Stranger then Fiction
Tendai Chara

NESTLED on the banks of the mighty Zambezi River, some four kilometres from Chirundu Border Post, is the popular Rifa Conservation Education Camp.

According to the camp’s website, the wildlife sanctuary was established in 1981.

Its main purpose is to educate children and wildlife enthusiasts on sustainable management of the nation’s abundant and diverse wildlife and natural ecosystems.

“The programme provides visiting children with a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to stay in a protected wildlife area and experience the beauty and majesty of the Zimbabwean bush, building awareness on the importance of protecting the country’s natural ecosystem and teaching the vital conservation skills necessary to achieve this,” reads part of the camp’s website page.

The programme was reportedly established by a group of Zimbabwean conservationists and has hosted more than 20 000 children since its inception.

Run by the Zimbabwe Hunters Association and supported by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, which provides rangers, the camp can host as many as 1 200 children each year.

After touring the camp, visitors always leave the place even more enthusiastic about wildlife and environment management.

For those not used to the wild, visiting the camp will give them a perfect and rare opportunity to sleep in the bush and also to see, at close range, the wildlife they often only watch on television.

Apart from an estimated 155 bird species, those that visit the camp will also view such wild animals as kudus, elephants, baboons and waterbucks, among others.

Lions, wild dogs and leopards are also in abundance at the sanctuary.

However, apart from having a potpourri of alluring activities, Rifa also has a hauntingly chilling side.

In the past, the camp has made headlines on the “Ghosts and Zimbabwe” website.

The blog is famous for gathering and chronicling paranormal happenings in Zimbabwe.

One post which was made by a Odette H. Lind on the blog claims that an unnamed teacher once wrote alleging that the “camp was haunted by the ghost of a former caretaker”.

This was after the teacher had taken schoolchildren to the camp.

Quoting the teacher, Lind’s post read: “We often go to Rifa, an educational conservation camp on the Zambezi. We look after the children who go on a week-long course. There have been a number of caretakers and at one stage they stayed in the cottage we occupied when we were there.

“Some time ago, an old man lived there and he had a false leg and it did not fit very well. Unfortunately, he passed away at the camp. Now we often hear the door being tried and the sound of a man walking around with a definite limp. Had the dead caretaker returned?”

Another post by an anonymous blogger further confirmed the spine-chilling tale of the “limping caretaker.”

“I also happen to visit the camp and at one time interacted with the caretaker before he died. When I revisited the camp after the death of the caretaker, I thought I heard the sound of the limping along as he tried to open doors. Unusual noises were also heard coming from the cottage where the caretaker lived,” the anonymous blogger posted.

However, notwithstanding this seemingly tall tale, Rifa is still attractive for both tourists and conservationists.

Home to four of the “Big Five”, the camp is ideally situated by a waterhole, and the good grazing/browsing provided by its floodplain regularly attracts a host of wild animals.

There is also a thriving “Vulture Restaurant”, which attracts large numbers of hooded, white-backed and lappet-faced vultures, and visitors have been treated to the exciting spectacle of feeding vultures being chased off by aggressive lions and hyenas.

But could it be true that this is one of the few, if not the only place in the world where men get a rare opportunity of not only mingling with wild animals but also with paranormal beings?

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