20/08/2022
Expedition Zimbabwe has got off to a great start, with some of Zimbabwe's wildest and most remote terrain now behind us. We have covered close to 800kms since we left Harare with 600km of that being offroad. The team are in good spirits and despite some long, hot days (temperatures in the high 30s) we are thoroughly enjoying the trip - with good sleep and fresh food thanks to our Eezi-Awn tent and National Luna fridges doing their thing while our Tough Dog Suspension has handled the rough tracks with ease - thank you Mr Cruiser Zim.
From Magunje we descended the Escarpment at sunset into the Gache Gache basin, where we were warmly received by Rob and Steph Davy and their family and enjoyed a fantastic meal and good company around a crackling camp fire. We spent the night at the Gache Gache Campsite courtesy of Ray Townsend - a great little spot which he is developing for the self drive and overland traveller.
Leaving Gache Gache, we headed through to Kariba, filling up the vehicles at Chawara Harbour before boarding the ferry for the 3 hour trip across the lake to Fothergill Island in Matusadona National Park. We spent two nights camped in the Kanjedza area, a beautiful spot under a large Tamarind tree on the banks of the Kanjedza River. Basing here for a few days, we explored the Nyamuni River on foot, with its prolific springs and good game viewing. We also climbed the Escarpment in search of Rupert Fothergill’s plaque - a tough climb in rising temperatures. The views from up there are hard to beat and we were grateful for a clear day with minimal haze obscuring the huge inland sea of .
We took the 4x4 route at the base of the escarpment from to , a tough slog that took over 3 hours to cover 36kms. The road hadn’t been opened, son we were cutting and clearing branches, filling in holes and shaping river crossings while both vehicles spent a large portion of the afternoon in low range. A beautiful route and for the adventurous visitor wanting a serious 4x4 experience - this route awaits the experienced and prepared enthusiast.
Tashinga, the Matusadona National Park HQ is a buzz of positivity with huge amounts of work being tackled by the Matusadona Conservation Trust - a joint venture between Zimparks and African Parks. A detailed tour by Mike Pelham gave us a insight into the various initiatives they have taken on - including managing the legal fishing of designated fishing areas around the park, human wildlife conflict prevention, law enforcement and anti poaching work and the all important community outreach work with the adjacent villages. We also had a detailed update from Chris Chaparushe the Tourism Manager - who gave us a run down of the exciting new accommodation and camping options for the self drive visitor. Matusadona National Park is certainly staking its claim as one of the most scenic and must visit destinations for the seeker of a true adventure and wilderness destination. Our last night in Matusadona National Park was in the Maronga River - a very scenic location with prolific amounts of game.
We were welcomed by the towering cliffs and incredible views of Friends of Chizarira, a wild and remote wilderness park and despite its reputation for poor game viewing were had reasonable sightings, particularly in the Mabola area. The highlight of our stay was the drive along the cliffs from Mucheni down to the Buzi. A must do for any visitor to this beautiful park. Our plans here were disrupted by a freak accident involving the Park tractor which jumped out of gear and rolled down a hill crashing into the Hilux - luckily nothing serious and no one was injured as it could have easily been the case.
Yesterday we left Chizarira, descended over 600m to the shores of - traversing the barren, harsh hills of the Chete Safari Area. We were accommodated at Chete Safari Camp by Wayne Diedrickson - thank you Wayne for your hospitality and valuable info to the area. At one stage in our past the Chete Safari Area held the highest concentration of black rhino in . The views over the gorge are impressive despite a large fishing village on a Zambian Island - with over 200 Kapenta fishing rigs chugging out at last light.
We are spending the night in the Ruzi River tonight and will tend to a few expedition chores this morning - cleaning vehicles, maintenance checks and lists for our resupply at Bingo tomorrow. We head to Maabwe Bay, Lake Kariba on Sunday and then on Monday where we will take 2 days of R&R and prepare for our 2nd chapter into Kazuma and Friends of Hwange Trust Thank you for the support and enthusiasm on the various platforms and please follow along for our updates over the coming weeks.
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