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October 2000: Victoria Falls & Wange Park

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One has a notion, from seeing movies like Out of Africa, that when one is in Africa, one can expect to see the African animals everywhere. This just isn't so. There are built up areas, such as where we live, where ones sightings are limited to birds, reptiles, and insects. The rural areas are often put over to farming, and the last thing that farmers want on their land is a herd of grazing animals. So in Zimbabwe, at least, the bulk of the "African" animals are found in parks and preserves.

A giraffe and a flying banana.

Even once one is in the parks, what one sees is often a matter of luck. One can drive for hours through the scrubby brush and not see much of anything. Or one can be treated to all sorts of animals within a short distance. We are told that the end of the dry season, when we drove through Hwange, is the best time for game viewing because the animals tend to stay close to the water holes.