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Published: January 31st 2006
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Greyhound Luxury
Sitting on a bus for 12 hours can be real exciting! The trip to Zimbabwe began today! With the few delays experienced I may have been leaving a few days later than expected but the main thing is that I’m going to get there. I booked a Greyhound bus leaving at 8:45am and arriving in Bulawayo at 8:45pm. Driving through the main city of Jo’Burg on the way to the bus station you cannot help but notice the severe poverty around you. There are homeless people digging through rubbish, beggars at every set of traffic lights, coming up to your window selling anything and everything. A funny moment happened when I spotted a group of people climbing some ones fence; the police who surely also saw what was happened seemed more concerned at my Aunty getting of the mobile phone; in which she was ringing police anyways.
Arriving at Jo’Burg station was quite nerving but in my adventurous spirit I just went with the flow. There where a ton of people trying to sell me anything from gold watches to pens that fold out with a calendar. I did make a deal with one of them; a packet of Steak flavored chips, a packed of Tomato flavored chips and a Fanta
Small Town
A depressing town made out of tin shacks and the mode of transport being donkey and kart. grape. They came in handy as my bus was delayed for 2 hours and I found myself sitting in this station with beggars, a couple of locals and some Zimbabweans heading home.
The Greyhound arrived an hour later and I set off towards Zimbabwe! In the next 6 hours nothing to special happened; we passed smaller cities, townships and a mass amount of countryside. A key moment of the bus journey was when we passed a small township of small tin homes; everyone seemed dead, the only movement was a family on a donkey cart riding towards the local tin ‘supermarket’. It’s very upsetting when you look at the wealth and things we take for granted back at home.
Arriving at the Zim border was probably the smelliest most unorganized part of the journey to date. All the borders, check in, government related issues that I passed through up to this date have been very professional without much time waiting around. Arriving at the Zim border the bus was surrounded by 100’s of black Zimbabweans stuck at the border due to immigration, insurance or the lack of any movement in the customs line. Lucky for me the bus driver had taken a keen interest in me as I was Australian, and shifted me through the crowds and got my visa taken care off promptly. I think he knew that if he didn’t the bus would be held of dearly as I had no idea what I was doing. Soon enough everyone’s luggage had been searched and we where back on the road heading towards Bulawayo, another 6 hours.
As the sun started to set, and I stared out the window to this bleak bush land where donkeys where roaming free and squatters sitting in dirt with open fires blazing. This is where the bus ride really turned exciting. Not only was I in Zimbabwe safely, but the view out of the window yet bleak, was so exciting and the ride itself turned into one huge roller coaster. The road we took was ‘under construction’; apparently it has been for the past 5 years with no progress being made. Anyways it was just a dirt track with rocks, potholes and roaming donkeys all over the place. The driver insisted doing about 120Kph down this track to avoid being bogged and the bus was FLYING. I was at the very back of the bus so we where receiving a lot of whiplash and where literally hitting the roof every 10 seconds. The DVD that was being played failed to cope with the ever ending shock; it broke down and the people around me, a lot bigger in size where swearing and fearing for there safety. But it became evident why we had to be going so stupidly when bogged tourist buses and other cars where all on the sides of the roads; and when its getting dark on this long stretch of squatters, you don’t really want to be stuck. It was a bus journey I’ll never forget; I loved it.
I arrived in Bulawayo at 10:45am as expected and was greeted by my awaiting cousin. We went back to her house where I met the family and went straight to bed. Hello Zimbabwe!
Fav. Drink - Fanta Grape
Fav. Food - Licorice All Sorts Minis
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Karl Inferno
non-member comment
eh jonneh
I bet you wish I was talking irish to you on that gayhound coach :) I miss you more than anything.