Style

24 THE STANDARD STYLE / FAMILY /GETAWAY
August 17 to 23 2014
Family Outings in
Mukuvisi
Woodlands
Rosie Mitchell
IF you live in Harare and are scratching your head
for a pleasant place to take the family on a weekend
outing, try the Mukuvisi Woodlands Nature Reserve.
Year round, you can all go along to enjoy the
Second Sunday and Last Sunday of the Month Woodland
Walk, Run or Mountain Bike Ride. You can even
bring the dog (or dogs!), as long as he, she or they, are
carefully leashed. The leash is essential as there is
wildlife along the way and unleashed dogs can wreak
havoc, being natural hunters as a species! This fortnightly
outing into areas of these Woodlands that
are not normally open to the public without a guide,
can be started at any time from 6.45 to 10.30 am, thus
avoiding the heat of the day, and there are several
marked trails of distances to suit everyone -- from
3km up to 10km. The charge is US$5 per adult runner,
walker or cyclist, US$2 for children aged 5 to 12,
US$1 per dog and no charge for seniors over 65. This
gives you a great opportunity to enjoy unspoilt miombo
woodland scenery, birds and wild animals in their
natural environment, so the outing is both enjoyable
and educational.
As well as going along for the Sunday Woodland
Run-Walk-Ride twice a month, you can enjoy Mukuvisi
Woodlands throughout the year (entry US$4
adults, US$2 children) as this Nature Reserve, which
provides a wonderful touch of the wild in the heart
of the city, is in fact open every single day of the year.
So is the Woodlands Coffee Shop within it, where you
can enjoy a full breakfast or bacon and egg roll, coffees,
teas, cakes and muffins, pies and snacks, or even
a Sunday roast. uMAX WIFI is also available there,
so if you need to go online over a coffee and muffin,
it’s easy.
Or, sit quietly at the game viewing platform with
your binoculars and camera, and enjoy seeing the
game come by to drink. Specially formulated nutritious
game cubes are placed daily for the animals at
10am and 2pm near the watering hole in front of this
platform. Giraffe, eland, zebra, impala and many
water birds can be seen here and will enjoy snacking
on these treats, while you enjoy watching, for at least
an hour. You may see the two baby eland who were
born just this month, and the giraffe family currently
numbers four – Mum, Dad and their two kids, Maxine
and Maxwell, both sponsored by uMAX.
You could also book a guided horse-back safari
through the game park, even if you’ve never been on
a horse; this is a great way to get close to the animals
and enjoy the scenery. These cost US$12 per person
and go out at around 8.30am, 11am and 3pm. Or,
choose instead a guided walk with one of the Woodlands’
knowledgeable guides for US$6 a head; or you
can settle down in the bird hide by the lower dam and
enjoy some quiet bird-spotting.
Mukuvisi Woodlands allows braaiing at designated
sites and braais and wood are readily available.
You can also visit the wide variety of exotic parrots
in their enclosures within a special area for a small
additional fee of US$1. Mukuvisi Woodlands is just
5km from the city centre on the corner of Glenara Avenue
and Hillside Rd (phone 0774 198 009).