The last few weeks of the season always seem to bring with them one certainty: it's brown, it's sticky, it's too much fun and it plays an essential role in the balance of life here at Gorongosa.  Yes, we're talking about mud.  Mud, mud, glorious mud.  Nothing quite like it for stirring the blood.  Without it, the park would not have the opportunity to recover and recuperate from the impacts (albeit really small impacts) of us two-legged types and our big smelly 4x4s.  For four months, the park relies on its 4000 square kilometers of rain-soaked earth to keep people out and let the wild ways return to normal.
And talking of "normal" - the break also gives all of us a chance to return to our families and friends and catch up on a year of news and events, to get into some good books, to discover new wine labels (mmm), and to generally re-charge before flying back into 2011 with a big bang.  Most of our staff will be spending some time over the next few months on job shadowing exercises at other lodges and resorts in Mozambique, but this can hardly be seen as work, since the destinations include Bazaruto island, Guludo beach, and Ibo island... hardly slumming it are they!  For many of them it is there first experience of the sea and the island life - and for most it is their only other tourism experience outside of Explore Gorongosa - something we think is important in their ongoing development and growth.  The experience gained and friends made at these new lodges will hopefully help the guys realise that work can and should be more than the banal,day-to-day of camp life, but should be embraced as a lifestyle choice - especially in the industry we are in!  It is also our hope that the team returns to Explore Gorongosa with new ideas and some little morsels of magic gleaned from our partner lodges and resorts that have kindly hosted them at this time.  Other exciting stuff on the go over the off-season is the scout training course that Rui & Hilario will be attending at Limpopo National Park in late January.  After completing this 6-week course, they will be highly skilled trackers and assistant park scouts, which will be a great opportunity for them both.  Their mentors, our trusty scouts, Perreira and Jinga, will be attending a spoken English and vocabulary course at nearby Nhambita school, in February, so they should be ready to greet you with big smiles and friendly words when you next return to visit us.   All in all, a lot happening to help get the team refreshed and ready for action come April 1^st 2011!


And so, without much fanfare or wild ululations or the like, our second season at Explore Gorongosa comes to an end... We'd like to take this opportunity to thank all those who came out to experience the magic of this special place with us in 2010 and we look forward to seeing you all back here soon again.  The inspiring park restoration story continues to evolve and develop and it would be daft, indeed batty, if you didn't all come back to enjoy more sunsets, gin and tonics, roaring lions, green fever trees and wild wild Africa with us at Explore Gorongosa - the original Gorongosa safari experience!