Zimbabwe / Malawi

14 October to 10 November 1989

Journal

Saturday 14^th October 1989

I was now working in Johannesburg, and lived in one of the northern suburbs - Bryanston. I left mid-morning and drove north to stay with some friends who lived near Thoyandou.

Sunday 15^th October 1989

Leaving Thoyandou at around 09h00, I soon reached the Zimbabwe border, and drove on to reach Lake Kyle, where I camped.

Monday 16^th October 1989

From Lake Kyle I continued east to camp at the base camp of the Chimanimani Mountains.

Tuesday 17^th to Wednesday 18^th October 1989

In the morning I started climbing up the main track, but by mid-day the mist and fog had not cleared, so I was unable to go very far. I had to return to the main camp in the afternoon, and so decided to continue on to Vumba, where I camped for the next two nights. During the day - which was still misty on Vumba - I drove round the "Burma road".

Thursday 19^th to Saturday 21^st  October 1989

From Vumba I drove to Mutare and into the local reserve on the hill nearby. From there I then returned to Mutare before heading north to Nyanga, where I camped for three nights.

Sunday 22^nd October 1989

Leaving Nyanga in the mid-morning, I drove west to reach Harare in the early afternoon, and stayed the night with some friends there.

Monday 23^rd to Thursday 26^th  October 1989

Leaving Harare quite early, I headed north-west towards Makuti, and then turned west to go down to the town of Kariba, where I intended to cross into Zambia. However, to my surprise I discovered that Zambia had just introduced the need for British passport holders to get a visa before entering - and I did not have one. So I returned to Makuti, and then went down to Mana Pools and camped there for four nights.

As had happened the previous time I camped there, a buffalo was killed by lion in the campsite!

Friday 27^th to Saturday 28^th  October 1989

From Mana Pools I returned to Harare, staying this time at Lake McIlwaine for two nights.

Sunday 29^th October 1989

Leaving mid-morning, I drove north-east to the Nyamapanda border post between Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and camped the night there with everyone else who was to take the daily Tete convoy through to Malawi.

Monday 30^th October to Wednesday 1^st November 1989

Just after sunrise, the convoy formed up under the control of the Zimbabwean Army. They ran the whole show, and there were minimal border procedures for Mozambique (no visa required). The cars and other small vehicles were all assembled at the front, and the heavy trucks behind. Every fifth vehicle was an army vehicle. What surprised me was the speed of the convoy - I assumed it would be slow, but it built up speed to travel at about 100 km/h ! The idea of leaving early in the morning is so that should there be an attack on the convoy, the army and air-force have time to catch the attackers - which means they are less likely to attack early in the day.

Anyway, Tete was reached in about 2 hours, and we were in Malawi before mid-day, so there was time for me to continue on to Zomba, where I enjoyed the trout-fishing. I camped there for three nights.

Thursday 2^nd November 1989

In the early morning I left Zomba, and drove to meet a friend of a friend who lived near Thyolo. They were able to give me the necessary information to visit the mountain. On arrival I found a reasonably level area where I could camp.

Friday 3^rd November 1989

In the late morning, I returned to Blantyre, and then went up to the border to await arrival of the convoy. At the border post I met up with some other tourists who were looking for a lift. We all camped out behind the Malawi border post at Mwanza, but when I was reversing the Landrover I managed to hit their electricity pole, cutting the power supply to the offices!

Saturday 4^th November 1989

The officials required me to return to Blantyre to report the incident to the police, which I did. Nothing resulted from it, but I missed the convoy. I returned later that day, and camped on the Mozambican side of the border at Zobue - just in case!

Sunday 5^th to Wednesday 8^th November 1989

I returned to Zimbabwe, and headed south to Nyanga, and enjoyed some more time trout-fishing.

Thursday 9^th November 1989

From Nyanga, I drove back to a lodge near Chiredzi, where I stayed.

Friday 10^th November 1989

From Chiredzi, I drove back to Johannesburg South Africa.