DIAL BACK IN ZIMBABWE

Back in Johannesburg, it feels odd to look out from the window over a bustling carport of busy people with fancy cars. There’s a selection of sushi revolving in front of me, yet my boots are still freshly covered with the dust from Mana Pools.

Just two days ago, we were observing one of many herds of elephants wandering curiously around our campsite at Mana Pools, and later sitting around the hypnotising campfire listening to the hysterical ‘whoop’ calls of hyena in the background.

And then, there was the long, dreadful and often-infuriating drive back to Joburg, during which an encounter with a corrupt policeman almost landed me in a Zimbabwe jail.

I could describe our camping holiday to Lake Kariba and Mana Pools as an adventure-packed, but eye-opening adventure. Mentioning the camping trip to Zimbabwe still raises a few eyebrows, and the questions soon follow: ‘Is it safe? Is it worthwhile? What is still left there?’

We went with an open mind. The travel group consisted of my husband Johan and I, and family-members Bernard and Debbie with their two young girls. We travelled in two cars: a Land Cruiser V8 station wagon and a Toyota Hilux, both with trailers.

The Hwange back road

When stopping for breakfast en-route to the Pandamatenga border crossing, Johan started chatting to a passing tour guide. Johan mentioned our intended back-road route to Kariba via Binga, to which the guide replied ‘Good luck!’ with an amused smile, although we detected a slight flavour of disapproval. We should have seen that as a warning sign of the surprises to come.

During the lengthy border crossing at Pandamatenga, we were asked why we were taking so much extra fuel with us. Fortunately, we were allowed to keep our fuel, which proved to be our saving later. While