Today was a LONG day. To say things didn’t go as planned would be a severe understatement. We didn’t make the border crossing last night so we had to stay over in Pandamatenga. Today we were very glad we hadn’t made the crossing last night. Vehicle trouble, well over a hundred miles of “uncivilized” temporary roads during road construction and a litany of other issues would have gotten us to camp near midnight if we were lucky and hadn’t hit a stray warthog, donkey or goat along the way.
I’m not sure if anything could shock or surprise us after the roads we saw today- albeit some of it was quite breathtaking as we drove along and the path that became visible after numerous wildlife cleared the way. Every time I think we have seen the wild it just gets wilder. Navigating around animal carcass that lions left behind, downed trees from elephants (not to mention filling the tires with more ellie poo) are moments we aren’t soon to forget. We are utterly exhausted once again but have seen some remarkable country as well.
Fuel is sparse at places in Zimbabwe but we were lucky enough to restock at our second attempt. I was really getting hungry for some hot food and I noticed another customer coming out of the gas station with what is known as a pie (meat enclosed in a pastry crust). This would hit the spot I thought so I went inside for some sustenance. As I was debating over the beef or sausage option I was given, Jaco (the other PH with Don) came in and said “he wanted to talk to me just now”. Clearly he intended this conversation to happen before placing my order. Once outside he informed me that this was not the sustenance I should be after- it was meat of curious origin and likely not previously refrigerated. (they don’t take much credence into customer complaints after the sale in these parts) I was grateful to have been spared delving into my antibiotic stash so soon into our trip.
We got to the camp more than 3 hours late. Even the once friendly female GPS voice went from telling us she was “recalculating, recalculating, recalculating” to “I’m sorry…too many failed attempts. You are lost and I can’t help you.” Then it started smoking and blew up. We will miss her. Traversing on roads (and I use the term loosely) the GPS didn’t even know were there was another memory not soon to be forgotten (or felt). I told our PH, Danie, to just keep going as fast as he could to make up time and if I had too many bruises on the top of my head I would signal him to slow up a bit.
Just when we were beginning to wonder if we should give up and go back on a plane home, we made it to the camp. Nestled in immensely thick brush was a sight to behold. The winding path turned and the trees opened up to reveal an abandoned train station that was converted into a camp. I will tell you more about the camp later but for now I will close because the dinner bell is chiming and I don’t want to miss the eland stew! A hot meal sounds wonderful. I also want to see if the elephants have come in since they were making their way to our camp just a short time ago.
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