Overland Nairobi , Kenya to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Part 2: Malawi and Zimbabwe

We spent 4 days on the shores of Lake Malawi. We than travelled across Zambia and south through Zimbabwe to the south west of the country where we visited the Great Zimbabwe, the Matopas and Hwange national parks and of course the Victoria Falls themselves.

Malawi is a small country dominated by the massive lake, which appears like a sea. It was the poorest country we visited with some dependency on aid (but much less than Ethiopia). However, we were impressed by the friendliness of the people we met and by the focus on vocational skills which had resulted in brick built houses, community halls and toilets in every village.

We visited a large market in Mzuzu, the northern regional capital, relaxed by the lake shore and participated in a traditional overlanders fancy dress party which happened to be on Brenda’s birthday.

We then had a long drive across Zambia and south to Harare, a clean modern city. All the roads we used were good quality, tarmaced and had very little traffic. In Zimbabwe we were well into the southern winter with sunny days but cold nights with excellent stars. We did not know what to expect in Zimbabwe but we were positively impressed. The country is beautiful with an excellent climate. It feels safe and looks prosperous. The infrastructure is well developed , way ahead of Ethiopia. The currency is now stable based on the US dollar. We were shown some of the notes printed at the time of hyper-inflation with face values of 50 million – 500 trillion Zimbabwe rand. The country is trying to rebuild tourism so we were welcomed (although we were assumed to be white Zimbabweans). We heard little of the troubles (the seizure and break up of white farms) nor of the current political leadership. The country clearly has excellent potential for future development.

From Harare we drove south to visit the Great Zimbabwe, the stone palace from which the country takes its name. The extensive campus has three main areas:

the king’s palace on the top of a steep hill; the valleys where the king’s wives lived and where there is now a tourist village; the Grand Enclosure, a massive circular stone built structure with an iconic tower, narrow

passages and many rooms inside.

We had high expectations of the Great Zimbabwe, the biggest stone structure in Africa south of the pyramids and certainly we were not disappointed. Our guide told us it dated from 12-15 th centuries and was entirely built by the Shona tribe which at that time controlled much of this part of Africa. Others have suggested the building is older and influenced from outside Africa. We also visited the small museum to see the Zimbabwe bird statues found on the site which are now used as national symbols.

Near the Great Zimbabwe we stayed at what was probably the most attractive campsite of the trip. It was set in a tropical garden with views over a man-made lake.

Outside Bulawayo we visited the Matopas park established by Cecil Rhodes, the founder of Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe (Nyasaland, North and South Rhodesia). We admired the unique boulder-strewn landscapes and the wildlife of the park (bush pig, impala, hippo, crocodile, giraffe, but no white rhinos!) We visited Rhodes’ grave, some bushman rock art and a local village.

We saw more wildlife, especially elephants, in Hwange national park between Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. The Falls were spectacular and a fitting end to an excellent trip.