" Birthday Bruce! Imire Safari: Rhinos, Wart hogs, and Elephants

  Happy "64th" Birthday Bruce! On April 5th, Bruce turned another year older and now as we say in Zimbabwe, he's a hopeless "mudhara murungu!" Old man, white person!  Although we haven't seen a hint of prejudice or racism here in Zim; everyone is loving and friendly to all. We love the African people! We especially love their big white beautiful smiles! We wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else celebrating the big day.

      

Imire Game Park for Bruce's birthday, 2023.04.05

We worked on the temple site Wednesday morning, then headed over to see the Rio Douro office and administration building. Ashleigh Pereira, the wife of one of the owners, Richard, gladly showed us around. Rio Douro is the construction company building the Harare, Zimbabwe Temple and site project. It includes 8 buildings. They've employed over 300 people and have decided to only concentrate on this project because it's so huge for 3-4 years. The temple project started in April 2021. Ashleigh was so welcoming and we were able to give all the employees "Preach My Gospel" pamphlets for Easter.

Rio Douro Construction, HZT project, Ashleigh Pereira (2023.04.05)

We had an amazing birthday celebration, spending overnight at Imire Safari Lodge in Hwedza. We arrived at 3:00 p.m. and enjoyed the beautiful gardens and lodge. It was about a 1.5-hour drive from

Harare. The accommodation, safaris, and food were amazing!

                              Imire Game Park Lodge, 2023.04.05, Rest and Relaxation! At 5:00 p.m. we went into the safari by open jeep to feed the rhinos. Imire Game Park is over 10,000 acres owned by the Travis family of Zimbabwe. We were able to meet three of the owners, Kate, Chris, and Judy. They specialize in saving the rhinoceros population. In fact, there were armed guards protecting them from poachers. They said people kill the rhinos for their horns thinking there are magical aphrodisiac powers in them. We saw the "wide mouth", not white, and "narrow-lipped" or black rhinos. It was awesome to actually feed them behind a fence. The people were caged in, not the rhinos! A little wart hog family liked to be fed too among the rhino's feet.

"Wide" mouth or lipped rhinos are grazers and more aggressive. They are sometimes called "black" rhinos. The narrow-lipped rhinos are browsers. Both are hunted for their horns.

Evening ride, seeing some of the big 5 (rhinos & elephants, also leopards, water buffalo, and lions) at Irmire Game Park, 2023.04.05 Warthogs are one of the ugly 5 besides hyenas, vultures, and a type of bat. They have "Napoleon" or "short man" syndrome. They think they're tough, small but mighty. One mother wart hog attacked a cheetah and left it injured, requiring vet services for its deep wounds.

  Zebras, "Donkeys in pajamas" as our guide called them.  Each one has a different unique stripe pattern. The babies imprint on their mother's stripes; only the mother will nurse its own young. The zebras graze on grass and produce a lot of "gas"; their abdomens look quite bloated. They do "negative breathing" or fluctuance! Zebras are beautiful but can be quite mean. 2023.04.05-06

We had a wonderful meal that night and afterward they brought out a chocolate birthday cake for Bruce. I had ordered it when we booked the safari, but we were much too full to eat some.

The next morning, we had "tea" and set out at 7:00 a.m. to take a "walk with the elephants!"

I love elephants, so it was so exciting to get up and personal with the oldest and largest African elephant named, Mukuvisi, in South Africa. We loved getting to actually touch his large ivory tusk. He played a trick on Bruce and stole his hat, but returned it with a bit of elephant slobber after Bruce "pleaded" for its return on his knees.

After our walk with the elephants, we returned to the lodge for a nice big breakfast. We made friends with the other guests and more people arrived for the 10:00-3:00 main safari adventure. We all went out in three 6-8 bench open-air jeeps. Our guide was hilarious and joked with us about the animals. We learned interesting facts. I loved photographing the animals in the wildlife.

Rhinos with hooked lip, narrow lip/mouth browse and sleep during the day. They have a 15-month gestation and nurse their young for 2.5 years. They are protected day and night by armed guards. This is a family of dad, mother, daughter, and son.

Rhinos have poor eyesight because their eyes are on the sides

 of their heads. Their eyes send wrong messages to their brains, so they tend to overreact. These graze at night and sleep during the day to rest. They wallow in the mud to cool off and the dried mud prevents parasites from bothering them.

   Giraffes give birth standing up so the babies have their first "bungee jump" into the world;

                it is a 15-month of gestation. Their heartbeat is 150 beats/minute. 2023.04.06

                                                     Beautiful landscapes with wildlife

  Impalas are McDonald's for lions. they only see in black and white so the markings on their tales help the herd to follow each other. They only give birth after the rainy season so they have enough milk to feed their young. They also produce a smell when in danger so the herd can follow, it's their very own Wi-fi!          

Elephant, Mukuvisi, 6-ton African male

Cheetahs, luckily they'd already had their breakfast! These two came from a Canadian zoo and were slowly retaught how to hunt for themselves in the wild. 2023.04.06

This elephant thinks she's a cape buffalo; she's been head of the herd by killing off 15 males to show her dominance. She is 53 years old and has gone through several generations of buffalo.

A true Zimbabwean, Judy Travis, owner of Imire. Her family owns 10,000+ acres, and she does volunteer horseback riding to fix the boundary fences, etc. She is a down-to-earth humanitarian 

and we loved her Jeep!

Vervet Monkeys were all over the grounds and trees. Cheeky little devils!    Spiders in the gardens, beware! 

My own little "shire" above. I love how the maid carried the linen. African women carry all sorts of things on their heads. I've seen bags of potatoes, water buckets, luggage, bags, etc. I asked one woman how they balance it; she stated they start when they are young children.

We loved our birthday celebration and the new friends at Imire Lodge. We'll be back with guests.