Drilling a borehole in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, Southern Africa

Südliches Afrika

When experienced safari goers and seasoned Africa travelers Dr Wolfgang and Dr Gisela Hennig discovered the skeleton of an elephant in Hwange National Park (western Zimbabwe) in August 2014 and learned that his elephant had died of thirst and dehydration they felt compelled to act!

The park is known for its pronounced aridity - one of the reason why this vast expanse was declared a National Park as its land use for agricultural purposes is insubstantial. In the past the limited supply of water during the prolonged dry season did not pose a problem for the resident elephant population as the mighty river Zambezi was within easy reach. Sadly though, this is not the case anymore due to the stretch between the Hwange and the river now being heavily settled.

The Hennigs did not hesitate to respond to the clarion call of the African Bush Camps Foundation to donate money for the drilling of a bore hole and creation of a a water well. After having found a suitable spot in a low-lying natural pan, the drilling commenced and at the end of 2014 the team struck water. The solar-powered pump for the waterhole was strategically placed a good distance away from other waterholes to facilitate the dispersal of the animals and alleviate grazing and browsing pressure around the existing wells. The waterhole was aptly named after a guide in the area: ‘Ray’s Pan’ and January 2015 saw the completion of the well.

In order to prevent the donor money from being drained away the transfer of the funds was only affected after successful implementation of the project.
Another visit to the project in 2015 revealed that the output of the pump was insufficient due to the solar unit not being able to produce enough juice. At night the storage batteries were without power for about 4 hours. The Hennigs once again came to the rescue and funded a diesel generator that could run the pump during night hours and by November 2015 there was sufficient water in the pan again.