A Week in Zimbabwe

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So from Malawi we moved on through Mozambique for one night and two days driving in order to enter into Zimbabwe and start the action packed activities again after a relaxing Christmas and New Year. We’re used to the border crossings by now and always ready for a wait but for some reason the Mozambique crossing was particularly slow this time with a 5 hour wait in the truck before all Visas were issued!

The first stop in Zimbabwe was just outside Harare at Lake Chivero at a bird park where zebras and horses roam freely around the tents and a big lake with hippos and crocs - it was quite hair raising at times camping near the lake especially going to the toilet in the night knowing crocs were roaming around (and a fisherman had had his leg bitten by one the day before we arrived!). We had another birthday (Zoe) whilst at the park and this time the theme was to dress up in ‘Bad Taste’ clothing. We’d had fun the week before buying clothing at the markets in Malawi - the idea was to buy for someone else we’d drawn out of a hat to make it more fun when the outfits were unleashed! I got off reasonably lightly with some bright red clown-type pants with a leopard print kimono and blue belt. We also had a day in Harare to explore - it’s interesting (and also very sad) to see the effect the Mugabe reign has had on the country - many of the shops are closed and supermarket shelves are still very bare although apparently it’s much better now than it was two years ago when our tour guides last came through.

We also spent a morning in the orphanage that Oasis supports in Harare. Of all the projects I’ve visited and volunteered at I felt that this one was the one most in need, they have struggled so much with lack of food and funding from the government in the last few years but are starting to build things back up again slowly. It was a huge contrast to some of the other orphanages we’ve visited where the children still seemed happy, these children rarely smiled and were very shy. The orphanage houses up to 140 orphans and they have a school on the grounds meaning that most of the children never leave the compound to go out into the outside world. Geoff was talking to one girl who was interested in hair dressing and so he decided to give her his hair clippers, she wasn’t sure what they were at first but once she realised she could do the other childrens’ hair with them she was so surprised and grateful that she started crying, it was such a lovely moment to see how such a little thing can mean so much to them. I’m going to spend the last of the money I raised from my Three Peaks (plus adding some to it) to buy stationery when we get to South Africa, which is what they’re in desperate need of (and it’s much cheaper in SA) and then Mel and Franco are driving the truck back up to Harare so they’ll deliver it for me.
The next trip was to visit some real history of Zimbabwe at the Great Zimbabwe Ruins (meaning ‘house of stone’ ) at Masvingo which is an archaeological site where a Shona city once stood. It was abandoned in the 15th century but ran for 4 centuries before and housed 8 kings and all their many queens. The ruins are set in beautiful countryside with great viewpoints down into the valley and include the kings palace , all his wives houses, slaughter houses, different passages for the men and women. Although the majority of what is left is stone walls, our guide was great at showing us what each place was used for and overall it was a nice walk around and trek to the top of the kings lookout!

The next four days we spent near Gweru at a game reserve called Antelope Park (apparently there’s a programme on at the moment on ITV1 on Wednesdays that is set here called Lion Country!). They run lion breeding programmes and so do lots of tourist trips to see the lions being fed, walking with lions and going out to see them make a kill. I didn’t actually do any of the lion activities as many of them I did last year in South Africa (and I’m actually still not made my mind up whether I totally agree with the ethos of the place - it seems very touristy and I feel this is maybe the main focus rather than the conservation!) but the campsite was beautiful with a pool and river and elephants regularly walking around through the grounds next to all the tents! The one thing I did try my hand at though was horse riding, it’s something I’ve only done once when I was ten so decided it was time to give it another go. I really enjoyed the lesson I had (although my horse was being very temperamental!) and then the next day we went on a game ride through the bush. The great thing about being on horseback is you can get so much nearer to the animals, we saw lots of babies - zebras, wilderbeest, giraffe and some beautiful kudu males - and got nearer than a metre to them as they animals just recognise the horse and us riding them as another animal. My horse was called Savanna - a very fitting name seeing as my favourite tipple out here is Savannah cider! To say I never thought I was a horsey person I loved the riding (and even managed a canter once or twice) and being in the bush off-road was wonderful, I think another horse ride may be in order at some other point in the trip!

Before the focus of our time in Zimbabwe - the falls - there was time for a two night stopover in Bulawayo where we got the chance to do another safari, but this time with a difference. The day was very much like my time in South Africa last year; walking through the bush with a guide who has an amazing knowledge and who told us some brilliant facts about plants, animals and survival but the main focus of the day was to get as close to rhinos as possible (what the park is famous for). In the morning we also got the chance to see cave paintings in the National park, the paintings were done by bushmen and are thought to be up to 13,000 years old and have served to help generations piece together what the bush was like then and how people hunted etc. Then we did several walks in the bush and driving in the park all the time being told facts about what we could do with plants to work as an anaesthetic, toothpaste, soap and many more useful things. The point where we saw the rhinos was also great, we got a few metres away (coming behind them so they couldn’t smell our scent) and stood for a great while to observe them. There was one point where they got too close and started giving us warning signals that we were too near but our guide managed to move them back safely (which was quite scary).

Finally it was time for my most exciting part of Zimbabwe which was to see Victoria Falls. On the day we arrived some of the group did bungee jumps over the gorge and then we went for a traditional meal for Natalie’s birthday at Boma restaurant in a posh game lodge where we could try all sorts of game meat - kudu, impala, buffalo, crocodile - and entertainment such as drumming, fortune telling and face painting. It was a lovely meal and nice treat for us overlanding scruffs!

We went to see the falls the next day (and got very wet in the spray!), this was always going to be one of the important parts of the trip for me right from when I booked it and it did not disappoint, in fact it overtook any expectations I had. The width of the falls is 1.7km (including the part that is on the Zambian side) and it is the most amazing unspoilt sight, all that water and the thundering sound of it really creates a wonderful experience when you’re so close up to it. You walk along the path at the side of it and then go to view points at the edge of the cliffs every few metres, meaning you get an amazing (and different) view each time. The paths don’t have fences on them and you can climb right onto the rocks on the edges if you like, which to me feels unique as I can imagine a lot of the similar sights in the world are much more safety conscious and have more signs, fences and barriers for the tourists - but hey, this is Africa! In our few hours there we only saw a few other people in the park (which was great for us but it’s sad for the country to think that such an amazing sight is not visited by more tourists since the problems of the last few years) so we could wander slowly taking in every fantastic sight along the way.

On the last day I’d decided I wanted to do a microlite flight over the falls which had to be done on the Zambian side, (therefore I also got to add one more country to my passport in crossing over the border for a day) also meaning that I got a chance to go into the falls from the Zambia side and of course see the whole falls from the air. The microlight experience itself was amazing, you feel so free (I think it might be something I again when I get home - maybe even take some lessons!) but to be seeing Victoria Falls whilst flying just made it the most dramatic experience. The flight only lasted 15 minutes but it felt much longer and we got to circle the falls all the way around, taking in the mist from the spray, the rainbows on the water and the thundering sound from above. We even saw several elephants from the air and my pilot let me take the controls and steer for quite a while before we came back down. Photos were taken from a camera that was attached to the wing and they are an amazing keepsake and show the panoramic views of the falls from the air.

Overall Zimbabwe has been an amazing country for me - we’ve done such a different arrange of activities and the people are just lovely, they’ll go out of their way to talk to you and help you and don’t want anything in return, I’d recommend anyone to visit as it seems a shame that tourism has taken such a dip here in the last few years, more people should definitely visit this beautiful country (especially Victoria Falls) and see it for themselves. So next it’s onto Botswana tomorrow where we’ll be seeing Chobe National Park and taking a 3 day trip into the Okovango Delta.

Hope everyone’s been enjoying the snow and make sure you build a snowman for me! Mel xxx

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