Because we haven’t done much today besides lying next to the swimming pool and buying petrol for the trip tomorrow, it’s maybe time to report that we’ve driven around 3900 km now. The road until now was quite good with fewer potholes than expected. Our car, a VW Polo Vivo 1.6 is doing great so far.

In Mozambique there was only a 50km stretch above Vilanculos with quite some potholes, but nothing I had not seen before somewhere in South Africa. In Zimbabwe between the border at Mutare and the Victoria Falls where we are now I have seen maybe only 10 potholes. We saw quite some South Africans with their big 4×4’s, but that’s only necessary if you go deep into the national parks, as those roads are rather terrible. So Mozambique and Zimbabwe can easily be visited with a normal car!

We still have to drive around 6000km, so we’re not in the middle yet. We heard from other travellers that the road we have to do tomorrow between the Kazungula border and Nata is full of potholes. The nice part is that people saw elephants and rhinos next to the ‘highway’.
Now it’s possible that we won’t have internet for a few days.

The previous night we woke up several times because of the cold nights in Zimbabwe. Luckily we’re staying in a tent with normal beds, so we at least have the comfort of sleeping in a bed.

In the morning we left early to visit the Victoria Falls. The entrance fee is quite high ($30 a person), so as all the entrances fees in Zimbabwe. We first saw the statue of Livingstone and then walked along the falls. The water levels are at its highest, so the falls are really amazing to see. All you can hear is water flowing at insane speeds, combined with awesome views and plenty of rainbows. The walk along the falls is very nice but after a few hundred metres you have to start wearing raincoats as you get really wet when just walking there. It’s terrible to take pictures as you camera gets wet so easily. But we were able to take some very nice photographs of the falls. After only 2 hours we completed the tour and went for another one till the middle of the walkway.

After that we headed back to the rest camp and went for a walk through the town and the open air craft market where we bought some small curios. It’s really annoying that there are so many people next to the roads trying to push you into buying some stupid curios or asking for old t-shirts. They just can’t leave you alone.
Tomorrow we’ll just relax a bit in the rest camp and we might even have a swim in the swimming pool.

This morning we left Matobo National Park early. We again drove through Bulawayo. We needed petrol but it wasn’t easy to find. In Zimbabwe petrol is not always available. We drove past a lot of petrol stations that didn’t have petrol but we were lucky to find one with petrol.

Before we began our trip to the Victoria Falls, we visited SOS Children’s Village in Bulawayo. These villages are situated all over the world and provide care and education for orphans or children that are taken away from parents who are not capable of taking care of them. It was a very nice village and the children were lovely.

After that we headed towards the Victoria Falls. On our way there were a lot of animals crossing the road; cows, goats, donkeys, monkeys, sheep and pigs. So we had to stop several times.

Around 15h we arrived at our rest camp at the big falls. We immediately noticed that it is very touristic here. The people on the street kept on asking us to buy things from them and tried to book activities for us. It was a bit annoying. It is not the Zimbabwe we are used to for the past few days.

We booked a tent with beds in the Victoria Falls Rest Camp. It is a very nice tent with even light in. It was the same price as camping with your own tent so we didn’t bother to put up our own tent. Now we can sleep in a bed and have a lot of space in the tent.

After putting our stuff in the tent, we walked around a bit in the town and did some shopping at Spar. In the evening we ate dinner in the restaurant in the rest camp.

Tomorrow we will go to the Victoria Falls. We cannot wait to see them! From here we can even here the falls. Very exciting!

Good night!

On our way to our new destination: The Matobo National Park, where we were going to stay in a chalet at Maleme Dam, we stopped in Bulawayo to do some groceries and of course to get some meat for a braai. After all the fish in Mozambique it’s now time to eat meat again.

After we paid the entrance fee to Matobo National Park, we drove straight to Maleme Dam because it was already around 15h. At the reception they tried to push us into paying $75 more to get an en-suite lodge. But we already paid $70 for a chalet for 2 days, so we kept our booking. The chalets looked all right but very old and neglected. But the communal bathrooms were under ‘renovation’, the doors would not even open and the toilets were thorn into pieces. Really terrible! So we went to complain and after a while they gave us the keys to what they call a ‘lodge’. But it’s a stinky little hole if you ask me. It’s all very old and neglected. It was one of the best accommodations in Zimbabwe before all the political problems. It probably stood empty and was taken over by baboons (it’s full of baboons and vervet monkeys) for a few years.

The second day we did a drive through the park, but most of the sand roads and loops are in a very bad condition which made it quite a battle with our sedan. We saw some hippo’s in the game park. We also went to see the grave of the famous Cecil Rhodes who is buried at a very nice spot in the Matopos (stacked rocks), also called ‘World’s View’. We also visited some very well-known rock paintings by the San people. This was truly very nice to see what the people back then already could paint, and the fact that it is still visible.

Around 17h we went again to ‘World’s View’ to experience a magnificent sun downer. Very beautiful! After that we went back to our ‘lodge’ where the baboons and vervet monkeys were waiting for us. We made some food and relaxed at our campfire. Again an amazing day in Southern Africa!

We had no idea on how busy the Zimbabwean border was at Mutare, so we left around 7h30. Arriving at the border, we noticed that it was quite calm. Leaving Mozambique and handing in the ‘Temporary Vehicle Input’, was extremely easy and nobody even checked it correctly. At the gate to go to the Zimbabwean side of the border, the police checked our car and asked me this very nice question: “Don’t you have some money for us?”? After giving them some Meticals, which we could not use anymore anyway, we moved on to the Zimbabwean border. Getting a visa and exporting the car was again quite easy and quick. We then just drove into Zimbabwe until some police officers stopped us at the 2nd border checkpoint. According to them the rental car affidavit to cross the border was not official. After talking to them for about 30 minutes, they let us go on anyway. Finally in Zimbabwe!

After only 15 minutes there already was a roadblock. They were moaning about the compulsory reflectors that have to be on every car in Zimbabwe. Luckily Sydney from Belgium Campus gave me some. So thank you very much Sydney! We soon realised that every 30 minutes there is a roadblock. Some ask for the papers, some just want to have a chat, etc. One of them asked me “What did you bring for the people of Zimbabwe”. So I just gave him a beer we had left from Mozambique.
The people in Zimbabwe are all extremely friendly. The landscape is also very beautiful. Lots of huge granite rocks, baobabs next to the roads, etc. Very different compared to Mozambique.

Around 14h30 we arrived at our stop, the ruins of the Great Zimbabwe.
“The greatest medieval city in sub-Saharan Africa provides evidence that ancient Africa reached a level of civilisation not suspected by earlier scholars. As a religious and political capital, this city of 10,000 to 20,000 dominated a realm that stretched across eastern Zimbabwe and into modern-day Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa. “
We pitched up our tent and went for a guided tour around the ruins. This was very nice and interesting.

After the tour we had a braai, accompanied by a big camp fire after which we went to bed. But we didn’t really sleep much, as it was not just cold, but terribly cold that night!