January 04-06 – Toronto to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Every journey begins with a single step….. Ours began with 3 flights, a medical emergency onboard (fortunately not us), a 10 hour layover in Frankfurt where we ate, drank and showered in comfort thanks to the AC Lounge, a lady falling head-first backwards on a moving escalator going up (again – not me) and a mechanical flight that finally necessitated changing planes-never fun but always grateful when that happens on the tarmac vs in the air! “DRINKING THE PINK” to keep my electrolytes high and my jet jag low!
January 06-08 – Camp Amalinda, Matobo Hills, Zimbabwe
Day 1
We were happy to finally land at Bulawayo Airport in Zimbabwe and even happier to see all our luggage. After standing in the wrong line and watching everyone else depart, we finally got to the right line with all the right forms and paid our $75.00 entry visa fee. It was a quiet time at customs until they gleefully discovered our very large bag filled with soccer balls, clothes and reading glasses for The Mother Africa Trust Charity! And so began the negotiations. An interesting process because the charge was being made up on the spot between a few participants including me. Everyone was very friendly with a big smile on their face as we tried to determine the correct amount of “duty”. Many sad tales of woe flew around while the dollar value fluctuated – the highest being $108USD – finally we settled on $47USD. Why $47? Who knows but after 39 hours of travelling, I just wanted to get out of there – WITH my bag!
Our driver Eddie was there to pick us up for our one hour transfer to Camp Amalinda which was to be our home for the next two days. Situated in the Matobo Hills, Amalinda is an intimate camp of 9 individual rooms built in harmony with nature and the granite that dominates the area. Our “suite” (#8) was particularly special as it has an original San Bushman Painting (3000+ years old) on one of the boulders that was incorporated into our room. Eat your heart out Holiday Inn!
We quickly settled into our room and rested for all of 45 minutes before we headed out for what was described as a “leisurely” walk to see the sunset. We were joined by a lovely Norwegian family who are diplomats living in the Norwegian Embassy in Harare. The sunset was spectacular and that, plus the sundowner drinks certainly made the climb up and down the small mountain worth the effort! We had a really great steak dinner that was served on a sizzling hot plate. Fortunately they had removed the hot plate prior to me finally doing a face-plant on to the table in the midst of a great conversation with Billy from Amalinda and the other guests. I barely heard that nice lady from Germany suggest to Jim that perhaps it was time to take me to bed!
Day 2
After a delicious breakfast, our very entertaining and knowledgable guide Kevin picked us up and we headed off to Rhodes Matapos National Park. While this park has the largest concentration of the elusive leopard and the black and white rhino, this very beautiful and peaceful area is not renowned for it’s wildlife. Upon leaving camp, however, our first wildlife spotting was the dreaded zonkey – check out those “stockings”! Certainly not one of the Big Five but very unique in his own way! We were also very lucky to see a black eagle which is indigenous to this area because they love the granite!
We drove through the picturesque area and headed to the Nswatugi Cave. This magical cave was filled with San Bushman Paintings – each one telling its own story – steeped in history and culture of a time long ago! Kevin said these paintings could be anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 years old. Realize 7000 years is quite a swing but any way you look at it, they are just plain OLD!!!!!
Did I mention the temperature here has been over 40 (that’s Celsius baby) and when we travel in the open safari jeeps, it feels like a hot hair dryer is blowing on your face! Clearly Mother Nature isn’t happy here either – this is supposed to be the rainy season and sadly the area is in the midst of a drought.
We returned for lunch and abit of a rest before we headed out with Kevin for our second excursion. Our first stop was the gravesite of Cecil John Rhodes who was among many things, the Prime Minister of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and one of the original founders of De Beers. But Kevin was really focused on finding the white Rhinos. We travelled up and down the dirt road for quite awhile until he got very excited to see the tracks and some fresh dung! He left us in the safari wagon and set out on foot to find the rhinos. He excitedly came back to get us and we practically ran through the field for about 20 minutes until we finally came upon a group of 7 white rhinos. These majestic creatures were not nearly as excited as we were but we certainly did get a stare-down from the bull – just making sure we knew to keep our distance…..
