Beautiful People. Beautiful Country.
We crossed the border into the country the day after the 2008 elections, all without mishap. In fact we made it in record time. This was useful because we had more time to do interesting things and reach a really nice campsite.
Our first stop (after getting our money changed on the black market) was at Great Zimbabwe. Some of you may know that the country Zimbabwe was named after the archaeological site of Great Zimbabwe - the site of a stone castle (built without mortar) which was the ruling centre of the region for hundreds of years. The Queen of Sheba was thought to have lived there. We got to climb up to the castle and frolic around, looking down upon the great enclosure - which would have housed the whole village of about 18 000 people.
We crossed the border into the country the day after the 2008 elections, all without mishap. In fact we made it in record time. This was useful because we had more time to do interesting things and reach a really nice campsite.
Our first stop (after getting our money changed on the black market) was at Great Zimbabwe. Some of you may know that the country Zimbabwe was named after the archaeological site of Great Zimbabwe - the site of a stone castle (built without mortar) which was the ruling centre of the region for hundreds of years. The Queen of Sheba was thought to have lived there. We got to climb up to the castle and frolic around, looking down upon the great enclosure - which would have housed the whole village of about 18 000 people.
Great Zimbabwe Palace interior.
We then had enough time to head straight up to Antelope Park (thank goodness, because the campsite at G.Z. was primitive). Antelope Park is a Lion breeding centre with a view to release into the wild. Although the A.P. campsite was brilliant we both upgraded to cabins because we had been sick with a cold that wouldn't go away.
Our stay at A.P lasted 3 nights and there were lots of optional things to do. Our activities included: cub viewing, bush walking, breeding explanation, elephant training and horse riding. Tea and coffee were on tap (woohoo!) and there were allocated 'fire guys' around the camp whose sole job was to stoke our campfires. The boys in our group played soccer against the Park team, with varying results. The park elephants (Tombi, Amai, Chobi and Jaicha) bathed in the river in the background.
The Antelope Park Elephants
Following A.P. we headed up to Bulaweo (3rd largest Zim city) and out to Matobo national Park. There, we tracked and saw a few white rhino at about 10 metres distance (and saw some leopard tracks but couldn't find it's hiding place).
Our final destination was Victoria Falls. We only had time to see the falls before we had to fly out the next day. We got thoroughly drenched in the process!
l
R
x
and Judy
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