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!
