Friendly Elephants, Ancient Ruins and Sticky Cake!

We were enjoying the Matopos Hills but the campsite and the roads were very run down so we decided not to hang around too long. The morning after our soggy dinner we started to make our way out and found ourselves crossing a dam over the river

The roads were quite difficult and we bumped and slid along wondering whether we were actually going to get out in one piece

We passed another cave with more beautiful rock art which was lovely and well worth the effort

And when we finally popped back out on to the main dirt road through the reserve we were picked up by a couple of rangers who kindly showed us the way to the most famous of the rock formations – the Mother and Child

We weren´t sure where to go from here, we were broadly travelling in a circle around the country but with limited time on our 30 day visas we knew we couldn´t do everything. We decided against the Gonarezhou national park as it was a bit too far out of the way and decided to try Antelope Park, a private game reserve reputed to be the best in Zimbabwe.

This turned out to be a bad decision! We found out later than Gonarezhou national park is one of the most beautiful parts of Zimbabwe whereas Antelope Park was just awful.

First of all, we couldn´t find a way in. Our sat nav sent us through an industrial city and down a very bad, water-logged dirt road passing by lots of run down houses. The next turn took us down a road that just got more and more difficult to drive until we decided it couldn´t possibly be the right way and turned back. We asked the locals for directions and everyone sent us a different way down equally bad roads until finally a lorry driver pulled up and told us we were in completely the wrong place. He sent us back through the city until we finally found a billboard poster pointing the way.

When we arrived our first impressions were not too bad. The campsite overlooked a lovely lake

With birds nesting in the trees

But the campsite showers didn´t work and we had to walk miles to facilities on the other side of the lodge. The seating area was thankfully under cover so we could still cook in the rain but the benches and tables were absolutely filthy.

All the way down the road to the reserve had been billboard signs advertising a unique, once-in-a-lifetime lion experience which is apparently one of the things they are most famous for. You can ´walk with lions´ here so they say! So when a guide came to chat to us about the activities on offer I asked him about the ´lion experience´. He said there were no cubs to hold at the moment but they were still offering the main experience. I have no desire to take part in a touristy show with tame lions that are kept couped up in cages but as this was a game reserve and not a zoo my lion-addiction won over and we arranged to go on the experience the following morning.

We also arranged to do the ´walking with elephants´ which I had fewer concerns about.

That night we were woken in the early hours by lightening so bright it made the night turn into day and the thunder rolling around the skies was so loud it shook the Landrover. I watched out of a corner of my window in awe.

This video needs the volume turned up and some imagination to put yourself in a Landrover in the middle of the pitch black African night

As we climbed into the safari vehicle the next morning I nearly changed my mind about the whole thing. It was more like being at Disneyland than a respectful and authentic wildlife experience. The guides were messing around and talking to us like children. But we stayed on the truck despite our better judgment.

To be honest, the elephant thing was ok. When we arrived the person in charge of the elephants was considerably more professional than the main guides. There are four elephants at the park, rescued from somewhere and being rehabilitated. Also being habituated to humans which doesn´t seem to sit comfortably with rehabilitation.

They were smaller than your usual adult elephant as they are still young but even so they seemed huge close up!

We were invited to feed the three females whist the male was kept away

I had a little chat with one of them, trying to ask her what she thought about the world

But she wasn´t in the mood for chatting and was far more interested in what I had in my hand!

But then a questionable elephant experience turned into a heart-wrenchingly upsetting lion experience.

We were driven around a few cages each containing anything from one to six lions. They have 58 lions in total and admitted that they not only take them in as rescue animals but they supply some national parks and as they give the lions away they replenish their stocks through captive breeding. I could barely look as we passed cage after cage. Eventually the vehicle stopped and we were told to get out and stand outside one particular cage housing an old lion. The guide proceeded to shout and whistle at the lion in an attempt to goad him into growling or something.

James and I walked away, I was trying to hold back my tears. I wished we had never come to this place and vowed there and then to keep my lion-addiction in check in the future and never, ever be tempted to try and get close to them again – the only way you can get close to a lion is by going to a place like this and places like this ought to be shut down.

We were taken back to the campsite but even a few monkeys playing on Henry didn´t cheer us up

We left as soon as we could and I was very down for a long time afterwards – guilt, no doubt.

Our next destination were the immense ruins of Great Zimbabwe – the ancient site that the newly independent country took its name from in 1980. We had booked into the campsite in the grounds of the Great Zim hotel and when we arrived we found a small but comfortable campsite with run down but clean facilities.

Early in the morning, as I was getting ready to start training, I got talking to a Zimbabwean guest who had spent 27 years travelling the world in the army and NATO then a few years living in London before retiring back to his home country of Zimbabwe. He said the country was chaos but in chaos was opportunity. He also said it was pretty much a dictatorship but with that comes immense freedom as there are few rules and laws are optional. Talking to people who have lived very different lives to you can be a real eye-opener at times.

Today was our 9^th wedding anniversary and we tried really hard to remember it! We spent the first half of the day relaxing on the campsite chatting to a German couple who were travelling through Africa in their Land Cruiser. We were waiting for the rain to stop and the skies to clear and when it finally did we set off on the 1km walk in the roasting heat to the Great Zimbabwe ruins.

On our way we came across a first in over two years in Africa – a proper snake! It hurried across the path in front of us, desperate to be out of our way

We gave it plenty of space but were fascinated by the blue tongue!

We´re not snake experts but I have shown this picture to a few who are and the general consensus of opinion is that it was a juvenile Night Adder. Apparently the juveniles can be more dangerous than the adults as they haven´t learnt to moderate how much venom they pump into a victim. But this one was no threat to us, like most snakes in the wild, he just wanted to get as far away from us as he could.

When we arrived at Great Zim itself we found that the site was immense and fascinating

The Great Enclosure is the most famous part with the huge stone walls

And the most famous, intact platform

We wandered over to the cultural village

And then to the Hilltop ruins

Where we were treated to fabulous views

We could have got lost in this place for hours

But my knees were starting to suffer with all the steep climbing so eventually we decided against the ancient route down – which looked like a sheer drop! – and took the more genteel modern route back to Henry.

That evening we treated ourselves to a meal at the hotel restaurant to celebrate our anniversary. The food was basic but fresh and tasty but the cost of a main meal and one drink each was $90! If we stayed in this country too long we would be bankrupt!

We consulted our itinerary and map, checked how long we had left on our visas and decided to try the Save Conservancy next.

The road from the gate of the conservancy to the campsite was 64kms long and was slow going over heavy corrugations and a deep river crossing

When we finally arrived it all seemed a bit confusing, the GPS coordinates had taken us to a workshop and the staff there didn´t seem to know anything about a booking or even a price but were quite happy to lead us to the campsite. We followed their truck down narrow, bumpy tracks weaving around taking multiple turns and getting completely lost. By the time we were shown our pitch I feared we would never find our way out.

As usual, the facilities were in a terrible state, the shower was a bucket we needed to fill from a hose pipe attached to a drum filled from the river. Everything leaked and there was no hot water.

But it was beautiful

As we arrived our guide had pointed out an elephant grazing by the river and there were plenty of waterbuck and other antelope wandering around

It was so lovely we decided to stay for two nights. On our first morning we were up early and out by 6am trying to follow the road along the river to find lions. But all the roads were just as confusing as the route to the campsite and, despite dropping numerous pins on our sat nav along the way, we were concerned we wouldn´t be able to find the way back to our pitch. So when, only half an hour into our drive, the tracks got wet and slippery and very tight, we turned around and went back for some breakfast – we hadn´t heard any lions all night anyway so the chances of them being around were pretty slim.

We spent the rest of the day on the campsite doing very little – the sort of day we hadn´t had in a long time. I worked on the blog and James checked a few things on Henry. He seemed to be doing ok for a change although he needed a new oil seal but it wasn´t urgent.

The whole campsite was full of bugs of every description, we made sure our trousers were tucked into our socks at all times and a lot of bug spray was used!

That evening we heard lions roaring in the distance and when I got up at 5am the next morning I stood quietly watching waterbuck sitting in the river bed in the dawn light – it was all very tranquil.

So far we were really enjoying Zimbabwe. It seemed to be a country unlike anywhere else. On the face of it, in the first couple of weeks after we arrived, it seemed much more affluent that Namibia or Botswana but this apparent affluence hid extreme poverty and a broken infrastructure. Cities like Bulawayo shine from their beautiful colonial history but behind the scenes everything is falling apart.

But the people are extremely well educated, hard working and proud. I don´t think we came across one single beggar nor did we find much evidence of homelessness even in the capital city. It was as though the people were far too self-sufficient and determined to be reduced to asking for money from strangers. Instead we were greeted by everyone without exception with friendliness, humour and a sense of equality – rather than shy waves from the people on the roads as we passed by, our waves were greeted with a thumbs up or a welcoming nod of the head. Even those people doing menial jobs such as the person giving out gate passes at the supermarket or cleaning the streets looked purposeful and engaged.

And everyone has such an incredible sense of humour – when a lorry full of guys leaned out of the cab and called out ´yo, Henryyyyyy´ with their thumbs up and big grins on their faces James commented that everyone around here is nuts!

Everyone loved Henry, at police checkpoints they would say what a beautiful car he is and James would unclasp the removable steering wheel and hand it to them out of the window saying ´it´s yours´! Without exception it would reduce the officers into hysterics and they would slap the door and tell us to be on our way.

Everything seemed very English – from the red post boxes to the country gardens to the old manor houses and English was spoken perfectly by everyone

And it is so green with plentiful water – it felt as though it would be a much easier place to live than Namibia or Botswana from an environmental point of view. Gone were the constantly stinging eyes, scratchy throat and skin like rice paper from the dust and the absolute aridity – replaced by a freshness that we hadn´t felt in many months.

We headed to the town of Mutare close to the Mozambique border and the gateway to the Eastern Highlands.

Along the way we crossed a very impressive bridge over one of the many rivers

A real feat of engineering and quite beautiful!

When we arrived in the town we stopped for lunch at The Legion and were warmly welcomed by the regulars, including a small cat called Lucy who adopted us much to the surprise of the locals who said she normally doesn´t go near anyone.

We then made a quick stop at the local museum to see old motorbikes, cars and a few more trains

Including one of Henry´s ancestors!

And again a family approached us wanting to have their photo taken with me – it can only be the now sun-bleached blonde hair!

We had planned to spend the night at the local golf club who have a small camping area in their grounds. When we arrived it took a while to find anyone to help but eventually one of the staff members showed us to a small but quiet patch of lawn where we could park up. There were monkeys playing on the grass and one or two drinking out of the water tap – I made a mental note to run the tap for a while before using the water!

As usual, the facilities were run down with no hot water – in fact no water at all the next morning. And despite all best intentions the door to the toilet and showers was accidentally locked that evening making for a very uncomfortable hour or so the next morning before anyone came to let us in!

The manager, Kevin, came to say hello and gave us lots of good advice on where to go and what to do in the Nyanga area of the Eastern Highlands as well as some contact details for potential future campsites. Despite the lack of water and being locked out of the toilets all morning we forgave him as his heart was definitely in the right place.

We followed the winding road east into what is generally considered to be the most beautiful part of Zimbabwe and we were not disappointed.

Rolling, green mountains and lush valleys as far as the eye could see

We stopped off at Tony´s coffee and cake shop, a famous landmark

Huge, sickly sweet cakes and thick hot chocolate at 10am sent our sugar levels through the roof but they were delicious and we were offered as many hot chocolate refills as we could drink – which wasn´t a lot to be honest!

A few minutes down the road was a plant nursery that offered guided walks into the hills and we figured it would be a good way to work off some of that sugar!

We asked for a short walk – an hour or two at the most – because of the heat and humidity. One of the guides took us through the forest to the cliff edge and yet more gorgeous views

After that we just drove around the winding mountain roads admiring the views and wearing away our brake pads trying not to hurtle too fast down the steep mountain passes

As we pulled up at one viewpoint a Colobus monkey wandered across the road in front of us

By mid-afternoon we had had our fill of mountain roads and stopped at a campsite that used to offer holiday chalets. These days the chalets are falling down and are only used to provide toilets and a shower to people camping in the garden next to them. James found magazines in our chalet dating back to 1996 which we suspected was around the time this place was in its heyday

It was at about this point in our trip that the difficulties of life in Zimbabwe started to become apparent. Campsite after campsite was neglected and run down. Electricity, water and especially hot water were patchy at best and everywhere we went looked as though it had been gorgeous twenty years ago but was now a shadow of what it once was.

We may have been struggling with the conditions we were living in but as travellers we recognised that our inconvenience was nothing compared with what the people of this country had to deal with.

At the end of the day we were in a beautiful and fascinating country and for that we could cope without power, water and internet connection for a while. So we set our chairs up overlooking the stunning views over the mountain…

Cooked a meal of soya mince and pasta and finally broke open the bottle of champagne we had bought for our wedding anniversary – to toast the contradiction that is this wonderful place…..