We had a fabulous couple of days catching up with Nuffield farmers. As you can imagine some of the stories they had to tell about the troubles they have had with the Mugabe henchmen were pretty horrific, and the majority of the farmers I originally met in 1999 have been driven out of the country when their farms were taken over by his thuggish supporters. However, the ones that are left are coping really well and making good lives for themselves.
We are now staying at a beautiful hotel called The Leopards Rock Hotel which is very colonial and has had some Royal visitors like The Queen Mother and Princess Di. It is situated in the Eastern Highlands in Bvumba. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains and stunning scenery. This morning we had a guide to take us through the forest and we saw about twenty different species of birds including aromatic babblers, tropical bulbuls, thick billed weavers, emerald cuckoos, white eared barbets, livingstones turacos, bush-shrikes, crested flycatchers, Roberts warblers, fork-tailed drongos, dusky flycatchers, common waxbills, silvery cheeked hornbill and collared sunbirds. A birdwatchers dream! It was so nice having the guide, Benny, as we would never have been able to identify them all on our own. In the afternoon Benny also took us on a little walk in the bush where we saw giraffes, ostriches, Impalas, Élan, Zebras and wildebeests. We had sundowners watching the sunset over the beautiful Afican bush. It is such a special country and hopefully the political situation is now on the mend.
We are now staying at a beautiful hotel called The Leopards Rock Hotel which is very colonial and has had some Royal visitors like The Queen Mother and Princess Di. It is situated in the Eastern Highlands in Bvumba. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains and stunning scenery. This morning we had a guide to take us through the forest and we saw about twenty different species of birds including aromatic babblers, tropical bulbuls, thick billed weavers, emerald cuckoos, white eared barbets, livingstones turacos, bush-shrikes, crested flycatchers, Roberts warblers, fork-tailed drongos, dusky flycatchers, common waxbills, silvery cheeked hornbill and collared sunbirds. A birdwatchers dream! It was so nice having the guide, Benny, as we would never have been able to identify them all on our own. In the afternoon Benny also took us on a little walk in the bush where we saw giraffes, ostriches, Impalas, Élan, Zebras and wildebeests. We had sundowners watching the sunset over the beautiful Afican bush. It is such a special country and hopefully the political situation is now on the mend.
