12 March 2015
We left Zambia this morning by plane. The river and green falling behind as we flew back to Victoria Falls. From the air you can see the change when leaving the National Park system to that which is agricultural. Scattered houses and farm building complexes are surmounted by fields. Green houses were prominent in a number of areas with large scale solar grids reflecting back the sun. Landing again in Victoria Falls, we made a detour via the Cresta SprayView Hotel where we will be staying on our return. The hotel was holding suitcases for several people and has WiFi.
Which obvious explains why I attempted to upload several days worth of photo teasers.
From there it was the paired border crossings and a long drive. In Zimbabwe you can see where some of the large farms used to be. The fence posts enclosing several of the larger fields and ranges are still present but rarely are there more than two connecting wires keeping them upright, mostly it is standing gates providing stability and the outline of what used to be. Out buildings have started to crumble but the main house which is often now in the possession of a senior government official still is bright and maintained.
Our bus brought us to the edge of Hwange National Park after passing multiple police check points (spot fines help keep the government afloat) and the coal mining areas. We saw rail lines for the first time. The crossings are open and are managed by the “stop, look and dash across” method. School children were walking along the main road, many having 6 km each way to school from their local villages.
From the edge of the park it was transfer to safari vehicles (Nissan this time) to bump along rutted and dry “roads” for 40 minutes to reach Kashawe East Camp. It is called a tented camp; the individual cabins might have tents as part of their infrastructure but the floors, furnishings and sanitary facilities are certainly well beyond a basic tent. Our deck looked out over the valley below.
After dropping off our gear we headed out to see who and what was about in the park. The answer? Giraffes, Elephants, Zebras, Birds (lots of weaver types with trees full of nests) and the Scrub Hare.
