Gwanda (2nd - 5th Feb)
We entered the Zimbabwe side of the border and paid the +$200 in visas and other fees for driving into the country. The process is not very clear and you get sent from one window to another trying to find out what to do next. Finally after about an hour when everything was paid for and documents returned we were free to enter Zimbabwe - it was good to be home!
Heading a few hours from the border to my aunt and uncle, Cheryl and Russell's house in Gwanda we passed through plenty of police stops - the majority seemed friendly and either let us straight through or had a quick check of my driving licence.
We arrived in Gwanda and had a nice lasagne for dinner that night catching up with Cheryl and Russell. We were introduced to the 30 or so cats that Cheryl has, including the 2 new additions - kittens Nelly and Sylvester. Cherie enjoyed helping out at feeding time and playing with the little things. Sadly Sylvester passed away which was sad.
Russell arranged for us to have a tour of the gold mine he runs, we were taken around the overground machines and tanks processing the rock containing the gold and we were also lucky enough to go down one of the mine shafts and see the action that happens underground. We had a great time going around the mine and both found it really interesting seeing what goes into getting the gold out of the rock. We were also taken into the highly secure room where the gold is separated and you can see it vibrate to the edges of the extraction machine.
Cherie and I in the mine shaft with Underground Manager, John
We left Cheryl and Russels house on the Thursday, stopping at Bulawayo airport to fetch my mom who was flying in from England and drove to Gweru to spend some time with the family there.
Gweru (5th - 17th Feb)
We had a nice family meal cooked by my Gran the night we arrived with my aunt and uncle, Tracey and Piet, my cousin Francois and his fiancé Tanya. It was great seeing everyone and catching up again after a long time.
Rochelle drove across from Botswana on Friday afternoon. In the evening we all went to a place called 'Livewell' which is a bar / social club for the fishing team that Francois is part of. We also had a nice big braai on the Saturday with everyone there again.
Sunday started at 4am for Francois and I who had signed up for a fishing tournament, we took the boat and our packed breakfast and lunch and hit the water hoping to catch some monsters. With little action on the water and feeling hungry we demolished our breakfast and lunch by 8am and sat waiting to catch something. We each caught 4 fish, three of mine made the minimum weight and 2 of Francois making the weight - no chance of us winning when only your best 5 fish count. I came 7th out of about 15 which wasn't too bad.
The girls met us at 1pm once the fishing tournament had finished and now it was time to bring out the wakeboard and water skis and spend the rest of the day trying to stand up on water! After a few attempts Cherie got up on the wakeboard. I failed miserably but was better at water skiing although I did resemble Bamby on ice most of the time! Rochelle and Francois showed us up and made it look easy dropping one of the skis and skimming on the water on the other one. By the end of the day we were all well and truly shattered and sun burnt but had a great time and no sign of any crocs or hippos too was a bonus!
Wakeboarding
Skiing like a pro!
We spent just under 2 weeks in Gweru, I took the opportunity to do some work on the farm Piet owns and Francois runs. They have recently had confirmation that they will stay on the farm despite the many attempts of it almost being taken over - I still cannot believe after all the chaos that they have been through how positive they have remained and how enthusiastic Francois is to continue to farm. It was great to help out and see the changes in the few weeks I was there. The maize crop that he has planted grew from about 5 ft to over 12 ft in the time we were there and compared to other farms in the region theirs was up there with the best.
Francois's mealies when we arrived in Gweru
Whilst I was at work on the farm, Cherie spent the days with my mom and aunt Tracey - lots of tea being drunk and many trips to the shops and Pick n Pay supermarket. We went out for dinner with all family to a place Bata, a social club with a nice restaurant. We also went out for a nice meal with Francios, Tanya and her parent on Valentine's night at a Chinese restaurant.
My uncle Piet had arranged a fishing trip with some of his friends and we spent the day sorting out fishing rods and other gear. As there was 7 of us going, we took both of Piet's boats, I would tow one and Piet towing the other. As we hooked up the boat trailer to our Isuzu we did the final checks before we set off only to realise the electics from the car were not working with the boat trailer and the auto electrician needed to be called and he would only be able to get round in the late afternoon so our plan to set off that day was delayed and we would have to leave at 4am the next day.
With the vehicles and boats finally all ready to go, 4am came around and we all looked a little blurried eyed as we got in the cars ready to go. Piet's brother Paul had a nightmare start as his alarm went off an hour earlier than it should have, so he had been up at 3am waiting. He then misplaced his glasses and was on the hunt for those for the rest of the time, once he'd found them in the house and headed outside to get into the car he bumped an ornament of Tracey's wall which smashed all over the floor! Once all the chaos had settled and we got in the cars to drive off, Piet set off first out the drive way with me and Cherie following...as his Land Crusier drove forward I suddenly saw the electrical cable from the house that was plugged into the camp fridge in the back of the Cruiser stretch and then with a snap, bang and flash it broke with one end in the car and the other still plugged into the wall. The commotion didn't end there as Paul getting into Piet's car decided to move the fishing rods over a bit and ended up getting a hook through the hand!
Malengani (17th - 19th Feb)
We did eventually make it in one piece to Malengani dam where we would spend 2 nights in a nice hunting camp which was closed for the off season. The benefit of the camp being closed was that we had the whole place to ourselves and only the two of our boats on the water!
We met up with Piet's friend Jan and his two sons Andries and Johan who would be joining us on the trip. We launched the two boats and then went and unpacked the cars before hitting the water for the rest of the day in search for some big fish. Having two boats meant that the rivalry started as soon as the teams were made - Piet, Paul, Jan and Andries on one boat and Cherie, Johan and I on the other boat. We were fortunate to have Johan on our boat as he pulled in fish after fish! I managed to catch a couple including an 8kg barbel and average sized bass. This being Cherie's first time fishing, she started with the basics - casting and reeling in...with a few tangles in the line and hooks caught in the trees. After the first day our boat was in the lead with Johan catching a 4kg bass. In the evening we went on a game drive and then had a nice dinner in camp with a few beverages.
8kg barbel
Cherie soaking up the sun
Our second day of fishing started early as both teams wanted to get the upper hand and catch some big fish. Cherie had more luck and hooked into a fish soon after we got out on the boat. She caught a nice sized bass and then a few hours later caught an impressive 3.5kg one. My luck wasn't there and I hooked a couple of trees this time. We went back to camp around 10am for some brunch and gin and tonics which would hopefully help improve my luck with the fish in the afternoon. We changed bait and decided to go after the bream fish instead of bass and headed to a spot that had been prepped with some animal feed the day before to attract the fish. Straight away we were catching bream using worms on the end of the hooks. We must have caught about 15 fish each at that particular spot! We were also having fish and chips for dinner that night so the more we caught the more we could eat and by the end there was enough for a small village.
The big 3.5kg bass
On our final day of fishing we set of early again to get a few hours in before we left at lunch time. I still hadn't caught a bass worth writing home about so I was determined to get a decent one before we left (I also had to catch one bigger than Cherie's or else I wouldn't have heard the end of it!). Johan was catching straight away but Cherie and I started slower. We caught a few medium sized and it wasn't looking too good for me. As we were drifting back to camp I hooked into a beast of a fish and as I reeled it in closer to the boat it jumped out of the water and spat the hook out! Cursing the fish I casted my line back in and hooked into another one almost straight away...come on!!! Being more careful not to lose this one, the damn fish did it again and got off the hook! Before jumping in to catch the thing with my hands I tried one more time and couldn't believe it when I hooked into another big bass! Finally this one stayed on and I managed to land it into the boat. It looked like a big fish and I had everything crossed that it was bigger than Cherie's 3.5kg one...it was by 200 grams but I was happy with that!!
Took a while but here it is - 3.7kg bass
Cherie and I both had a great time on the fishing trip with all the guys and can't thank Piet enough for sorting it out and lending us boats, rods, fishing tackle etc.
Gweru (19th - 20th Feb)
We arrived back in Gweru in the afternoon and had a nice dinner with all the family at my grans house. As we were driving to Zambia the next day we needed to pack the car ready for a 4am start!
The journey was long but the nice packed breakfast that my gran made helped break up the journey nicely whilst being well fed along the way. The condition of most of the roads in Zimbabwe weren't too bad but the problem is some of the drivers! We had our closest near miss where we both saw our lives flash before our eyes as a car approached ahead in the middle of the road, I thought maybe they had taken the corner a bit wide but he continued right into our lane, flashing and beeping, seconds before crashing into us I swerved off the road into the bush and snaked back onto the road with the car feeling like it was about to flip...luckily the guy woke up as he was about to crash into us and swerved the other way. Braced for impact we missed and the fool drove off, fortunately our car didn't spin and there weren't any trees in the bush otherwise we would have been history. I stopped and had to get out the car in shock.
We carried on, even more alert of each car that approached! On the 500km stretch from Gweru to the Zambian border at Victoria Falls, we passed through 10 police road blocks. Most being friendly waved us through but with 15km to the border and at the last road block, the guy had a good look around to try and find a problem. Apparently for our sized vehicle the weight of it must be printed on the side, which is a law for Zimbabwean vehicles - we were driving a South African registered vehicle where it is not necessary to have. I tired arguing for about 15 minutes until the senior officer came over with his printed law book and I was issued with a $10 fine and continued to the border!
The Zim side of the border was painless as we walked in had our passports stamped and then walked out...ready for the Zambian side.
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