2011 – Mutare to Masvingo area , Zimbabwe

Robs says when she wakes up in the morning, she lies there for a few moments and tries to remember where she is, we can all relate to this. After 99 days on the road and the most time we have spent in one place is 5 nights, we can be forgiven for feeling disorientated, from time to time.

Kirst, after a few days at home; visiting family, spending lots of time with her new cousin, Luke and her boyfriend, Teddy – returned to a freezing cold Cape Town today. She has a few days to sort her life out before starting lectures on Monday.

Our plan for the next two days is to visit the Masvingo area, home to Great Zimbabwe, formerly known as the Zimbabwe Ruins. The trip was 280km km and the scenery was very different to what we have seen so far. The terrain is extremely dry and there is no grazing for the hundreds of goats that are around. Clearly they live off the trees, as the leaf growth on the trees starts once past the browsing height of the goats. There are also hundreds of baobabs along the way, in one area, squares had been cut out of the bark of every tree, not sure why but I assume it was for natural medicines or to make baskets. This is a very populated area and there are rural huts and villages along the road.

The scenery is great, the landscape is littered with hills and mountains, covered with sheets of black rock that are in a permanent state of exfoliation, looking like an onion that is being peeled layer by layer. Along the main road were numerous road blocks, more so than usual for Zims. There were also men, flagging us down, using the hand signal of a diamond. This is a big diamond mining area and putting two and two together, we realised the guys were probably trying to sell us illegal diamonds and hence the number of road blocks.

We crossed a major bridge, the Birchenough Bridge, over the Save River; this huge metal bridge seemed so out of place in this area.

With 40km to go, Gray decided to take, what was signposted, as the scenic route. It started off as a bit of a disappointment as we travelled through some not very exciting forest areas. It was more fun waving at the little school children, on their way home from school. The forest gave way to some farming areas. We had an interesting chat to one of the managers at Inn on the Vumba. We were chatting about how much we were enjoying Zim and he was cautiously optimistic about the country, it seems to be a matter of waiting for the ruler to pop off. He was saying that as far as the farming situation was concerned, the black farmers, who were given land, were really struggling. A lot were now getting together and consolidating neighbouring farms, getting the white farmers back in to manage these big farms and all were getting a share of the profits. This is truly turning out to be an eye opening visit.

The highlight of the trip was crossing the dam wall over Lake Kyle. The scenery was once again amazing, as the lake meanders around the mountains and through the valleys. A few kilometres later we drove into Norma Jeanne’s Lakeside Resort (not named after Marilyn Monroe but after the owner). After requesting to see the cottages, we realised there was a wonderful camping site, with all the necessary facilities, in a beautiful garden, overlooking the lake. Camping was saving us about R1000 a night and we were all happy to get back into our tents, especially Ga, who is convinced this will clear up his sinuses.

We were the only people around and so had the whole place to ourselves. The camp assistants made us a huge fire, for warmth and to braai on. Red wine, braaied chicken, atmosfire, in a beautiful natural garden overlooking Lake Kyle – Life is good.

Birchenough Bridge

View from Lake Kyle Dam Wall

View from our camp site

Day 98: 21/07/2011 – Vumba , Zimbabwe

Being at a lower altitude, the winter weather is considerably warmer and we are back in summer clothes. Gareth had a bad night with his allergies, so we let him lie in late; it was a good excuse for us all to lie in. By the time we had packed up and left Forest Inn, it was 9:45, no problem, as we were heading 15km down the road to Inn on the Vumba. The surrounding forest area is full of Samango monkeys and we frequently stopped to catch a glimpse of them as they as they disappeared into the undergrowth.

On the way down to Inn on the Vumba, we stopped at Tony’s – what a find. We got out the car, not knowing what to expect, we were blown away by the cute stone and thatched roof tea house, in beautiful gardens of cycads and fruit trees. If you are looking for morning (or afternoon) tea, this gem would rival any coffee shop in Jo’burg, or London or Paris, for that matter. The menu is exclusively coffees, hot chocolates, teas of every description imaginable and homemade juices. Then one has the choice of 5 cakes, we ordered 3 of them to share, they were amazing in taste, texture and presentation. We would have been forgiven for thinking we were at an English garden party as opposed to a little tea garden in Africa.

After filling up on chocolate whiskey cake, choc torte cake and Viennese coffee cake, we continued down to Inn on the Vumba and checked into the family cottage. The cottage is very comfortable, with a Biggy Best feel. The sitting room / lounge area is very comfortable and this is where we spent most of the afternoon, reading and playing games.

As there had been a power outage for the whole day, we decided to eat dinner in the restaurant. This turned out to be a 4 course meal and it was delicious.

Tony’s Tea House

Tea Garden in Africa

Relaxing at Inn on the Vumba

Day 97: 20/07/2011 – Nyanga to Mutare , Zimbabwe

The freezing chill of the last few days seems to have lifted and although it is still cold, it is not that biting winter chill. We left Troutbeck around 9:30 and headed south into Mutare. Mutare is a bustling metropolis by Zimbabwe standards and is one of the largest towns behind Harare and Bulawayo. We travelled through the town in search of the advertised Spar and Nandos. We had just descended down a hill and turned a corner when we heard a rather disturbing noise from behind (not Gareth’s behind this time). We pulled over and our trailer had nose dived, hanging at a rather precarious downward angle. As it turned out, it was not a major problem, the bolts connecting the coupler to the trailer had sheared off but fortunately Panda had connected the chain to the towbar. I am convinced St Christopher is keeping an eye over us, as each time we have had a major car or trailer problem, we have been in or near a town. Gray then set off, with the rest of us in tow (no pun intended) in search of a hardware store – no Mica here. After locating the local hardware and purchasing the required nuts and bolts we headed back to the car. Leaving Gray and Ga to fix the trailer on the side of the road, Robs and I walked to a Tourist Info Centre and got the names of some places to stay in the nearby Vumba area.

There is very little, to nothing, in terms of viable camp sites, so armed with the names of some self-catering accommodation, we set off along another spectacular drive into the mountains of the Eastern highlands. After around 20 km we came to a T-junction – I suggested we turn right (according to all the sign posts of the accommodation we were aiming for – a pretty natural conclusion). Doris (Gray’s darling GPS) told him to ‘turn left’, as always, Doris won and we headed off along a stunning drive, through beautiful forests, after about 10km, Gray conceded that we were heading in the wrong direction, it took another 15km for us to find a place to turn around and retrace our steps – I am still waiting for an apology.

After checking out a few accommodation options, we booked into a family unit at Forest Inn for the night. The major reason being the beautiful view, we were surrounded by mountains with a stunning view down the valley onto a lake. The place is again tired but clean and comfortable, with ‘beautiful’ satin gold bedspreads and silver tablecloths.

All the places we have seen in Zim, were obviously popular weekend and holiday destinations at one time and it is sad to see that they are now in need of TLC, but due to lack of demand and finance, they just tick over. This being said, we are so impressed with the roads and infrastructure in Zim – and watch this space, Zim will become a much sought after holiday destination once again. It has beautiful scenery and Harare is closer than Cape Town.

After sorting out our accommodation for the night, we returned to Mutare, for a Nandos lunch (the kids choice – clearly they are missing fast foods) and a shop at the well stocked Spar. On returning to the car, we had a number of beggars around, the standard kid with the blind man and a few offering to help us unpack our groceries. Chirp of the day goes to Gareth – one of kids asked for some money – ‘my mother is blind’, Gareth’s response, ‘and so my mother is fat.’ – he would have got a crack if the rest of the family hadn’t found it so hilarious, for this the kid got a bit extra for his ‘blind mother’.

From there we headed to Leopard Rock Hotel, about 5km from Forest Inn, Gray was again mildly unpopular because he didn’t book us in there. He decided this beautiful hotel, on one of Zimbabwe’s top golf courses, was not in our budget. We spent a half hour checking out the living areas in the hotel, that has been host to the royal family, including Princess Di.

After our visit to Leopard Rock, we returned to our, now meagre accommodation to find that the electricity was off – another power outage. Robs and I left Gray and Ga to cook spaghetti carbonara over a braai, this tested Ga’s cooking skills to the limit.

Dining room at Forest Inn

Dining room at Leopard Rock

Sun rise at Forest Inn

Day 96: 19/07/2011 – Troutbeck Resort, Zimbabwe

We again woke to a big chill in the air and the grass trimmed with frost – and no electricity. Clearly this is a common occurrence, as the house is full of candles and a gas stove, so we still had our favourite condensed milk coffee. This was still a lot better than trying to get going in a cold campsite, without warm water.

We spent the morning reading outside in the sun, where it is warm and protected from the wind. After a lazy morning we took a walk up to the hotel for lunch. It is very colonial, a bit like having lunch at Jo’burg Country Club, with a good view.

After lunch we went for a walk around the golf course, into the forest and around the dams. Gray tripped over a branch and then told the rest of us to watch out for a hole in the ground, while looking for it, Ga tripped into it and fell flat on his face, much to the hysterics from the rest of us. It is very beautiful here and I can why it is a popular spot for weekends and holidays, especially for people living in Harare.

After our walk it was time to head home and a big fire. Although it is warm in the sun, as soon as the sun starts to set the temperature plummets. I decided that instead of trying to braai chicken inside, curry would be good idea and so I got a big pot bubbling on the stove. We discovered that the Tour de France is on and we watched some highlights on TV, this is one of my favourite events of the year, and I was sorry to have missed it. We had a few giggles as we realised that on some of the stages the cyclists were faster, than some of our stages on the roads in Zambia and Tanzania.

Curry was perfect for the cold night and then an episode of CSI and off to a warm cosy bed. It’s amazing how easily one can slip back into normality.

Robs reading

View of the dam from the forest

Day 95: 18/07/2011 – Troutbeck Resort, Zimbabwe

Happy Birthday Madiba

According to thermometer in my car, it was 3°c when we woke up this morning. I guess staying at around 2200m in the middle of winter accounts for this. I’m not very popular with the kids as I told them not to worry about packing winter clothes (in my defence we were heading to 40°c in Zanzibar at the time). Robs thought this was a good excuse to head into Nyanga to buy some winter clothes.

Nyanga turned out to be a tiny rural town, with very few shops. We did manage to find Robs a bright red fleece in the general dealer store. There was no fresh produce in the ‘supermarket’ and our shopping list, made for a Spar shop went out the window; we bought bread and peanut butter. I find with Gareth in the kitchen we need to shop on a daily basis, for all the ingredients he requires for his sauces and trimmings, not that we are complaining, the meals have improved. After checking out the bustling metropolis of Nyanga, this took all of 5 minutes, we found some fresh produce sellers on the side of the road and added apples (for apple sauce with our pork chops tonight) and eggs to our daily purchases.

We then went off to explore the area. Our first visit was to the National Park, which would have been our second choice for accommodation in the area. It turned out camping would have cost us the same as our comfortable time share unit and they have occasional hot water. It is scandalous what the National Parks charge for entry and camping in Africa.

We then went for a drive and I saw a sign directing visitors to an art gallery. So we headed off on a dirt road into the mountains and we kept going, with the family ripping me off about the fact not too many people would head up this far off the beaten track to view some art. We eventually came to a place called World’s View and the ‘art gallery’. The view is part of a Zim heritage site and is unbelievable, we climbed up into a stone tower and looked out over the world – the trip was totally worth it. The art gallery consisted of some stone carvings dotted around the entrance – all for sale.

We returned for a late lunch of club sandwiches, Gray and I had lost some weight when it was just the two of us, now we are putting it back on, with interest, the kids are such a bad influence.

It was then time to hole up in front of a fire and play our favourite triominos game. Gray went out to make for our braai but with wet wood and a horrible wind blowing, the braai master gave up, for the first time ever. He didn’t give up totally, next thing the braai and grid were placed over the fire in the fire place and we had an ‘inside braai’.

‘ World View’ from the stone tower

The stunning view

The ‘art gallery’

Our inside braai

Day 94: 17/07/2011 – Harare to Nyanga, Zimbabwe

I felt totally rejuvenated, having had a good night’s sleep in a comfortable bed. After a big hotel breakfast we were ready for the day, all except Ga, who is suffering terribly from his dust allergy.

We shopped at the Spar opposite the hotel; it was like shopping at one of the Super Spars in Johannesburg. Harare has a Spar and a Mica store on virtually every block.

We headed out of Harare and drove east for 290km to the area around Nyanga. This was an easy morning’s drive and we arrived around lunch time. The scenery of this Eastern Highlands area is spectacular, with gently rolling hills. The Eastern Highlands are a range of mountains running some 300km from North to South, along the Mozambique border and are striking in their beauty.

Learning our lesson from Chinoyhi, where we headed for the first available accommodation (not that there was much to choose from), we headed for Troutbeck Inn, the furthest and by all accounts the best accommodation in the area. As we got out the car we were hit by a chill in the air, actually it was more than a chill, at 14°c, it was bloody cold. Not great camping weather.

The Troutbeck Hotel overlooks trout dams that are surrounded by a golf course. Opening in 1951, for the affluent set, some 60 years later it is well maintained and remains a popular and expensive holiday destination. To the left of the hotel they have a time share resort and at half the price of the hotel, we booked in there for the next three nights. The area reminds me so much of Dullstroom, in the old days, before it became so populated and commercialised. Our time share unit is typical of those in S.A.; we have 3 bedrooms, a central living area, with a huge fireplace and a nice braai area overlooking a big trout dam and the golf course.

As the day was not getting any warmer, we made a big fire and Ga and I bonded in the kitchen, making a meatball pasta for dinner. The bedrooms are cold and we bundled up in lots of blankets for the night.

Breakfast at Bronte

Eastern Highlands

Area around Nyanga

Our house at Troutbeck

Day 93: 16/07/2011 – Chinhoyi to Harare, Zimbabwe

After a fairly uncomfortable night, we all woke early and had a good breakfast at Chinhoyi. The town of Chinhoyi reminds me of towns in the Free State, with lots of take-aways, along a main road of shops.

The 140km journey through to Harare was again along good roads and we arrived around mid morning. We found a shopping centre and did some window shopping – mainly because all the auto banks had no dollars and Zambian Kwacha were of no use to us here. Clearly the days when the Zimbabweans could barely buy bread are over, modern shops stock everything from bikinis to Rolex watches and there are wonderful nick nack shops around. We had no idea where to stay, so we found a Travel Agent and they booked us into the Bronte Hotel for the night.

We set off to find the hotel – tonight we sleep in a nice comfortable bed in a nice clean room, actually we are in a suite, with 3 bedrooms and a lounge. After settling in, we headed off to Harare International Airport, about a 20 minute drive from the hotel. After Kirst had booked in we found a working ATM, so now we have US$s. Besides OR Thambo, this is the best airport we have encountered in Africa. With an hour to kill before her boarding time, we decided to have a bite to eat. All the food arrived, except Kirst’s and they eventually brought it to us in a take-away, too late for her to eat, as she had to board – guess it’s ‘chicken or beef’ for her lunch. It’s was terrible to see her walk off into the departure area – we are really going to miss her. Al, my great friend, sent an sms through, informing us that there is no fuel in Jhb due to a strike and the cables have been stolen from outside our house, so our road is without electricity. Kirst will be thrilled, a few days at home with no petrol, no electricity, no hot water and worst of all, no blow-dryer.

On the drive back to our hotel we listened to the radio – they were broadcasting a Bob Mugabe speech on education, wow can he ramble, what he had to say in 25 minutes could be condensed into 4 sentences. We drove around Harare for a bit, it is a peaceful town and reminds me of Durban meets Pretoria.

Back at the ranch we went for a walk in the hotel gardens, they are beautiful, with tall shaded trees and fish ponds. We are certainly feeling the winter chill in the air and went back to our hotel room. Much as we haven’t missed TV – Gray even suggested getting rid of ours the other day – one cold afternoon and the Master Chef series and we were hooked again.

Harare

Bronte Hotel

Day 92: 15/07/2011 – Lower Zambezi, Zambia to Chinhoyi Caves, Zimbabwe

Having booked Kirsty on a flight out of Harare on Saturday, we sadly had to leave Zambia today and start our journey south into Zimbabwe. We woke early, to pack up, as we were unsure how long the 360km journey would take.

We left Mvuu at 8am and headed along the dirt road to the pontoon. The pontoon was on our side of the river and we wasted very little time crossing the Kafue River. We could have crossed the border into Zimbabwe at Chirundu, close to our connecting with the main tarred road. This is, however, a major truck crossing and the area is filled with trucks and tankers waiting to clear customs. We decided to travel another 100km to the border post on Kariba Dam. The road was in great condition and we encountered very little traffic. We have become seasoned African border crosses and we arrived in the Zambian office, one of the most modern ones so far, armed with pens, passports and Carne Insurance papers.

From the Zambian office we drove along a road with a heavily barbed wire fence to the dam wall. Kariba Dam is massive and it was exciting to cross the concrete wall that holds back millions of litres of water. The Zimbabwean border office took a little longer as they requested to see our police clearance papers and the inspector took a while to get to us. Fortunately, we had organised this in S.A. because apparently we would have been held up for a long time without one – it was the first time on our travels that one had been requested from us. All in all, we had a wonderful and friendly experience from all the border officials.

For our first 20km in Zim, we wound our way through a beautiful, mountainous area with the dam below. There were a number of little harbour areas, filled with house boats, the place looks idealic – I would love to do a house boat trip on Kariba; another item to add to my list of places to visit and things to do in Africa.

We have been so impressed with the condition of the roads and towns in Zim. Certainly going by today’s experience, these are the best roads (besides Namibia) we have encountered. Our destination for today was Chinohyi Caves. We would have liked to have spent the night on Kariba but being unsure of timing, we wanted less distance to travel to Harare on Saturday, as Kirst needs to be at the airport by midday.

As I have said previously, our places to stay are based on word of mouth, web sites and travel books, such as the Lonely Planet. The problem with Zim is that we have had trouble getting information from any of our sources and so we are travelling blind, as it were. We stopped at the first accommodation we came across – The Chinhoyi Caves Motel. I had joked with Graeme that it was about time I had a lodge night in a bed – be careful what you wish for. The rooms were US$20 per person per night for bed and breakfast and US$8 for camping in the cave grounds with a smelly toilet and no hot water – so I got my bed, a very hard one, in a very tired family room that had seriously seen better days.

Just as we had settled down for our evening drink we heard an almighty explosion that rattled the windows and almost had the 5 of us diving for cover. The staff had a good giggle at us, clearly used to the frequent explosions, they explained that it blasting from the nearby mine.

We had a fairly decent dinner and retired to our hard beds.

Kariba Dam, with house boats

Chinhoyi Motel

Day 91: 14/07/2011 – Mvuu Camp, Lower Zambezi – Zambia

Mvuu means hippo and it was to the sounds of the mvuu that we were woken; they had been very vocal all night. Once the ellies left the camp, we were left to the grunts of the hippo. We then watched them on the river bank, while drinking our morning condensed milk coffee and then headed off to do our morning camp chores.

Before I knew it, the kids were digging around in the fridges and food boxes for a mid morning snack, informing me they had not had breakfast. After brunch we all gravitated back to the deck and the stunning view of the Zambezi, overlooking Zim’s, Mana Pools on the opposite side.

Shortly after getting comfortable, the resident herd of ellie arrived, we sat and watched them really quietly for about ½ an hour, eventually they came so close, we could almost touch them. The kids seem to have lost their fear of ellies, after spending so much time with them over the last few weeks. Admittedly, the elephants here are a lot more relaxed than we have generally encountered in South Africa. Robs wants to take the baby ellie home with us. Left to her, we would now have a baby turtle, a baby ellie and a baby Tanzanian, Malawian and Zambian.

Gareth has taken a keen interest in photography, with my new camera, so I have left him to take the pictures in the game parks. Had I known he was so zealous with his new task, I would have been a little less eager to hand over my precious camera. It took me most of the afternoon to download and sort through some 860 photos – some stunning ones and some very lame, like his big toe. He also needs to learn to take 3 of everything, not 303.

We had a long and interesting chat with Troy, the camp manager of 8 years. It was fascinating to hear how the camp has developed over the years. We then steered the conversation in the direction of the honeymoon campers. The stunning ‘Mrs H Moon ’ had arrived in our camp this morning to borrow some matches, theirs went missing after the ellies had trashed their camp the night before – she is a beautiful young Swedish blond – Gray tripped over a tree trunk while going off to look for our matches. Troy got a sly smile on his face and said “Oh you mean – the howler”. It turned out they are not honeymooners, just some twenty something’s having a dirty weekend.

We had a great dinner, braaied chicken with garlic mash and salad. Shortly after dinner, watching the full moon come up over the Zambezi, the howling started, much to the amusement of the entire camp site.

Zambezi with Mana pools on the opposite bank

Hippo Highway

Baby Ellie

Ellie performing for us

Day 90: 13/07/2011 – Mvuu Camp, Lower Zambezi – Zambia

We woke to the sounds of baboons and birds chirping in the trees and then our fellow campers, I wonder if they are on honeymoon. The camp sites are not on top of each other but each is hewn into the bush, giving the feeling of being alone and private. Canvas tents don’t keep in sound like walls do, coupled with the fact that sound carries in the bush, makes us aware that we need to be fairly quite in order to be considerate to our neighbours.

The morning went by quickly, catching up on washing, even Princess Kirst decided she needed to do some, heaven forbid, hand washing. The monkeys are still proving to be a constant irritation and we have to make sure no food at all is left out. The problem arises when you are trying to make a meal and have a few items of food out. I was so irritated when, after having bought our first avos in ages, they stole one from right under our noses.

After lunch, we went across to the deck area and the joke of the day – we were walking along the narrow path on the banks of the Zambezi, Kirst leading the pack, when Robs said, “Kirsty snake” (there wasn’t one) but Kirst went ape and flew past us and up the bank. Got to love Robs, she has such a wicked sense of humour and even Kirst had a laugh at herself.

With order restored we headed up to the deck to play Scrabble, home rules clearly applying and being changed constantly – so no one won but Robs is convinced she did. During this time, a herd of ellie wandered into the garden and started stripping the trees. A few came within 10m of the deck; it is such an unbelievable feeling to be so close to these amazing giants.

At 3:30 we set off on a sunset boat trip – motoring our way up the current of the Zambezi. The Mana Pools area of Zimbabwe was on our left and the mountains of the Zambezi escarpment were on our right. There are plenty of ellie on the banks and the highlight was watching three cross to the water from one island to another. Clearly one animal that is not on the endangered list in Africa is the hippo and we saw hundreds of them; some on the banks, pods on the islands and a many more swimming in the river. There are apparently around a 100 hippo on every 1km of the river in the park areas. In one area, there is a pod of 500 hippos. The sun shining off the Zambezi escarpment was beautiful and then we were treated to the most magical sunset, as the sun sunk behind the mountains, casting its last rays on the rippling water. With G & T’s to finish off a perfect day, we turned round and let the current drift us back to camp.

Dinner was a rowdy affair, no not the honeymooners, the elephants. They shared our dinner area in the camp site, browsing on the trees next to us. At times I got concerned that they were far to close but they seemed unconcerned with us. Bush holidays, back in South Africa, will never be the same.

Baboons

Booze, sorry sunset cruise

Moving from island to island

Sunset