Fuzzy Muzzy and Martin flatten some dust roads in Zimbabwe

[Wayne Duck]

We filled up on our way out, as well as doing small adjustments like tyre pressure, while we were filling up I saw a large and full of life black lady standing around chatting to some locals, I am sure I recognised her. I walked up to her and told her that I knew her, now she was even more full of smiles if that was even possible. I went over to Martins bike and pulled out a copy of Wayne Ducks RR where he had a picture of the 2 of them with her at the petrol station, I told her how famous she is because her photo is on the internet and this is how I knew her, after many smiles and hugs we roared off in a puff of dust leaving her and her massive grin behind.. it was time to explore these mountains.

Ha ha, thanks Fuzzy, this will make my fiancé laugh...when we were there she promised to send the garage lady the pic of my brother and I with her. Many months after sending the pic and a letter my fiancé receives this lady's return letter, with the whole life history and picture of both her and husband, their contact numbers the works! Not asking us for a thing. It's so heartening to see a person so humble, friendly and appreciative of so little, just a photo and a letter. I can picture it framed in their house, proudly being shown to all who visit  
Thanks again Fuzzy!

Wayne.

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

The best is yet to come.. there was some high drama later on, but more on that a bit later, for now I have to get into these  awesome mountains.. and the day was FULL of our favourite stuff.. DIRT DIRT and more DIRT, I have to let these pics speak for themselves, it was an amazing mornings ride, we would be riding rocks and then it would take a corner and there would be grass.. it was surreal..

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

Again we underestimated the crazy twists and turns of the Cashel Scenic route.. 30km.h was the order of the day.. maybe 40, but WOW that road holds its own, you can’t fault it as far as DS riding goes, it has tough twisties and everything else in-between with jaw dropping views thrown in, if this is how the day is starting .. it is going to be massive.. bring it !

the colour in the trees were jaw dropping, the forests in these areas are something to behold, we were lucky enough to be here at the right time, just as the trees were starting to bloom with new leaves giving us a stunning display of deep reds to yellow and orange leaves.

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

Again we underestimated the crazy twists and turns of the Cashel Scenic route.. 30km.h was the order of the day.. maybe 40, but WOW that road holds its own, you can’t fault it as far as DS riding goes, it has tough twisties and everything else in-between with jaw dropping views thrown in, if this is how the day is starting .. it is going to be massive.. bring it !
Riding around exploring the mountains is what we came here for and it did not disappoint,  it was a long hard ride but because there were so many corners we soon we found ourselves in Mutare, one of my goals was just to come and visit the place, I was not so interested in the city itself but more importantly I had only heard good things about the Bvumba mountains, I am going to get tired of saying this but yet again , even though these are tar roads they did not disappoint, for the Cape Town okes, these mountain roads are like the ones you will find near Kirstenbosch and Hout Bay, narrow, twisty roads but so much fun to ride, I did’nt take any pics, I was to busy getting down.. and they go on forever, 20, 30.. 40km later and we are still twisting up into the sky.. it was just grin, grin grin all the way, what a pleasure, the manicured lawns, massive vine covered trees and pothole free roads.. bliss. Our 1st port of call was the leopard Rock hotel, famous in the day and still an impressive sight, it was also the location of Martin and my 1st little spat, I think we had a disagreement on where to go.. after much flapping and waving of middle fingers at each other we arrived at the reception.. we were tired and hungry.. lets just eat here. So like the true English what what upper crust that we were we perched ourselves on the terrace and enjoyed a Zambezi while awaiting our grilled chicken cesar salad.. excuse me.

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

This hotel is something else...

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

I have to admit, I found myself feeling slightly uncomfortable, here we were in a place dripping in history, only a few years ago I bet there would be no way you could sit here without a jacket and tie.. and here we find ourselves full of dusty gear drinking straight from the bottle.. well Martin did, I tried to have some dignity – enter into evidence, photo with beer in glass. We must have looked a royal sight, and I am not going to even mention how we must have smelt.

Check this out for a salad.. not bad for 2 okes taking on Zims finest dirt roads on a budget. It doesn't look like much here but the plate was very deep, I could hardly finish it !!



We still did’nt really have a plan on where we were going to sleep for the night, our plan to head North was waining and fast, we had spent so much time riding around Chimanimani that we had lost a little ground on where we were supposed to be. When we were riding up the bvumba mountains, about 4km back from Leopard Rock I saw a small hand painted sign saying ‘ backpackers’ and ‘camping’ so after a chow we thought it best to go and check it out, we popped our heads in and were welcomed by a ‘hoot for service’ sign, we did’nt even need to, as were welcomed and after a pre inspection check we knew we had found our spot for the night, it was nice to get into a campsite quite early, it gave us time to sort out our gear, make up camp, and supervise the massive amount of firewood being delivered. It was a no brainer staying here, gorgeous flowers, mowed lawns, above average facilities, secure, 2 toilets and showers with electricity.. all for $8, deal, bargain and all smiles, tonight we were going to have a bonfire all we had to organise was some grub

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

Before I get to the campsite we found you have to check out this tree I found at the hotel.. it was so big I had to zoom right out and walk quite a way back.

 

[gwild]

Awesome!!! Keep it coming  :thumleft:

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

Our accommodation for the night was a gem, the weather was great, we had the whole place to ourselves as well, actually now that I think about it, no matter where we pitched tent, we were the only ones. You have to look really hard to find game in Zim, you have to look even harder to find a tourist.

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

After asking we were directed to a nearby restaurant but after searching along a dirt road we concluded it was closed.. Martin now worked his charm and convinced me to return to camp, shower, get into something that was not as gross as our bike gear and head back to Leopard Rock, after all, it had a casino, bars and presumably better company than me for once.. I was not looking forward to dining at Leopard Rock, I know it was going to hurt the budget but hey.. lets spoil ourselves and off we went.. I burst into the hotel expecting it to be swinging and heaving with guests, champagne bottles popping and glasses chinking, but all I heard was crickets and a sound similar to my tyre deflating. Not a single person in the casino and almost every other room including the massive dining hall empty so we headed for the bar where at least the TV was on and the company of 3 or 4 other people didn't make us feel so alone. In it's hay day, you can just imagine the parties and entertaining that would have gone on at this place, it was a little sad.. until our food arrived.. oh boy, you guessed it.. chicken Cesar salad, yes sir, it was that good we had it again, along with a rock shandy to round it off..

Naturally our time in the light was used to stare all be it a blank stare at a map.. we had no idea.. lets just wing it. Before we left we just had to try the pie, chips and gravy and before we knew it we rolled out of there to our bikes with the intention of passing out.. little did I know, my evening of fun and games was just starting... oh the drama that was about to unfold...

 

[Charlie Brown]

:thumleft: :ricky: :drif:

 

[jeff]

AAAAAARGH!!!!!!!

 

[0012]

cliffhanger!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

We got back to camp stuffed to the brim, thank goodness our tents and everything was all setup. I eyeballed the pile of firewood which everyone knows by now , I never let good firewood go to waste. Within seconds I had a roaring fire going but besides my best intentions the eyelids were falling and we faded fast, I knew we will have a LONG day ahead tomorrow.. now came lesson no 2, remember lesson no 1 was to never let your teenager pack the tent, lesson no 2 was never pitch your tent without a waterproof / flysheet in the Bvumba mountains., I woke up somewhere between 1am and 3am and couldn’t figure out why my sleeping bag was wet.. I may be getting old but I really don’t remember pissing myself in my sleep, then like a snapping finger I realised it was raining, you have to be kidding me !!  don’t ask me where it came from, there were stars in the sky when I went to bed, I clearly remember a roaring fire and stars.. yep,  but the reality was that it was raining now and I, along with all my gear was getting wet.. charming.

In about 486 swift and deliberate movements along with an ear pearcing running commentary intended to wake Martin up, I swooped up my sleeping bag and mattress and announced to Martin that I was coming in.. poor oke must have wondered what the heck was going on as a wet madman, talking to himself burst into his tent in the most unwelcome fashon. I hi tailed it back to my tent, still half asleep to get a second and 3rd load, I really did’nt have a plan except to bundle everything into Martins tent just assuming this was OK with him. I may have paused my persuit for dryness for 1 min to take that piss I was thinking about earlier.

While relieving myself in the rain it dawned on me.. hang on, there is a thatched gazebo right here.. brilliant, I will just move in there, another 486 swift movements later and I was back in the comfort of my wet sleeping bag.. I was not a happy camper, and Martin must have been confused as hell by my moving in and moving out of his tent at ungodly hours, but I was too tired to deal with it now.

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

Anyone who has kids knows that you can be in a deep sleep, get woken up in the strangest of circumstances and you not only have the ability to deal with it in a clear and concise manner but you also have the ability to fall straight back to sleep like nothing ever happened, such was my evening.



The next morning the rain had all but been replaced with a heavy fog that would collect on the leaves of the surround trees and annoyingly fall on Martins tent. I however was quite chuffed with my midnight relocation as I could now pack everything up in a relatively dry environment while Martin muttered something about making coffee while rolling up his wet tent.. here he shows us quite clearly how he feels about the evening and mornings events.

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

Even though it was miserable, I was a happy camper, I would rather ride in this weather than the heat of 2 days ago and I was hectically excited about todays ride.. for the 1st time I had absolutely no idea where we were going to go or end up.. just the way I like to ride. So with full battle gear on, we headed off, destination Mutare for a few supplies



We knew we needed to go out the other side of Murtare to get to the dirt roads of the Eastern Highlands we were seeking. Leaving the Bvumba mountains for good I loved the road down, twists and turns, dirt is good but tar like this.. neither of us were complaining. After a brief stop over in Mutare we headed off.. the tar roads we rode on which lead us in the general direction of where we wanted to explore were crazy good, the road twisted and bent in all directions, I stopped sometimes to take photo’s to show everyone back home just how good this riding is.. you have to make the trip to do this yourselves one day, it is well worth it.

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

Before long.. WHAM, we turned off the tar road.. um, near sonnekus somewhere and like kids in a candy store we were all over the place, I can’t say this loud enough.. I AM SURE WE HAVE FOUND OFF ROAD RIDING HEVEN !!, the dirt is not technical, with moderate ability you can ride all of it, but you can’t cruise along and admire the views, you have to concentrate and pay attention, these roads are made for people like us to ride, sand patches, rocks, washed away and eroded troughs that even with my progressive springs were giving me a hard time..






The hours melted away in a blur of riding bliss, even though I was well aware of my bike pissing fork oil all over my front breaks and boots. Irritating, all it meant is I know at some stage we would have to hit Harare to try and get it sorted somehow, we knew we were heading for Kariba, so Harare was on the way, we would be there in a day .. probably, or maybe not, something happened while we were riding that would change our path.. simply, it was a sign saying “Mtarazi falls’ I asked Martin if he wanted to checkout the falls and that was that, our trip changed at that moment, we just wrote off Kariba, we did’nt know it yet, but looking back on the trip now.. this was the point of no return

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

Riding down the ledge of the Honde Valley to the falls was stunning, on a happiness scale I must have been peaking at 10/10, wide eyes and big grin we plodded along the edge of the Nature reserve to go check out this little waterfall.. along the way we rode past some school kids all going for a kike clearly making use of one of the many overnight cabins in the area. As we approached the falls we were stopped by park officials who informed us it was $5 ea to get in.. not willing to spend extra unbudgeted money we decided to turn around and carry on riding.

Upon informing the park rangers of our decision they had a little discussion with themselves and waved us through on condition that we didn't take too long.. amazed with our luck we zooted off not knowing that the sight we would soon witness would be our grandest yet.

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

On our way through the forest to find the falls







We got to the collection area/ parking lot/ start of torture hike.. WTF 600m hike to go look at water flowing over rocks..





Martin was not keen but I told him we were committed now, lets go. After 50m I dumped my knee guards.. before long we were looking over the Honde Valley at the 17th largest waterfall in the world, the second largest in Africa, this was not just water going over a few rocks, it was a visual masterpiece bordering on a spiritual experience.. tired and sweaty we mustered up smiles for the camera and took it all in, what an experience.












Martin now proclaiming he was a bike rider and not a hiker made the trek back to the bikes drenched with sweat, but it was worth it, so worth it that Martin gave the park guards $5 anyway for the experience.



I asked Martin ‘ how do you put it into words when you have had the best mornings rides of your life but it was topped by an even better afternoons ride.. what do you say??” we agreed we did’nt know

 

[transalpman]

Awesome RR Fuzzy..

What happened to theTransalps fork seals ?

My 650 trans was the best bike I owned loved it..