A Memento for Zimbabwe

After a beautiful day driving through the Bunga Forest we decided to try and make it to the Chinamani Falls about an hour away. The smooth, tar road gave way to a dirt road and that dirt road became increasingly difficult to drive with deep ruts, slippery puddles and rocks. We started to worry that we had made a mistake especially as the undergrowth closed in and we had no way to turn around. But just as we were about to give up we arrived at a clearing where we could hear sounds of rushing water.

I jumped out of Henry and walked a little way down a path that seemed to lead towards the sound. I found a steep set of stone steps with a handrail and dashed back to James with my thumbs up.

A few minutes later we were wobbling and stumbling down a perilous path

Which eventually led us to the waterfall

We were deep into the forest by now and it was cool and quiet

Apart from the deafening sound of the waterfall covering us in a refreshing spray of water

It was hard work climbing back out up the steep path, mainly because of the heat. We were sweating buckets but it was definitely worth the effort.

The drive back to Mutare took us down yet more beautiful roads surrounded by lush greenery and towering trees

We headed towards Nyanga National Park, deep in the beautiful Eastern Highlands

Our first stop was to be a quirky campsite in the grounds of a hydroelectric power station. According to the reviews on IOverlander it seemed to be a marmite campsite – some people loved it, some people hated it. As far as we were concerned it looked like something a little unusual so we made a bee-line for it.

As we drove along the smooth, tar roads, we passed a lot of new houses under construction, pretty pink brick rondavels

Kids were walking along the road waving, happy to see us. The adults smiled and put their thumbs up as we passed, welcoming visitors back to their country.

We stopped at a roadside market and as soon as we pulled up we were swamped by ladies trying to sell me their wares

They laughed as I tried a small fruit not realising it was full of stones that I was supposed to spit out. As my face crumpled they all shrieked with laughter pointing to the floor and gesturing for me to spit! I laughed along with them but decided aganist buying any more. Instead I bought about a hundred bananas, three enormous avocadoes and eight potatoes. The whole hoard cost us USD$3 which was far more than they wanted for it – and it was the most delicious fruit we had ever tasted

The lady at the power station office where we had to buy our ticket for the campsite was great. She was so welcoming and gave me detailed instructions on how to get there. She smiled all the time, everyone in Zimbabwe seems to smile all the time.

With ticket bought and power station personnel radioed to advise of our expected arrival we picked our way carefully up the winding, rocky mountain path towards the campsite

It was a beautiful drive that took about an hour. We were surrounded by local people grinning at us and waving enthusiastically

If we ever came to a point where we weren´t sure which way to go someone would run up and point us in the right direction. Everyone looked so pleased to see us and so proud of their power station.

When we finally arrived it looked quite impressive. The staff walked us around the campsite and we chose the pitch furthest from the power station and highest up the hill

We had a good view of the river and four toilets and showers all to ourselves

Later in the day we were invited for a guided tour of the power station itself. We were asked not to take photos of the inside but they were happy for me to photograph the outside

And the model of the inside showing the four turbines!

Two members of staff including the site manager showed us around and explained in detail how everything worked. It was fascinating.

We were then taken across the ´sky bridge´ where we could get a great view of the whole place

As well as play about on the bridge as it swung and swayed beneath us…..

It was a wonderful afternoon – lovely scenery, fascinating power station and friendly people.

But that evening James went to fill his water bottle from the tap in Henry only to find that our water pump wouldn´t work. This was the high end pump we had been amazed to find in Gaborone in Botswana only a few months ago. With all the recent mechanical problems with Henry this was the last thing we needed.

James had a quick look, did some research on the internet and decided it was either completely burnt out or the pressure switch had gone. So early the next morning he got all his tools out, removed the pump and set about carefully taking it apart

He ingeniously rewired it to bypass the pressure switch and we were excited to find it worked! So he refitted it with the work-around in place – albeit it was now a two person job to use the tap, one to operate the manual switch and the other at the sink. It would do for now and hopefully we could find a replacement pressure switch somewhere at some point….

We set off along the twisting mountain roads for Nyanga National Park

Before long we were making our way up a bumpy logging road, the loggers smiling at us as we passed by

Our first stop was Chapungu Falls. When we arrived at the GPS coordinates we could hear the water but couldn´t see anything. We parked Henry as far off the road as we could to avoid any unwelcome Landrover/tractor interfaces and picked our way over fallen trees and branches towards the sound.

Eventually we found ourselves at the top of the falls looking down the sheer drop

It was small but very pretty

The next stop was the Hondwe Valley viewpoint. There was a logging truck being stacked in the clearing. The guys greeted us warmly as they worked

The view from here was spectacular, albeit a bit hazy

We stopped for a quick lunch then followed some signs for the Mutarazi Falls further into the forest

These falls had not been on our list but as it was the only thing actually signposted we figured it must be worth seeing. It turned out that these falls were a major attraction and actually in the national park itself which we had been skirting all day.

The entrance fee was $30 and we weren´t sure we wanted to see yet another waterfall that much! However after a bit of discussion we finally decided that there were enough other things to see in the park to justify the cost so the very patient ranger handed us our tickets, gave us directions and also gave us some good advice about the rest of our itinerary.

It was a lovely 800m walk from the car park to the falls and it was good to be out of the Landrover for a while. Fortunately it was also an easy walk so the heat and humidity didn´t cause us too many problems this time.

There is a zip wire across these falls and we watched a couple of people flying over, screaming as they went!

But other than that, considering these are supposed to be the second highest falls after Victoria Falls it was a pretty view but not particularly dramatic

The Pungwe Viewpoint gave us another lovely view

But the roads in and out were badly overgrown

And the picnic benches and balcony had been left for nature to reclaim. It must have been wonderful in its day but was now yet another example of a bygone past long forgotten.

The Pungwe Falls were a short drive down the road. The road was easy enough and we found ourselves with other tourists for the first time in a very long time. The guys were driving Hiluxes and with three vehicles all trying to park in a very small, overgrown space the other two were dancing around each other to make room for us. But we were in a Landrover! We put Henry into low box and drove seamlessly up the bank onto a plateau out of everyone´s way. As we jumped out the other guys laughed saying we made it look easy – we just smiled, everything is easy in a Landrover!

These waterfalls were beautiful

We wandered up and down enjoying the cool spray and sounds of rushing water, soaking it all in

But our day was not destined to stay so peaceful and relaxing for long. As we tried to make our way to the next set of waterfalls our sat nav took us off the main dirt road and down a back road without us realising

Before we knew it the dirt track was looking decidedly unused. It quickly went from unused to narrow and overgrown and from that to deep ruts. We were slipping and sliding, James skilfully picking our way over the ruts but Henry was leaning perilously one way then the next

Since our accident the previous year I still have difficulty with leaning sharply and was digging my nails into my seat and gasping every time we went over. It wasn´t helping James concentrate so in the end I decided to get out and walk.

Watching James and Henry slowly make their way through the ruts I couldn´t help but be impressed yet again at James´ skill, how does he do it and stay so calm no matter how bad our situation is??

Finally we found the main road again and I jumped back in giving James a big kiss for always being my hero!

After such excitement we decided against seeing any more waterfalls and took the less stressful option of driving straight to the campsite. The road there was thankfully easy and we arrived a little more composed than we had been an hour ago.

This campsite was next to the Cecil Rhodes museum and hotel. We decided to have a quick drink at their bar before checking into the campsite.

The hotel was very quaint and historic and had a nice, rustic atmosphere

We ordered a small glass of wine and a beer and chatted with the staff at the bar. I wandered back into the corridor to take a photo and was accosted by two rather drunk gentleman wanting to be in the picture!

They joined us at the bar and breathed fumes over us for a while until we quietly moved away to sit on a sofa at the other end of the room. To our dismay they followed and tried to hold a slurred conversation with us. But they were inoffensive and just curious about our travels and eventually they forgot about us and chatted to themselves. Nevertheless the extremely professional manager came over and whispered in my ear to check we were ok, offering to move them along. I smiled and said they were fine for now but I would let him know if anything changed. He beamed and said our comfort was his top priority so just keep him posted. Zimbabwe is brilliant!

When we got back to the campsite we found a lovely, wide open place with gorgeous views, nestled in amongst tall trees with a small stream trickling along one side

As usual, the ablutions were in a shocking state but the people were friendly and helpful, lighting us a fire that evening and rushing around trying to get the water working the next morning.

We were much higher up here and that morning we found dew on the grass and had to put our fleeces on for the first time in weeks – it was so refreshing and welcome. I had never thought of myself as a cold weather person before but I was beginning to really enjoy the feeling of being cool and actually held off putting my fleece on for a while to luxuriate in my goosebumps!

We returned to the Cecil Rhodes hotel the next morning to have a look around the museum

It was small and dark but packed full of his belongings and was a real eye opener in terms of the luxury this dubious man lived in. It also provided lots of other interesting information on the history of the country as well as insights into how the people lived a hundred years ago – women´s rights being a high priority alongside education of the children, equality and health care

We wanted to make the most of our stay in the Nyanga National Park before leaving so decided to seek out an old fort and some pools. We drove far further than we expected and were just about to give up when we finally found a crumbling signpost for the fort.

It took some imagination to picture the fortifications as they once were

But the views were worth the effort of finding it

On the way back we found the pools which were equally pretty

We had one more stop in the Eastern Highlands as we headed north, the World´s View, a picturesque garden high in the hills with far stretching views. As soon as we arrived we loved it

The flowers were magnificent, I couldn´t help but think how much my Mum would enjoy it

And the views were as breathtaking as we could have hoped

The whole place was pristine, so well kept and beautifully tended

It even had clean toilets with running water – which you are probably starting to realise had become a major thing for us by this time!!

We spent an hour or more wandering from viewpoint to viewpoint

Sat in the pavilion at the highest point

And opened up the awning to sit amongst the flowers for lunch

But then disaster struck. We were wandering around the curio stall in the grounds when my fingers reached for the diamond in my engagement ring as they do a hundred times a day. It felt rough and wrong and when I looked down I saw to my horror that the diamond was gone. This ring was James´ grandmother´s engagement ring which his Mum had also worn most of her life. James gave it to me after she died when he proposed over 9 years ago. I was devastated. All thoughts of beautiful gardens and curios were gone in an instant and we spent an hour searching pointlessly around the gardens – neither of us willing to leave without it but both of us knowing that we had no chance of finding it.

With heavy hearts we eventually had to go, the consolation being that something so precious and meaningful to us was forever going to stay in a country that had captured our hearts. Somehow fitting I thought…..