Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe: A country I never thought I’d get to visit. Infamous for all of its political issues and crazy leader, many people are scared off by all of the trouble that gets reported in the western media. However, after being in Zambia for 8+ months and getting feedback from other volunteers and friends, Zimbabwe started to sound not quite so scary and definitely worth a visit.

So, with that said and a long weekend in Zambia, we decided to head over the border to see Zimbabwe for ourselves.

On the way to Bulawayo: Eating lunch roadside

Our trip took us from Victoria Falls just over the border, down to the country’s second largest city Bulawayo where we spent our first night, followed by a night in Matobo National Park (about 40kms west of Bulawayo), back north for a night in Hwange National Park and then back to Victoria Falls for our final night. Not a long trip, but it gave us an idea of what Zimbabwe is like.

Map of our trip

Our first stop, Bulawayo (meaning “Killing Ground”) was very civilised for an African city (especially when compared to a city like Lusaka). It was easy to drive around, well set out and planned and had everything you need from a city. For the first time in a while I felt like a minority with not a lot of muzungus (white people) to be seen, however the people in Bulawayo, and all of Zimbabwe for that matter, were lovely! Very welcoming and seemingly very happy to have us there. Our first night we had a drink at a bar tasting the local brew “Lion” beer; wasn’t a fan but the atmosphere was cool. We also learnt that like Livingstone, Bulawayo is subject to frequent and long power cuts, when we were rudely awakened by the power generator at our accommodation as they tried to prepare breakfast for their guests.

One of the main streets in Bulawayo

Beautiful old buildings in Bulawayo show the old colonial
influence; this one is a shopping area

From Bulawayo we headed to Matobo National Park, listed as a world heritage site for its rock formations and ancient cave drawings. It is also the place where Cecil Rhodes was buried, although not knowing a great deal about Cecil Rhodes, some of the importance was lost on me.

Some of the rock formations that Matobo National Park is famous for

The resting place of Cecil Rhodes

Cave drawings in Pomongwe Cave: These drawings have been
carbon dated to be around 2000 years old

Pomongwe Cave: Part of a World Heritage Site

We spent a night in the park, which I wasn't particularly keen on to start with and less so when we were subjected to freezing cold temperatures, with an icy wind coming off the nearby lake. We came extremely well prepared (or so we thought) but freezing temperatures and an air mattress makes a nice recipe for hypothermia. Anyway, Mike’s scout training kicked in and saved the day and despite a nearly sleepless night, we made it through.

Sunset: Matobo National Park rock formations

The lake by our camp-site in Matobo National Park: Making a cold
night even colder!

The next day we headed to Hwange National Park, via Bulawayo where we purchased additional camping supplies, well worth the money spent! On the way we encountered the usual police stops without any problems, but one police lady did tell Mike (and I think she was serious) that a dirty car “was an offense”. No fine for that one but probably time to get “Ruth” washed. 

Much warmer! After our new camping purchases we had an air mattress,
rubber mats, sleeping bags and three blankets to keep us warm

Setting up camp at Hwange National Park Main Camp

Hwange National Park was awesome. After a much better night’s sleep we travelled through the park and its very varied landscapes. We saw a lot of different animals; zebra, impala, giraffe, elephants, etc., but the highlight without a doubt was the male lion hiding behind some bushes with the previous night’s kill. Unfortunately it was difficult to get a really clear photo despite being no more than 3 metres away, but exciting to see.

This Giraffe just loved being photographed!

View from the road as we moved through the park. Was just like
Autumn with the beautiful coloured leaves

Zebra enjoying the sun

Elephant skull: A reminder of just how big an elephant is

Hippos down by the waterhole

Male lion protecting a dead buffalo, the previous nights kill. We were only a few metres away, unfortunately the scrub between us made
it difficult to get the perfect photo!

 Our last night in Zimbabwe was spent in the town Victoria Falls. One of the things we noticed there were the number of overland trucks and backpackers; they were everywhere! I’m not too sure what Zambia and Livingstone is doing wrong, but they should be looking to cash in on this revenue stream in much the same way that Zimbabwe is obviously doing.

Lots of overland trucks stationed at Victoria Falls Rest Camp; Zambia
and Livingstone need to get in on all the action

We didn’t do a lot in Victoria Falls. We checked out the Victoria Falls Hotel, which is a beautiful old colonial building, surrounded by green lawns and the most amazing view of the Victoria Falls Bridge. We walked around the town a bit, a small town very much focused on tourism. We had then planned to visit the Falls themselves to see how they look from the Zim side, but the $20 entrance fee for SADC members (i.e. Southern African Development Community) we felt was a tad steep, given we pay the equivalent of $1.40 (7,000ZMK) on the Zambia side. We have been told the Falls are even more amazing on the Zim side, but nearly $19 more amazing??? Probably not.

Check out the awesome view of Victoria Falls Bridge just behind me

The Victoria Halls Hotel: Beautiful, old, colonial building

The front of Victoria Halls Hotel

All in all we had a pretty good trip to Zimbabwe. I’m not sure what I was expecting to be honest, but what I found was a country of people who are just getting on with it, are welcoming to visitors and continuing to build their country’s economy up as best they can, and not doing too bad a job of it either! One can only hope that the elections to be held there later this year don’t take the country backwards, because the people there certainly don’t derserve that.

Stopping traffic: Two cows fighting on the side of the road 

But I’m not going to end this post talking about Zimbabwe; instead I think the story about Mike and I getting fined on the Victoria Falls Bridge for the below photograph is a much better ending. As we entered back into Zambia, we thought it would be nice to get a photo of “Ruth” on the bridge. So with no cars or trucks behind us, I jumped out of the car for not more than 15 seconds and got the below photo, not realising that stopping on the bridge was illegal. Opps. As we approached the end of the bridge a very angry Zambian gate minder pulled us over, taking Mike’s license in the exchange. Warning Mike it was a $500 fine for stopping, he was also willing to accept 50,000ZMK ($10) for the offense, which we were more than happy to pay if it meant avoiding a $500 fine. Probably encouraging the wrong behaviour, but $500 for a 15second photo stop, really? Anyway, the below photo will now have be appreciated all the more by us!

Our infamous photo: 50,000ZMK later.......