Zimbabwe - Gonarezhou - second two weeks in September 2013

After the Bhejane trip ended we went to Maleme Dam where we had arranged to meet our friends Retief and Desiree van der Reyden in two day's time.

The day after the formal tour we just stayed at the camp site and relaxed.

Suddenly our friends appeared and the second part of our tour officially started.

The Matopos is a lovely area with beautiful rock formations. In addition the rock paintings are the best I have seen anywhere.

The next day we headed for the outskirts of Bulawayo where we bought meat and provisions for our trip to Gonarezhou (GRZ). The meat in Zimbabwe is excellent - the best we have had in Southern Africa.

Traveling from the Matopos to GRZ one sees little sign of development until you reach the sugar plantations in the Triangle area. My concern is the amount of water being diverted for the sugar from the rivers that flow through the park.

Driving in GRZ covers very interesting and varied tracks.

Remove the wild animals and the place is almost worthless as far as I am concerned. The chance of seeing animals within the scenery is what makes going to GRZ worthwhile.

If GRZ was truly a Transfrontier Park like the Kalagadi between South Africa and Botswana (where you do not need a passport unless you leave the park into the other country) it could easily become a major destination for South Africans. The biggest drawbacks are the border crossings and the lack of fuel available in GRZ.

A lovely trip - thank your Retief and Desiree for having us along again.

Retief has done an exceptional report on our previous GRZ trip and therefore I will not even attempt to add any special information.

Our tracks on a T4A map

Our tracks on a Streetmaps map

Arriving at Gonarezhou

Unfortunately this is not a Transfrontier Park in my opinion.

Kevin and Joyce Reid with Pamela Johnston

Crossing into Mozambique

The Limpopo crossing

Kruger National Park

A Hyaena saying goodbye as we head for home.

This was a magical trip and I recommend it.

Overseas people are brave sometimes when they travel to these remote areas alone. Preferably I would like to have another vehicle along as a backup.

We carried about 260 litres of petrol and therefore we did not have to refill at Chiredzi until we left GRZ.