Matopos

Not all of us who live near the Matobo Hills really appreciate just how majestic those rocks are. Instead of the girls going to a restaurant in town for our regular get-together, we decided to have a sleep-over in the Matopos at one of the girls little country residence. We toddled off in the late afternoon so that we could get settled down in time for sundowners. One of our gang of merry girls only made it after dark, just as we were planning how we were going to go about organising our search party without the benefit of cellphones .... no signal where we were, hidden in the hills. Luckily it didn't come to that, so we made a big fire, got our munchies together, the cold boxes were nearby, and there we stayed for HOURS, discussing everything possible under the sun - well moon, actually, it was a full moon that night, which just adds to the mystic of the hills. We sat under a brilliantly lit bright sky, watching satellites orbiting in the earlier hours, spotting Jupiter's 4 moons by telescope, listening to the nightjars, deeply breathing in the clean bush air. Deciding in the wee hours that after sitting next to the fire all this time a hot bath was definately on the cards, the next hour was spent on my hands and knees worshipping the chip-boiler. Funny how the staff on hand always seem to get those things going within seconds, and the 2 of us who were lighting this hotwater fire are no sissies when it comes to fire-building, let me assure you, but it did take a full hour's grovelling in the ash to get the water piping hot, but which time I DEFINATELY needed a bath !! We all slept amazingly well, and it seemed like it was time to wake up in just minutes ... Early morning consisted of sitting round in our jarmies drinking gallons of coffee and basking in the early sunshine like lizards. But, seeing as we were in the heart of walking and rock climbing territory, we donned our taakies and head off down the road in search of ... well anything really !! We kept an eye out for the Black Eagles nest which we spied on through the binos, and we just kept on walking. The route we were sent on came to an end far to quickly, so we kept on going. Around one bend in the road we surprised a beautiful bushbuck which we got a good look at as it was so shocked to find us there, it just froze and stared at us for a while before melting off into the bush. A vehicle ferrying guests out of the neighbouring safari camp stopped to ask if we were ok, were we lost ?? No no, we know exactly where we are !! And so we headed back to base, found things there still quiet, and decided to tackle the adjacent kopje. Once atop, the view was astounding, and one can just sit and stare for ages and ages, picking out the odd landmark, and just marvelling over the rock structures and quietness of it all. Its always been said of the Matopos that it is a spiritual place, and a power centre, and boy !, when you are there it certainly feels like it. We eventually headed back down the rocks to find that the dear young thing that accompanied us this weekend had cooked up a slap-up bacon, eggs, sausage-and-the-rest brunch. It was delicious, and just what we needed after our exercise. After more chats and bird-watching, 2 of us had to head off home, deciding to take the long way round so that we could take in more of the Matopos. I was very happy that I had made the decision to go out in the Landy, as the road was atrocious in parts and a Landy was just what we needed ... We meandered through the Park, and I don't think we saw single soul until nearing the main gate - and this on a Sunday !! We really don't make enough use of that Park.....

Sidinda

Our next trip took us to the most wonderful spot. It is so wonderful that I am torn between telling people about it or keeping it secret !! When First-Born is home from cold and boring faraway places, he MUST fish (in between the hunting, shooting, falconing, drinking and partying), so we squeezed in a short trip to The River. None of us had ever been to Sidinda before but had heard that it is a good spot (what an understatement !!). It was a 5 hour drive - 400kms - just the last 30 or so kilometres on a perfectly acceptable dirt road. There are no signposts, so we just went off in search of the spot, using friends' directions and some local knowledge. As we got closer, the people disappeared and the vegetation became thicker and we could spot the evidence of large game having been in the area. It became more and more appealing the closer we got to the camp. Our arrival at the camp was confirmed by a very understated sign, but the camp was awesome !! The large wood and thatch rooms are standing on stilts built into the side of a hill, looking out over the river. The rooms are very open - no doors or walls - because of the extreme high temperatures in summer. We were lucky to be there in August and the weather was just perfect - not VERY hot and certainly not cold, just a little crispy in the early morning. There is a perfect clean white sandy beach in front of the camp, but unfortunately no pool. Paddling in the river is not recommended - the only crocs we saw were large ones ! It was a wonderful few days, everyone fished (and caught nicely) (except me - I was there to relax, read, take photos, explore and bird watch). The awesome thing about being at Sidinda, is that there is no-one else around, it is a very exclusive spot. Boats cannot come up the river as they can't get past the rocks, and as it is very close to the end of the Batoka Gorge, there is no other resort between there and Vic Falls, so no-one comes down river either. There are no villages nearby, and we only saw one Zambian hut some kilometres up the gorge. There is no mains power, no telephones, no tv, so this is a really special place to go where you can truly enjoy being alone and have the place to yourself !! Our 3 night stay there was just not long enough, but better than nothing, for sure !! The birdlife was amazing, I had several "first time" identifications, and sleeping in in the morning was out of the question as the bird calls were riotous - but how lovely to hear them all. The hippos only visited at night, we could hear them grunting and sloshing around under our rooms, but they moved off in the day and weren't spotted nearby. Sadly it was all over far to quickly and we had to leave. On the way out we could see that we had just missed the elephants - their tracks and poo and branches were all over the road, we could smell them, we just couldn't see them !! We plan to visit Sidinda again next year - but for MUCH longer !!

It was a crispy morning when I awoke, and like a child I amused myself for quite a while breathing "smoke" out of my mouth and nostrils, just as an indication of how cold it was out there. I opened up the side flaps of my tent so that I could gaze out into the bush from the relative warmth of my bed and watch the first sun beams hit the ground. It had been a quiet night, or else I just slept very well, but there had been no hyena or lion calls. Soon it was time to be brave and get out of bed and get dressed in cold crispy clothes and head for the camp fire and hot coffee. We sat around and chatted whilst breakfast cooked. It was around this time, whilst everyone compared notes of their night in the bush, that it dawned on me that I had missed out on something. Everyone else had snuggled up in the night with a couple of hot water bottles. Feeling somewhat smarted I declared that I hadn't been given ANY hot water bottles in my bed. But as the words were coming out of my mouth I started to realise the possibility of what had happened !! Which I confirmed DID happen when I went back to my tent to collect my bag and saw 2 hot water bottles sitting on the deck .... I had slept in the wrong bed !!! The "turned down" bed with one blanket was not turned-down at all, it had been robbed to place extra blankets on the bed that was warming up with two hot water bottles in in !!! So my nice warm bed had an empty night whilst I slept in the cold crispy bed. What a twit - and I hadn't even been drinking !!! Breakfast, which was presented in the form of a full-on hearty bacon and eggs fry up, was gratefully devoured. On a previous excursion in the Sports Car some years previously (where we ended up as a tiny speck in the sky some 9 kms up, flying over the rugged Drakensberg Mountains, before being threatened by the military .... but that's another story...), I had been informed by knowledgeable Pilot that it is better eat than not eat before flying to keep air-sickness at bay, so I was more than happy to clean my breakfast plate. Once packing was completed and good byes said, we strolled down the path to the airstrip to get ready for departure. The entire staff, guide and guest all came to say goodbye !!! Pre-flight checks done, I confidently strapped in knowing that I was feeling ready for this flight. We had a lovely take-off and (you'd have thought I would have learnt something the day before ...) said "We must give them a fly past to say goodbye". Huh !!!!!! We circled around and came in really low to give them my royal wave. The next thing I knew we were screaming upwards at what seemed a straight vertical line - I had no control over my body position as G-forces took over !!!!! Maybe I should re-phrase that ... I was screaming !!! At the top point Pilot swooped us into another turn, causing more screaming and hysterical laughter, as we gained a little more height and flew back over the camp. I was trying to take photos, but couldn't hold anything - myself or my camera - in what even resembled an upright position. Pilot then warned me that there was a sharp left turn coming up, which brought on a case of nervous giggles and eyes glancing around tiny cockpit to look for something to hold on to (there isn't anything, by the way). He counted down 5,4,3,2,1 into the sharp left turn. Flippin' heck, he wasn't joking .... I screamed, cried, laughed my way around the "corner". After he had finished his fun, he asked "where's the railway line?", presumably to follow it back to town, and it was vaguely a few kilometres behind us, which I kind of managed to indicate !! We got on the flight path back to Bulawayo, which was a straight line from there right to the runway !! We hit a few air pockets here and there - I can't tell if we were going up or down, but I do know that my stomach wasn't in the same place as the rest of me - but they weren't too serious, no worse than the "Octopus" of Luna Park fame !! (but just as scarey !). We landed easily and taxied in. Somewhere around this time, Pilot declared to Passenger that if she could handle such turns and bumps as that flight had, then she was "okay" !! Well, thank you ....

And so ....

I must admit to having to have a little lie-down before lunch to quell my raging nerves, stomach, head etc. but after that I was raring to go. I spent the afternoon having a good old snoop around the camp. I checked out the rooms and went for a walk (not too far !!). I did ask if there was one of the staff who could walk with me, but they replied unfortunately not, but didn't seem overly concerned that I wanted to wander off. I started off down the airstrip, happily snapping photos of the plane, but kept going, wanting to get a good landscape shot of the camp. Now, I'm not usually a sissy in the bush, but when I spotted a rather large pug mark of a lion I did start rapidly glancing around me to see what looked like a good lion-camoflage spot and thought it might be a good time to head a little closer back to base !!! Suddenly the airstrip felt very exposed !! Even though anyone could see it was not a recent track, I still thought I needed to get back ... Once closer, my "bush skills" & nonchalance returned (ha ha) and I headed out the opposite side of the camp. Fortunately there was nothing scarey that side.....

The freelance pro-guide, Tony had taken his client out game viewing, but returned at sundowner time. This man has been EVERYWHERE in Africa - so interesting !! And so knowledgable, with a wonderful sense of humour. Whilst we were still sitting around the campfire we were paid a visit by a thirsty elephant. As you can see from the photo, the waterhole is very close to the lodge. Apparently the eles come there every evening, it's wonderful they are so close and relaxed. I did want to take a photo, but fortunately first made the comment "elephants don't mind flashes, do they", which was more of a statement than a question, to which I received all sorts of grunts and mumbles and eye rolling as a reply, which led me to believe that eles do, in fact, mind flashes !! I was very well behaved that night, knowing I had to fly again in the morning, and not wanting a repeat of the earlier discomfort, I only had a glass or two of wine with dinner, and otherwise abstained, wanting to be feeling strong and healthy in the morning !!

Please bear in mind that we were on the Ngamo Flats in the middle of winter ... it was rather chilly that night, the sort of night when you start wondering if you really did actually get dirty in the day and perhaps you didn't need to wash....! I headed off for my tent with these kind of thoughts in my head, but, having always been a 'before bed bather" decided I needed a shower and deployed the dear appy (Stoffel) to stoke the boiler fire ahead of me. They kindly kept the generator running for another 10 minutes seeing as I decided 2 minutes before switch off time that I needed to wash, and so I had some light whilst I headed into a lovely steaming hot shower. Difficult to get the clothes off in the cold, but worth it once a hot wash was had ... I glanced at my folded down bed and saw that I only had one blanket on the bed. "Are these people MAD" I thought and grabbed another duvet off the other bed in the room and piled it on top of me. The sheets were freezing, but I warmed up and was quite snug in my bed - IF I didn't move. All in all, somehow, a good night's sleep was had.

The final instalment will follow ...

Bomani - Hwange

I am a very lucky girl in that I have a brother who pilots his own plane - affectionately referred to as his "Sports Car", presumably because it is small, it only has 2 seats, and it goes fast. Said brother loves flying off to explore new places as much as I do, the more remote the better, so he did not need much encouragement to fetch me from Bulawayo and head off to the southern part of the Hwange National Park area to a camp called Bomani, where I was headed for a site inspection. The day towards the end of July arrived and the wind HOWLED !! I had perhaps had a few too many sundowners the night before and was not feeling as strong as I should have to undertake this trip, but I thought, well, it can only be half an hour, I'm sure I'll manage that. We taxied on to the apron to find the trusty fuel attendant to fill up ... and the wind BLEW .... and let me point out that this was in winter, and so that wind was cold. So cold, in fact, that the oil which Pilot was attempting to pour into the engine wouldn't "run" and came out in a thick massive blob.... that did NOT please him. By this time, the vicious wind, combined with not too strong constitution, and little "Sports Car" was starting to make me think that perhaps this wasn't the right day for this little adventure and I started asking pointed questions like "is this wind too strong to take off in" and stuff like that. But trusty bush pilot was not deterred ... having managed to refuel and re-oil, we continued on our trip, got permission to take off, and so, into terrifically strong head winds we went, amid some comments from Pilot about how flippin' strong the wind actually was. Well, a few bumps and sways later, we were off the ground, turned around, had the wind under our tail and we were headed off to Bomani at top speed !!! It was only a half an hour trip, thank goodness, as passenger was starting to feel just slightly queasy, but soon enough, after following the railway line - a very straight line - toward the co-ords we were given, the camp came into view. I had said something like "buzz the camp so that they know to fetch us". Well, I was subsequently told that those three little words "buzz the camp" apparently give the pilot free reign to act like an idiot !!! After making some I-don't-know-what degree turn, which just about caused the contents of my queasy stomach to come out my ears and nostrils, and definately did cause some bad language to be used toward virtuous Pilot, we made an easy landing and cruised up to waiting staff at the top of the air strip. Only once out the plane did I admit that perhaps I wasn't quite in my best flying health !! Once the plane was strapped down and sun blocked for the rest of the day and night, we picked up our bags and just walked a few hundred metres to the camp. Wonderful !!

The Pro Guide was out with the client, but the staff showed us to our rooms (safari tents on decks) and we had a good look around the camp.

The story will continue .....

I intend this blog to be a record of my personal travels, starting a little earlier this year.