Next month an intrepid group, led by well-known guide Gordon Putterill, will attempt to walk the full breadth of Hwange National Park from west to east unsupported. Never attempted before, the six-day journey will cover in excess of 100km and cross harsh semi-Kalahari terrain that is densely populated by elephant. Renowned photographer Chris Weston will join the group to document their progress.
Their goal is to raise awareness and desperately-needed funds for Hwange, one of Africa’s oldest and most legendary parks.
The park, celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, is totally reliant on diesel-driven boreholes in the dry season. Due to the major downturn of tourist receipts in Hwange, the National Parks Wildlife Authority has minimal resources to adequately manage the park’s pumps, as well as maintaining roads and other conservation issues.
The Friends of Hwange (FOH), one of the two organisations benefiting from this expedition, is a private trust dedicated to looking after ten of Hwange’s major waterholes. FOH employs a full-time maintenance manager in the park, and has installed five hi-tech windmills as a long-term solution to the water supply problems. Although the windmills have helped significantly, they cannot output the volumes of water required for Hwange’s 30,000 elephants. The other half of raised funds will be given to the Mambanje Primary School, which resides on park’s eastern border.
To contact the team directly, email Beck Edwards of Friends of Hwange at
More information on FOH can be found at www.hwangetrust.com
