Cape Town, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Cape Town
- Thread starter lj111
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lj111
Race Dog
Day 7
Today we are riding to the great Zimabwean Ruins. This was a nice tar road and good scenery. Then the road blocks started, and the next one, and so it went on - every 20km was a road block. The police were friendly just trying to score a drink or something to eat. At most stops they didn't even ask for license, just Coca-Cola. One even took my 500ml of water after I told him I have no cooldrink. He said the water will do. We went through Harare up to Masvingo, wouldn't want to go back to either one. It was raining again so no camping, and with not a lot of accommodation in Masvingo, we booked into the Regent Hotel. Big mistake! We went to town to get some chicken and chips for dinner. Back at the hotel, just to find out that our room is right above the bar, playing loud ****** music. Well at 11pm we packed our bikes, and received a refund. Now we where off to go and look for a new place to sleep. Flamboyant Hotel was not far away and luckily they had a room for us, but the room only had one bed. A king size so we will have to share. :xxbah: For the same price as the Regent Hotel they were a lot cleaner and rooms had aircon. They also had a bar far enough from our room, with cold beers. After a beer and a shower it was straight to bed. We were knackered.
Today we are riding to the great Zimabwean Ruins. This was a nice tar road and good scenery. Then the road blocks started, and the next one, and so it went on - every 20km was a road block. The police were friendly just trying to score a drink or something to eat. At most stops they didn't even ask for license, just Coca-Cola. One even took my 500ml of water after I told him I have no cooldrink. He said the water will do. We went through Harare up to Masvingo, wouldn't want to go back to either one. It was raining again so no camping, and with not a lot of accommodation in Masvingo, we booked into the Regent Hotel. Big mistake! We went to town to get some chicken and chips for dinner. Back at the hotel, just to find out that our room is right above the bar, playing loud ****** music. Well at 11pm we packed our bikes, and received a refund. Now we where off to go and look for a new place to sleep. Flamboyant Hotel was not far away and luckily they had a room for us, but the room only had one bed. A king size so we will have to share. :xxbah: For the same price as the Regent Hotel they were a lot cleaner and rooms had aircon. They also had a bar far enough from our room, with cold beers. After a beer and a shower it was straight to bed. We were knackered.
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lj111
Race Dog
Day 8
Masvingo is close to the Ruins, and the sun was out. ;D When we got to the Ruins they had a really nice campsite. If only we knew that the night before. I enjoyed the Ruins very much, its quite a hike. There was about 20 guides offering us a tour. We got one, which helped a lot, otherwise I would've been looking at a **** load of packed rocks. While we were enjoying the tour and the sunshine, the clouds closed above us and it started raining. We ran for cover into an old mud house with an old lady sitting inside. Our guide explained that she is some kind of Sangoma with plenty of sticks and bones in font of her. Well she could not do anything to stop the rain. We were under cover so all was good. After sitting in her hut for about 30 minutes we realised that the rain is not going anywhere. We ran for our bikes where our almost useless rain suits were. When we got to the bikes we noticed that my dad had left his helmet hanging on the handle bars upside down. The helmet looked like a bucket filled with water. I was laughing softly because now he has dry socks and I have a dry helmet. After waiting another 30 minutes under the lapa we realised its just going to be another rainy day, so we got dressed. We left the ruins in heavy rain just wanting to reach clear skies. After about 80km the rain stopped and there were ladies selling corn on the cob next to the road. We stopped for a corn breakfast and a cooldrink. We were now heading to Gonarezhoi National Park where we will cross the border to Mozambique.
Masvingo is close to the Ruins, and the sun was out. ;D When we got to the Ruins they had a really nice campsite. If only we knew that the night before. I enjoyed the Ruins very much, its quite a hike. There was about 20 guides offering us a tour. We got one, which helped a lot, otherwise I would've been looking at a **** load of packed rocks. While we were enjoying the tour and the sunshine, the clouds closed above us and it started raining. We ran for cover into an old mud house with an old lady sitting inside. Our guide explained that she is some kind of Sangoma with plenty of sticks and bones in font of her. Well she could not do anything to stop the rain. We were under cover so all was good. After sitting in her hut for about 30 minutes we realised that the rain is not going anywhere. We ran for our bikes where our almost useless rain suits were. When we got to the bikes we noticed that my dad had left his helmet hanging on the handle bars upside down. The helmet looked like a bucket filled with water. I was laughing softly because now he has dry socks and I have a dry helmet. After waiting another 30 minutes under the lapa we realised its just going to be another rainy day, so we got dressed. We left the ruins in heavy rain just wanting to reach clear skies. After about 80km the rain stopped and there were ladies selling corn on the cob next to the road. We stopped for a corn breakfast and a cooldrink. We were now heading to Gonarezhoi National Park where we will cross the border to Mozambique.
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lj111
Race Dog
The road through the park was a nice gravel road. Not sure whether they allow bikes through the park, we never went through a gate. We saw some wildlife in the park and elephant dung, but no elephants. It was getting late and we weren't sure whether we will make the border in time, so we decided on stealth camping. There were 5 abandoned rondawels next to the road. We cleaned out one of them and made it our home for the night. It was a beautiful sunset that evening, cold beers and 2 minute noodles was on the menu. We didn't want to make a fire as this would attract unnecessary attention. We also hid the bikes out of sight.
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JJ259
Pack Dog
Hey now your dad is talking, gooi daai ander foto's en verduidelik waar ons oral gery het, saam met die slaaplek tussen die Olifante.What about the cheap Rum....... met daai rooi koeldrank wat gladnie lekker gesmaak het nie maar soos poeding met coke.
lj111
Race Dog
JJ259 said:
Jis pa
Lees pa bietjie stadig? My laaste post is waar ons tussen die olifante geslaap het met die olifant dung reg rondom ons hotel kamer. Die rum moet wag tot ons in Mozambique kom. Eks nou eers klaar getik vir nou. Het al miltsteek :biggrin: :thumleft:
Kobus Myburgh
Grey Hound
Kom nou jou Pa het gepraat!
Gooi hom tot die Stormers die Bulls opneuk, en dis eers 19h30!
:imaposer:
Gooi hom tot die Stormers die Bulls opneuk, en dis eers 19h30!
:imaposer:
ot: :ricky:
grizz
Grey Hound
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Great report.
Awesome photos.
As mentioned,what a privilege to ride with your dad.
Wish my brother and I could have done ours with our parents.
I look at your photos and realise, Africa NEVER LEAVES YOUR BLOOD.
What a country, what a place.
Awesome photos.
As mentioned,what a privilege to ride with your dad.
Wish my brother and I could have done ours with our parents.
I look at your photos and realise, Africa NEVER LEAVES YOUR BLOOD.
What a country, what a place.
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grizz said:
+1
:thumleft:
lj111
Race Dog
Day 9
We woke up at 4:40am wanting to be on the road before sunrise. Scared that game rangers might spot us. At this point we only knew about the game rangers but was told at the border that the park has lions as well. Luckily we did not know this last night. We were now heading to the sea and the fish. The country side we went through in Moz is very rural and poor. Kayelitsha is upper class to some of the places there. The road wasn't good after the rain and they were building a tar road next to the gravel road but the contractor was fired a few years ago. Now there is just piles of sand every 20 meters on the road, making the gravel road the only way. We got to Praia do Bilene. Moz was very hot and humid, quite a change from the last few days. In Praia do Bilene we searched for camping grounds thinking we want to stay for 2 nights. We end up staying three nights. The campsite was Palmeiras Bilene right next to the big lagoon. Camp was made and we went into town. Its a close walk from the campsite. We enjoyed dinner at Mar Azul, very good food.
We woke up at 4:40am wanting to be on the road before sunrise. Scared that game rangers might spot us. At this point we only knew about the game rangers but was told at the border that the park has lions as well. Luckily we did not know this last night. We were now heading to the sea and the fish. The country side we went through in Moz is very rural and poor. Kayelitsha is upper class to some of the places there. The road wasn't good after the rain and they were building a tar road next to the gravel road but the contractor was fired a few years ago. Now there is just piles of sand every 20 meters on the road, making the gravel road the only way. We got to Praia do Bilene. Moz was very hot and humid, quite a change from the last few days. In Praia do Bilene we searched for camping grounds thinking we want to stay for 2 nights. We end up staying three nights. The campsite was Palmeiras Bilene right next to the big lagoon. Camp was made and we went into town. Its a close walk from the campsite. We enjoyed dinner at Mar Azul, very good food.
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