8: The Road Less Travelled

We're heading briefly from Namibia into Botswana en route to Zimbabwe. Our journey takes us past the now familiar rural settlements with their rondavels, it is very picturesque and looks idyllic but life must be hard here.

The children are a delight, always keen to say hello; interacting with them is a joy, they really touch our hearts.

Our stopover tonight is the Senyati Safari Camp which we are scheduled to return to on our return from Zimbabwe when we start our tour of Botswana in earnest.

Honestly? Our first impressions of this camp aren't great, the camping pitches are dusty and the loos and showers are tired to say the least but this is part of the experience, if we wanted luxury accommodation every step of the way we'd be doing a different trip.

Senyati's saving grace is its waterhole which is not fenced off from the campsite, is overlooked by the bar and has a tunnel to a sunken hide meaning you can get really close to the action at the waterhole!

The animal activity is superb with plenty of giraffe and an elephant, it's a real treat to be able to view the animals at such close quarters.

We've chosen to travel south for about 100 km to the Pandamatenga Border Post. We've made this decision on the basis that this border is more remote and therefore likely to be less busy than the one at Kazangula - which is the main crossing for those wishing to visit Victoria Falls. Also, we'll be using the Kazangula crossing on the way back so we don't want to cover the same ground twice if we don't have to.

Pandamatenga is certainly remote and we're correct in thinking it won't be busy - we are the only people there. From looking at the register we have to fill in, it's been many days since anyone has passed through!

As usual the Botswana side is efficient and the staff friendly; the immigration official also has to double as the gate guard, once she's processed our paperwork she has to run out and open the gate for us to the leave the country!

The Zimbabwe side of the border is a different kettle of fish. When we pitch up, the security guard is outside watering the garden. The counters aren't manned and when the immigration official eventually turns up, he's dressed in a tracksuit, not in uniform. There are fees to pay for visas and fees to pay for Rocky and even though everyone seems to have mobile phone and online access, there's no option to pay by card (no network apparently!) - we have just enough dollars to see us through - phew!

The road in Botswana leading to the border is paved and in good condition, but when the gate is opened into Zimbabwe we see that the road - and it is the only road - is very rough indeed - yikes we have 55 km of this, looks like it's going to be bumpy!

We aren't wrong about the bumpiness, we can only go slowly and the journey seems to take forever. Rocky has also developed an irritating rattle coming from underneath; this is no place to be getting out to investigate, we'll have to put up with it for now and have a look later.

We're surprised by how quickly upon leaving Botswana the scenery has changed and with it the whole atmosphere....

We almost immediately come upon a truck load of hunters and to our left is a hunting ground where signs make it clear Joe Public is not wanted.

We are entering Hwange National Park - the name was changed to Hwange in 1982 - its former name is as shown on this map - unfortunate!

We will be celebrating our Silver Wedding Anniversary while we're in Africa and we have decided to celebrate with a stay in a lodge at Robins Camp inside the Park.

It's a great choice - a haven of peace and tranquillity and just what we need.

The Camp has a fascinating history; the land was owned by Herbert George Robins back in the early 1900's. Robins was ahead of his time in terms of conservation, he put a stop to hunting on his land (it had previously been a hunting ground), took steps to combat poaching and created what was then known as a zoological park.

On his death in 1939, Robins bequeathed his land to what was then the Southern Rhodesian Government on condition that it be maintained for all time as a game sanctuary.

Robins also requested that on his death his body be left in the bush to be 'consumed by wild animals'. The powers-that-be couldn't quite stomach the idea of this and instead he is buried just outside the gates to Robins Camp.

There is a tower at the Camp which not only provides a superb 360 degree view of the Park but also houses a museum dedicated to Robins

It displays some items found at the camp - in truth the 'museum' is in a dreadful state - there is a motley collection of unlabelled, dilapidated items, gently decaying in the unforgiving Zimbabwean climate. BUT perhaps that's part of its charm, if it was too slick it would lose its character and as it is it certainly evokes the conditions in which Robins would presumably have lived.

Hwange is billed as one of the largest and very best national parks in the whole of Africa and so our expectations are pretty high.

In the sense of game spotting, Hwange does not deliver but for us it's not all about having a list of animals and ticking them off, it's more about absorbing the essence of the place and in that sense we are charmed by Hwange.

We take ourselves on several game drives and we are rewarded with great scenery and some challenging - but (mostly) fun - driving.

We deliberately choose the more remote paths and select a longish, circular route which will involve several water crossings - our first since the Iceland experience and those of you who follow our blogs will know how one of those went!

We see no one else at all on our route and it is clear that this is very much the road less travelled, the going is very rough in places and we have to get out more than once to move large rocks, fallen trees and branches out of our path.

We come to the final river crossing only to discover that there is no way across and no track on the other side, we have no choice but to turn back. This is especially irritating as we have a specialist off-road satnav which clearly shows a crossing here and the track continuing on the other side.

It is when Janette is holding a branch out of the way that things go awry - she has her back to Rocky and is concentrating on the branch which is heavy. Nick is concentrating on getting Rocky safely round said branch. Rocky's tyre and Janette's foot meet!

There's a loud squawk. Janette can vouch for the fact that Rocky is VERY heavy!

This is definitely not an experience that Janette ever wants to repeat but miraculously nothing is broken and really she gets away extremely lightly which is just as well as we are in the middle of nowhere and have several weeks of our trip left to go - a lucky escape.

Nick says the injury will take her mind off her mosquito bites - a comment he lives to regret!

Today we bid a fond farewell to Robins Camp and the lovely staff here; the Camp is great but the staff are without doubt its greatest asset, every single member of staff that we meet is kind and friendly. We especially like Lilian who looks after us at mealtimes - thank you Lilian you're a star!

We have a long drive ahead of us today, we are staying at Sinamatella - the only camp within Hwange still run by the Park Authorities.

We have read all sorts of reviews about this place but the one thing everyone is agreed upon is that the views are to die for. Sinamatella is situated on the edge of an outcrop 55 metres high and looking out over a vast plain.

We arrive to find the camp deserted. We have read reports that say it is dilapidated but that it is in the process of being renovated, others have said this isn't so and that it is still pretty derelict.

We find the latter to be the case which is a crying shame. Given its wonderful views you'd imagine it would be an absolute gold mine and presumably it once was. Now the chalets look abandoned although on closer inspection and despite the ragged curtains, they are furnished and seem to be operational as accommodation.

The building that was once the restaurant, bar and shop is in even worse shape, pretty well collapsed.

We can't even find where the campsite might be and we decide to press on to our next stop after Nick gets down in the dirt to find out what that pesky rattling noise is. As he suspected, with all the banging about over rough roads some bolts holding the armoured skid plate (a plate designed to protect the engine from rocks) in place have come loose. He tightens those he can and we'll nip into a garage when we see one.

We have seen very little wildlife on this drive and the road has been appalling in places but it's all worthwhile when we come across two elephants, a mother and her calf who have been digging for water in a dry riverbed. They have created a waterhole and the calf is drinking. This is such a rare sight we doubt we'll ever see such a thing again, we feel so lucky.

Almost as soon as we leave the National Park we enter a hellish environment - an underground and open cast coal mine - the Hwange Mining and Processing Company. Our satnav takes us on through the mine on the road used by the lorries transporting the coal, the place puts us in mind of Mordor from Lord of the Rings. There is black coal dust everywhere and Rocky is soon covered in a black crust.

This place is the site of a dreadful disaster which took place in June 1972 when a series of underground explosions occurred killing 427 souls.

We dodge numerous coal lorries and at last reach a tarred road and we cruise into Hwange. We find a garage with an inspection pit and get those loose bolts tightened - we're all set for the next destination, one of the Natural Wonders of the World, Victoria Falls!

Nick visited The Falls 31 years ago, but this is a first for Janette and she's really excited to see it. We're both looking forward to a spell in a more urban environment for a few days, as we've been out in the bush for quite a while.

Victoria Falls still retains vestiges of its colonial past - the Victoria Falls Hotel for one and the train station which runs a luxury tourist train each evening where those with deep pockets can wine and dine as they glide out to watch the sunset over The Falls.

Our pockets are a bit shallower and we opt for a meal at Zulu Bistro which serves what is billed as authentic Zimbabwean food - Janette gives crocodile tail a go and Nick opts for the goat curry, both delicious.

We are treated to a display of traditional Zulu music and dance - which for us is more recognisably African than other music we have heard so far on this trip. We get chatting to one of the performers whose father set up the troupe some years ago.

Tomorrow we're meeting our friends Chris and Janet, with whom we'll explore Victoria Falls and then travel into and around Botswana - find out next week how we get on!