Zambezi Hunters have the exclusive rights to three of the best hunting areas in Zimbabwe. The Sango and Hammond/Arda concessions are both within the world famous Save Valley Conservancy. Mahenye borders onto the Gonarezhou National Park and is part of the ambitious Gaza Land Trans Frontier Park (GLTFP) which also includes Kruger National Park in South Africa and Limpopo National Park in Mozambique.
S A V E V A L L E Y C O N S E R V A N C Y
The Save Valley Conservancy is a unique wildlife area in the south east lowveld of Zimbabwe. Covering over 800,000 acres of prime game country, it is famous for its big leopard and excellent buffalo. The area has a rapidly growing lion population and arguably the best free ranging plainsgame hunting in Zimbabwe. It is also recognised for its considerable contribution to the conservation of both black and white rhino and the African wild dog.
The habitat is diverse and includes large areas of flood plain with open acacia woodland in the east. On the western side you will encounter more mopane woodland, combretum thickets and fantastic rocky outcrops.
The Sango concession covers an area of 140,000 acres in the northern section of the Save Conservancy. It has beautiful open woodlands in the east which are home to abundant plainsgame, particularly during the early part of the year before the productive grasslands get grazed to the ground. The Save River forms the eastern boundary and is home to large numbers of elephant as well as waterbuck and bushbuck.
The Msaize River flows through the eastern section of Sango and amazingly, the river disappears into a fault line in the ground before it gets to the Save River. Midway along the Msaize Rivers journey through Sango is situated the Sango Tented Camp. The camp sits on the banks of the river under large nyala berry trees.
In the western section of Sango there are some beautiful rocky outcrops which are home to sable, black eagles, dassies and the occasional sighting of leopard. The western side of the concession also seems to be preferred by the buffalo herds. It is through this broken landscape that the Mokore River flows on its way to meet the Turgwe River to the south.
Perched up on a rocky outcrop is Sango Safari Lodge, looking down over and across the Mokore River. It is also amongst these outcrops that particularly big kudu bulls can be spotted.
The Arda concession is in the south of the Save Conservancy and is made up of four properties covering a total area of 80,000 acres. The concession has huge diversity and some different habitats to the Sango concession. The east is a mixed open woodland with marula, leadwood and knobthorn trees. The grasses are excellent in these areas and you get good numbers of zebra, wildebeest and eland.
The western part of the concession is dominated by mopane woodland with lots of granite outcrops. The density of buffalo throughout the concession is the highest in the Save Conservancy and provides arguably the best buffalo hunting in Zimbabwe.
The Mkwasine River runs through the Arda concession from west to east. The river only runs after particularly good rains but there are many permanent pools along its path. It is on one of these pools, on the eastern side of the concession that Arda Camp is situated.
Whether you are a veteran of many African safaris or you are looking at your first trip to Africa, the Save Conservancy, with its abundant game populations, will provide you with an unforgettable hunting experience.
M A H E N Y E
Mahenye is the original CAMPFIRE area in Zimbabwe and the community have been involved in the hunting industry for more than 30 years. The Save River forms its western and southern boundary of which 25km is a shared boundary with Gonarezhou National Park.
There are estimated to be more than 6000 elephant in the Gonarezhou National Park which is 5,500km2 in size. The elephant population has produced some extremely large tuskers in the recent past including Dhulamithi (‘taller than trees’) and Kambakwe, both well over 100lb.
The Park is also part of the Gazaland Transfrontier Park which includes Kruger National Park in South Africa and Limpopo National Park in Mozambique. This creates a contiguous wildlife area of over 40,000km2 and is one of the biggest conservation projects in Africa.
The Mahenye concession provides an opportunity to hunt from this large elephant population and for elephant hunters to try for an exceptional trophy bull. The concession is also good for hippo and crocodile with a huge 14.5ft croc being taken in 2008. There is good but limited plains game with the best trophies including a 63” Kudu and 16” bushbuck, both taken in 2009.