I was confused about what Hwange actually is – no longer! When people speak of Hwange, they can mean one of three things:
1) The town of Hwange (see photo below), which is on the Vic Falls to Bulawayo Road, but about 20km north of the national park. Hwange town is the site of a colliery, and when you drive past it, you’ll see massive cooling towers – an incongruous sight, given its proximity to the wildlife areas.
2) The National Park, which is the formally demarcated (yet unfenced) wildlife conservation area (14 000 square km in size) that is run by Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife, the governmental organisation which manages the public wildlife areas of Zimbabwe. Hwange national park is bordered on the west by Botswana, to the north by the Matetsi Safari Area (not a park, but a “wildlife area” used for hunting and tourism concessions), to the east by Hwange Estate (see below), and to the south by the community land of Tjlolotjo.
3) Hwange Estate (140 square kilometres), which is an area bordering Hwange National Park, and includes tourism concessions (land which is leased by lodges from the government for exclusive use by the lodge’s wildlife visitors).
I was going to spend my first few days on the Hwange Estate, which hosts a number of lodges. Some have closed down because of the slump in tourism, while others survive. My first few nights were at Ivory Lodge, which ended up being my favourite place to stay in the area.
Hwange takes its name from a local chief…and the word is pronounced “Wangy”, with a soft “G”, and a breathy “W”….if that makes any sense!
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