Chilo, Nhambo Self Catering

The main lodge here is Chilo Gorge and Nhambo Self-catering Lodge is a small camp close by. You may use the main lodge for meals and activities by prior arrangement. Nhambo is a large, two storey, thatched roof kind of place. The views are immense. The camp is just outside the national park, which is just across the border from the Kruger in South Africa. Boy, oh boy, these are two different worlds. Here there are no tar roads, no fenced campsites, no shops. This is a remote location, there's no nonsense. It's vast and unexplored.

Gonarezhou is the country's second largest national park and covers just over 5,000 square kilometres. This place spews wildlife. The river is home to resident hippos and crocodiles. Buffalos come to drink. There are more elephants here than in the whole of Mozambique. Lion too, roaring at night, hyena howl. Anti poaching measures mean their numbers have finally begun to recover. In 2015 a predator survey counted 125 lions, up from 31 in 2009.

Cummnity-driven conservation fires the soul of Chilo Gorge and Nhambo and the wildly successful CAMPFIRE project (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources) began here. Since then the CAMPFIRE method has since spread into Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and across Africa and the rest of the world.

Nhambo camp has four double chalets all with en suite bathrooms and private balconies. Nhambo is a smaller enclave of Chilo Gorge and includes its own plunge pool, braai area and kitchen. It's ideal for a family or group of friends looking for a self-contained option. But you don't have to do it, you can head to the lodge for meals if you're cooking really sucks. There's also a family chalet which sleeps up to six. This is big and private with its own kitchen, garden and two bathrooms.  Children are welcome, but remember the lodge is perched on a cliff and there's a large, outdoor swimming pool.

The lodge has its own back-up generator but runs on mains electricity. Just in case you find yourself plunged into darkness on a moonless night.