The end of leg 1 (please note no actual limbs were lost in the making of this blog!)

---

Wow! Firstly I must say that Zimbawe is a beautiful country with equally beautiful people in it. For the purpose of this blog I will simply describe what was done, opinions I will keep to myself until next time...

Having joined up with the overland group in Jo'burg with Africa travel Company we jumped onto the truck and headed to Kruger Park. The truck itself was brilliant, although not the most comfy of things. It had everything you needed from tents to cooking equipment. Enough for 30 people. The idea of the trip being you helped with everything down to the cooking and truck cleaning. Though at times it did feel like you were back at school on some sort of weird adult school trip. I digress... Kruger. Oh yes, I am indeed wildlife safari guru. You are reading the blog of someone who spotted not only 1 but 2 leopards...whilst the others struggled to see them. Obviously as a professional I pointed out where exactly with the use of my trusted binoculars and finally the other 25 people were able to spot them. Why thank you! I honestly thought we might come across a few animals in the park, but I was blown away with exactly how many we did. Within the morning we have already seen the big 5; Rhino, Elephant, Buffalo, Lion and Leopard. Some of which passed just by our truck! To add to this we also spotted Zebra, Kudu, Hyena, baboons, giraffe, Crocodiles, Hippos, Jackells, Wilderbeast, Warthogs to name a few. Kruger is the same size as countries such as Israel and Wales, so we were very lucky to spot such a great number of creatures. After 12 hours (i kid not) of safari in one day we headed back to camp! The next couple of days consisted of heading north out of South Africa to places such as Graskop (famous for pancakes) and Mussina (not sure its famous for much... a strange place). We stayed in local campsites, one of which had swimming pools with water from hot springs. This included a rheumatism pool which was just devine. Limpopo the region at the very north of SA, is known for its heat. I now know it for its heat too. About 45 degress each day in such dry heat was not nice, but yet again the views were amazing and something that will be hard to forget.
Once all stocked up with 8 days of food (!) we headed into Zimbawe and spent our first night at the foot of the great Zimbabwe ruins, sharing the campsite with baboons. The ruins were spectacular, a must if you are heading to the country. They depict the country's heritage and the guide there is worth the money alone. He should have either been on stage or a teacher. Spending the night under the stars was great fun, despite the fact that there was no electricity or at times running water, which meant trips to the toilet in the middle of the night were great fun, especially as this is where the baboons seemed to live!! Travelling north, we then came to the town of Gweru and stopped at the Antelope park (dont be fooled into thinking there are antelope here, i spent a good half an hour trying to find them!). Antelope park however is famous for 2 things; lion walks and elephant swims. Having spent time with lions in Port Elizabeth, decided an elephant swim was the way forward! Oh my goodness, that was a)the funniest thing i have ever done b) the strangest thing i have ever done. Picture this... you get onto the elephants back from what can only be described as an elephant car wash made of sticks. The elephant runs with you on its back into a dam, it rolls on its side taking you with it and lies about in the water until HE decides it is time to get out. Never mind the little man at the front with a hammer behind its ears. It will decide when its time to get out. A must for those who like water, wouldnt recommend it for everyone. Some people in my party definitely thought they were about to drown. The pictures I have are priceless!! After 2 days here we headed West to the town of Bulawayo. By far this was my best day. We went rhino trekking on foot with a guide (who thankfully had a rifle) and managed to get at least 10m away from a mother rhino and its baby. Simply awaesome. Not sure my heart has ever gone that fast though. The trekking was brilliant, we learnt a lot about natural remedies to things. Ray Mears watch out. In the afternoon, a few of us had arranged to visit a local school for disabled pupils ranging from 4 to 20 years old. It was like stepping back to a British school in the 1950s. The pupils were lovely and we learnt our name in sign language and played games with them....a lot more to say but you'll have to wait. Our last stop on the tour was Victoria Falls. As you would expect the falls are brilliant, despite it being low water season. It is not surprising that it is a wonder of the world. Zimbabwaen markets are definitely something to try, it seemed a good idea at the time to purchase a long bowl, until it came to pack it however! Victoria Falls itself however was not the nicest of towns, it has become unsurprisingly ultra touristy. From Vic Falls we travelled south to Hwange National Park to spend 3 days on a safari. Again all the animals were seen including 2 cheetahs and the wateringholes are quite simply "lion king" clips. The image of the wateringhole sums up southern Africa perfectly.
Africa has been amazing, daunting and inspiring. A definite place for everyone.

---