Thuli Parks and Wildlife Area

This protected area covers 416 000 hectares and encompasses the Thuli Safari Area and three botanical reserves: namely, Pioneer, South Camp and Tolo River reserves. The three last-mentioned are very small, totalling just one square kilometre.

Note, access to this park requires driving across the Sashe River. Thus, this park can only be accessed in the dry season, and/or when the Sashe River is low and passable by vehicle.

Thuli Parks & Wildlife Land is located in the southwestern part of the country and covers the whole of the Sashe River’s west bank. It forms part of the so-called Thuli Circle, an area with a radius of 16 kilometres that was created by the early settlers as a cattle-free zone in agreement with the indigenous tribesmen.

This cattle-free zone was put in place to stop the transmission of Rinderpest (or Cattle Plague) from the local people’s cattle to the settler’s prized oxen, the latter being essential for the trek into Africa, to pursue Rhode’s dream of building a railway line from the Cape Colony in the south, up to modern-day Cairo in the north of Africa.

Today, the Thuli Parks and Wildlife Land is managed and protected by Zimparks. Prior to its declaration as a protected area in 1975, it was a controlled hunting zone, and seasonal hunting still occurs in the park.

The overall area presents as flat and rather featureless before it transforms into rugged, hilly territory at the Sashe River. Vegetation is a combination of scrubland, dotted with Mopane and Combretum trees, and riverine plantlife including Ficus and Faidherbia on the park’s eastern border, in the Sashe valley.

Small populations of wildlife live in the park, including elephant, lion, cheetah, leopard and hyena. The park is home to some historical points of interest dating back to the early settlers. The most prominent of these are the remains of the Pioneer Fort, where the Pioneer Column (a military force instituted by Cecil John Rhodes) was based in 1890, and from whence they began their occupation of Mashonaland.

Nearby, you’ll find the ruins of the Pioneer jail, believed to be the first jail built by the Pioneer Column. The Pioneer Cemetery is the final resting place of 25 settlers, some with plaques describing their cause of death, e.g. ‘attacked by a lion and died at Fort Tule’. Another interesting structure in the park is a cenotaph marking the location where the Pioneer Column crossed the Sashe River on their expedition to Mashonaland.

ACCOMMODATION:
There are three campsites inside the park (North Camp, South Camp and Pioneer Camp) but the park can only be accessed in the dry season, when the Sashe River is low and can be crossed by vehicle. The dry period - April to October - also happens to be the hunting season in Zimbabwe, so there might be hunting taking place inside the park during this time. Hunters get preference for campsite bookings inside the park during this period.

Situated outside the park, on the Sashe River’s eastern banks, you’ll find the Sashe Wilderness Camp. This camp was established in 1976 as an environmental educational facility; today, it offers basic accommodation with shared kitchen facilities.

It’s worth noting that the Sashe Wilderness Camp is a great destination in its own right. So even if you don’t enter the park, you can spend a pleasant day or three here, under the shade of well-established riverine trees, enjoying some quality birding and relaxation time.

ENTRY:
When visiting the park, it’s a good idea to arrive a day early and use this time to make the necessary arrangements at the park’s office, then camp at Sashe Wilderness Camp that evening and enter the park the following day. Besides the normal entrance and permit fees, you’ll need to pay an extra US$30 per day for a warden who will keep you away from the hunting parties.

Access to Thuli Parks and Wildlife Land is via Beitbridge or from Gwanda, via Guyu and Hwali – through the village of Thuli.

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