Zimbabwe: Visiting the Smoke that Thunders, making friends and being blown away by an amazing people

On our first day at Vic Falls we walked to see Mosi-Oa-Tunya ("The Smoke that Thunders") - WOW! seriously very impressive! When you see that huge quantity of water falling such great heights, you think your eyes must be decieving you. Because it's rainy season and the Zambezi is so high, the Falls create huge amounts of spray and at parts we couldnt see the Falls at all, but just got soaked from the spray (which was just like rain except it fell up instaed of down). Now I understand why it's one of the seven wonders of the world. Tick.

While in Vic Falls we met a couple from Belgium, An and Jo, who are in the second half of their epic journey across Europe, Asia and then up the length of Africa.(Check out their journey on http://www.anenjo.be/). We got chatting and decided to meet up in a few days time in Hwange and then travel together along the length of Lake Kariba and into Mana pools. We tried to do some grocery shopping before leaving Vic Falls so that we would be prepared for a week in the bush, but couldn't find much in the shops. We were struck by the desperation of the touts in the streets, trying to sell old Zim dollar notes to tourists. They get quite intense and don't accept 'No' for an answer. You can sense their absolute desperation and we left V Falls feeling quite saddened at the state of such a beautiful country. This feeling continued as we entered Hwange National Park.

Although Zimbabwe is now using the US Dollar as their currency and things have improved, you still get the sense that it is country on its knees battling to stand up again and raise it's head as a Tourist destination again. The use of the dollar also meant that Ang and I had to do some serious arithmetic when shopping and at times I had wished I had learnt my 7 times table better in primary school.... 7 times 7 is......ah....uhm...well 7 times 5 is 35 so that means..........and so it went on. You also don't get anything below one dollar even if the price says it is as there is no change. At one shop we had to take our change in sweets...Ang was not complaining though. This unfortunately means that 1 dollar bills here are increddibly "well used" resembling dirty pieces of cloth with a rather bleak looking George Washington staring back at you.

We stayed at the Sinamatella Camp on the first night and were one of two groups of tourists in the camp. The staff try their best to keep the facilities clean, but the camps are totally run-down and in need of serious attention. The view of the flood plain from the camping area was amazing though as we witnessed an electric thunderstorm over the park.

We drove through the park the next day towards the Main Camp, but unfortunately didn't see much game. The bush is very thick and in parts the grass was higher than the car. We also read that poaching may have affected the numbers of game. We arrived at the Main Camp and noticed that a renovation programme was in place, so things are looking up! The staff were so friendly and helpful. Before and after each game drive the gate guard gave us tips on which routes to take based on game sightings in the past few days. Our luck was not playing the game though, and after two nights and three days, all we'd seen was a few ellies, impala, zebra and giraffe.

An and Jo met us at the Main Camp on our last day there and we decided to find a camp site just outside of the park for the night (the camping fees were quite steep) and then head off along the road to Kariba the following day.

The drive the next day was beautiful. Neat little huts, cattle pens and maize plantations nestled in bushy green vegetation and huge trees. We decided to explore the town of Binga on the South western bank of Lake Kariba, and were taken in by the views of the lake from Masuma Lodge and decided to camp there for two nights. We ate like Kings, combining our food and recipes and had a great stay there. The first night we tasted the famous Kariba Bream. The Second night Jo made authentic Belgian fries in our little bread potjie on the fire and we were educated that French Fries actually originated in Belgium, not

France. Delicious!

While at Masuma Lodge we went on a boat trip, for the boys to do some fishing and to hopefully see the elephants at Elephant Bay (a bay along the lake where the elleies come and drink everyday). Again, we did not have much luck, the boys didn't catch anything and the ellies didn't come drink! But a beautiful day on the water nonetheless.

We left Binga and headed East for about 250km's to the town of Karoi. We had heard that the road may be a bit of a challenge and not many of the locals could give us much information about its condition. It turned out that the road was not too bad providing enough puuddles and potholes to keep me and michael on our toes. The drive took us around 9 hours due to the condition of the road, but the drive was probably one of our trip-highlights so far. The people living in the villages we passed were so friendly, running to the side of the road to wave and scream "How are you?!!" We all commented that we spent the whole day with our hands in the air, waving and smiling and screaming "Fine and you?!" out the window. Our perceptions of the country were changing and our hearts breaking at the characters of the people, desperately poor, but so friendly. It was on this road that we were stopped at the Tsetse Fly Control Point. As we stopped we joked that they would check our cars to see if we were smuggling any of the biting flys. And then, true as nuts, I guy came out of a small hat carrying a net, he was actually going to try catch the buggers if found. Luckly we were not transporting any of the critters and saved the net-guy the effort of clambering around in our car.

We spent the night in Karoi, which looked as if it used to be a hub of a farming town, comparable to a town in the Natal Midlands. Now, it's run-down and there were no camp-sites except the parking lot of a small guest house. We had an interesting evening. I had a small confrontation with one of the "operators", who, after learning that we were South African kept calling me "Madam", "Mummy" and "Boss" despite my protests. Sleep that evening was replaced with listening to said operator playing all the ring tones available on his cell phone and phoning various friends using speaker phone. An and Jo were also awakened from their shortened slumber by the sounds and motions of their car being washed whilst they were sleeping in it! Strange indeed.

Our excitement for our planned stay in Mana Pools was shattered the following day when we learnt that Mana Pools was closed due to flooding. Apparently four of the sluice gates at Kariba had been opened two weeks ago and they were planning on re-opening them soon without any notice. A real bummer. Jo had nick-named Grant "the big-guy" (the first time I have been refered to as big) and we had been joking during the previous days about the Mana Pools lions choosing 'the big-guy' over the rest of us. So now we'll never find out ;-) Dissapointed and deflated we opted to drive to the town of Kariba, camp the night and see the town. We were met with more derelict campsites, lodges and shops, without any other tourists in sight. We eventually decided to camp at Warthog's Bush Camp, our cheapest camping yet at $3 pp!

The following day we headed to Harare, where we are currently, staying at Small World Backpackers. We've indulged in their laundry service and all our clothes are currently being washed- yay! Today, we walked to the closest shops and again our perceptions of Zim were changed. Harare is a bustling, clean city (the parts we've seen of it), the shops are well-stocked, the people are enterprising and positive. However, there is an undertone that rears it's head every now and then. One of oppression borne by a country ruled by a dictator. Today there was a protest in the Capital against sanctions with threats of intimidation being made.

Zim is sucking us in and we wish we could spend more time here, but time is ticking and Malawi is calling. Tomorrow we plan to do some shopping and then head to Malawi via the Tete corridor in Moz.

Things Ange has learnt:

1. The washing machine is man's best invention

2. When you are offered a free meal from the resturant at the campsite you are staying at and all you hear is 'Schnitzel', you can't be blamed when learning on completion of meal that the chef actually said "Warthog Schnitzel"- apologies to all Rennies!! :-)

3. My suspicions were correct- Bullie Beef tastes and smells like dog food.

Things Grant has learnt:

1. If you don't like waving hello to people, then Africa is not for you.

2. Ange has set the world record for the most number of sneezes in a day! 5 million and counting (shame she has been suffering from some serious hay fever)

3. Zim is the land of milk and honey and the people have hearts bigger than their president's greed.

Road trip tunes:

Ross's CD's!! they are awesome- thanks Rosco! Also a bit of Regina Spektor and 500 days of summer soundtrack.

The best birthday present and leaving Namibia

So, Friday the 18th arrived in Katima mulilo. Grant treated me to coffee and muffins in bed, hung a colourful HAPPY BIRTHDAY (Grant: A real peach of a find in the local shoprite) sign across our tent and I opened pressies from home! Such a treat!! All the sms's and phone calls from home were amazing, thanks everyone- it was a great day!

We cycled into town and went for a cooldrink with the wooden-bicycle-packing-team, all the while awaiting the phonecall from Christof (the mechanic) that would determine if we would be leaving Namibia the next day. After a great chat and laughs at the Madese Catering Cafe (see below: the bossy Mhlungu is telling our waitress how to take the picture!), we searched for a new power cable for the laptop as the old one had packed in.. and then made our way back to Fish Eagles Nest.

We eventually spoke to Christoff and he said all was good to go, the part had arrived from Windhoek and therefore JHB, it had been fitted, Michael had been taken for a test-drive and we could come collect him at 5pm!! Really the very best birthday present! After we had collected our wheels, we went out to the Bezi Bar on the Zambezi river with Frik, Mart-Marie, Julianna, J.G, Fransel and some others. I was spoilt with more pressies and we had a great evening! Thanks guys!

Saturday dawned, we did some grocery shopping and were off!! We passed through the Namibia-Botswana border post and drove through the Chobe for 60km's (seeing a couple of Ellies on the way) and then into Zim (Via the Kazangula Border) to Vic Falls. (It was at this border crossing that we were asked for the

first time by a Zimbabwean Police Officer what we had brought him from South Africa. So using a line from a book I had just read I replied " Goodwill, lots of goodwill") We booked ourselves into the main campsite in town and enjoyed the camping vibe once again, having Mikey and all his luggage close by :-)

Katima Mulilo: The saga continues...

16 February 2011

The Lonely Planet's description of Katima is as follows: "Out on a limb at the eastern end of the Caprivi Strip lies remote Katima Mulilo, which is as far from Windhoek (1200km) as you can get in Namibia. Once known for the elephants that marched through the village streets, Katima is devoid of wildlife these days- apart from the hippos and crocodiles in the Zambezi- though it continues to thrive as a border town and minor commercial centre".

So, you may ask, what would a pair of lonely travellers do in this town, without a car (and all it's equipment) for ten days and counting (whilst waiting for a new hub for Michael's left rear wheel to be transported from JHB to Windhoek, and Windhoek to Katima)?

Well, a couple of things:

1. Book themselves into a B&B called Fish Eagles Nest which has one pre-erected tent in their garden for the 'budget traveller'.

 

The owners of the B&B, Frik and Mart-Marie have been absolutely wonderful to us. They have made us feel welcome and at home, offered us lifts into town, included us in all the local events in town and even took us for a boat trip on the Zambezi (more on that to come).

2. Join the local Chess Club.

We were invited to go along to the Chess evening by Christoff, the owner of Truck and Tractor (the second mechanic we decided to take Michael to). We had a wonderful time there and learnt alot about Chess too. We are now in the photograph of the Katima Chess Club, to be placed in their newsletter! Ha! After chess, we were invited by Helen, pictured below, to go to her house for dinner. We had a great evening, spoilt with delicious food and fascinating stories! (Dinner sorted for that night).

3. Get a shirt made.

In the centre of town there is an Open Market, a down-sized version of a typical African market, with different sections selling veggies, sitenges, fish, vetkoek, etc. I decided i'd like to get a shirt made and spent a while strolling through the aisles to choose a sitenge i liked. After we had haggled to get an acceptable price, we walked over to the ladies with sewing machines and drew a picture of what i wanted. The ladies took my measurements and had a good chuckle at my up-right stance. We returned the following day to pick it up. It's great! :)

4. Fall in love with a wooden bicycle and spend many hours making a plan to get it back to Jozi.

Disregarding our budget, we convinced ourselves that after all this drama we had to have this bicycle as a reminder of our time here in Katima and that a bicycle would have been a better mode of transport to travel through Africa than a Land Cruiser imported from Australia (sorry Michael). After asking around, phoning around and searching the town for bubble wrap, boxes and packing equipment, we have officially sourced couriers and if all goes according to plan, the bicycle should be on its way to Windhoek tomorrow. Yesterday we spent the entire day going from shop to shop asking for bubble wrap (which seems to be a foreign concept here) and boxes. We eventually found a huge box with the help from Jackson, the cleaner at Bears furniture. We lugged the huge box through town, turning heads all the way, until we arrived at the Craft Centre, home of lovely wooden bicycle. The packing process was great fun, with everyone having their say as to how best to pack it. After it was packed we all guessed how much it weighs and wrote our guesstimates on the box. So tomorrow the couriers scale will tell all. Think we'll go for a cool-drink with the packing-team after that :)

5. Go for a boat-trip on the Zambezi River.

Frik and Mart-Marie invited us to go with them on the River on Sunday. It was a great way to see a different side to Katima. The River is really full this time of year and at parts is 12 meters deep. All the different river-fronted properties and lodges were pointed out to us and we went to inspect a property owned by Mart-Marie's cousin that can only be accessed by boat. As we sped along the river on the way back, we were cooled down by a much-needed down-pour of rain, an exhilarating experience!

6. Accept an invite for a potjie-lunch looking over the Zambezi River.

We were invited to Louise and Tommy's house for a pojtie on Sunday afternoon. Their home is right on the river and we enjoyed an afternoon of delicious lamb potjie, amazing views and sounds of nature all around us. It really is very wild bush here- just the day before, their young ridgeback was exploring the water's edge and tragically attacked and killed by a crocodile :(

7.  Hire bicycles

When we found out that the wrong part had arrived in Windhoek on Monday this week and that we needed to now order the correct part from JHB and then learning that there was a truck strike going on, we decided that we need to source a more efficient mode of transport. We asked around, went looking in all the Chinese shops in town for cheap bicycles, and were just about to buy some bicycles and then sell them back when we left when we were offered to rent some. So now we have wheels! We are planning to cycle out of town and explore a bit more in the days to come.

8. Sulk and throw tantrums

We have to be honest: we have lost our cool a number of times in this whole Waiting-For-Car-Part process. We have also been totally baffled at the bizarre occurences that have kept the part at bay. We have pulled our hair out (Grant mostly), cried (me mostly), screamed (at each other mostly), and after all of that learnt to wait and trust. We can confidently say that we are so grateful that this 'hiccup' has occurred. We have met wonderful people, had all of the above experiences and more, and we have gotten to know Katima inside-out and we really feel like locals here.

9. Visit an orphanage

We heard about an orphanage just out of town called Children of Zion Village, and once we had our bicycles, we decided to buy a few goodies and go for a visit. We cycled about 14km to get there and had a great afternoon being shown around the premises, meeting the teachers and new directors of the orphanage, Travis and Lorna Curry, from USA. (Grant: The Children of Zion Village started in 2003 and has had some ups and downs but is still going strong with 59 children living on the premises, getting a quality education and all the love they deserve. Travis and Lorna have an amazing story of how God called them to the Caprivi. Read more about their story and the work they do at http://www.tlcinhisservice.org/ and http://www.childrenofzionvillage.org/. Andrew, start thinking about a soccer clinic here, on the banks of the Zambezi.)

Things Grant has learnt:
1. What a hub is, where it goes and what it does (also how hard it is to get one)
2. Africans love music, any music, as long as it is loud.
3. Cars are better on 4 wheels than 3.
4. God works in amazing ways and is patient but relentless in his pursuit of his children. God has taught us many lessons during this time here.

Things Ange has learnt:
1. How to "negotiate" a better price for sitengies in the market.
2. Postcards are hard to find in Katima Mulilo.
3. Doom is the Number One mosquito killer.
4. Riding a bicycle for the first time in many many months hurts the bum.

17 February 2011

Today we received some really good news, that despite the strike in South Africa, our new hub has made it's way to Windhoek, it is the right one and it will be attached to Michael on Friday (Ange's Birthday). A miracle really!

Although our time in Katima Mulilo in the Caprivi was unplanned and has left us feeling frustrated at times, we have had an awesome time. We have managed to see how the town works, meet some of its residents and get a insiders look at a day in the life of an African Town. Every day we have been amazed at the generosity of the people here, be it our wonderful and hospitiable hosts, Mart-Marie and Frik or the guys (Justin, George and Olga) at the craft centre who packed our wooden bicycle with such enthusiasm. We were lucky to break down here and although I hope it does not happen again, we will leave with very fond memories and many a story to tell.

Below is a crude map of our journey so far, we hope to be able to add more soon! (the black line is us)