Cawston Encounters
African Wildlife Encounters
Experience Exciting Wildlife Encounters
Cawston Ranch has a wide selection of activities, experiences, and wildlife encounters that you can choose from to make your stay here a special one for you and your family or friends.
Days here take shape on their own — an early start in the open vehicle, a slow afternoon in a waterhole hide, an evening that ends later than anyone planned because the human connection under the stars keeps everyone in place.
What follows is a picture of what a stay here can incorporate.
Game Drives
Twice a day, the game drives go out. Early, while the light is still low and golden and the predators are finishing their night. Late, when the heat breaks and the bush comes alive.
Morning drives can end at a waterhole, and time to sit and watch for what comes to drink.
Evening drives can end at the elephants for a visit or for sundowners, watching the doves flit in for a last drink of the day.
Walking Safaris
Out on foot with one of Cawston’s guides, the bush reveals things no game drive reaches — a pressed track in the dust, the architecture of a termite mound, the silence before a herd moves.
Walks run from a few hours to a half-day.
Elephant Encounters
Chitora, Mungwezi, and Chinja are three female elephants who arrived at Cawston in 2021.
They roam freely across the estate during the day and return each evening to their boma, where guests can meet them, feed them, and hear their stories.
Birding
With over 300 recorded species across several distinct habitats – Cawston is wonderful birding country.
The vulture restaurant with its dedicated blind, resident nesting Lappet-faced Vultures, and seasonal Carmine Bee-eater safaris make this a destination worth building a trip around.
Wildlife Photography
- Ground-level waterhole hides are no more than 25 metres from the water.
- The vulture restaurant blind.
- Access to the anti-poaching unit, the horses, and the ranch at work.
- Opportunities for nocturnal species.
- The clearest skies for astro photography.
Photography here is self-directed, unhurried, and entirely private.
Camping And Sleep-Outs
There are two options, both under the open sky.
The Elephant Night Experience for a unique night’s sleep!
The Giraffe Hide Sleep-Out for those who want a fire, a waterhole view, a hot shower, and the stars above Matabeleland to fall asleep under.
