7: Lion and Elephant - Hwange NP (Zimbabwe)

Zimbabwe Pictures Here:

Week 7 Update

Day 44:

The most bizarre alarm clock I had ever encountered sounded like this at 6am: Good morning sir (Me: Good morning) No need to get up, I’m just here to wash your car… I obviously said: Thank you, but it is really unnecessary. The alarm clock went into snooze, only to return an hour later. This time there was no warning, no greeting and no voice activation. The washing of the car, while we were still in the tent on the roof had begun and there was nothing on God’s earth I could do to stop it from happening. So I let it be.

One cold shower, hot cup of coffee and clean car later we headed for reception to try and find out about their elusive butchery. We had heard via the grapevine that at the time you were not allowed to bring meat into Zimbabwe, so we were fresh out. The friendly owners walked us to their impressive butchery and although the butcher was not there that day we were offered mince, Boere Wors and chickens. We could not find the Rump steak and Filler is simply out of budget! The most impressive for me was the chickens. At $6 a piece I though it was a little pricey until I saw the size of them. My word they were huge! We planned at least 3 to 4 meals per chicken. We headed to the local beef butchery in Bubi village and found the nicest looking Rump you can imagine at two thirds of South African prices. So with full freezer and happy hearts we set of for North Gonarezhou National Park.

A month before the trip started we heard that Zimbabwe parks had decided in their infinite wisdom to start charging per camp site, instead of per person. The rate for Gonarezhou was $75 a night. A bargain when you’re a group of 10, but ridiculous when you are only 2. Three days before we left South Africa and after much enquiring I received an email from Zim Parks stating that they had had a rethink and the prices were changed back to per person. I’d like to believe that this was in part to a letter I wrote to the head of the Parks Authority a week after the price increase, but who knows.

We reached the reception gate just after mid day and were asked to produce $185 for the two nights. This was $15 per person entrance fee, $5 for the car, and $75 per night for the camp site. I managed to keep my cool, get my computer and show the reception lady the email I received with the new prices on. On refusing to pay her prices she contacted her supervisor by radio, who phoned HQ and then radioed back to tell her we did in deed have the new prices. So $79 later we were sorted for two nights and one wheelbarrow of fire wood. Still pricey, but acceptable. She thanked me for the updated price list and explained where the camp was.

The process took a while and by the time we reached the impressive and beautiful camp site we were not really interested in going anywhere for the afternoon. Every camp site at Chipinda Pools has a comfortable thatched roof and concrete table and our site no 9 had massive shady trees next to the river. It was idyllically peaceful and we soaked it all up until way after sunset.

It was time to cook one them chickens! As previously stated, we brought a Cobb with us and that was the chicken cooking implement of choice. The only down side of a Cobb is that it gets very messy when cooking chicken, so we tried putting a roasting rack inside the Wok on the coals with the lid on. The theory was that the juices would be cought in the wok, which is easy to clean, rather than the mote, which is difficult to clean. Two hours later the chicken had not even started to get warm! We grumpily had corn on the cob and some vegetables while removing the wok and putting the roasting rack on the grill. One hour later we were feasting on the most succulent chicken you can imagine!

Two things here: Those who know us well will remember that we banned chicken from our menu after our Namibia trip in the Suzuki. Reason was that every time we had to cook chicken, something went wrong. We either arrived at our camp after dark, or the wood was wet or something… It was only when we acquired the Cobb that we re-instated chicken and up to the failure at No 9, very successfully. The second thing is that the Cobb recipe book explains very well how to do a roast chicken, and we have the recipe book with us, we just elected to ignore it. So we learn… We decided that we will cook chicken over lunch time, but not for lunch from now on and have it either cold, or as part of something else in the evening. This way if it takes two hours longer than expected no one will be grumpy.

Day 45:

We got up early for a change! It was game drive time! There was an eerie morning mist around, but we were convinced it would burn of in no time, so we set of within an hour of sunrise. From the Chipinda Pools camp site no 9 we ascended onto a Plato, needing first gear to reach it. From the top we looked back over the valley and the Runde River our jaws dropped! It was an incredible sight! You could see the snake like shape of the river for miles upstream as it cut a path through the familiar African bush of Acasia trees and yellow grass.

We stopped at the Massassanya Dam to fit the seed net in front of the radiator as the grass was fairly tall in the middle of the tracks. Catt refused to help me and kept on telling me how the hippos were stalking me, but she had the camera ready, so all was good. We had worked out a clockwise circular route to keep us busy for most of the day, with a worthwhile mid day stop at a picnic site at the bottom of Chilojo Cliffs. We were told that it was not possible to reach the top of the cliffs because of the water level in the river, so the bottom picnic spot had to do.

About an hour and a half into the journey and after numerous mud and water crossings, and with grass up to the very high bonnet of Magurudumu… and because we could no longer see the track, we decided to turn around. It was very apparent that the park was NOT suffering from over grazing, or a drought. We arrived back at No 9 by mid morning and decided to try and view the cliffs in the afternoon… taking the anti clockwise road.

That was only a slight contrast then! I was a little scared that we may run out of time, but also wanted to see the cliffs at late as possible. We left camp at 14:30 and drove a well travelled track with some slow climbs all the way to cliffs… and found the animals! Right by the picnic spot looked like the Garden of Eden. The trees were massively high and grass spectacularly green with little to no other undergrowth. The only other place I had ever seen a scene like that was many years ago in Mana Pools. There were massive herds of wildebeest, Zebra, Impala and Kudu and although a little skittish at first, they soon relaxed and let us come closer.

It took us an hour and a half to get there and after seeing the magnificence of the cliffs and the abundance of animals we decided to stay. There was a camp site there. It was completely deserted and there was no sign that anyone else had been in the area for a while. Although toilet buildings did exist, the toilets were gone. We did not care. We did pay to camp in the park and we had everything with us. So we stayed. It was heavenly!

On T4A it is called Chilojo Cliffs Camp, but it does not exist on the Gonarezhou price lists.

Day 46:

It was a cloudy and misty start to the day, but we did not care. It was as if we were the only people in a vast wilderness and the thought of having all that grandeur to ourselves made our spirits high! That, and the fact that I knew of the treats that was awaiting us at the end of the day.

We took a leisurely two hour drive back to Cipinda Pools camp, had a shower and left the park before 10am. We were heading due north to Mutare, and on to the Vumba. (Bvumba as some spell it). The Vumba is where Queen Elizabeth stated that it reminded her of Scotland. Probably because she was at the 5 star Leopard Creek Hotel with manicured lawns and a championship golf course. It is also home to a place called “Prince of Wales view”, the Zimbabwe National Botanical gardens and… Tony’s Coffee and Chocolate house. I wrote an article about that not so long ago: The Magic Tea Garden of The Vumba.

On the way to Mutare we started spotting the first road side markets of the trip. The stalls were lined with oranges tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins and even Baobab fruit. (Cream of tartar apparently) We also saw avocados… The biggest avocados I had ever seen! They were the size of melons! All we needed was some tomatoes and successfully procured 12 fist size beef tomatoes for $1.

The road up to the Vumba is steep and Magurudumu worked hard to get us there. When we arrived, Tony, and his tea garden had gone. The building was still in the same place, but it was empty. Disappointed we turned back and decided to find accommodation for the night. About three km’s back we found his sign though, right next to the Gencina Guest House. We had found it! Tony explained, in his usual colourful way that the lodge next to his old place had burned down, and he had decided to move. The new, temporary Coffee House in actually part of his house and the new shop is being renovated next door. The place is stunning!

It is a double story stone and thatched cottage set in an orchid on the side of a hill. It offers phenomenal views over the Vumba Valley and far into Mozambique. The menu, and the way it is presented is unchanged and brilliant! Tony, and the way he is presented is as colourful as always and an absolute treat. The Coffee is out of this world and the cakes are ridiculously flamboyant! I had a flowerless chocolate cake… The price however had changed, and quite significantly! In fact, so significantly that it borders on being ripped off. At $5 a bottomless coffee and $9 a cake I am sad to say and I can no longer in good conscience send people there with a smile on my face. We saw it as “dinner and a show” and probably our last visit to the area, so in that light we paid the premium with a smile on our faces.

Despite the prices, people kept streaming in from all over the continent. Some locals left as we walked in before being joined by couple from Durban, a couple from Johannesburg and a couple from Nairobi amongst others. We declared a UN meeting and discussed economy and politics while eating our cakes and drinking more coffee than any human should consume. I noticed that my “Cake knife” was made in Sheffield and cup was from Stoke on Trent… They were both antiques and I was wondering if they arrived there by ox wagon.

Accommodation was our next mission and we were informed that all the places that used to offer camping (According to T4A) no longer exist, or no longer offers camping. The best value for accommodation in the Vumba, recommended by Tony, was a place called “Seldomseen”. $25 per person per night, negotiated down to $20 got us a self catering cottage with fireplace on a hill side with the same kind of views. Fire wood is provided, it is serviced and although the furniture reminded me of Granny’s house, it was conformable, affordable, and comes highly recommended to anyone wishing to stay in the Vumba. In fact, to camp at the botanical gardens would have cost us more as we would have to cough up $35 entrance and car fee before paying for the camping. We probably would have been quite cold and we would have had to provide our own wood, at the standard Zim Parks rate of $2 per wheelbarrow of course!

Now: Seldomseen is famous for birding. It is a stage post for a labyrinth of hiking trails through the forests of the Vumba and people travel there from all over the world to come and find the elusive Swinerton Robin which is endemic to the Vumba, and eastern Tanzania according to Sinclair. We did not see one, but then again, we were so blown away by the Aloes in front of the house, the babbling brook within a stone’s through, the ample fire wood for the fireplace, the four legged bath and the massively oversized double bed, that we did not go looking too hard.

There was no need for dinner as the heavy chocolate cake was still occupying my whole stomach, so the evening was spent with a good book, in front of a fireplace, drinking some fine red wine. Life really can be tough in Africa!

By this time we had figured out that our travel times were around an average of 75km/h. This included stopping at the police roadblocks, driving through towns, slowing down for animals and stopping for lunch. We decided to try and leave by 8AM.

Day 47:

We left at 9am after a hot bath and some more coffee. Internet access was becoming a thing on the agenda as Catt had to post some work online and I, obviously had the more important task of updating the Blog. We were told of a Coffee shop in Mutare with WI-FI, so headed to the Green Cougal on the corner of 1st and 9th. We found the shop easily enough as T4A knows about it, but to our great surprise were told that it is the equivalent of what we in South Africa call a “WI-FI Hotspot” meaning that you can bring your own computer, but also have to pay for your own bandwidth. $9 for 50Meg was the price of a voucher, so we declined and started to leave. By the car we flipped open the Mac, logged onto Zol (Hotspot Provider) and as we were not asked for a password, we marched back in and did all our online things over a few cups of coffee and tea. Their coffee is $1 a cup and you get a pot of tea big enough for 4 mugs for $1. BARGAIN!

We left town, coffeed out and internetted up. Our destination was the Great Zimbabwe Ruins by Masvingo.

History lesson:

Cecil John Rhodes came and bought Zimbabwe’s miniral rights from Mzilikazi’s son, Lobengula in 1888 by tricking him into signing some papers. By 1895 Rhodesia was established by the whites, and for the whites. 1896 saw a revolution for freedom and just as this was gaining momentum in 1897, the leaders were captured and hanged. 1964 saw Ian Smith taking over the presidency and pushing for independence. The whites did not agree, so in 1965 he made a Unilateral Declaration of Independence. Shortly after both ZAPU and ZANU opted for gorilla warfare and in 1974 John Voster and Kenneth Kaunda convinced Smith to release some high raking prisoners, including Robert Mugabe. In 1980 Mugabe won an election. Mugabe got his wish of ultimate power and declared the Republic of Zimbabwe. Translated from the Shona language, this pretty much means “House of Rock”. A cool name, only the houses were made from reeds and mud and the walls of the kraals were made of granite. Never mind.

Lesson over.

We passed over the very impressive Burchenore Bridge wondering what something that big and out of place was doing there and after taking the scenic route around Lake Kyle (Now named Lake Mutirikwi) arrived at the Ruins Campsite by mid afternoon. That was after getting into trouble for stopping on the bridge to take a photograph. I could see their point as it is single lane and the traffic is controlled by man power with boom gate on either side.

We had also passed through around 20 police check points. A typical stop went like this:

Me: Good morning sir. (After removing my sunglasses)

Police: Morning… How is your journey?

Me: A good journey thank you. The roads are clear and have fewer potholes than I am used to in my country.

Police: That’s funny! Where are you of to today?

Me: Oh, we’re touring your beautiful country for a while. We plan to stay at ……. This evening.

Police: That is a nice place. Why do you have a spade on your roof rack?

Me: Oh, if I get stuck in thick sand, I can dig myself out.

Police: Why do you not have a winch?

Me: I do have a winch, but sometimes there are no trees around.

Police: You can make your wife do the digging, or you can stand strong in the sand holding the winch cable.

Me: That’s a great idea! Thank you very much.

Police: Have a good day and a safe journey, good bye.

Me: Thank you very much, have a good day.

The scenic route to the Ruins turns off the N9 some 30km east of Masvingo. It is a winding road of mostly tar with insanely sharp turns, ridiculously impressive views and many friendly people on it. It passes over the dam wall and in places seems like it was stuck to the side of the granite hills with pop rivets and super glue. I marvelled at the engineering nightmare this must have presented the road builders with.

At the ruins we paid the usual fees or entry, car and camping totalling $40 for the night. No fireplace and hot bath, nor a view to next week, but at a World Heritage site of massive proportions and importance. The campsite was beautifully kept with short grass and individual sites. The ablutions were old and run down, but neat enough and had hot water. You can go walking through the Ruins unaccompanied and visit the museum on site for some insight into the place and that is all included in your entrance fee. Not Bad really…

We spent some of the afternoon in the museum not being allowed to take photographs as someone broke in and stole some ancient gold not too long ago. After reading the history and being impressed by the exhibition we ascended the main hill to have a look around the Hill Complex which used to be occupied by the king of the time. On the decent we decided to skip the “Watergate” route and headed back to camp. The rest of the place had to wait until the next day.

Just after dark we were introduced to a security guard who assured us that he would come by often, and come running if we shouted. I asked if there were security problems, but he assured me that they do not exist and he was simply there to make paranoid people feel at ease. I was at ease before his arrival, and after, I have to admit, I may have been a little paranoid. He did come by often, announcing his arrival and sitting on a rock some 10m away from us for a while before heading off, announcing his departure. My paranoia lifted.

Day 48:

We were in a cloud and surrounded by monkeys when we woke up. Security was nowhere to be seen. There was a slight precipitation in the air making it a little uncomfortable being outside. We were discussing skipping the rest and moving on. When we came out the showers the cloud showed signs of lifting, so we decided to “raingear up”, pay for a guide, and do the thing! Besides, we did not spend all that money on rain gear to shy away from a little drizzle!

The fee for the guide was $3 each and then we met Linda, our guide by the entrance to the site. Linda is probably around mid twenties and told us that she was studying archaeology part time and working there to do research. Clever, I thought. Linda was also extremely well versed and well informed. The facts and information she gave us was intriguing, even if it was too much information for my brain to absorb!

Let me try and remember this: We started at a replica village where local people show tourists how the Shona used to live. The homestead was built in the traditional (Non rock) way and layout and was set next to the infantry barracks of the old ruin.

Next we went to the eastern block where the secondary wives lived and after that we arrived at the great enclosure. We took the royal corridor to the stone conical. (The symbol of Zimbabwe) No one really knows what that is for. In fact, some idiots decided to try and break it open to see if treasure was buried inside. It was solid! It is now believed that it represented the king’s winky. If one of his 200 wives missed him, she could go there and put her face against it while fantasizing about the old boy and that was apparently enough satisfaction to keep her happy for a while. The thing was 14m high with a 3m diameter at the bottom… Can you picture the scene of a dozen or so woman, faces pressed up to the cold granite?

The great enclosure was also where the main wife lived. Her duties included preparing the young virgins for later life by explaining how to honour and please their future husbands. I liked that idea. Her bedroom was in a direct line from the king’s balcony on the hill, some 500m away, apparently so he could make sure she was not cheating on him. Good eye sight I thought… There were also stone pillars in the ground which were planted at an angle. Linda explained to us that it was used to balance bowls of water on. The water would then reflect the stars at night and the people studies these reflections to keep time and work out the seasons. Perhaps that was where the idea of the weather rock came from. We were showed some parts of the wall with colour coding dots on. These were restored walls. So when a wall becomes dangerously close to falling over, the local scientists colour code every stone, break the wall down and then rebuild it in the exact same way. Genius, I thought. Lastly there were some metal beads stuck to some parts of walls with clay. They are used to measure the “movement” of the walls so the men in charge can make sure that an unsuspecting tourist does not get buried under a million bricks of granite. Clever again…

After passing through the “commoners” entrance which has been restored and looking back at the 11m high mortar less wall behind us we could not help but stand in awe of the dedication and determination is must have cost to build such a place. Linda told us that it is believed to have taken 400 years to complete the building.

After passing through the royal slaughter house and passing the royal kraal, we ascended the hill once again. We learnt about the place where king after king would break down his predecessor’s house only to build his right on top of it, we saw the balcony overlooking the kingdom which consisted of some 25 000 adults in it’s time and saw where the divine healer lived. These healers somehow always ended up with the best views! We also crawled into the kings treasure cave and Linda demonstrated the amplification effect from it by shouting: WIFE 23, IT IS YOUR LUCKY DAY! After which no 23 would storm the hill to please her man. The wives also mixed a “rock splitter” tree’s root into the king’s relish as an aphrodisiac. They did this, apparently, to speed up the rotation so that their turn would arrive again soon. It is believed that the king would please around 10 wives a day… Poor fellow! He still had time to meet with the elders, the “sub kings” and have private rituals performed to him by the most elite in the kingdom. He also had sex with his sister, on top of a crocodile, believing that it would make him strong and vicious. The sister was not allowed to fall pregnant though.

On the way down the hill we passed the “Watergate” sign and Linda told us that it was currently out of bounds as there was a leopard that had moved in and proclaimed it his personal hunting ground.

After all the sex talk, we also heard the sad stories. As with Mapungubwe, the archaeologists came and took over. Some German missionary stole priceless soapstone bird statues and the British South Africa Company used the site to establish a police post after building a golf course to “pretty up the place” They also planted Blue Gum trees to dry up the Watergate fountain as it played havoc with their fairways.

The main bird statue was stolen from Germany in the Second World War and taken to Russia, then returned to Germany and only very recently rediscovered as the Germans needed to bottom half to complete an exhibition. Zimbabwe loaned them the bottom half and after the exhibition the complete bird was returned to its rightful place. On load from Germany of course. The golf course was removed and the Blue Gums yanked out, but the fountain never returned.

Driving away from there I could not help but wonder: Why could these westerners not just leave the ancient treasures in the ancient places? Their version of the truth will tell you that they took it away to protect it for future generations. My version would state that the soap stone bird had survived four centuries on a hill top in Zimbabwe without the help of thieving bastards! Not that I have any strong views about it…

Our journey took us to yet another World Heritage site. We were on our way to the Matopos, good old Cecil’s grave and World’s view. We arrived at the gate and paid the standard fees and the guard mumbled something about seeing the lady at the far window to pay for the grave site. I understood this as a guide payment and as I knew what the place looked like, I did not see the need. I simply wanted to photograph some pretty rocks and go “Wow” at Worlds View.

Just before walking up the steps to the site we were stopped by security and asked for our tickets. I produced the payment receipt and was promptly told that the caves, paintings and historic sites in the park does not belong to the park itself and it would cost me another $10 per person to walk up those steps. I did not deem it worth the $20 rip off to see the grave site of a man I had recently learnt was not very nice, so we turned on our heels and drove away. That decision voided our reason for being in the park and in that light we headed back to the gate where I tried to negotiate our money back and find cheaper accommodation outside of the park.

To make an even longer story short, we were asked to drive to the Park manager’s office and take the gate guard with us. The Park Manager explained that in order to receive a refund we would need to take the invoice to the office in Harare, who would take it to Inland Revenue, who may or may not decide to refund it. This process was known to take as long as three months. He was smiling very wide and he was brilliantly well composed and friendly while explaining this. I had no reason to doubt him. Check Mate!

For the second time that day I turned on my heel, this time with my tail between my legs and started walking back to the car. He followed, and asked if we wanted to see some Rhino. When we agreed that it would be good compensation for our unhappiness, he sent a guide, and us, on foot to find some Rhino. This took less than 20 minutes. I was impressed! I was also no longer unhappy. He was a master at client liaison and when I have my own empire one day, I will look him up and employ him!

It was easily agreed that I was then happy, whoever decided to charge more money to go to the Grave Site was an idiot, and we would not support them, and we would spend the night at the magical Maleme Dam camp site.

We reached the dam shortly before sunset. I could see how this was the place to be in its hay day. We however found it run down and uncared for. The grass was kept short and the ablutions fairly clean, but the kitchen was filthy with blocked drains, the dustbins overflowing and the electricity not working. To top that, it had the biggest mosquitoes I had ever seen and being next to water, it was very cold indeed! I felt like hanging my head in shame and declaring the Matopos the first mistake of our trip…

Day 49:

After enlisting the help of a newly acquired hot water bottle, we slept well and warm next to the dam. The Egyptian Geese provided the necessary wake up call and after a quick break down of camp we set out. We left the Matopos and its greedy grave robbers… I mean grave protectors, and reached Bulawayo before 9am. We were out of wine and this was a slight worry. On our first try we managed to procure a fine KWV red from a local Spar and headed north on the Victoria Falls road.

Just out of town we encountered a police road block and the friendly morning banter began in earnest. This time he did want to see out temporary import permit, insurance and drivers licence as well though. Formalities over we hit the road north. The aim for the day was Hwange National Park.

About 100km south of our turn off disaster struck! While trying to avoid a cyclist and a petrol tanker coming from the front I momentarily neglected to slow down enough for the new speed limit. This mistake was greeted by a bouncing policeman jumping in front of the car and asking me to pull over. Honestly, I don’t normally speed. I never speed in foreign countries and this was, although inexcusable, truly without malice. In fact, I was simply trying not to arrive at the cyclist at the same time as the truck because I honestly believe that the road was not wide enough for the three of us. Never the less, I had no excuse, I was caught.

I tried to explain all this to the three officers who were obviously uninterested in stories and simply asked me to pay a $20 fine and be on my way. I held out the $20 note and my driver’s licence asking for a receipt, which was met with a sly smile and little laughter from the man in charge. He demanded to know why I expected a receipt for a speeding fine. My answer was that I never speed, and never get caught for speeding, by the anti corruption poster at the border said that one should always ask for a receipt when handing money over to an official. I started suspecting that perhaps their equipment was not 100% calibrated and that this was one of those “traps” you get warned about.

It was agreed that payment without receipt came with a 50% discount, so after deciding not to push my luck and handing over $10 I was allowed to go on my way, without a receipt.

The drive was easy and the roads were good and we reached Hwange Main Camp by mid day. We spent a brilliantly leisurely afternoon in the shade of a big Marula tree. A camp attendant made a fire in the boiler for our hot shower and the smells and sounds of the place opened floodgates of memories of an early childhood and vacations to Kruger National Park. It was as if we had arrived in a time warp, and we liked it!

Our afternoon game drive took us on a small circular route around the main camp. I was impressed with the condition of the tracks and dirt roads. The main “Tar” road is another story altogether. We saw evidence of difficult driving conditions in the wet season, but the roads were bone dry for us. There is definitely no overgrazing problem in Hwange either. The guide book (Lonely Planet) talks about vast herds of Elephant, Buffalo and Wildebeest. I could see that was once true, however, since the massive drought around the turn of the century those herds either died next to to dried up water holes, or moved on to greener pastures.

We saw a healthy breeding herd of Sable, a troop of Baboons and a single Elephant before getting to Nyamandhlovu Pan Waterhole and platform. Sanparks eat your hearts out! The waterhole was fair in size and housed a pod of Hippo as well as two massive Crocodiles. Zebra, wildebeest, Giraffe, Kudu and a few Ostiches wandered to and from and we were viewing this from a raised hide right next to the water. Even more impressively, the person who planned the hide obviously had photography in mind. Unlike most hides that I have been to, this one had the sun setting behind you, bathing the water and the animals in golden sunset softness. Mmmm Gooseflesh…

Back at camp we found a spot separating us from the Pinetown couple with a brand new 200 series Land Cruiser and Jurgens Explorer caravan. I have nothing against the concepts of off road caravanning, but I simply did not feel like having the conversation about where we live where we had been and where we were off to again. Especially with people who’s car is worth more than my Nett.

It came to mind that it had become difficult to fill in forms. Every form asks for an address and I somehow felt that “Land Cruiser Roof” would not satisfy any receptionist. “England” would cost more and raise all sorts of questions and “Pretoria, South Africa” was no longer strictly true.

If I had to do it all again:

Gonarezhou deserves more time, as simple as that. It is a nature park where you may be lucky to see some wildlife and should be seen as that. It is split in two and we did not visit the southern part of the park at all. Also, the way the math works, the longer you stay in the same park, the cheaper it becomes per day as your entrance fee is valid for 7 days. One of the most difficult things for me when standing at a reception desk is to decide how long to stay there. There has to be a fine balance between spending enough time without getting stuck and not moving on fast enough. Our budget will not last the amount of time we would have liked to spend on this trip. Gonarezhou I think should be done over five days at least, or three days for the northern part only. Our Mana pools booking prevented us from staying longer than two.

Tony’s was an unfortunate disappointed. Not in grandeur or entertainment value, but his prices are simply not realistic any more. If I had known that, I would have skipped the Vumba, amazing as it is. I’m confident that we will encounter other places in Africa which can offer the same magnificence… and I am running out of adjectives to describe them.

The Ruins are amazing. In terms of cost/effort/risk vs reward, it rated the highest that far. Perhaps another day there would have been nice.

Matopos was a great disappointment and I intend writing to the minister of tourism about it. Sure, we were taken to see Rhino on foot, but there is hardly any game. If they insist on ripping of tourists to see the place, I truly hope it is boycotted until they change their views. To put this into perspective, it you were to drive in there as a day visitor it will cost you more per person that a tour to Robin Island, a trip to the top of Table Mountain, or a sunset cruise on the Chobe or a ferry to Zanzibar, visiting the Louvre, the Eifel Tower, or…. You get my drift. I would much rather spend that money, and time in another place.