Kariba Lake - Zimbabwe

Friday-saturday 15-16.03:

On the the early morning drive through the center of Zimbabwe we saw hundreds of school kids walking for kilometers to school in their uniforms. Finally we arrived at the Chinhoyi caves national park. Here we stooped to have breakfast, clean the car from the tar and finally to have a quick look at the dolomite caves and sinkholes. The highlight is a pool with unknown depth and crystal clean water.

We continued our journey up north  to the small lakeside town Kariba situated in a beautiful landscape at the Kariba lake, the third largest artificial lake in the world.

We found a nice cheap campground with a pool and small restaurant. It was only us and a bus load of teenage school kids from the capital Harare staying there. The first thing we were told is that the previous week a local woman was eaten by a lion while making love in the jungle. The lover managed to escape. The next day another local was eaten up except for his head. Apparently this was the first lion attack since 30 years and we were assured not to worry.
The next day we were trying to get information from the tourist office. However we were told it is closed because the responsible officer was in hospital after a crocodile attack.

Sunday 17.03:

We had stayed another night at the Kushinga campground. At 12:00 pm we watched the gigantic opening of the dam to reduce water from the lake. 

The afternoon we spent in a 5 star resort so Ju could prepare for a online test for a job opening at the united nations in vienna taking place on thursday morning.

We also went on a 2 hour boat ride on the Kariba lake and dared to jump into the world of crocodiles and hippos.

We again spent the night at the kushinga campground.

Matopu Nationalpark & crossing Zimbabwe

Thursday 14.03:

In the morning we drove down to a scenic dammed lake and made our coffee, muesli, fat cake breakfast. Afterwards we visited world view a barren granite mountain with a great view over the bizarre surrounding landscape. On top john Rhodes the founder of the former Rhodesia was buried.
We left the park to drive up to north through the center of Zimbabwe. We had heard a lot of warnings about going to Zimbabwe before. However we experienced the opposite: friendly people, good roads, ATM machines with us dollars the main currency here, and plenty of fuel stations.
On the road I unfortunately was forced to drive on fresh tar by oncoming traffic. The next morning it took us about two hours to rub it off the car finish with molten butter (we got that tip from www.fragmutti.de). We did not find any safe sleeping spot until we finally were allowed to sleep in our seats in front of a night club/hotel. In the middle of the night a drunk women desperately tried to get into her van for about 1 hour making a big noise. At 5:30 the night guard politely asked us to leave.

Hwange National Park -Zimbabwe

Wednesday 13.03:

In the morning we visited the painted dog conservation center were we got a private tour by the local guides. Unfortunately those animals are close to extinction.
Then we drove 300k down to Bulawayo the second biggest city of Zimbabwe. Via the Mugabe Avenue we crossed this truly African city and arrived at dawn in the Matopu national park to find a beautiful camp site next to amazing granite rock formations. We felt safe because we were assured that no big animals roam around in this area. Let's hope it’s true.

Tuesday 12.03:

We woke up early by the morning speech of the main officer to the 30 police students who lined up just in front our rooftop tent.

Throughout the day we crossed the national park which has the largest elephant population in Africa with 30000. Every now and then families of them suddenly crossed our path but they were more peaceful then in the Kalahari.

At night we left the park and found refuge in the painted dog refuge. Were we invited john the night guard for a pot of spaghetti Cooke on our stove. We peacefully went to bed to the cries of the nearby baboon family.

Monday 11.03:

We left Shoestring backpackers at noon to drive to a huge baobab tree upstream of the Victoria Falls. The afternoon I spent getting Zimbabwean Sim cards for me and Ju so we will have internet even here in the middle of Africa. I also got some help with my broken laptop. I asked for help in a shop where they sold everything even fashionable wigs for the African lady. After two hours about 10 guys from the village stood around the laptop giving their expertise. In the end we agreed that the problem will fix itself by itself with given time.

Ju had to sit the whole time at our car to watch out for it since Vic falls main street did not seem like the safest place.
In the late afternoon we decided to head 100k south to Hwange national park. We arrived in the dark and found shelter at the district's police school.

Getting a free giant natural shower in the Victoria Falls - Zimbabwe

Saturday-Sunday 9-10.3

We left Kasane after eating a very tasty last meal in and Indian restaurant with the best lassies ever. The border crossing went easy again during a huge thunderstorm. It seems like the car is leaking at a few spots.
Victoria Falls is just 80 kilometers from the border. We settled down in a backpacker’s hostel.

Sunday 10.03 

Today it was definitely a highlight. We walked along the majestic Vic falls. The spray of water was breathtaking. We watched the bungee jumpers off the bridge to Zambia. Finally we decided to do the baby version of jumping off the bridge and slided over the deep valley. Deep below us the boiling water of the Zambesi river and the rainbows in the spray of the waterfall.