Zim on a pack of coffee and six boxes of matches

Thursday, 20th of March, Mapungubwe NP to ??? in Zimbabwe

We packed up early and drove back to the main section of the park where we did a circular game drive. We had our fruit salad on a beautifully built tree-top bird hide on the Limpopo River where we spotted our first elephant. We also saw warthog, giraffe, wildebeest and zebra later on as well as some crazy alien looking bug crossing the road.

One of the main attractions of the park is the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers and from multiple great viewing platforms one can see far into Botswana and Zimbabwe. A little man, unexpectedly sitting behind the counter of a tuck shop at the visitor’s center gave us some hints on how to continue our game drive…he said: ‘From here, go down this road and turn right into the next road with the ‘Do Not Enter’ sign, carry on until you get to another ‘Do Not Enter’ sign and turn left there!’ Funny park officials here, but it did work – we did see quite a bit of game on his suggested route!

Back in Messina, we filled up all tanks with Diesel and water and headed for Beitbridge, the border into Zimbabwe. Even though we were offered help by plenty of ‘unofficials’ we managed the border pretty well by ourselves. When we got to the counter where we had to pay diesel tax for the one full jerry can we were carrying on our roof rack (this tax has to be paid for any diesel not carried in the car’s tanks), I asked the official how much this was in US $. Instead of giving me an amount, he asked: ‘How much have you got?’ A bit dumbstruck of his reaction we showed him two US $ which to our surprise he gladly accepted and let us pass!
Another hurdle was paying for our ‘Third Party Insurance’ which is due in every country. If we would pay him in US $ (our smallest notes were twenties) , the insurance guy didn’t want to give us the change back in Zim Dollars, because it would be suitcases full of bills and he didn’t have that much… We didn’t have any Rands left, so he asked me if I had Botswana Pulas! Seems like everything goes in Zim…! I dug out my Pulas and off we went…

It had gotten fairly late already with going through the border formalities and we were now heading north to the direction of Masvingo. Consulting our GPS and the map, there was nothing available in terms of accommodation. Since our destination was Gonarenzhou National Park we tried to find the turn off to a dirt road west heading to Chikombedzi. We passed a road block and as we stopped after a few kilometers to look at the map some local guys ran towards us waving and shouting welcoming words. The first thing they did when Kirsty wound down her window was offering us a big handful of peanuts, freshly roasted in their shell as a welcome! What amazing people! They explained us the way and also asked to shake Kirsty’s hand, which got them really excited. Even though we took the dirt road west, we realized it wouldn’t be easy to find a quiet spot to camp, just because there are people living everywhere! We drove through the tiny village of Mbizi and contemplated camping at the grounds of the local primary school, but somehow it didn’t feel right and we drove a bit further where we met a security guard and an official who said to be part of the electoral committee in this area for the upcoming presidential elections on Saturday. Wearing smart clothes and a tie he looked pretty well off which didn’t stop him from asking us: ‘We are hungry, don’t you have a little something for us?’ My approach to this guilty-conscience-issue (which I sure will still encounter multiple times on my trip) is simple: I will only give something if I was rendered a service and rather support the local community by buying at their markets and shops. So we moved on still on the search to an overnight spot. It got really late so we decided to pull into a track off the dirt road, pitched our tent and called it a day. One of the police officers who recognized us from the road block earlier came past on his bicycle and asked: ‘Hello, there are you again. Are you ok, is it safe here?’

Good Friday, 21st of March, ??? to Chipinda Pools, Gonarenzhou National Park

For obvious reasons our night was not very restful and was also disturbed by a lady begging for food next to our car. Both Kirsty and I woke up by calls by a rooster from the nearby houses and we decided to pack up and leave. Only afterwards we realized that it was only 3:30am!
We didn’t mind, because we had to break the pattern of getting to camp late and headed for Gonarenzhou NP via the towns Ngundu and Triangle which is a center of the Zimbabwean sugar cane industry.

We arrived at the office of Gonarenzhou NP around 8:00am and met a (white) Zimbabwean couple with four little bubbly blond daughters. Their mum told us a bit of their life story while we were waiting for the official to fill in the forms in real African time… Two farms had already been taken away from them and they were now on another venture involving cattle prospecting. Their life is difficult, but they really love their country too much to be able to leave everything behind. They are desperately hoping for a change in the upcoming elections however the fear of another rigged one are high. She shows me different areas of the park on a huge wall map and explains to me how to get there. I take photos of the wall map as well as of a map from another visitor who arrives. There are no maps available at the office, so one has to soak in every bit of information one can get.

After looking at some weird, creepy preserved animal fetuses in the run down radio room, it is finally our turn to get our entrance permit for the park. Bureaucracy at its best again when it comes to pay with bigger US $ notes! The official can’t give us the 5 US $ change for our entrance fee in Zim Dollars and we only have big notes (meaning US $ 20 and 50!). After a long back and forth we left having paid only for one night.

We choose a beautiful campsite along the Runde River where we get greeted by the grunting of numerous hippos which are seeking shade in the water at the river’s bank. This is an awesome spot to chill out and I put up my hammock to take a nap with a view onto the river. After having left without breakfast this morning, I try out my new blender which I can now plug into my voltage converter (from 12V to 220V) – pure magic! The mango smoothie goes down well! It’s great to have time to cook, so for lunch we tuck into our meat reserves in the freezer and make some yummy ostrich curry wraps. We go for an easy afternoon game drive, without spotting anything of note. Driving down the hill we meet two Zimbabwean families having their sundowner on top of their bakkie. We get offered beers and chips and join them to watch an awesome sunset as well as a beautiful moon rise over the Runde River. They are both white Zimbabwean farmer families who lost their farms and are either on their second or third new beginning. The state didn’t only claim their land but also tractors, machinery and other valuables. Nevertheless they are in good spirits and are hoping that the elections will bring change. We join them for a braai that night and get to know more about life in Zimbabwe.

Saturday, 22nd of March, Chipinda Pools to Chilojo Cliffs, Gonarenzhou NP

We meet another Zimbabwean couple Henry and Suzanne at the camp site and join them to go down to the Runde River. The track is rugged and very little used and I feel somewhat sorry that we put Anse through this. However we get rewarded with an awesome view of the Chipinda falls and rock pools. We explore the rocky Runde River gorge a bit and as I approach the edge of the cliffs to look down into the river some 50m below, I see this mother of a crocodile escaping into the depth of the river with a huge splash. So much about our thoughts that there probably wouldn’t be any crocs so close to fast water and rapids!!!

We say good-bye to Henry and Suzanne and make our way to the Chilojo Cliffs camp site which is beautifully situated on the Runde River right opposite these rust-red sand stone cliffs. To watch the sunset from the river bank is truly amazing as the sand stone cliffs turn into whole array of glowing red colors while one can hear hippos grunting from the other river bank. There is another couple camped right next to us, the chap’s name is Kevin and he offers us to use his bush shower, which he has all neatly set up. We gladly take him up on that and then see to our dinner, this time a first trial on my new ‘Cobb’ grill. It takes some time to get used to handling it, but the veggies we roasted turned out just yummy!

Easter Sunday, 23rd of March, Chilojo Cliffs, Gonarenzhou NP

We woke up from loud grunting and an amazing display of a massive hippo bull posing in the middle of the Runde River. After a long chat with our camp neighbor Kevin and his wife about Zim and the crazy currency situation and the fact that we haven’t gotten any Zim Dollars changed yet, they offer to change some of their Zim Dollars for a packet of coffee which I had brought from Germany when I was visiting my family over Christmas. We sort of worked out a Rand value for the coffee and then converted into Zim Dollars, so we got 210 000 000 Zim Dollars! (For your info, the US $ is currently trading in Zim from anything between 32 000 000 officially and 50 000 000 on the black market) There were lots of notes counted and piles of bills put on the table until we had the ‘transaction’ sorted! The park warden comes past in his bakkie and we have a brief chat to him. Talks go immediately towards the elections and he is pointing out how inconsiderate it was to have them take place immediately after the Easter Weekend. His wife is part of the electoral commission and had to work on Good Friday and Saturday to bring voting registration papers out to the surrounding villages. He also mentions that there is a lack of education concerning how the voting form gets actually completed, so most of the people would go to the poll not knowing what to expect. Scary thoughts! We took over Kevin and his wife’s prime camp site as they left and filled up some water for showering from the river. Since the Easter Bunny also made his turn to our camp, we indulge in yummy Lindt chocolate.

Easter Monday, 24th of March, Gonarezhou NP to Chimanimani NP

We make our way back to the main entrance of the park and meet the warden again. Since we hadn’t paid for the extra nights we stayed, we paid him directly… ‘ Is it okay if we pay you 10 US $ for the extra night?’ we asked. It actually would have been 20 US $ ‘Sure is the quick answer, and the money disappears in his pocket.’…and both parties are happy!
We head north and take a dirt road west at the little town Rupisi where we stop at a little street market to barter 4 boxes of matches and five Rand for a whole lot of fruit and veggies. Spinach, guavas, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, bananas and peanuts! We drove south to check out a place called Mount Selinda, which supposed to have the last remaining true rain forest in southern Africa. But the closer we got there, the dodgier the area seemed to get, mainly also because of the proximity of the Mozambiquean border. So we turned around and made our way back north to Chimanimani.

It proved to be a long road to the Chimanimani National Park, and we had to ask for directions a few times. One friendly, pretty drunk fellow with a bright smile asked where we are coming from… ‘You are from South Africa? How is Mandela???’ We finally got to the camp site around 6pm and enjoyed a nice camp fire. A local donkey woke us up walking around in the middle of the night and trying to take the lid off our rubbish drum.


Tuesday, 25th of March, Chimanimani NP

We decide to put in a rest day before hiking up into the mountains. I manage to do some yoga in the morning with the help of my Ashtanga book – amazing to do this in these beautiful mountainous surroundings! There is also a fair amount of packing to be done as we plan to overnight in my little ground tent in the mountains the next morning to climb Mount Kweza (Binga) which is with 2400m the highest peak of Zimbabwe and Mozambique and the border going right over the mountain top.

Kirsty manages to light her first fire (almost) all by herself and soon we are munching away on yummy beef sosaties. She also gets introduced to my sprouted chick pea salad…and is still alive and kicking ;-)

Wednesday, 26th of March, Chimanimani NP, hike to High Valley

The Chimanimani Mountains are one of the most beautiful areas of Zimbabwe and hiking here brings my memories back to when I took on Mount Binga with my travel mate Almut in 1997. The hike starts steep straight away and we are taking it easy having heavy packs with food and tent on our backs. There are plenty of streams and the flora is beautiful with moss everywhere, different types of grass, pin cushion proteas and ancient looking trees with hairy stuff hanging off their branches. After a 3 hour hike we arrive at the NP mountain hut and meet a friendly ranger who gives us good advice about which route to choose and where to camp. He also tells us about the illegal gold panners who cross over from Mozambique to find gold in the streams. They mess up a great part of the fragile environment and cause erosion through their panning activities. We cross the valley in front of the hut and keep on climbing up to the next plateau which is called ‘High Valley’ where we pitch our tent. Taking water from the clear streams and going for your deed behind the bush (it better be down stream!), it is back to the basics here – I love it! We manage to whip up great pasta on my little benzene camping stove and crawl into our sleeping bags for the cold night.

Thursday, 27th of March, Chimanimani NP

We get up at the crack of dawn and pack up the tent. Kirsty hasn’t slept well in the cold and on the uneven ground and feels a bit shaky this morning. We head up towards Mount Binga at a steady pace, leaving one of our packs hidden in the rocks where we will collect it again on our way down. The peak is partly wrapped in mist and we find it sometimes challenging to find the rock cairns which supposed to show us the way. At one of the stream crossings, Kirsty spots some shiny minerals at the bottom of the stream and an exciting ‘panning for gold mission’ begins! We are not sure if this is the real stuff, but it’s for sure a great feeling to find some glittery bits in the stream! It also lifts Kirsty’s spirits and we continue the hike dreaming about gold nuggets…

After almost 3 hours walk from High Valley, we reach the top and get rewarded with an amazing view over the Chimanimani Mountains as well as a good outlook into Mozambique. Since it’s quite windy and cold, we soon head down again the same way we came. Back at High Valley, we collect our hidden pack again and start looking for a descent route recommended by the park ranger. We eventually find it and head down into an amazing gorge. The scenery is breathtaking, but the way down is a hard piece of work with the path being very steep and difficult to walk. We rest at ‘Paradise pools’ with scattered banana trees and a beautiful waterfall which gives me a perfect back and neck massage while taking a dip. It’s getting late and we have to move on to get back to the Main Camp where Anse is hopefully awaiting us in one piece.

Little do we know that we actually never make it there that night… On our way down Long Gulley we can’t find the path that turns off to the Main Camp and it’s getting darker and darker. Even though being only about 3 kms away from it we can’t figure out how to get there. Kirsty finds a turn-off that seems right, but we end up at a wide stream crossing with dense vegetation, impossible to pass. We know that there is a road due north and head towards it but also this time our path gets stopped by a stream crossing from which we can’t make out where the path continues. It’s getting seriously late and we decide to pitch our tent on the spot. Luckily we had packed an emergency pack of rice which came in handy that night! All in all a pretty long day with a not so pretty ending, but at least we know roughly where we are, it’s just a matter of finding the right path in the daylight. Kirsty has proven today that girls from the Australian Outback can definitely take a beating. Respect!