"Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans": our Christmas plans (involving hammocks on a Mozambican beach) got stuck in the mud shortly after leaving the Kruger Park. Straight after the border post at Pafuri, South-African-style perfect infrastructure ends, and the earth road turns into an endless succession of stinky mud-holes. At least we didn't get stuck, unlike several other local vehicles we encountered - and rescued from their muddy parking spots.
A bit of mud wouldn't have stopped us, but the mighty, brown Limpopo did: even the locals didn't dare to use the completely submerged wooden structure across the river anymore. A local entrepreneur did offer an alternative, in the shape of an oversized bathtub moved across by human power. That seemed far too risky to us, and we decided to drop our Mozambican Christmas plans.
Back to the border, and on to Zimbabwe! Crossing the border at Beitbridge took us three hours. For once, the formalities were not to blame, but the sheer number of Zimbabweans returning home for the holidays. A caravan of overloaded old buses, trucks and pick-ups lined the road - given their mechanical state, not all would make it... At police check-points every 50km, locals were obviously invited to hand over some Christmas gift, but not the foreigners, apparently, always waived on.
There's more good news: fuel stations do sell petrol and diesel, and supermarkets' shelves are full. We can't find the delicacies that we got so quickly used to in Namibia and South-Africa, but there's no need to stock up on the usual items before coming to Zim. Rand and US$ are accespted: Zimbabwean currency is now sold as souvenirs to tourists: welcome to the trillionnaire club!
Christmas in Zimbabwe? Not something I was very keen on. And I was wrong: it's a beautiful country with charming people! Landscapes seem strangely untouched - and they are. On our way from Great Zimbabwe to Harare, we saw many abandoned farms and rotting farm equipment. The air is full of butterflies, and fields are not cultivated. As tourists, all you can do is spend some time in the country and help a few people get back on their feet.
There are some of the less pleasant kind to be found in Harare as well: in the middle of the city, one of our tires was stabbed, with the obvious aim to make us stop and rob us. But the thieves had underestimated the strength of the B.F.Goodrich tire: it withstood the attack, and we could move on unharmed. Apparently, this is a relatively frequent type of attack on cars with foreign license plates.
What are we doing in Harare anyway? Getting a visa: it's rumored to be the only place where travelers can get a n Ethiopian visa without having to send their passports home. And the rumor is true: 30 USD per person and a couple of hours later, we have our passports back, including a three-month multiple-entry visa!
Christmas eve in Zimbabwe: the hammock is now installed on the shores of Lake Kariba, instead of the Indian Ocean. The landscape around this artificial lake is superb, but there is a catch: it's infested with crocs! We enjoy the views from the Zimbabwean side first, then from the Zambian side, refreshing ourselves with cold beers, thoughts of snowy Europe - and the occasional thunderstorm. Off to the North!
Like Zimbabwe, Zambia is not yet on the map of mainstream tourism. The hilly landscape, covered in thick jungle, is rarely interrupted by a village. We bypass Lusaka and its Soviet-style architecture, and make good progress on the tarred Great Eastern Road. Two days and 1000km later, we arrive at the South Luangwa National Park. Parts of the park are inaccessible during the rainy season, but the bit that we saw was absolutely worth the detour (and the hefty entrance fees)! We heard the hippos in the river next to the campsite, and fought off thieving monkeys in the morning.
That's how 2010 comes to an end in Zambia, after a pleasant start in Costa Rica. An unforgettable year full of adventure and new impressions! Many thanks also to your moral support during the (few) moments when it was less fun.
We shouldn't be making too many plans, but our intentino is to be back in luxembourg on the 1st of May. Then again, "life is what happens when you're busy...".
A healthy and successful year 2011 to all of you!!
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