Good evening. We left Lusaka around 08:30 and headed south towards the Zimbabwean border. We’re really covering ground quickly now and it feels strange to be so far south, close to home. The border post at Kariba was small and friendly, except for one lady who insisted on a police clearance for the Hyena – something we don’t have. It took some convincing to get her to stamp our gate pass. Almost more than the effort it took to get her to put her soft cover novel down in the first place.
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| Lake Kariba photographed from the dam wall |
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| "Impressive, isn't it?!!" |
We took the time to admire the Kariba dam wall, which currently spews out an impressive mass of water. The lake itself has a stunning blue colour almost as nice as that of Lake Malawi. Stunning lush vegetation also surrounds the lake. From Kariba town we drove to Marogora where Zimbabwe National Parks has an office. Here we obtained an entry permit and signed an indemnity form, both of which were hand-written in full! You can see Zimbabwe’s parks have had a rough time over the last decade.
The gravel road into Mana Pools was the nightmare corrugation type and it lasted for a full 70 kilometres. We arrived at head quarters at 17:00 and quickly learnt that the park’s prices went up on the 1st of January 2011! We now have to pay $20US/p/night for a spot in the public campsite as opposed to the $10 we had budgeted for. Entrance and vehicle fees are also more expensive than the prices published in the brand new Bradt’s guide we’re using. As a result we can only stay in Mana Pools for three nights as opposed to the five nights we had hoped for. It’s a minor setback for sure, but we’ll make the most of it in the two full days we’ve got here.
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| Corrugated but beautiful - the road to Mana Pools |
Tomorrow we hope to see some wildlife for the first time in a while and the day after we’ll try our luck with the fishing rods again. Ji recons the Zambezi, which is very clean at the moment, looks good for tigers! Our campsite, Nyamepi, is under massive trees on the bank of the Zambezi river. Hippos have been calling since we arrived. I took a cold candle-lit shower earlier this evening and have to say – there’s nothing like it, especially with lions roaring outside! As always there is no fence around us. Ji is putting up our hyena-trap with Coke cans as we speak! Let’s hope tomorrow proves to be a productive one…
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| Our wild little camp at Nyamepi, and the moon's nearly full too! |
Night night
Villiers
Highlight of the day:
Villiers: The beauty around Kariba town
Ji: Everything looks good for tiger fishing here in the Zambezi!!
Lowlight of the day:
Villiers: The way the police woman on the Zim-side of the border post treated me
Ji: Mana Pools's prices
3 comments:
Ai toggie die madame tog - maar die natuur het opgemaak vir diè "skewe wind". Dis pragtig groen en die "plaaspad" foto is ook pragtig! Die kamp foto laat my dink aan die keer toe ons saam met die vriende in Zim (toe nog Rhodesië) gekuier het en ook so onder 'n groot apiesdoringboom uitgespan het.Lekker manne!
Wow, what a setting... it's a pity about the 100 % price jump but also surprising it was half the price to begin with. Maybe they're saving up for a photocopier? :)
Good luck catching those tigers, and hope your hyena-deterrent works its magic yet again!
Ai, jammer oor die setback, ma wow, met so campsite kan mens ok nie te lank daaroor dink nie - dit lyk so lekker, so wild en so BOS! wens ek was ook eerder in die bos langs 'n kampvuurtjie i.p.v reenerige Pta! Njoy julle twee!!
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