Gorongosa National Park: Accommodation
EXPLORE GORONGOSA, is the first private safari operator to be licensed to work inside Gorongosa National Park, so you can be one of the first to experience the rebirth of this vast, beautiful wildlife reserve of in the heart of Mozambique.
The ideal way to explore the park is on their two,three, or four-night walking safari.
Your base is a bushcamp on the banks of the Musicudzi River. You have a spacious walk-in tent, with mesh windows and door all of which zip up completely. The bed has its own mosquito net, and is as comfortable as any, with fine sheets, a feather duvet, and two efficient reading lights. The bed, wardrobe, table and chair, are all produced by a local woodworking college.
Explore Gorongosa walk-in tent
Your private bush bathroom is an absolute delight. There is a canvas basin outside and a darkwood bowl inside, both with hot water; a bush bucket shower has a range of shampoos and conditioners and soft towels – you will not feel that you are roughing it here. You have a private flushing loo, adjacent to the tent.
Despite the proximity to the river, there seem to be few bugs around – my tally was one bite in a three-night stay, I never saw any inside the tent, and I didn’t spray myself at all.
Tented room at Explore Gorongosa
As the bushcamp is semi-permanent the intention is to relocate it from time to time to suit the movement of game.
Up at dawn for coffee and rusks, and then you go out on a two to three hour game walk before the sun gets too hot. This is more of a meander than a walk. You might cover 4 or 5 kms in total. The walk is through riverine forest on the edge of the floodplain. We saw plenty of bushbuck, waterbuck, orabi, warthog, as well as crocs in the river. It a beautiful park, with a huge variety of trees, and plenty of vegetation.
Explore Gorongosa – early morning game walk
In the mid afternoon you may go out on a game drive to see areas of the Park you would not reach on foot, such as the lakes on the far side of the floodplain. There are huge herds of waterbuck on the floodplain. This becomes a night drive on the way back to camp. On the night drive we saw civit, bushpig, lion and several porcupines. At night we heard lion growling around the camp.
Explore Gorongosa – game drive
Other activities include canoes on the river, boat cruises on the lake and village visits. There is also the opportunity to do longer walks with fly-camping overnight.
Explore Gorongosa rangers
You can expect to have good sightings of the more unusual wildlife in Gorongosa. On the short drive from the airstrip to camp we saw bushpig, Lichtenstein’s hartebeast, sable, orabi and bushbuck All seemed quite unfazed by our vehicle and stood there obligingly while we took their photos. However, you more likely to see sable than zebra, and more likely to see bushpig than giraffe. So if you haven’t seen the usual suspects this maybe isn’t for you.
Between December and March, much of Gorongosa is underwater. The dry season runs form May to mid December, and this is when the walking safaris take place. Then there is a wet season, from mid February through to April, depending on rainfall, and this is for water-based activities. Birding is excellent in this period.
Sundowners at Lake Urema
If you enjoy birding, this is an incredible destination. Over 400 species can be found in the greater Gorongosa region, with more than 220 residents recorded in the Park itself. A couple of hours spent in the right places may well 'bag' over 100 species in a sitting!
Explore Gorongosa can also arrange overnight trips up Mount Gorongosa, one of the last remaining rainforests in Southern Africa and home to Green Headed Oriole, and one of only four places to see Swynnerton's Robin, amongst many other ‘specials’.
If you are looking for a different kind of safari, then we cannot recommend this highly enough. It is also one of the more reasonably priced remote safari experiences in Africa. It’s a highly professional operation run by a likeable young couple, Rob and Josh. There are many thoughtful little touches and they are more attentive than many a five-star hotel. The food is excellent, as is the campfire conversation. These safaris take a maximum of eight people and they are led by highly experienced and informative professional walking guides – some of the region’s finest!
Josh and Rob
You can fly in by light aircraft charter from either Vilanculos or Beira airport. Alternatively, it is a four-hour road transfer from Beira airport.
From £305
Rates are per person per night and include all meals, drinks and activities.
Prices are subject to currency fluctuation.
