AFTER his travel diary following a visit to Zimbabwe in November 2009 [DAY 1; DAY 2; DAY 3; DAY 4; DAY 5], Scott Ramsay returned recently and travelled for four weeks in the western parts of the country, discovering deserted tourist attractions, plenty of welcoming locals and more than a few roadblocks.

Want to find out what it’s like to travel in Zimbabwe at the moment? Can you have a good time in the country? Are visitors welcome? Is it safe? Is there fuel? Is there food? How bad is the poaching?

“Careful,” said Wilson Zano, the armed ranger from Matopos National Park. “Rhino have terrible eyesight, but excellent hearing and smell.”

We were approaching a group of three white rhino – father, mother and calf. Even when viewing rhino from a Land Rover, they can be intimidating. On foot, they are frightening. Now we were only twenty metres away from them, and the only thing stopping them from skewering us on their horns was Wilson and his 37 years of experience as a ranger in the park.

Paul and I dared not move, but Wilson beckoned for us to walk forward with him, closer to the prehistoric beasts. We stopped 15 metres away. The rhinos had sheltered in the shade of an acacia tree, flicking their ears back and forth, listening carefully for the human interlopers. These particular rhinos in the Matopos are descendants from South African imports in the 1960s – all the native rhino in the area had been previously shot by hunters and poachers. Now, the Matopos National Park is one of the few places in Zimbabwe where you can see them reliably at such close quarters.

The park rangers are dedicated to looking after them. When Wilson approached the group of three in front of us, he made a unique clicking sound with his tongue, letting them know he was around, and meant no harm. “The rhino have learnt to trust certain sounds,” Wilson whispered. “I make these clicks to make them feel comfortable in our presence.”

We watched the rhino quietly for about half an hour, and then backed off slowly, heading back to the Land Rover. Wilson was pleased for us, and his relationship with the rhinos was a source of obvious pride for him.

However, despite the enduring efforts of rangers like Wilson, it hasn’t stopped the poaching of rhino (or other wildlife). On New Year’s Day this year, just before our arrival, a rhino was shot in the Matopos National Park. It was discovered a few days later.

According to official figures from Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife, more than 200 rhino have been killed in the last three years, or about a quarter of the country’s population. There are only about 500 black- and 300 white rhinos left in Zimbabwe.

“These guys – the rangers - are trying as hard as they can to protect the wildlife”, said Paul afterwards. “But you can see how poorly equipped they are. How can they compete with well-armed and highly-organised poachers?”

The vanishing of tourists in the last decade since Mugabe’s land reform process has left the parks without much-needed revenue. There are just 23 rangers in the 45,400 hectare park (roughly the size of 45,000 rugby fields). Most of them don’t have their own vehicles or radios, and at some entry points to the park, the rangers use simple steel shelters, without electricity, water, toilets, beds or desks.

Billy Dally from Camp Amalinda told me how rangers are paid about US$150 a month (before the abandonment of the Zimbabwe dollar, their salaries were the equivalent of US$5 a month).

It does mean, though, that visitors can enjoy some amazing wildlife encounters at an absurdly low price:  it will cost a group of guests just $8 an hour to hire a ranger in the Matopos National Park and track wild rhino on foot – for the whole day, if you wish.