T.I.A. (or This Is Africa) is the phrase you hear when the showers are cold (or no water); when the toilets are a biohazard or when your truck gets stuck in the mud. All part of the adventure that is an African trip. However I’ve come to realise that if I’m prepared for something or it’s something completely out of our control that impacts us, I can deal with it. 14 hours plus on the truck is fine if I’ve been forewarned. The problem arises when I have an expectation that is not met. One quick way to get a grumpy Gareth is to say we’re travelling for 2 and a half hours and 4 hours later we are still driving without any interruptions with the end not in sight. Just as I prefer a pessimistic weather forecaster – I would prefer some more realistic predictions and being pleasantly surprised when we’re early. [End rant – resuming normal broadcast…]
Lilongwe
Our final day in Malawi was spent in the capital of Lilongwe. We’d arrived in time for a late lunch and were given money and free rein to find our own food. A majority of us headed straight to a western fast food chain of the Inns – Chicken Inn, Pizza Inn and Creamy Inn. We were spoilt with air-conditioning and fatty fast food before wandering the town getting rid of our last Malawian money. One thing we quickly realised about Malawi was the trouble getting American money out of the money changers. They’re extremely happy to take the dollars but no luck changing Malawian kwacha back to USD. I was also talking to a guy driving from Cape Town to Nairobi and he had been stuck in Malawi for a couple of days because they didn’t have any diesel available to be purchased – even in the capital. Glad our truck has massive tanks so we drove the whole way through the country without having to fill up.
Mozambique
Leaving Malawi we entered the Portuguese-colonised country of Mozambique. It had a weird shape and to get to Zimbabwe we had to pass through the Tete corridor. Not the easiest country to transit through and our itinerary had us getting through to Zimbabwe all in the same day. Our leader decided it would be best to cut the journey in half which was a fantastic decision. We had no problems checking out of Malawi but entering Mozambique we ran into the grumpiest border control man I have ever seen. For the whole 3 + hours we were waiting there I didn’t see him smile once. Must be tough working in a job that fills you with so much unhappiness.
After paying the $75 visa fee to just transit the country (seems a completely random amount they charge you – our guide had his clients charged from $30 to $80) we camped on the banks of the mighty Zambezi River.
Into Zimbabwe
Rising early again we continued crossing through Mozambique and reached the border with Zimbabwe. No problems leaving the country and were prepared for another nightmare visa process. Luckily the lady in charge at the Zimbabwean side was a cheerfully bossy character who was a lot more fun than the Mozambique guy. We were actually done before the truck had been cleared through customs for a change.
Harare
Our first stop in Zimbabwe was the capital Harare. Very colonial buildings with very wide streets. Wandered around town and enjoyed the fact that Zimbabwe just use American dollars as their currency (since their local currency is somewhat worthless). The nicest and biggest building we passed was the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. Don’t know what they do in there since they have no currency themselves – an opinion from the group was that massive building is where they store all their worthless notes…
Stayed in a somewhat dodgy campsite just outside Harare – only one shower for our whole group.
Great Zimbabwe Ruins
Another early start and we headed towards the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Great Zimbabwe Ruins. This place actually gave the name to the country when it changed its name from Rhodesia. There were 3 main parts – the kings palace on the high hill where he could look over his 200 wives; the valley ruins which housed 199 wives; and the Great Enclosure which housed his favourite wife.
(walking up to King’s Palace)
Was great getting the chance to hike around the ruins and took a lot of photos of rocks – will need to go through and delete quite a few. Had an amazing view from the top of the King’s Palace. The Great Enclosure is the large circular area enclosed by a rock wall.
(view from top over Great Enclosure)
Another fairly significant part of the ruins was this tower which is used in quite a few official documents including the Zimbabwe passports. Bit of confusion over exactly what the tower was for since it can’t store anything and is just probably demonstrating how rich the King was.
(tower in Great Enclosure)
Finally the view from the Great Enclosure looking back up to where the King has his very defendable home.
(view from Great Enclosure to King’s Palace)
Masvingo Campground
After the ruins we headed to an amazing campsite looking over a lake where a few of us upgraded into this massive lodge with a huge living room. Was very civilized and continued to demonstrate how much wealth there was in Zimbabwe. Got a few game drives soon as we head towards Victoria Falls.
Week Ahead
Fri, 14th of Oct Bulawayo
Sat, 15th of Oct Bulawayo
Sun, 16th of Oct Hwange National Park
Mon, 17th of Oct Victoria Falls
Tues, 18th of Oct Victoria Falls
Wed, 19th of Oct Victoria Falls
Thurs, 20th of Oct Chobe National Park, Botswana
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