Overlanding Through Africa

This was the last full day of this leg of our trip. We were heading for Victoria Falls, where some of our group would go their separate ways. We packed our bag and went to breakfast for 6.30am. Laban wanted us to be on the road by 7.30am. We were only a 20-minute drive to the Zimbabwean border, but it is a notoriously slow process, so he wanted us to be there early. I’m glad we were, as it took us about two hours to get through. By the time we did, the queue was horrendous!

We were struck by the huge number of British-registered cars and commercial vehicles parked up on the Zimbabwean side of the border. Some were newish. Most were older. Some looked like they had been there for a very long time and were in a sorry state of disrepair. Laban explained that most were there due to Zimbabweans, who live and work in the UK, buying cars cheaply and shipping them to Walvis Bay in Namibia. They are allowed to be driven through Namibia and Botswana quite easily, but they get stopped by the tough rules in Zimbabwe. It can cost as much as US$5000 to import a car into the country, which is more than most people can afford, and is often more than the car is worth. Other vehicles are subject to Interpol investigations to determine whether or not they were stolen in the UK. It was weird seeing so many familiar-looking vehicles in a far-flung corner of Africa!

While we were queuing, several warthogs ambled through the border post. I guess there are no checks on wildlife crossing between the two countries! 😂

Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozambique to the east. The capital and largest city is Harare, and the second largest is Bulawayo. A country of roughly 15 million people, Zimbabwe's largest ethnic group are the Shona, who make up 80% of the population, followed by the Northern Ndebele and other smaller minorities. Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, with English, Shona, and Ndebele being the most common.

Once everyone was through the border, we got back on the truck and drove through the Zambezi National Park to get to Victoria Falls. Zambezi National Park is a national park located upstream from Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River. It was split off from Victoria Falls National Park in 1979 and is 56,000 hectares in size.

It took us about 90 minutes to reach the town of Victoria Falls. When we got there, Patrick drove us through the town so that Laban could point out the supermarkets, ATMs, and restaurants he recommended. We were to stay here for three nights. We then got dropped off at the activity centre so that those who wanted to could book things like helicopter flights, zip lining, white-water rafting, and other adrenaline-fuelled excursions! We toyed with the idea of a helicopter flight but decided against it as it was US$165 per person for a 12-minute trip!Leggi altro

Breakfast was from 7am this morning, but there was no pressure to be on time for it. We didn’t wake up until 7.20! We wandered over, though, as one or two people were leaving early doors, and we didn’t want to miss saying goodbye to them. We stayed chatting to a few people for a while and said our farewells to Sarah, who is flying to Singapore to continue her travels in Asia. We then went to update our emails before walking into town. The town is full of souvenir shops and little else! We looked in a few of them, and I bought some country patches with the idea that I will stitch them on to a bag before our next trip.

We returned to the Lookout Café to watch some of our group do their adrenaline activities. On the way in, we saw warthogs and banded mongoose. We sat with John and Trish, who had the same idea! They didn’t stay to see the others, but then Nathan and Georgie joined us. We admired the view as we enjoyed our coffee. Sadly, there was a bloated dead hippo at the bottom of the gorge. We saw Maddie do her flying fox ride, but the others were doing the canopy rope walk first, which would take them to the other side of the gorge and would take an hour. We decided not to wait as there were other things we wanted to do.

My elephant necklace that I bought in South Africa had broken on my way into the restaurant. The waiter had kindly collected up all the beads and wrapped them in a serviette. He suggested that I take them to the craft market opposite the entrance to the falls to get them rethreaded. So, this is where we headed. I met a guy called Antonio who said he could do the job for US$5, so I left it with him.

Zimbabwe is such a poor country with an economy that’s on its knees and 80% unemployment. Everyone is trying to make a living by selling you some product or service. You get hassled every time you walk down the street. It’s heartbreaking, but you can’t help everyone! The most common item these people are trying to sell is obsolete and worthless Zimbabwean trillion dollar notes!

We then went to visit the falls. Victoria Falls is a waterfall on the Zambezi River, which provides habitat for several unique species of plants and animals. It is located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe and is one of the world's largest waterfalls, with a width of 1,708 metres.

Archeological sites and oral history describe a long record of African knowledge of the site. Though known to some European geographers before the 19th century, Scottish missionary David Livingstone identified the falls in 1855, providing the English colonial name of Victoria Falls after Queen Victoria. Since the mid-20th century, the site has been an increasingly important source of tourism. Zambia and Zimbabwe both have national parks and tourism infrastructure at the site. Research in the late 2010s found that precipitation variability due to climate change is likely to change the character of the fall in the near future.

We made for the entrance to the Victoria Falls National Park. Foreigners have to pay US$50 each to go in. Once inside, you follow a marked trail to visit 12 viewpoints. As you go, you get progressively wetter!! We were wearing our rain jackets, but mine, in particular, was useless against the deluge we had to walk through. We were absolutely soaked!! There is so much water in the falls at the moment. We took some lovely photos at the start of the trail, but by about halfway through, there was so much spray and mist that it was difficult to see anything at all! The whole place is absolutely stunning, though. It is undoubtedly a bucket list destination that everyone should see at some point in their life.Leggi altro