Reviews of Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge

"After spending more than 40 hours in planes and airports, this camp was a nice way to start our safari in Zimbabwe. For most of our 4 days here, we had the camp to ourselves, and we were the only ones in the safari vehicle.

The camp and our room had gorgeous views of the Savé River. On the first afternoon, we watched several elephant herds cross the river.

The park did not excel in any predator sightings, but there was no shortage of herbivores including plenty of elephants. In fact, the name of the park means “Place of Elephants” in the local Shona language. Due to a history of incursions of poachers from neighboring Mozambique during its civil war the elephants here are more skittish and wary of human presence. In addition, of all the areas we visited on this trip, Gonarezhou had the most scenic landscapes, which sometimes were reminiscent of the American Southwest. And I would like to point out that there are more Baobab trees here than in any other place of Africa that we have visited.

The highlight of our stay was an all-day excursion to the Chilojo Cliffs. Another, albeit different, highlight was a visit to Mahenye Village where we met local families, shopkeepers and health care workers.

Our guide Dumi was very well informed, not just about the local wildlife and trees and plants, but domestic politics and world affairs as well. It was a pleasure to have stimulating conversations with him throughout.

The lodge itself provided magnificent views of the Savé River." See all these reviews: 12n in Zimbabwe; 11n in Botswana

"A fine lodge magnificently perched on a high ridge overlooking the placid Save River far below. Beautiful and expansive common areas, with gardens attracting all manner of birds and insects. Large, comfortable (if somewhat dark) chalets, each with their own impressive view of the river. Very good food, with meals served on the patios overlooking the river (and attendant wildlife). Fine, engaged service from an attentive staff.

Gonarezhou National Park is very attractive, with a wide range of game and in very good numbers. (The elephants were particularly numerous, and we often made very close approach to them by vehicle). Our trip to the Chilojo Cliffs included sightings of giraffe and two lions who sunned themselves disinterestedly when we inadvertently parked our vehicle between them and their prey.

The Chilojo Cliffs are truly spectacular (and justify the somewhat grueling drive there and back from the lodge). The view from the cliff top is absolutely stunning, including both the magnificent 'pillars' of the cliffs themselves and the vast plain of the Runde River, Gonarezhou proper, and seemingly all of Zimbabwe stretching endlessly to the north. A truly unique vista in our experience. Not to be missed.

Special commendation to our guide John. He knows the Park well and was an engaging, informative guide. The long walk we took with him one morning in the Park was one of the highlights of our time there." See all these reviews: 12n in Tanzania; 12n in Zimbabwe

"Chilo Gorge Lodge overlooks a stunning view of the Save River. We had 2 full days of excellent safari drives, going to Chilojo Cliffs on our first day and exploring other parts of Ghonarezhou NP on the second day. The scenery alone would make it worth while coming here, but the widely varied wildlife sightings were excellent too. A wide range of antelopes including Nyala and Sable, plus literally hundreds of elephants. Many of the groups had young calves and the adults were aggressive towards the vehicle causing a few exciting moments! We were lucky to come across a leopard in a tree at dusk. Excellent for birds.

We drove all day with no other vehicles in sight.

The lodge is smart and efficient with excellent food. It lacks the atmosphere of a bush camp but is comfortable and well equipped. We had to work quite hard to get a drink served before dinner which seemed odd! Our cabin had a wonderful river view and we woke to the roaring of hippos just below." See all these reviews: 12n in Zimbabwe

"incl in 1st section on this [Edit: see comments below]" See all these reviews: 7n in Zimbabwe; 5n in Malawi; 1n in South Africa

"Lodge very nice with great views over river
Over 150 Elephants seen plus to of antelopes etc
Drive up to top of Chilo cliffs was spectacular
Over 145 different birds seen" See all these reviews: 7n in Zimbabwe; 5n in Malawi; 1n in South Africa

"The position of the camp was lovely, overlooking the river and the park. The lodge was very luxurious with excellent facilities, food and service.

We are really pleased we went there but if we are truly honest we were a bit disappointed with it as a wildlife experience compared to Mana Pools and Hwange. There had been three days of heavy rain just before we arrived which restricted the driving in the park so that not much was accessible to us. We were unable to get to see the Chilojo Cliffs except in the plane journey back to Harare.

The park had an interesting array of different habits and the very old baobabs were beautiful, especially as they were in leaf and flower. Of course we never saw another vehicle in the park, but one disadvantage of the low density of visitors is that the animals were not habituated and most ran in the opposite direction as we approached them. One exception to this were the elephants who have the reputation of being feisty. The matriarchs in the breeding herds were but the bulls were more laid back and we had some very special moments watching the males covering themselves with mud and dust.

Clive was not in camp while we were there, our guide was Sam.

The visit to the village was fantastic. We had taken some books, pens, pencils, footballs etc for the school so had a very special visit there and the visit to the clinic brought back all my happy memories of working as a junior doctor in Harare in 1986. We also visited one of the shops, watched the milling of grain and of course visited Mr Mutema from whom we bought a beautifully carved wooden wild dog and a cheetah.

As this camp was also very comfortable and the last of our holiday, we chose it to be our R&R so we did not go into the park very often in view of the restricted access within it. We had a good view of the river from our room balcony and as we were elevated we were at the same height as many of the birds which gave us wonderful bird watching.

In summary, the lodge was excellent but from our experience we would not go all that way again on future visits to Zimbabwe." See all these reviews: 16n in Zimbabwe