Close encounters with a baby elephant and high tea in a stylish barn. 

EATING outing in 2024 was a roller coaster ride; fine dining with bold flavours and culinary artistry in one dining spot was followed time and again by a disastrous meal with lackadaisical service in another venue. Will there be any improvement in the quality of dining experiences in 2025?

My new year’s resolution is to eat out more frequently, to engage with many of the talented chefs and cooks    around the country, and to explore emerging food and drink trends likely to influence the experience of eating out.

The house was crowded last December with children returning from abroad to spend Christmas at home. We decided to end 2024 with a bang, visiting Wild is Life, an animal sanctuary on Delport Road, just beyond R G Mugabe International Airport, and Sable Lodge at  Imire Wildlife Conservancy in the Hwedza district. Besides offering encounters with giraffes, elephants and a pangolin, Wild is Life promises an epicurean high tea served in a stylish barn. Similarly, Imire offers spectacular game viewing and ‘world class food and hospitality’.

Feeding the giraffe at Wild is Life

There was much to look forward to, and our burgeoning family clambered into a Toyota Hiace minibus (loaned for the occasion by a generous neighbour) and set off for Wild is Life. Needless to say, the noise level and jollity in the bus were so great, that after several wrong turnings we found ourselves lost in the depths of Epworth. Saved at last by directions from a friendly and efficient police road block in the middle of nowhere, we arrived at Wild is Life in time for the morning tour.

Giraffe strolled in the distance, eyeing us curiously as we sipped refreshing iced tea beneath shady trees. Welcoming us to this unique wildlife sanctuary and elephant nursery, Juliana Danckwerts described to a captive audience how orphaned and injured wildlife animals are rescued and rehabilitated at Wild is Life, and then given a second chance at life back in the wild.

We met up with Beatrix, a baby elephant with a charmed life. Only a few days old, she fell into a roadside drain in the Zambezi valley. Spotted by an alert safari lodge owner who contacted ZimParks rangers, she was airlifted to Wild is Life, to be cared for by their Zimbabwe elephant nursery (ZEN). A year later, while romping with her friends Daisy, a Cape Buffalo calf, and bush piglets Frankie and Freddie, she fell and broke her leg. Miraculously, orthopaedic surgeon Dr Jabu Mthetwa performed a successful operation, implanting titanium screws and pins into the bone. An hour later Beatrix could stand up unaided.

The star attraction at WIL is Marimba the pangolin. She has a 24 hour carer, who escorts her daily to her favourite ant and termite mounds. As we admired her scaly armour and long snout, she shot out her metre-long tongue, used to hoover up the protein rich ants.

Near a shady overhang, a tower of giraffes obligingly bent their necks as we offered them long twigs of succulent mulberry leaves to munch. We moved on to admire some powerfully built lions, who gazed placidly back at us from lofty wooden platforms within their enclosure. Soon it was time for high tea in the barn.

Beatrix the baby elephant at Wild is Life.

No ordinary outbuilding or storehouse, the barn at Wild is Life rivals the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at London Heathrow Airport. Potted palm trees and ferns surround stylishly comfortable sofas and chairs, coffee tables are piled high with objets d’art and books, and chandeliers hang from the ceiling. Because it was the festive season, lights glimmered on a towering Christmas tree decorated with witch balls, miniature giraffes and ornamental chameleons.

Tables are set with fine bone china tea cups and side plates, and coffee and tea are served in Le Creuset stoneware cafetières or traditional teapots. An assortment of sweet and savoury delicacies  served on a three plate china server included Christmas mince pies and chocolate covered strawberries. Cream scones and cheese muffins with parmesan crisps were freshly made and French meringue-based macarons were delicate and delicious. Most delectable were the chocolate brownies, and the slices of carrot cake topped with rich cream cheese frosting.

Should you make a sunset visit to Wild is Life, when the lions are being fed, the evening will end off with sparkling wine and canapés.

One exceptional expedition followed another – a few days later we would be back in the bus, heading for Imire Game Park and an overnight stay at Sable Lodge.

A Matter of Taste with Charlotte Malakoff