The lions woke us before the alarm........ There were many more things that I loved but the last one I will write about here was Day 23. This definitely made the TOP 3 of my best days on Zimboundary. I never finished this story during our ride but had to take my notes out and rewrite it for the purpose of the Best. So here it is..... Day 23 PANDAMATENGA - KAZUNGULA 103km The lions woke us before the 4a.m alarm. The pre dawn silence was shattered with an unholy roaring which reverberated around the camp site and bounced off the walls of the tent. We had decided to sleep in tents as protection from the hyaena but now, snuggled down deep in my sleeping bag, I was pathetically grateful for the thin buffer and the fence outside that sectioned off Robins Camp site in the Hwange National Park. The day before had been our nemesis, an underestimation of the brutal terrain had left us critically low on water forcing us to abandon riding our bicycles and limp through the Park in the vehicle. Emotionally bruised and physically exhausted we had found the camp at 9p.m the night before and our spirits were at an all time low. We had no idea what to expect of the route the following day and for the first time in three weeks doubts assailed us.....Now the sheer volume of sound from the lions was not only a wake up call (both figuratively and literally!) but also a call to arms. I found strength in that magnitude of sound. I found a kinship with those mighty spirits and, critically, a reason to go on. A lions roar is like nothing on earth, most especially when it is right outside your tent and I allowed it to wash over me and sooth me and steady me for the days and weeks to come. The lions were our call back to reality, back to the reasons we had taken on this mammoth task in the first place. And as all of this sank in so the roars subsided to a series of grunts, punctuating the dawn as if now they had my attention they were content to go back to sleep...... On little more than 5 hours sleep we regrouped round the fire for coffee and made our plans for the day. A spectacular sunrise and an hours drive to the Pandamatenga border post and our spirits had lifted considerably. How bad could it get? We were 100km from Kazungula and the start of the mighty Zambezi River and only two days away from our half way point at Victoria Falls where our families were flying in to meet us, we just had to find a way to get there by bicycle. As we approached the border post the original gps track of the planned route came in and we eagerly peered out as the road appeared. Our hearts sank. There was a track indeed but it was little more than a narrow game path punctuated with thorn trees and other car tyre shredding shrubs that looked identical to what we had just escaped from in Hwange. Trying to be optimistic about a road we found a friendly immigration officer who dashed our hopes in no time at all. There was no road to Kazungula along the border, only back the way we had come, via Victoria Falls. In brief terms this meant we had to cycle 170km via the tar road to Kazungula and we could not possibly do this in one day which meant we would not get to the Falls to see our families. We were crushed. The only other option was to clear immigration into Botswana and use their road but Jimmy and Gareth did not have passports so we were looking at 100km with no back-up. As we were dejectedly loading our bikes back onto the truck a police officer arrived and informed us that his commander wanted to see the team leader. We always sent Ashley to deal with these situations, his diplomacy is legendary and as impatient as we were we knew we could not risk an altercation with the Zimbabwe Police. We all waited by the car and before too long Ash arrived with the Commander who clearly was not happy about our presence at his border post and couldnt understand either what we were doing there or what our intentions were. He insisted that there was a border road and asked suspiciously why we were going back when we had come so far. We explained for the umpteenth time that the road condition was not passable for the vehicle and we couldnt risk 100km unsupported in a wildlife area. Once again, as if speaking to children, the Commander assured us that the road was fine and that he had actually driven 50km along it to the Kazuma Pan but regretfully not all the way to Kazungula. Of course we should have realized by now that he hadnt risen to this rank without good reason and we finally asked him if this road was the goat track 500m before the border post. Of course it wasnt. The road was a private road for the Police Unit and National Parks officials and although the Commander had never had cause to drive all the way through his colleague from the Kazungula border post had done exactly that a couple of months previously. We all looked at each other not daring to hope. The police vehicles are in far worse condition than our trusted steed and if one had come through then there must be a way. Finally with a flourish, the blessed Commander told one of his staff to show us the way. Doubtfully we saddled up and accompanied by a ZRP police officer pedaled slowly through the entire police unit compound to a locked gate at the far side. With a huge grin the young policeman unlocked the padlock and threw open the doors to Eden..... Awestruck we cycled through that gate into wonderland. The road in front of us might as well have been a duel carriage way for the difference between it and our experiences in the days beforehand. A beautiful wide dirt thorn-free surface stretched out ahead and we sped along at incredible speeds of close to 20km/hr. Of course we didnt believe it would last. We kept expecting the wide road to dwindle to a bush track, the car or bikes to puncture or the gps to break down but soon we had covered 50km of the Matetsi Safari Area and all at once the possibilities began to dawn on us that we might make our target after all. Kazuma Pan is one of our countrys National Treasures. We cycled through deep forests of mopane and acacia woodlands which dramatically gave way to a wide open flat land of golden grasses as far as the eye could see. For most of the day we cycled within easy reach of the Botswana border road, at one point incurring great interest from an overflying Botswana Defence Forces helicopter, but now that the vista changed so suddenly we were able to see for miles and were mesmerized by the herds of animals scattered all across this spectacular flood plain. The road was set above the grasslands on a levee-type causeway which made it all the more surreal to be sailing along almost afloat this veritable wonderland of scenery and wildlife, herds of Zimbabwean elephants grazing on one side and Botswana elephants 200m away on the other. We were charged by a young elephant bull while his herd looked on in apparent indifference and Gareth almost fell over he was laughing so hard. Day 23 was a deeply spiritual day. Our emotions were so raw from the disaster of Hwange, almost running out of water, the potential premature end of our journey and the possibility of not seeing our families that we didnt take one single moment of that day for granted. We lived it, we loved it and we treasured every blessing heaped on us by a for-now benevolent Universe. The privilege of cycling through the wilderness, the joy of knowing we were soon to see loved ones and the sheer pleasure of how easy it could actually be to cycle 100km on a mountain bike when everything went according to plan. We arrived at Kazungula at 5p.m and enjoyed the sight of the Zambezi River and the hustle and bustle of the busy border post. However our delights for the day were not yet over. Another 2km further on we passed the Kazungula Police Station (and showered them with spiritual waves of gratitude and blessings!!) and turned off the road to our stop for the night. Snug against the Zambezi River bank the most luxurious lodge appeared out of the dusk. Courtesy of Wild Horizons who had offered us accomodation at Imbabala we finally got off our bikes and regrouped in shock at the camp fire. A cold beer in hand, the promise of a real shower and soft bed and Ashley and I had to admit that this was our most perfect day yet. Its hard to describe Imbabala. A perfect jewel of a camp in the most beautiful setting and the genuine and warm welcome from the Whyte family still makes me smile to remember the relief of that day. I had left my phone on charge in the car and Gareth came to find me saying my best friend Tonya was on the phone. She lives in Vic Falls and does a lot to help out VFAPU the Victoria Falls Anti Poaching Unit. There had been no cell signal for several days and she had no idea if we were on track or not but had her alarm set for 4a.m the next morning so that she and Charles Brightman could be with us by our 6.30a.m departure to escort us the 85km through the Zambezi National Park to Victoria Falls. I cried then. I didnt cry when I fell into a thorn bush and spent 10 minutes picking out the thorns embedded in my butt, and I didnt cry when we were stuck in deepest Hwange with no water. But I cried when Tonya said she was coming because it meant I didnt have to wait all of the next day and cycle another 100km before seeing one of my loved ones, instead I would see the first of them at 6a.m the next morning. In fact what Tonya had also organized the following day was that my son Craig, my Dad Brian and Ashs wife, Emma, were all collected from the airport and driven directly out to meet us on the bikes and surprise us (yup I cried like a baby...) So we got to see them precious hours before we were supposed to and all had lunch on the banks of the Zambezi before finishing the last 20km with them following behind us. That is a true friend! Of all of the days on Zimboundary, if I had to choose one it would be this. But this long description and the missing blog for Day 23 can only be The Best due to the whole accumulation of everything including the awful time leading up to it. I loved Day 23 and I highly recommend the Kazuma National Park and Imbabala Lodge to anyone planning a trip to Victoria Falls. Thanks to the Whyte Family in their entirety, their true Zimbabwean spirit is a shining beacon of generosity and huge thanks to Wild Horizons for the use of their oasis after the Hwange desert!!
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 19:50:04 +0000
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