It was never easy for Mozambicans to see the national parks in colonial times.
That never happened.
Many people, when they come here, they want to see elephants
but they don't know that these elephants have the memories of the war.
This has been different because it also includes the community around the park.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is Gorongosa.
Yes, I grew up in this area.
I was born in 1968.
By that time Mozambique was colonised by Portugal.
And black people, we were not allowed to come and visit this park.
Because of the war, nobody was staying here,
except soldiers.
After the civil war, the park was very down.
There was something like ... 90% of the animals were gone.
After this conflict, an introduction [of the animals] had to be done,
buffaloes, wildebeest, hippos, elephants – and it was a success.
Now we need to make sure the park is accessible to the community.
I only saw my first elephant when I came here in 2015.
So, not sure where they are today but we'll see ...
Trying to find them.
Elephants ... they are complex animals.
They show emotions, they take care of each other in the group.
They also get sad, they grieve [when others die].
Gorongosa in the 60s ...
The park became very, very famous because of the wildlife.
And one of the most amazing things here was the elephants.
There were almost 2,000 elephants in this ecosystem.
In the civil war ...
And when it ended, in that period of destabilisation,
most of our elephants got killed for the ivory that was then traded for weapons.
So, all these that remain, they are the survivors.
They have this culture of aggression.
They are not comfortable with human presence,
and the presence of vehicles. So we call this 'scars of war'.
So this is the part where I start to be concerned.
If I drive and I don't see them.
It's like, where are they?
Nothing.
Gorongosa national park is actually in the heart of Mozambique.
It's right in the centre part.
But this area of transition between the park and the other normal area,
is what we call the buffer zone.
And in the buffer zone, we have communities that are very remote
from everything.
From hospitals, from schools ...
They don't have electricity, they don't have water.
And one of the things we have noticed is that
the girls don't have as many opportunities
and chances as the boys do.
So today we are going to take some girls on a safari.
Even though they live in the buffer zone, some of them haven't seen the animals before.
It's very nice for them to come here
and appreciate all of this.
To be able to respect [the animals].
The idea of the girls' education programme is to:
first, encourage and to keep girls in school,
and also provide them with different tools for life.
These are women, they can do anything they want to.
We're going to take a different road today.
There's a higher probability of finding elephants there.
It's right there and we didn't see them.
Crocodile!
He was under ...
A massive [one].
Look at that!
I knew it was a big group.
That's Iria.
She's the sweetest female.
We call her Iria which means sweet.
I recognised [her] because I saw her tail with no hair.
You know, and that was like, 'That's Iria.'
Half tail only, because it has been a bit chopped.
There are more elephants.
Some of them are becoming more tolerant of our presence.
But it will take time.
And we hope now that they are in a safer environment,
their behaviour will change again.
To be good, as it was before.
We are no longer restoring, we are now maintaining.
It has been a long journey because to change behaviour,
not only in people but also in animals,
is something that takes generations.
Something about this place feels like you are part of a family,
of a bigger thing.
Mount Gorongosa, one of the most beautiful areas in the park.
To me Mount Gorongosa means the peak of conservation.
But I advise you, do not try to be near the water.
Five metres ...
Because we have crocodiles.