Zim, what a place!
At Toro Lodge in Kasane we were almost finished with our chores. After a week I had the urge to move on again. We said goodbye to Heike and Joern who were continuing their adventure in Livingstone.
As usual I was trying to get some information on what to expect on the route ahead. On the campsite was a guide from South Africa with a few of his customers and he told us that the price of the ferry at Kazungula was very high (USD 100/ZAR1000). We were not yet ready to pay this and therefor decided at the last moment to cross the border from Botswana into Zimbabwe. Very friendly immigration officer and good-natured negotiating with insurance salesmen at the border. A few dollars poorer but with a double-entry visum we headed towards Vic Falls. We ended at a backpacker place in the middle of town and stayed there a few nights. Here, as elsewhere in Zim, everything, looked poor and run-down. The spirit of the people seems to be unbroken though, everyone has been very friendly. The
good command of English and the self-confidence were refreshing after South Africa. Fuel and food were available everywhere against USdollars and Rand. Only in Bulawayo was a day’s delay of the diesel delivery, we could get at first only 40 liter. As there is a chronic shortage of change, prices are usually rounded to the nearest dollar and even then you might get some candy as ‘change’. In Kasane we had already filled the car with food and the leftovers from Heike and Joern (good for two weeks living!) so the only items we had to buy were bread, fresh vegetables and diesel during our time in Zim.
The Vic Falls were indeed very impressive at this time of the year, the walkway along the falls is also much longer than what we had seen on the Zambian side. After getting wet in the spray of the falls we decided to have lunch at the chic Victoria Falls Hotel. A beautiful, grand place. We already cannot afford a room there and if everything goes well and the wealthier tourists return, lunch will be too expensive too I guess, but this time we enjoyed a very nice lunch.
As we went completely unplanned we arrived in the country without map or guide-book. I recalled the names of some National Parks but that was it. At one of the curio stands we could buy a tourist map of the country. This was sufficient to make our way further into Zim rather than crossing the bridge into Zambia. We left the bungee jumpers, helicopter/microlights, kayaks, curios and whathaveyou behind us and went into Hwange NP. The first night we stayed at Sinematella Rest Camp. After paying our entrance fees and bitterly complaining to the warden about USD 30 camping fees (the highest of three possible rates)as well as about broken toilets and showers, we explored the park a bit. Not only Botswana had unusual high rains recently, but this part of Zim too. We have seen elephants and other game as well, although not in the numbers we should have seen them. Exploring the park we discovered that the so-called picnic sites can be booked as campground too (through the Central Office in Harare). Every site has a camp-attendant and the toilets are cleaned by this person. Cleaned as he wants to get some tip-money of course. We immediately planned to return to Zim in September and we will try to book two of these picnic sites for a few days. In the mean time the park was also a meeting place with ex-Dutch women. One interesting meeting was with a lady who was born in a Japanese concentration camp in Java and had been researching her past to get rid of her dark thoughts. The other woman, Iris, originally from Rotterdam, had somehow survived the hardships in Bulawayo and lovingly told us about the Matopos Mountains.
After some more nights in the Main Camp in Hwange we drove through the past grandeur of Bulawayo and visited World’s View, the resting place of Cecil Rhodes.
It is clear that many people in Zim are glad that tourists are coming back. Some wardens obviously were embarished by the discrimination of foreigners and bend the rules for us.
Ex-Zimmers we met in Swaziland told us that Antelope Game Farm is a nice place to camp, should we ever go to Zim. So from the Matopos we went to this place near Gweru. More than the other places we have seen in Zim this was very well maintained. Apparently the overland trucks still went through Zim and stopped at this place. The camping is beautifully situated near a dam-lake. It must also be the coldest place in Zim in winter. It was bitterly cold! The camp attendant made every evening a huge fire for us but it remained cold. Agnes had a cold and did not feel very well so I had to look for lions by myself..
The last night I developed a tooth-ache again. This time we immediately went to a dentist. Very interesting experience. The dentist had to be called in as just the receptionist and the assistent were holding the fort. After DR. Maneswa arrived by car, they let me in the very, very old dentist chair. I got the impression that usually people have their teeth pulled, the equipment was very old but the dentist gave a competent impression. The TV in the waiting room was blaring gospels from an American evangelist TV-show. Agi was almost deaf after our visit. The consultation costed only USD 5!
On the road to Mana Pools we first checked out the campsite at Chinoyi Caves Recreational Park. Again a high USDollar rate for foreigners. This time the ablutions were so dirty that we left again. To see the actual caves we would have to pay seperately but we tried to make it clear to the ranger that tourists expect more for their dollars. In Karoi we were able to camp in the garden of the local hotel. Hundreds of herons were also camping in the trees and making a lot of noise during the night. I hardly slept as the guard had the habit of imitating the herons when the birds were quiet.
Mana Pools is a very special park as people are allowed to leave their car and walk everywhere in the park. We had too much respect for the elephants and lions and only walked at the campsite. At night hyenas and hippos walked by our campsite and lions could be heard closeby in the morning. As in Ihaha the campsite is on the riverbank. Across the water is Lower Zambezi NP in Zambia. On the small islands in the Zambezi always a few hippos were sunning. A few dollars for the camp attendant took care of firewood every night. The dark, old and small ablution block was completely overrun when the ‘Men of God’ arrived. About 40-50 Christians from Zimbabwe and Zambia had a long weekend here.
Our last stop in Zim was Kariba on Lake Kariba. The town itself is not much and has no center, the deserted campsite was very pleasant with views on the lake. The cleaning lady borrowed us her electric stove, so we survived our travels in Zim without our cooking equipment.
All in all the experience was very good and we can recommend going to Zimbabwe. We are looking forward to going back!
