IdefixOnTour

After our kayaking in Sydney Harbour we thought we will do some zigzagging in Africa as well.

Although we spend almost a year in Australia we did not have enough time to enjoy everything (a lifetime is not even enough). What bothered us, was that once we were on the grand circle we had to keep going. Leaving places too early and not seeing some of the things we were interested in altogether was not nice. At a very early stage, I think we were still in Oz, we decided not to drive home as planned but limit ourselves to the Southern African countries. We have now spend more of half our time in Africa and we are glad that we could and can take the time to revisit some places or see more of a country.

After our pleasant time in Mozambique we had the opportunity to visit the Kruger NP again. The first time was very disappointing, we hardly did see interesting animals although we spend over a week in the park. This time we had booked another 10 days and, with the exception of Punda Maria, other camps than the first time. If you need tips on what the most interesting places are, we can tell you. The animal sightings were much better and in general we liked the park a lot better. It is still not on the top of our list but close to it now.

Zimbabwe was our real goal after Mozambique and getting ourselves and Idefix ready again in Nelspruit. The bordercrossing at Beitbridge is indeed one to avoid as the plague. The chaos on the Sunday when we crossed was apparently less than normal. Still, it took us two hours to cross without using any of the ‘Runners’ on the Zimbabwean side. Efficient, unfriendly South Africans were followed by a less efficient system and friendly Zimbabwean officials.

Gonarezhou NP was our first major destination. Like we experienced during our first time in Zim, not everything is in order (yet). At the gate and the main camp the water was not running. We decided to go for one of the other larger campgrounds instead of one of the bushcamps. With only a very few (but very nice!) other visitors in the park we had the place practically to ourselves. Only a few elephants spend the night with us at the campsite. We just had 3 nights in the northern part of the park and only scratched the surface of what there is to see. This is definately a park to be explored further. The must-see (you were right Doug) is the view from the top of the Chilojo Cliffs. 

Our next new destination was Greater Zimbabwe. Again we were welcomed after such a long time without much tourists. This also happened again in Bulawayo and Hwange NP. The Supervisor introduced us to the night guard (we love to guard you..). After a very interesting tour given by Lovemore we decided to drive to Antelope Game Park. By the way: the region aroung GZ is to be further explored as well…

Unfortunately Antelope was closed for a private function so we arrived after more kilometers than necessary in Bulawayo. The Jacarandas and other trees were blooming at the municipal campground. Also here it was still visible how beautiful the place once was. When we were there the ablutions were fitted with new lights, let’s hope more tourists and their money will bring this place to it’s former glory again.

Hwange NP was on the top of our list after our last trip through Zim. This time we knew where we wanted to stay and were not disappointed. Have a look at our photo album to see why. We had the pleasure to invite some more people without a reservation (the system is bad in SA and Bot as well) to our campsite. This proved to be very pleasant. We now have a better understanding of Potjie cooking and a new bread recipe (thanks Eduard and Milda!) as well as an invitation to be shown around Pretoria (thanks Hannelore!).

When travelling such a long time one meets a lot of people and we had many tips on good places to stay as well. Seyanti Safari Lodge in Kazungula is one of the best ’secrets’ shared with us. Our stay here and a great cruise on the Chobe River were our award of getting back to Botswana. Charles, our guide on the cruise informed us about the upcoming National Holidays and warned us that on Independance day it very often rains. After the sticky heat in Vic Falls we were happy it was a bit cooler in Bots. To our surprise Charles had been right though, it rained a few days later, on the 30th of September.

Although not as special as Hwange or Chobe, we also wanted to see Khama Rhino Sanctuary again. This small park is not spectacular but nice with beautiful campsites. The special experience we had here was that Idefix was seen as ‘Mother (or is it Father?)’ by two lonely ostrich-chicks.

Now, for the second time in Gaberone we will continue zigging or zagging through Botswana before we will enter new territory: Namibia.