Back Under Sail - Zimbabwe

We arrived in Zimbabwe with a sense of apprehension - it's torrid current and historic political situation, recent hyper inflationary period in 2008, stories of land seizures, murders and corruption had filled us with a cautionary approach to our time travelling in Zimbabwe.

Trillionaires!  The largest note in circulation during hyper-inflation before the economy finally collapsed in 2008.

What a pleasant shock it was to be greeted in Victoria Falls by some of the nicest people we've met on our entire trip.  The positive vibe only increased as we travelled from Vic Falls to Kariba - we had a lovely dinner with Rose and Don (who drove us from Vic Falls to Mlbizi) at their house in Mlibizi, and then a wonderful trip across Lake Kariba on the Sea Lion Ferry.

When we arrived in Kariba, we met our guide for the next part of our adventure - sailing a catamaran on Lake Kariba for five days with game walks in the Matusadona National Park.  Rob Fynn, our guide, was a wonderful character full of stories spanning the last 50 years of life on Lake Kariba and in Zimbabwe.



We would spend the next five days sailing on a 33ft Wharram Tiki catamaran "Gache Gache" (named after one of the rivers feeding Lake Kariba) - camping on the shores of the lake and enjoying the remote beauty of one of Zimbabwe's larger national parks.

Lake Kariba was formed in the 1950s when a large dam was built in Kariba, blocking the path of the Zambezi river and flooding the once fertile Zambezi valley.  The ecological implications of the dam - and particularly the current practice of maximising the water level held within the lake - are still being seen today.  As the land was not cleared prior to the flooding, there are forests of petrified trees jutting from the waters - making sailing through these a bit interesting!

The lake is full of crocodiles and hippos (Rob estimated one croc for every 50m of shoreline) - meaning that the waters along the shores are extremely dangerous.   This became a bit tricky for us, as even though the Tiki only had about 0.8m of draft, we still managed to run aground on various sandbanks as we tried to get in close for good views of the hippos.  We got our views - but having to jump in and push off to get under way again got the adrenalin pumping!

The elephant population in the park is quite robust - and occasionally they either swim or, as the water recedes in the dry season, walk from the mainland to the islands.  Quite a sight!

Each morning and evening we went on game walks in the park with Rob - a Professional Hunter and therefore allowed to carry firearms - as our guide.  Rob's knowledge of the park and animals was quite impressive.  It was also a bit scary having him tell us story after story of people being killed by elephants and other animals - and reaffirmed that we may have got a little too close in Botswana.

The Matusadona is a wild park - the roads are virtually unusable, meaning access is almost exclusively from the lake.  Combined with the low tourist numbers generally in Zimbabwe, we really felt how much 'wilder' Matusadona was compared to the other parks we've done safaris and game walks in.  While in many places we were able to get within 5m or less of 'common game' like impala, in the Matus the animals were clearly not acclimatised to humans as in the more touristy places.  While this meant that it was harder to see game, it also provided a more romantic and authentic experience - allowing us more natural interactions with nature.

We also got to see first hand a small fishing village on King Island (illegally within the park).  Rob stopped in to buy some dried fish for his staff in Harare - it was interesting to hear the fisherman estimate that they harvest 2 tonnes of fish from the lake each week.  (Mike - who had tried his hand at fishing for both bream and tiger fish to no avail, was tempted to give up the line and take to the locals nets!)

Lake Kariba experiences katabatic winds - strong easterlies in the mornings, followed by dead calms in the middle of the day and then westerlies in the late afternoon.  We had fun sailing the few times we made it out after our morning game walks in time to still catch the winds on our way to the next campsite.  

And each day, after some convincing on the first day that we would be safe from the crocs, we went for swims offshore in the lake.

Each night we had wonderful sunsets - enjoying a sundowner as Rob set up camp.  It was great having a cook/guide/captain on board - what a relaxing way to go - maybe we need to have some crew come along in the Pacific!  

 

While the Matusadona has one of the largest wild lion populations in Africa - and we were treated to the roars at night (once very near our camp as we were sitting down to dinner) - we weren't able to locate them on foot.   The closest we came was finding vultures over a recent kill, but it was in bush that was too dense for us to see much.

Overall, we loved our time in Zimbabwe and on Lake Kariba.  Rob shared some truly special, and heartbreaking, stories with us.  He had owned a resort on Forthergill Island, which was seized under Mugabe's regime.  The resort is still there, languishing under the new 'owners' with no guests or direction.

We really bonded with Rob, who was kind enough to invite us to stay with him in Harare where we met his mother, 'Maasie', and staff.  Hearing the experiences of white Zimbabweans, many of whom lost everything or almost everything they had under Mugabe's regime, really put into perspective the adversity that people can overcome in life.  We loved our trip, but particularly appreciated how lucky we were to have had Rob as our guide and be given a glimpse into the heart and soul of Zimbabwe.

Wildlife Bonanza!

Unfortunately we weren’t able to secure a flight to Kasane – the gateway city to Chobe National Park so we decided to go overland on public transport – more adventures!

Our bus from Kasane to Nata was 3hrs and uneventful. We then needed to change buses in Nata, however all buses going to Kasane were full. The only other option was to hitch a ride so we approached a local who had a pick-up truck and agreed to take us. Going 140km in the bed of a pickup truck was not my idea of comfort.  Then, half way along, when the driver started chucking bottles he was finishing out the window, we definitely got a bit nervous … but we arrived safely! (The driver bought another six-pack in Kasane and still had about 180km to go to his destination!)

We arranged a two night camping trip into Chobe with a local Botswanan guide. So far we’ve had amazing wildlife encounters so we were eager to see what Chobe had in store for us. We were not disappointed. After only 30 minutes in the park we were inundated with giraffes, elephants and a pride of lions cooling themselves under a tree.

After watching the lions we decided to head off, but hit a slight snag. The battery in our 4x4 had died!  Fortunately there was another vehicle nearby who offered us a jump start, the catch was that there was a pride of lions only 5 meters away!! We stood watch while Moebi – our brave guide - connected the cables and we were off again! (Mike also had to get out, of course, to get 'The Shot').

Up next was a pair of young, male giraffes who were behaving strangely. Moebi told us that they practice their fighting skills with each other by trying to knock the horns on their heads. It looked to us as though they were doing the one tile dance. We also learned that the colour of the spots on a giraffe provide an indication of age - the darker the older, like sun spots! There were dozens of giraffes everywhere. We lost count after 150!

Again, it was time to head off and the car wouldn’t start!  I stared anxiously at Mike as I was not in the mood to have my Chobe experience ruined by a neglected battery!  Mike later figured out at camp that the battery for the fridge was run in series with the car battery - so the fridge was draining both down completely and had to be disconnected so that we could have a car that worked!  All part of 'going local'.

Chobe– known for its huge population of elephants (the last census in 2005 was 66,000) with herds of 50 or more was a real thrill. They were EVERYHWHERE and not shy about getting close either. Many young ones were still nursing from and fiercely protected by mum.

The northern part of the park is bordered by the Chobe River, which provides a natural area for the animals to congregate. We watched the daily ritual as many animals headed for the river to drink, bathe and graze.

 

 

Finishing the day watching the sunset alongside hippos was truly memorable.

Our campsite, like in the Okavango, was not a ‘fenced’ site – just a spot in the landscape where we decided to stop for the night.  The Botswana government provides many opportunities for locals to compete against foreign tour operators – partly through allocating specific sites that only the local guides are allowed to use.  Megan did find it somewhat disturbing to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night – especially when she spotted eyes in the darkness with her headlamp!  (Thankfully, it was only a honey badger). 

Moebi didn’t believe in sleeping bags, so Megan took advantage of the one good one we’ve carried with us while Mike wrapped up in multiple blankets – the mornings were quite cold.  On our last day, he woke at 5am and, freezing, decided to start the fire again.  Picking some small kindling from the edge of the site, with a fading headlamp, was nerve-wracking with lions calling in the distance.  He was very relieved when fanning the coals finally ignited the timber and he built a solid morning fire!

On our way out of the park that morning, we were treated to our most exciting wildlife encounter so far.  We came across a pack of painted wild dogs down by the river.  These endangered animals are rare to see, and this large pack was nervously drinking from the river while eyeing a crocodile that was only meters away.

We watched these dogs for almost twenty minutes, oblivious – like the dogs were – to a 3-4 year old male lion that was in the bushline just behind us!  Suddenly, he made a run for one of the dogs, which had a limp.  The pack split, and the targeted dog had nowhere to go but into the river.  Clearly panicked, it swam and hopped across the river and managed to make it to the far shore unscathed.  The lion gave chase for only a meter or two into the water, then thought better of it and stared up and down the shore at the two smaller groups of dogs.

 

Finally, he gave up and made his way back to the tree line, where he sniffed through the bones that remained from an impala the dogs had killed the night before.  With nothing left on the bones, he was clearly hungry and, likely, excited from the adrenalin of his first attempt, made an inexperienced decision and tried to have a go at a large old male buffalo only 100m further down the shore.

The gasps of the toursists in the other trucks (who unfortunately blocked our view of the direct encounter) must have alerted the buffalo, who turned and charged the lion, and chased him back into the trees!

 

Knowing he was out-gunned, the lion retreated and cruised along the tree-line looking for other prey – with the baboons overhead shouting out and keeping us appraised of his presence so we were able to follow along and catch glimpses of him through openings in the bush.

What a way to end our time driving in the park!

To close out our Chobe experience we took a river cruise, which was awesome. While we were impressed with the game drives, the activity from the water was intense and we were finally able to get up close and personal with some hippos and crocodiles!

Overall our time in Chobe was sensational and has rivaled our other wildlife experiences. After camping for a few weeks, we both feel ready for more creature comforts, including hot showers and sleep-ins. Tomorrow morning we catch a bus to Zimbabwe for the next leg of our trip!