Republic of Zimbabwe - Country Information from Wikipedia |
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A very easy border crossing - $55 each for a Zimbabwe visa then $25 for Carbon Tax and Temporary Import Permit for Mitzi and we were on our way to the famous Victoria Falls; the very friendly Immigration Officer even gave us a $1 million, old Zimbabwe note as a souvenir! One friendly police check 200 mtrs down the road to see driving licence and car permit then a good tar road to the Victoria Falls Municipal Camp Site, which turned out to be really good . A highly recommendable set-up with campsite and a range of lodges and cottages. For $50 a night between the 4 of us, we settled on a 2 bed-roomed cottage with self catering facilites and a very good on-site restaurant called "In-da-Belly". After settling in and sampling a very tasty lunch and local beer at the restaurant, we set off on foot for the Falls. Within 20 mins we were gazing with awe at the spectacular, rainbow arched waterfall and another lifetime ambition was achieved! The rivers feeding the Falls are so high at this time of year that the amount of water going over the falls was incredible. The spray was drenching even wearing waterproofs and photography was difficult. After Vic Falls we headed south to Hwange National Park stopping for a lunchtime drink at The Baobab Hill-top hotel overlooking the coal mining and electricity generating town of Hwange. Again we took a $50 cottage at Main Camp and spent a couple of days game viewing. We are still searching for the elusive big cats but saw a beautiful family of rare Serval cats with 3 cubs on an early morning drive. South to Bulawayo . After trying to book accommodataion through the Zimbabwe Wildlife and Parks department - who weren't able to help us, we were directed by a local to the Musketeers Lodge on the outskirts of Bulawayo. Owned by Billy, and managed by Erica and "Granny Clampet" we took a couple of very nice 'tartan' furnished rooms aroung the edge of a lovely green and shady garden. It took some time for us to find out that Bulawayo is twinned with Aberdeen, hence the tartan connection. Driving in we passed very English looking houses and bungalows, beautiful gardens and even a mock-tudor pub called The Churchill which looked as if it had been transported from a Cheshire village.That evening we decided to give its restaurant a try but were rather disappointed with the food although the service was very attentive. Maybe that was because there were only 6 people in the place; what was even more disappointing was watching Manchester United getting beaten by Barcelona in the European Cup Final.
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Location - Zimbabwe |
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Victoria Falls | ||
A shower at Vic Falls |
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Matopo National Park - Rhodes Memorial | ||
Poolside - Camp Amalinda | ||
National Gallery - Bulawayo | ||