Victoria Falls

Our next stop was the Victoria falls in Zambia, less than a 100 km from where we stayed in Chobe. As we approached the ferry to cross over to Zambia, we past a line of trucks, more than 3km long. The answer to the riddle of the long line of truck became clear when the customs official explained to me that only one truck can get onto a ferry at a time and there are only three ferries. For the last ten years the Zambia and Botswana governments have both been talking about building a bridge but nothing has obviously yet been done. Luckily for us, small vehicles are able to pass the line of trucks and go straight to the front of the queue.

The border post on the Zambian side is a little bit of maze, with a different office for each of the immigration,  customs, road taxes and third party insurance officers. The 500km of roads up to Lusaka are almost all beautifully tared with almost no potholes, so am happy to pay the road taxes.

Victoria falls in Livingston was everything and more than I was expecting. The falls are around 100m high and about 1.7km wide. You have to stand there, get drenched by the spray,  see the rainbow in the mist and hear the thunder of the water to really appreciate it.

The breathtaking view of the falls with the rainbow in the spray

Chobe park - Botswana

Fish Eagle with its catch for the day

After a big breakfast at our overpriced luxurious accommodation we set off for our day trip into Chobe National Park. I really should not be complaining about the price of the accommodations. It is after all high season and having a proper bed and being clean feels great after roughing it in Khwai.

Time seem to slow down in Chobe.

Chobe is a huge park and we barely made it halfway west through the top part of the park. All you have to do is get off the main road and drive along the bank of the Chobe river to see more animals in one morning than what you might otherwise ever see together.  The highlight was the elephant. We saw the largest herd of elephants I have seen, ever, estimated at between 60 and 80 elephant. They just kept on coming out of the bush toward the Chobe river to drink, and we could only watch in amazement. We were also blessed to see the rare Sabel antelope come out for a drink, and a number of Fish Eagles, to name but a few.

The rare Sabel with it's amazing horns.

Boats take tourist right up to the banks of the
 Chobe river for a close up view of the animals.

At three in the afternoon we took a boat ride with a number of other tourist on the Chobe river. On the positive side, within three hours you see elephant, buffalo (more than 100 grazing together), giraffe and hippos, not to mention a large variety of birds that live on or around the river banks. On the negative side, the river can get a little crowded with all the boats taking tourists on their respective tours. And since you are with 15+ other tourists, you have to go with the flow and do not have the luxury to take your time with photos to set up the right angle for that perfect photo. Having said that, it was a very relaxing afternoon and it is a great way to see so many animals at such close range.

Sunset over the Chobe river.
The best way to finish an amazing day.

Caprivi, Maun, Khwai and the Okavango delta

After leaving Etosha we headed for the Caprivi strip in the northeast of Namibia. But first a quick stop in Tsumed to buy Aletta another tent. The one she brought with her had too many openings and "windows" that could not be closed up at night causing it to be freezing cold. There was no free space on the roof rack and we magically rearranged things in the back of the Prado to make space for the beast of a tent. If there was no space left in the car before, there was now even less.

Driving down the Caprivi strip was an experience in itself. It was difficult to think that where there are now peaceful small villages, was a war zone less than 30 years ago, when the current South African ANC government was still considered terrorists and were clashing with the then South African armed forces. How things have changed.

The road from Etosha to the Caprivi was much better than I expected and we pushed through to Mahangu instead of stopping half way for the night. But because of that we arrived at our destination a day early there were no free campsites available. The friendly staff made a plan and we were given an open space to camp although not with the normal beautiful waterfront view. While waiting for the breakfast cruise the next morning, we were rewarded with an amazing sunrise over the Okovango.

Sunrise over the Okavango

The breakfast cruise did not deliver any elephant sightings although we did see a few shy hippos that would pop up from time to time. Still an amazing way to finish our visit to Namibia. There seem to be some very nice accommodations on the banks of the river as the photo below can testify to, and it must be very relaxing, as long as you finish up in the bathtub before the breakfast boats come past. 

Bathroom Okavango style.

The border crossing into Botswana was hands down the most friendly one so far on this trip, all because of the friendly attitude of one customs officer that kept the conversation going for the whole 10 minutes while he completed the Carne and while his colleague was stamping our passports. The difference one person can make! Lesson learned from an unknown customs officer at what is probably Botswana's smallest border post.

On the way to Muan we saw our first and last speed trap in Botswana with two friendly traffic officers that waved back as we past them. We also had to stop at our first of two animal disease control points. As part of the process you have to get out of the car and step into a tray with some chemicals while the tires of the car are sprayed. The whole process does not even take a minute. At the second checkpoint they asked that we please also bring our spare shoes and step their soles into the solution.

The road down to Maun was unfortunately nothing like what I would have expected from a country that has a currency stronger than that of South Africa.  We had to not only swerve for way too many potholes, but also for quite a number of donkeys. Donkeys, cows and the odd horse seem to freely roam around on the side of this road with no one in sight. The problem is that donkeys would walk half way over the road and then just stop there, not paying any attention to the approaching vehicles or my hooting. There are plenty of road sighs warning you against other animals crossing the road, but from what I have seen, they should rather replace them with warning signs for donkeys.

Maun turned out to be much bigger than I thought it would be. We bought everything we would need for our three days of being "off the grid." On arrival at the Khwai Development Trust offices we were told that they had no record of our booking and that they are actually full (more on that later), but they still took our money and gave us coordinates to the camp site. Our logic was that if we get there first or early, then we can have our choice of the best spot. 

The next morning I entered the name for our campsite into my GPS and was pleased that it was already pre-programmed as part of the existing locations. Easy since the GPS coordinates provided by the Khwai office was in a slightly diffent format than what my GPS was set for. We left Maun and followed the direction of the GPS. The Okovango delta was in flood and we were required to take a few sandy detours. This was nothing after having to drive through the Namid desert a week earlier, and with my tires now at 1.7bar, it was smooth sailing. Four hours and one very very long detour later, the garmin announced "arriving at destination." One small problem was that the camp site we arrived at was not the one we booked at. Whoever entered our camp site name into Garmin's list of standard sites obviously made a mistake when doing so. Getting some rough directions from one of the locals as well as fiddling with the Garmin coordinate settings and then entering what we were given by the friendly folks at the Khwai offices, and we had a new destination to head to. An hour later we got to our actual camp site just to find all camping spots occupied. Everyone accept the one a few hundred meters from the river and covered in thorns and loads of elephant dung. There was no question about our chances to seeing an elephant in our camp if we actually stayed there. Aletta and Peter went to look for help while I guarded what we have already unpacked before deciding we could not camp there. Paying 300Pula for camping and then not even having anything that resembled a camping spot was not acceptable. We thankfully were given permission to double up with another couple that had a huge camp site to themselves, right on the water. The toilet was dug, the tents were set up and we were ready for our first night in the wild. 

After our braai (BBQ) we spotted hyenas less than 50m from where we were doing the dishes and quickly finished up and all made our way to our individual tents. Hyenas in between the tents ended up being the norm rather than the exception as I watched them no more than 10m from my tent the next night.

Yes, it is right there, only 50m from our tents

Watching the elephant from our campsite.

Elephant in Khwai area feeding in the river.

Camping at Khwai has its drawbacks, but the reward is really being among the animals. Having elephants walking through your campsite is nothing strange. We never had to go more than 5km up or down the river to see elephant grazing in the river without paying much, if any, attention to the odd car passing by.  The area is also blessed with some of the most amazing birds. We saw so many fish eagles that we did not even stop for photos after a while. The most amazing of them were the colorful African Jacana and the Lilac Roller. 

"The Jesus bird," also known as the African Jacana

The amazing colours of the Lilac Roller

The only thing that can top a day of sitting around watching animals pass by is the breathtaking sunsets. 

Sunset at it's best!

Etosha Park

Etosha park, a must visit for all wildlife enthusiasts, is a park with a difference. Because of the lack of water in the area, animals often gather around one of the waterholes. The beauty of that is that one does not have to do a lot of driving around in the white dust to have great sightings.  

Elephants at the waterhole at Halali camp

At Halali camp one can get out of your tent, walk no more than 5 min and be seated at the edge of a waterhole that is visited by large herds of elephant, rhinos and a variety of antelope. At night the waterhole is beautifully lit up for late night viewing. Camping facilities are excellent, but because of the vet check point, one is not allowed to take your own meat into Etosha unless it is vacuum packed. The meat sold in the shops are a little pricy and not the best quality either.

Elephants gathering at the fresh water inlet into a waterhole

Etosha is not only known for its large herd of white elephants (due to the color of the dust), but is also a birdwatcher's paradise. 

Lilac Breasted Roller

Next stop is the Caprivi Strip before we enter into Botswana.

Namib Desert Safari

A few people asked me why I would want to spend 6 days in the desert. My initial attraction to the Namib desert came after seeing the photos of Sossusvlei and the surrounding areas. But now I know that you have to experience it, to have an appreciation for the Namib desert. There are two things that I will always remember and defines the Namib for me...

First, the beauty of the desert. It is difficult to imagine that sand can be so beautiful,  but when you look out over dunes as far as you can see, and the sun highlights the one side while the other side is darker because of the shadows, then you get the most amazing scenes.

The beauty of the Namib desert

Second, the size and unpredictability of some of the dunes. When you have to slowly drive the nose of your vehicle over the edge of a dune and you see the other vehicles almost one hundred meters below you then you feel small. When the vehicle start slipping down the dune and the dunes starts roaring as the sand starts a mini avalange then you feel even smaller and are filled with awe.

Going down the almost 100m roaring dune

The six days started with a lecture by the guide on the do's and don'ts of driving through the desert. There is a lot of emphasis on safety and preservation.  Whatever we did, we had to stay in the tracks of the vehicle in front of us. First to ensure that we stay safe and don't get stuck in lose sand or potentially role the vehicle because of driving up too steep an angle. Secondly, but more importantly, to minimize the impact that we have on being in the desert. In some areas your tracks are almost completely covered within a day of going through the area, while in  other area, out tracks will stay for months if not years.

The trip gave the me the opportunity to get my adrenaline going. Some of the valleys between the dunes are so deep and the opposite edge so steep that you can only make it out the other side by going at it full speed. But getting stuck up against the opposite edge of the dune sometimes meant a lot of patience, trying over and over again, or very clever maneuvering to get out.

Patience is important when traveling through the desert,
waiting for the next vehicle to get up the dune....

Spending 6 days in the desert also gives you more than enough time to learn a few new things about nature. As an example, the toktokkie (a small local bug) would angle its body in such a way so that the morning dew would run down its body towards its head. Because of the fact that the toktokkies always have enough to drink, they are also referred to as the water bottles of the desert, causing other animals to often eat them because of the water they have.

The different faces of the Namib desert

Whether you are watching the breathtaking scenery, or are in awe when standing at the foot of one of the mighty dunes, feeling the earth tremble as the dune roars, the Namib desert will have an everlasting impact. How great is our God!

Namibia: Sossusvlei

Sossusvlei is hands down the most beautiful place I have seen on this trip. On the way over we stopped at Dune 45 and did the touristy thing and climbed the dune. Definitely a good idea to do it in the early morning hours as it was quite a workout. We procceded to Sossusvlei and I got my first taste of driving through desert sand as the last few kilometers are not accessible by anything other than a 4x4. Another kilometer hike south from the parking area and you arrive at a photographer's dream. Almost a hundred photos later, and a little sunburned, I finally went to look for my travel companions. The most difficult thing is picking the best photos and deciding which ones to delete.

A picture is worth a thousand words!

Tomorrow we are starting our 6 day desert safari and will not have any access to the outside world...  cant wait!

Namibia: Fish River Canyon to Aus

Daniel:

We left Roadhouse Canon after a delicious breakfast and headed back to the Fish River Canyon for photos in morning light. The canyon was apparently created by a tectonic event and not erosion.  It is in total almost 100km long and up to 1.5km wide.

Fish River Canyon

We took the scenic route through the southern part of Namibia. The mountain ranges surrounded us all the way to Aus. The mountains are absolutely spectacular, varying in height, formation and color. The dirt road is in a very good condition all the way to Oranjemund from where it is tarred, with the longest stretch of straight road being almost 26km long.

The mountains are forming layers.
How the first people found their way through it is beyond me.

The color of some of the mountains are at such a
contrast with the surroundings.

Just south of the Fish River canyon we found this old vehicle abandoned next to the road. There was a very strong wind blowing from the north, causing the radiator fan of the car to spin and an amazing rate, as if it the engine was still running.

Going nowhere quickly

Diamonds were discovered on the northern banks of the Orange river in the 1930s. A long stretch of the road running parallel to the river is still a restricted area, and although you are allowed to drive through it, one is not allowed to stop and leave the road.

Diamond mines on the Northern bank of the Orange river

One the gems you will find in this semi desert area is the patches of plants growing next to the road. They are definitely worth stopping for so keep your camera close by when you drive through here.

Surprised to find a bee in the flower in this desert area.

We arrived at Klein Aus Vista campsite and found that our campsite was already occupied, not by other travelers but by a large nest of very sociable birds. They made themself at home on the wooden railings while we were having supper and happily came to eat crumbs out of my hand. 

Our neighbors for the night at Klein Aus

After a long day on the road we opted for a Back Country's freeze dried meal, not bad at all, and ready in no time, not to mention that one has minimal dishes to do afterwards.

Dinner.

Northbound to Namibia

The second part of the journey has begun. Jessica flew out on the same new Kenya Airways Dreamliner that Peter flew down on and the two missed each other with less than 5 minutes. Peter will join the adventure until Victoria Falls and my sister Aletta will travel with me all the way back to Nairobi.

But now it was time for me to turn the car around and start heading north. The trip north will take me through Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania and finally back to Kenya. We will be spending most of the next month in Namibia and Botswana, followed by a quick stop at the Victoria falls. After that it will be a few days of 10+ hours of driving to make it back to Kenya on or before the 31st of August. It is going to be a shock to my system to arrive back in Kenya on the 31st of August and having to go back to work again on the 1st of September. But that is the only way to do it if I want to maximize my time in Namibia and Botswana.

On Monday morning, Rhino (as Jessica renamed the Prado) was packed to the rim with the extra 2 tents and luggage for Peter and Aletta. We left Potchefstroom just after 7am and by 10am the outside temperature finally rose above freezing point. We traveled about 700km to Upington and started roughing it by camping at Sakkie se Arkie (Sakkie's Arc) next to the Orange river. Cost was only R100/$10 per person - great value for money considering the fact that they have warm showers, clean facilities and a beautiful view of the Orange river. Camping next to the river has its benefits, but the down side is that it was freezing cold this time of the year and I was truly thankful for the hot shower the next morning to defrost.

Our wonderful guard dog at Sakkie's Arkie that woke me
a few times during the night with her barking.

Breakfast: Individualized hassle free omelets.

For breakfast we had omelet's. A tip for the overlanders and campers:

Break two eggs into a Ziploc bag. Add any ingredients you want and mix it with the eggs. Place your bag with that of the other fellow travelers into slow boiling water for about 5min. What I like about this method is that each person can do their own individualized omelets with whatever ingredients they want, you add all the bags into the water and all the omelets are done at the same time. Easy and quick with no messy pans to scrub.

Birds build their nests on telephone poles. When the nests become too big they either
break off, or slip down the pole. Both can be seen on this picture.

One of the largest nests we have seen. The telephone pole is about
 6m high and the nest covers about two thirds of it.

The road between Upington and the Nakop boarder post has some of the longest straight sections I have ever seen. This is part of the Greater Karoo area. There are no trees in sight and the birds became quite creative by building their nests around the telephone poles. As the nests grow bigger they often become to heavy and break the telephone lines and start slipping down the pole. The broken telephone lines sometimes become an anchor for the nest not to slip down any further. It is an incredible sight to see lines of telephone poles decorated with nests of different sizes.

Weather forecast system at Nakop Border crossing.

The most organized border post yet.
Everything is color coded which makes the process so much easier than
what we experienced coming through all the other border posts.

The Narop border between South Africa and Namibia is probably the most organized border post we have yet seen. Everything is exceptionally well organized and the staff are very friendly. The whole process took less than 30min.

This part of Namibia is decorated with a number of ruins and a few old vehicles.

We have been spoiled with beautiful pothole-free tar roads all the way into Namibia, but we soon had to turn off onto a dirt road. First thought was that I would have preferred a few more kilometers of that beautiful tar road, but the dirt road turned out to be better than most tar roads in Kenya. Our first stop in Namibia was the Canon Roadhouse, only 23km from the breathtaking Fish River Canyon. It turned out to be a real treat.

You can't miss the turnoff to Canon Roadhouse with this road sign.

The bar at Canon Roadhouse.

The restaurant at Canon Roadhouse,  beautifully decorated with vintage vehicles.

After setting up camp we dashed over to the Fish River Canyon for sunset photos. With the deep canyon being dark against the bright sunset we ended up not being able to take too many photos and would have to return the next morning for better shots of the canyon when the morning sun will give us the best shots.

South Africa

Jessica:

With the change in plans after having to cancel out trip through Mozambique, we arrived 4 days early in South Africa and did not have any set plans on where to stay or what to do. Leaving Musina where we camped the first night in South Africa, we decided to spend our second night in Bela Bela, that's claim to fame are hot springs, but the region had endured some epic floods earlier this year and the resort where we wanted to stay was not yet open for business. So we decided to head to Pretoria since the B&B we were booked at later that week had room for us.

We arrived at the Richtershuyz Guest House about midday. It's a beautiful place with very nice staff and we were told to make ourselves at home because they did not have other guests for the weekend. We ended up staying for 6 days.

Relaxing in the backyard of Richtershuys Guest House
with some delicous South African cheese and red wine

On Sunday we went to the church Danie attended when he lived in Pretoria and then out to lunch with with his friend Christo and his family. It was a beautiful afternoon and we had lunch in a garden. The freezing cold South African winter I'd been warned about had yet to materialize, but I would experience it a few days later when we went through to Potchefstroom. Danie had Rhino's spare shocks fixed and she was given a tune up for the second leg of the journey. I went in to have a consult about getting my amalgam fillings removed and ended up scheduling an appointment to have them removed on Wednesday and Thursday.

An example of the colourful creations of South Africa's creative artist. 

Shopping for presents for my girls. The ladies
were going through the key rings looking for a beaded M and J

We both got haircuts at Danie's old barber, saw a good movie, "Belle," shopped a bit in a few of the many malls in the Pretoria and Johannesburg area, ate amazing stakes at The Butcher Shop, and had dinner with Danie's friend Marsha and her family.

Mandela square in Sandton, Johannesburg. 

Shoes nailed to the ceiling of one of the shoe shops

With my big day coming up a girl is allowed to dream a little. (Danie wrote this caption!)

South Africa's shopping malls are littered with jewelry stores.
We made use of the opportunity to try on a number of rings. 

I haven't actually seen much of South Africa, just the highway and big cities. But the people I've met so far have been wonderful. With all the preperation done for the second phase of the journey, we were ready to go through to Potchefstroom where I would meet Danie's family.

Daniel:

By the end of the day on Saturday Jessica had my family convinced that she is the best thing since sliced bread. They even turned sides and started teaming up with her against me. I would not have it any other way. She fitted right in. While the girls were enjoying the baby shower, the men all gathered around Rhino as everyone helped with a few changes. The rail system I have built and the roof top tent both needed minor modifications, or as we would like to call it, improvements/advancements.

As much as I was looking forward to starting the second phase of the journey,  I was not looking forward to Sunday as that meant that Jessica had to fly back to Nairobi. Malawi, Namibia and Botswana were my main destinations for the 9 week journey through Southern Africa. I'm thankful for all that Jessica and I have experienced together on the route south, and would have loved for her to share the experiences in Namibia and Botswana.

God blessed us beyond our wildest dreams. We saw and experienced some of Africa's most beautiful countries together. We saw the most amazing and memorable sunsets and sunrises in every single country we visited. The snorkeling in Diani in Kenya was breath taking. The Boabab forest in Tanzania was incredible. The fig trees growing on hugh boulders in Malawi was mind blowing.  The view from Mushroom Farm on the top of the escarpment in Malawi was spectacular. We had no issues with the car, and all the border crossings went without any hiccups. We did not experience any of the horror stories we have heard about corrupt officials making life difficult for overlanders, on the contrary, most of them have been professional and very friendly. And I was blessed to share it all with an amazing woman. All in all, we have so much to be thankful for.

Abnormal Zimbabwe

Jessica:
Here is an update of our journey from Malawi to South Africa. Enjoy!

Leaving Cape MacClear.

Little boy from Malawi side asking for kwacha at the Mozambique side of the border.
We had 260 kwacha which is only about 50 cents USD.
He was so happy to get it but when i asked him if i could take his picture,
this is the expression I captured. 

Sunset behind a Baobob tree on the way into Tete, Mozambique.

We rolled into Tete at sunset. We were surprised by how cosmopolitan it was. We had read that it was a dusty small city with not much to do. They were right about there not being much to do, but the city itself was pretty interesting. There were new European brand shops and new banks with ATMs, all of which looked as if they had been built very recently. They speak Portugese in Mozambique so it has a slightly Latin feel to it, which I loved from spending so much time in South America and Spain. We found a small hotel to spend the night and then walked a few blocks for dinner. The hotel owner said walking in this part of the city at night was safe! A burger for Daniel and falafel for me. Neither was very good unfortunately...but takeaway was the only thing nearby to eat.

(Aside: I would really like to go back to Mozambique when we are less likely to get shot at. It's a fascinating country.)

Almost to the Zimbabwe border and we spotted this enterprising man.

I don't know if it was the food or something else, but I woke up feeling just not quite right. We took a walk around town and down to the Zambezi river which was beautiful. Bought some beautiful apples in a small market. They were huge compared to what you can buy in Nairobi and delicious! At about 9:30 we were back on the road headed to yet another border crossing and then onward to Harere, Zimbabwe. I spent the entire day in the car fighting a headache.

The border crossing went very smoothly. As we were going through the last gate Daniel asked the guard what the speed limit was in Zimbabwe. We had not planned on traveling through Zimbabwe so we had no idea what the roads would be like. The guard said 120km/h,  but that the police didn't have radar guns so we didn't have to worry. That did not prove strickly true after Harare, but we made it to our destination in good time all while staying within the speedlimits.

The most difficult thing about driving in Zimbabwe is not the other vehicles or pedestrians...its the cattle crossings.

We drove in circles around Harare, following GPS directions, looking for restaurants and then lodging that no longer exsisted, but they had not changed or deleted their entries on Track4Africa. Frustrating!!! My knight and shining armor finally decided we'd had enough and pulled into a Holiday Inn so I could sleep off my nagging headache in comfort. It worked and the next day the headache was history!

Daniel:

Abnormal, yes, that is what Zimbabwe is all about.

Zimbabwe is definitely abnormal in a number of ways. The first is the volume of Abnormal loads of vehicles with construction equipment. It was unreal. The second was how busses and pickups were overloaded. And the third was the amount of traffic police and police check points on the road between Harare and the South Africa border.

One of many overloaded busses on the road between Harare and South Africa.

We left Harare early Friday morning. We had no plans on how far we would go for the day and decided to maybe stay another night in Zimbabwe before we cross over into South Africa. The road south is where things got interesting. It was nothing like the quiet road between Tete in Mozambique and Harare. First was the traffic police. If you think Tanzania was a little strange with all the police checks, then you have not seen anything yet. We got our first taste of it when we went through about 10 police check points in the first 2 hours and the freqency did not change after that. Around midday we were pulled over AGAIN for another police check, but this time the officer wanted to also see my fire extinguisher.  I was told that I needed a 0.75kg extinguisher. Mine had no capacity indication so I had nothing to argue about and got fined $50!

(Aside: There are very few if any speed zone ending signs in Malawi, Mozambique or Zimbabwe. If you are lucky you will see the back of the speed zone sign for the traffic going the opposite direction, and that was more than often our indication that we are out of the speed zone. But when we did not see those, we would make a judgement call that we were out of the speed zone section if we have not seen anything but bush for a few kilometers.)

A little cranky about my fine, we continued further south and noticed a few more traffic cops with speed guns. This was not a concern as I have faithfully been sticking to the speed limits. About 30min later we went past  a "cane hauling"  sign. We were still laughing about it since we could not see any sugar cane around when I got pulled over again. This time for speeding in a 60 zone. I paid the $20 fine and was wondering if their speed guns were even calibrated.  We went a few kilometers, again with no speed zone ending sign but a lot of nothing so I started accelerating again. I saw another 60 zone and decreased speed, being careful to stick to the speed limits, but was promptly pulled over for speeding. I asked how this can be since I know I was going 60 by the time I passed the 60 zone sign. I was informed that i was not out of the previous 60km/h zone yet. I made the mistake by saying that if that is the case then I have just paid a fine for speeding in the same zone. Big mistake, because now I am considered a repeat offender without showing that I have learned my lesson, and will have to go to court for a bigger fine. Then why was there another 60 sign? Apparently it was a reminder that it was still a 60 zone. How kind of them!!! Well, if that is the case then lets go to court. I will happily explain to the judge that they dont have speed zone ending signs in 90% of their speed zones. 10 minutes later, and a lot of back and forth about the fact that i did not know it was one terribly long 60 zone, the officer finally decided to just fine me another $20. Three tickets in less than an hour!

That was the end of Zimbabwe for me so we made a run for the border and got to Musina in South Africa at about 5pm. A quick stop at the local supermarket and we were ready for a Braai (South African BBQ with ugali), but again tracks4africa let us down. Neither the Caravan park or the second options we checked out existed any more. We noticed a sigh for a small lodge called Siesta. We called them with the hope that they could tell us about camping places in the area.  Nothing close by, but we could camp on their premises.  We ended up with a swimming pool and very nice build in fireplace next to it, all to ourselves for the night. Luxury camping.

Awesome accommodations at Siesta Lodge.