Day 46 was also the first day of March, and the day we crossed the border to Zimbabwe. Another border crossing again, wow it seemed that we are going through countries very quickly! The border was very efficient, and the houseboat was only a few minutes drive away. The houseboat was a little further down the shore than we anticipated, and it took a couple of trips to carry all the stuff from the truck to the boat – luckily it would be a lot less on the way back when all the food has been eaten and the drinks have been drunk! Lake Kariba is a large man-made lake that is partly in Zambia, partly in Zimbabwe. We crossed over a very impressive dam just before the border.
The houseboat was basic but very fit for purpose and we had a bunch of twin rooms downstairs with open sides and obviously a lake view from every room. There was a drinking/eating area upstairs, and a sundeck with a little pool. We headed out to the lake enjoying our cold drinks at the deck, went out on a little sunset cruise to see some hippos and then it was time to get into our party costumes. As we are the only source of light in the middle of a lake, soon after sunset there are thousands of bugs hovering around lights, and the toilets are a real bug fest. Eww!
The party costumes were picked with a secret santa basis, so no one knew their costume or who has picked it beforehand. There were quite a few laughs as people started emerging from their rooms. Most of the guys have been dressed into ladies undergarments and there were plenty of glitter and feathers around aswell. Mine was a weird one-piece with a sparkly top seen into some very loose trousers, and the combo reminded me very much of MC Hammer, and it was quite cofortable except that the fabric didn’t breathe at all! The night was great fun and we catwalked the hell out of those costumes. The chefs at the boat had prepared us dinner, and it was absolutely delicious! At some point it started raining very lightly, so me and Marie went downstairs to close the tarp in our room. A little later when we were back upstairs, the rain suddenly started pounding down very heavily and a strong wind started knocking glasses to the floor and bringing a lot of water in. We frantically started closing the tarps upstairs in the bar, and it took a while before someone realised (we were pretty drink already at this point) that it might be a good idea to close all the tarps in the rooms as well. By then some of the rooms onghe windy side had become completely flooded. Luckily our room was on the other side, and because we had anticipated the rain and closed our tarp early, our stuff stayed dry. This episode doesn’t hinder our spirits though, and the party went on inside closed tarps.
We did a little two-hour game cruise in the morning, we saw an elephant and a bunch of hippos, and despite putting on sunscreen I managed to burn my back a bit, I guess I missed some spots. Now I also know that if I burn, I get a fabulous tan very quickly, whereas the sunscreened areas seem to stay white forever. Skin cancer or tan, tough choice! We spent the afternoon chilling, and when there was another game cruise I decide to stay behind as I was already tired of seeing hippos and didn’t want to get sunburnt furthermore. In the evening we have drinks and cake as it’s Rachelle’s birthday. On the previous day one person had been sick with some fever and diarrhea, and today five person were sick already. Seemed that we had some type of traveller’s diarrhea going around, and as I wasn’t keen of catching it, I decided it was best to head early to bed rather than stay around people and risk contamination. Seemed to be a wise choice, as on the next day there were more sick people, but I never got sick.
We headed back to shore the next morning, and it was a bit of a rocky ride crossing the lake. There was a hippo in the port right between the boats, and I took a risk of sunburn to go see it for a few minutes after I’ve just showered and washed off all the sunscreen. It only took ten minutes for me to get a sunburn on my arm, which proved that I definitely need sunscreen every time! We spent the night in a very basic government campsite in Chinhoyi that had no hot water, or even lights in the toilet, and the wi-fi in the nearby hotel was very slow.
The plan for the next day was to drive to Great Zimbabwe Ruins in the morning to see the ruins and spend the night in the campsite nearby. Our plans were changed drastically as a tragedy hit us shortly after passing Shurugwi. We were going downhill and there was a curve on the road to the right, and right after the curve the truck suddenly swerved right and we heard a thimp, then the truck stopped. It was immediately clear that we hit something. My first thought was that we hit a dog or a goat, but as we looked outside and could see the horrified faces of passerbys, it quickly became clear that we’d hit a person. Most of were frozen in disbelief, but luckily we had a few people onboard that sprang into action and went outside to help, including a woman working as an er/trauma nurse, who grabbed the first aid kit and went to help.
Turned out we had hit a woman crossing a road, who saw the truck coming but unfortunately made the decision to try to run across rather than wait or go back, with tragic consequences. She was seriously hurt. She had a fractured skull, and the skin in her leg had peeled completely off as she was run over by the wheel of the truck. We tried to stop cars to get her to the hospital, but people refused to stop. One police car came around, stopped, and drove away. Our phones were not working, and anyway we were told that an ambulance, if we could even get one, might take hours to arrive. Finally a car stopped and the lady was loaded onto the back seat, and the nurse and one other accompanied her to the hospital.
The truck was turned around and the rest of us also headed towards the hospital. The hospital was in Shirugwi, and it was very basic and they didn’t even have power when we arrived. The nurse asked for a neck brace for the lady before getting her out of the car, but they didn’t have one. We spent the next hours anxiously waiting for any news, while our driver and tour guide were with the police making a report of the incident. The husband of the lady was at the hospital, and we are glad to hear that he does not blame us for the accudent, but instead is very grateful that we stopped to help, as apparently that is not always the case, but hit and runs are common. After some hours we were told that the lady had been taken to a bigger hospital for x-rays. The police gave us clearance to go, but we were required to go back to Gweru to have our truck inspected. We did that, and as it was getting quite late, we decided to skip driving to the ruins that day and opt for plan b, which was to stay at a campsite in Gweru.
No one was in the mood for cooking that night, so we headed to town to Nando’s for some comfort food. I had chicken for lunch so I walked over to a nearby Pizza Inn to get a pizza and milkshake, before we headed to a campsite called Antelope Park, which was near and familiar to Absolute Africa. The camp site was gorgeous, and we were secretly thankful that we didn’t have to spend the night in another government campsite, but instead got a treat after a very rough day. I had a look in the shop and found that they had some very cool original artwork from local artists, and I happily spent 40$ on two small paintings of painted dogs and elephants. I could’ve happily bought everything they had, as I absolutely loved the style, but had to be careful with my money. Hopefully they’ll be available to buy online if I want to get some more later!
I spent the evening drinking cider in the lovely bar by the river, and nearly manage to forget the trauma we’d all endured that day. As I’m writing this nearly two weeks later, the update we have is that the lady is still alive and recovering slowly, which is nothing short of a miracle condidering her injury and the lack of adequate care. We hope that these reports are correct, and wish for her full recovery.
Day 50 saw us saying goodbye to this beautiful campsite and heading towards The Great Zimbabwe Ruins. The drive there took four hours, and we spent a couple of hours on a guided tour exploring the remains of where kings used to live with their hundreds of wives. We had lunch and stopped for shopping in Masvingo, before arriving to a very lovely campsite called Burke’s Paradise in Bulawayo. The campsite is run by a lovely couple and their cute yet chubby jack russell. This was our home for two nights as we explored Matopos National Park, and I do have to say I enjoyed the campsite more than the park. On the next day we had a morning game drive with an option to make it a full day trip, but as I was really craving for some downtime in a comfortable environment, so I decided to do only a half day. We drove out to the park, were lectured about rhino conservation (our guide has some interesting views about allowing the sale of rhino horns to stop poaching and save rhinos), before trekking through the bush to see some rhinos. It was a nice experience but not as mindblowing as it could’ve been had we not have such epic encounters with rhinos before. Back at the campsite I relaxed in the lounge and then helped our tour leader prepare dinner as the entire cooking team was out doing the full day tour.
As the next morning arrived we were eager to get going as the next stop would be one of the biggest highlights of the entire trip, Victoria Falls. Upon arrival to our campsite, Shoestrings, we were briefed about all the different activities available to do around the area, and although I wasn’t interested in any of the adrenaline stuff such as gorge swings, whitewater rafting or bungee jumping, I was very keen on going horseriding as I didn’t get to do it back in Lake Malawi. I enquired about the full day horseriding trips to the national park which were priced at 155$, but I was told that it required a minimum of two people, so I would have to find someone else as well. I asked around in the group but no one was interested. I was then offered to do a 2-hour horseriding trip, but the price was 100$ and I thought it too expensive, so I ended up booking no activities at all.
As I was going to be spending a lot of time hanging around the campsite I was keen to upgrade to a room so that I would have a nice, private place to chill or nap in the afternoons. I was shown to a double with ensuite, but it was old and very basic and not at all the standard that I would expect for 40$ per night. I told the reception that I didn’t really like the room and I would look around and maybe get a room from one of the other hostels nearby, which had much better reviews than this place. However, the wi-fi at the campsite was not working and as it was Saturday, the shop selling sim-cards was not going to be open until Monday, I had no access to internet so I couldn’t research what other options were available. The hostel had dorms but they were in the main building where it was quite noisy as people were around all the time, so I wasn’t really keen on those. But then, luckily, one of the receptionists mentioned that there is another, older dorm at the back of the property and no one was currently staying there. I asked to see it, and I was taken to this small building at the back, that had four bunk beds and three floor fans inside. It was basic but clean and quiet, and I was very eager to have my own fan next to my bed. Also I would be the only one there, so it would pretty much be a private room! I agreed to take it ad proceeded to the reception to pay for it, and was pleasantly surprised to hear that the price was only 5$ per night! Absolute bargain! I was a happy camper now. I ended up getting a roommste, but that was Caitlin from our group that I had shared a room with before and who I knew to be a nice and quiet roomie, so I didn’t mind at all.
I napped in my room next to a lovely breeze from the fan, then proceeded to the bar to celebrate another birthday, this time it was Alex who was turning 26. We had cake and drinks and then spent the evening in the campsite’s bar, which was a popular spot also for locals to hang out. At some point a bunch of musicians started playing drums and singing, and I just sat there hypnotised watching them, it was all very relaxed and nice. I also ordered a delicious thai chicken pizza, and went to bed around midnight feeling very good about our stay there, and excited about going to see the falls the next day.
As our meals were not included during our stay at Victoria Falls, a bunch of as headed towards Shearwater Cafe to have breakfast. It was a very nice, western style cafe in the centre of town. I ordered an iced latte and eggs florentine (poached eggs with spinach) with a side of smoked salmon, and everything was absolutely delicious. In Victoria Falls all the prices are pretty much western, so much more expensive than elsewhere in Africa, but the quality of food is also very good, so worth the money in my opinion. When we left the restaurant we did a bit of a shopping spree around the souvenir shops in town, but I didn’t buy anything. Afterwards we went to the supermarket and we got another taste of payment difficulties so common in Zimbabwe, when our cards didn’t work and they didn’t accept US dollars, so we had to leave our shopping at the till and leave. We had been told before arriving in Zimbabwe, that we wouldn’t need to change money into Zim dollars as we could swipe everywhere, but this turned out to be only partly due. They were always using two different card machines depending on if you were paying with a local card or an international card, and even big supermarkets usually had only one machine between all the tills, so paying for shopping takes a long time as they run the machine from one mzungu to another.
After breakfast I napped for a couple of hours, as late afternoon would be the best time to visit the falls. Then we walked to the falls, and arrived there at about 4pm. You could fell the water vapor falling down from the falls hundreds of meters before arriving to the location! Entrance was 30$, and after a short walk from the gate you could already hear the rumbling of the water. Turned the corner to the right, and there they were. Impressive walls of water falling down to the Zambesi river below, and rainbows decorating the whole scene. Very impressive indeed, no pictures or videos can quite capture how breathtaking they are! Reports from social media a couple months back that Victoria Falls had run dry turned out to be fake news, and just a normal part of the cycle where there is less water during dry season, and more during wet. As it was now high water season, it was actually a little difficult to see or photograph the falls as there was so much vapor in the air. I walked to the end, got absolutely drenched and stayed to watch the bungee jumpers from the far end of the path, where the bridge was visible.
After the falls me and a couple of others walked to the Lookout Cafe, which was nearby overlooking the gorge. The views were amazing, and I ordered a drink called Don Pedro, which was vanilla ice cream, cream and Kahlua blended together which was absolutely delicious! Caitlin ordered a snack plate that had crocodile skewers on it and I tried a bit out of curiosity. It was very good, somewhere between fish and chicken in terms of chewiness! We had originally planned to go back to town for dinner, but when the others came back they decided they wanted to stay there for dinner. I couldn’t find anything on the menu that I really liked, so I decided to walk back to town to have dinner at the hostel. I ordered another pizza, had a couple of ciders and chatted with a local guy called Tony, who was living in a campervan at the back of the hostel and was doing some consulting work for the business. He told me about a path that you could take to the bottom of the gorge, where you could walk to the falls to view them from below. I said I was keen to see them, and we agreed that if I decided to go there in the morning he could show me the way.
I did indeed decide to take the walk in the morning, and Tony was eager to go with me as he was saying that the path wouldn’t be accessible much longer as the water level was rising. He was a well-traveled and well-educated person, and during the next four hours I had the best conversations I’ve had during the whole trip! He’d lived all around the world and we talked a lot about life in London, climate change, his experiences with psychedelic drugs and our favourite books and writers. Something different from the endless conversations about everyone’s favourite chocolate bars or what happened during drunken escapades that are usually had in the truck!
The walk to the gorge was interesting as we were basically entering no-man’s land without going through immigration, and when I was wondering why there were people appearing to and fromthe bushes, Tony said they are smuggling stuff over the border. He said they’d normally do it at night, but now the leaves were so thick that the border patrol couldn’t spot them, so they were confidently moving stuff in bright daylight!
At the end of the path there was a little hut where a jet boating company was keeping helmets and life jackets that they were using in their jet boating trips. We said hello and asked for permission to go down to the river where the boats where, as we were going to be using their stairs, and he said it would be ok. We then proceeded to go down the very steep steel stairs, and the views over the gorge were just amazing. Further down the steel stairs ended and turned into stone steps. It was pretty steep, and I was already anticipating that coming back up would be a challenge… We got all the way down to the river and hopped from rock to rock to the dock where they were keeping the jet boat. Upon arrival we unfortunately discovered, that the water had risen and the path to go around the corner to see the falls was no underwater. Not wanting to risk falling over in the strong current we decided not to try to proceed any further, and just sat there under the bridge chatting for a bit. I was hoping that someone had come to do a bungee jump from the bridge as it was directly above and it would’ve been a great place to view it, but unfortunately no one was jumping that morning. It was getting hot and I was starting to feel sunburn developing so we left to go back. The climb was indeed tedious and I had to use my hands to climb, and take a few stops on the way. Walk back to town was pretty sweaty as well as I was wearing cargo pants, and upon arrival to town I awarded myself and Tony with iced coffees from the shearwater cafe. If I ever come back to Victoria Falls when the water level is a bit lower, I will definately attempt to do that walk again!
In the afternoon me and some others walked to the Lookout Cafe to watch Alex, Caitlin and Matt doing zip lines and gorge swings. Kudos for their bravery, I could never! I had a strawberry margarita and a chicken avocado salad, which was massive and very tasty! In the evening we went for dinner in the Carnivore restaurant. Others seemed to be pretty happy with it, but my food was cold and the service was terrible, and we sent at least three or four dishes back to the kitchen because they were undercooked. I had hoped we would’ve gone to Three Monkeys instead as others in our group had said it was very good, but people wanted to try game meat so that’s why we went to the Carnivore, as they served zebra, impala and giraffe. Giraffe rib certainly looked impressive, but I did not want to try it.
Day 55, and our final morning in Victoria Falls. I could’ve easily stayed at least a few more days, as I really liked the vibe of the town! We walked over to the bridge where Magnus, Alex and Chloe were doing bungee jumps. To get to the bridge you had to go through immigration to be allowed to enter no-man’s land, and you were given a pass that would allow you back to enter Zimbabwe. I was too scared to even peer over the edge of the railing, I have no idea how people come up with the guts to jump down! It was a very special place to do a bungee jump from though, as you basically jumped through a rainbow! Something extra to the pictures and videos!
It was then time to say goodbye to those whose trip ended at Victoria Falls. Three of them had been with us since Nairobi, and it was definately sad to see them go! Magnus, Andrea and Peter, you’re wonderful people and I wish you all the best! Also Nikola and Michelle were going their own ways, all the best to them also! We then did a thorough cleaning of the truck where we took all the stuff out of the seating area, and threw out everything that no one claimed as theirs. In this small truck storage space is scarce so we have no space to keep extra stuff. We also had to throw away any fresh fruits and veg and unprocessed meats, as those are not allowed to be imported to Botswana.
The drive to the border took about an hour, and we were through very quickly. Our shoes and the trucks tires had to be sterilised against foot and mouth disease. We did a quick shopping stop and changed some dollars to pula, before heading to the campsite that had the best showers in Africa, but that’s already a topic for the next post!
Jenni's Africa 