PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE
From the Tree-Covered Mountain Slopes of the Eastern Highlands to the Tropical Beaches of the Indian Ozean
Week 131 of the photographic documentary of my daily life
Will we make it, is the question...
It’s been a week that took us high and then low again. I’m talking about elevation, in case you’re wondering. We slept at 2,300 meters above sea level and, a few days later, right on the beach. At sea level.
What a week it has been. We drove through the heart of Zimbabwe, stayed in the capital to get some things done on the car, and when we decided to cross the border, an insider tip send us on a detour through the Eastern Highlands.
And what a detour it has been. I absolutely loved the mountains. The views, the landscape and the cold temperatures. It was all such a refreshing change.
But let me start taking you through my last seven days.
It was our last morning at Lake Kariba, the largest man-made lake in the world. We were just having breakfast when David was starting to worry about a picking sound he heard.
A juvenile Red-headed Weaver found out his mate was trapped inside our mirror and was trying to rescue him from the inside. The poor fella didn't know what was going on and kept on picking on the window and the glass of the mirror.
A conversation started between him and David, who kept on saying "don’t pick on my car" and the bird responded, "only if you let free my friend". It was a tricky situation and none of the two wanted to give in.
I was the one profiting the most as the bird was too worried about his friend inside the mirror to care about my presence. I could go very close to him with my camera and get a clear shot of his fluffy plumage.
Eventually, it was time for us to pack up as we were heading to the capital. We had a friend in Harare whom I had contacted and who had sent me a warning message about the drive down.
"Take care on the road from Mukuti to Harare. It was in poor condition before our rains started in November and has just been made much worse by very heavy rains the past 10 days. There is a huge amount of haulage trucks in both directions as it is a main trucking route from SA to Zambia and Congo. Be ready to go bush at any time because it is not uncommon to come over a rise and find a car or truck coming head-on as it either tries to pass something or just veer round a damaged section. If you do have to veer off, don’t swerve — just go off completely as the road edges are soft or drop away so trying to swerve will flick you into a roll. Just veer off and worry about getting back on the road later. We have lost good friends on that road in the past two years….. See you Wednesday night" — Muzza
Right. He didn’t know we had come up that road a few days prior and experienced the exact scenario he described, but I appreciated his caring and warning message.
It certainly didn’t make us look forward to driving down south, but we had no other option. At least the first part of the road was very scenic and without any traffic, so we could start on a good note.
As you can see, since I'm typing this, we did survive that said dangerous road a second time and made it to the house of our friend. We had given in our vehicle to the mechanic this morning with very specific instructions on what to fix as we did know there was a lot more broken on the car. We focused on what needed urgent attention and let go of the rest.
In the meantime, our friend took us to a game park inside the capital's city borders, and we went for a lovely walk past lots of wildlife and countless birds singing in the trees.
With new breaks and new ideas, we left Harare again after only two nights. And since our friends recommended we explore the Eastern Highlands, the highest mountain range of Zimbabwe, we decided not to cross the border just yet and do some off-roading and hiking instead.
On the first night, we selected a lovely wild camping spot right at the edge of a cliff. We were very exposed and at the mercy of mother nature, but we had secured our vehicle nicely and withstood the night’s strong wind and rain inside our rooftop tent.
The following morning we woke to a breathtaking view. The sky above us was clear and clouds were hanging low in the valley below. The night had been cold, and while the temperatures certainly didn’t drop below zero, they did drop in half from the usual African warmth we experienced the previous weeks.
It felt great putting long clothes on and cuddling into the blanket at night. For once, we weren't sweating.
We had left our wild camping spot that day still and checked in at a campsite a little lower that evening. We needed power as we had issues with our spare battery and looked forward to a hot shower which we didn’t get there either. Not a hot one, at least.
But the next day, we did venture out to see some waterfalls in the mountains. Nyangombe Falls aren't famous but so worth the visit.
We had a more than 6-kilometer-long hike one way ahead of us and enjoyed the walk through the valleys crossing rivers and ridges. It was such a fun workout, even though we got drenched in rain on our return hike back to camp.
After two nights at the campsite, we packed up again as we were now really looking forward to crossing the border and starting the new adventure but just not before stopping and seeing Mutarzi Falls, the second-highest waterfall in Africa.
More impressive than the actual waterfall was the drop-off of the mountain slopes covered in a pristine forest.
We slept the last night in Zimbabwe close to the border just to make sure we were nice and early at the immigration offices. But honestly, it didn’t help. We knew we had to be patient. We knew we’d face African time and will be confronted by corrupt officers.
Yet, we had hoped to get faster through the border.
We spend a total of 4,5 hours parked in that exact spot. And that is not because the queue was so long. We were getting straight through to the counter.
But the officers simply didn't feel like issuing me a visa. And we didn't feel like bribing them. So, it ended up being a stand-off about who had more patience, and honestly, we were on the wrong side.
Those officers didn’t give a thing about us. They processed one local resident after the other through the border and didn’t even look at us. They told us in the beginning that we will wait 2, 3 or even 4 hours, and they made sure it would be like that.
It's not that it took them so long to issue or print my visa. Once the big boss came in and realized what was going on, I was handed the visa application form, and we were out of there within 20 minutes.
But up until then, nothing happened.
So this picture below isn’t a very pretty one but a symbolic one. Apart from a few minutes that I spent inside the office, I waited the rest of the time sitting in our car baking in the African heat.
TIA. - This is Africa.
Land borders in Africa can be a blessing or a nightmare. It all depends.
And since we only got through the border very late, we had very little daylight left. And no, we do not drive in the dark. The one rule we have and the one rule we didn't break yet.
We stopped somewhere halfway down to the coast and spend the night on a mango farm. Getting up early the next day, we experienced and drove on the worst road we’d ever driven on, even though we thought that were ones before already.
But then, there it was. The turquoise blue Indian Ocean.
We made it.
We crossed the southern part of the African continent from West to East. From the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. What a journey it has been and what a reward it is to be here now.
On the Beach.
In Mozambique.
See here the road we've taken so far. More to come as we continue exploring Mozambique. And remember, we need to get back as well.
This has been my week in photographs. 7 days. 7 photographs. Anyone can join. Once. Or weekly. It doesn’t matter. We welcome everyone! Dennett started this photography challenge in 2020 and many have participated ever since.
Erika / Eileen / K. Barrett / Juan / David / Mia / Susan / LensAfield / Kim / Barbara / Diana / Barb / Sandra / Shruthi / Ellie / Pene / Olive / Gustavo / Jane / Penny / Jillian / Shell / Ivy / Lisa / Lynne
And these are the previous weekly photo essays:
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