Trip Report 3: (17 July 2009): The way to Bvumba Botanical Gardens

After two days of rest we left Chimanimani all set for what was to come.  It was a day of first…

Here is Adri and Anita executing their first rinse cycle using their blue washing bin.  The latter was acquired in South Africa straight of the back of a bakkie.

 

 

Here is me (some distance up the road) taking the opportunity to empty my first Jerry can into the bus.

 

 

 

 

From here we went on to Mutare, which was our first large town and with it the first large market.  This almost naturally implies shopping…  ;-)  The first of many to come.

(I stayed and watched the vehicles, not wanting to rob the ladies of this joy.  One has to make sacrifices on trips such as this one.)

We stopped for lunch on the way to the Leopard Rock Hotel.  Here I finally got to use my Waffle Iron for the first time, which Andrita got me. (Andrita = Adrita and Abri) 

Thanks guys it works fantastic and it is  probably safe to say my new waffle iron will become a permanent part of my party bus. Note how overgrown the picnic area is.  This is sad evidence of the decline of tourism in the area.  Further evidence of this was  the hotel itself, where the state of repair and availability of basic luxuries (hehe I know) bore sad witness.

Leavinf the hotel, finding the camping site at Bvumba Gardens (5 km down the road), was a huge mission, after following incorrect waypoints etc on the Garmin.  We finally made it there, to the below view of neighbouring Mozambique.

A good day.

ciao Carl-Hein