Wild camping in the forest 136 km from Bulawayo
Distance 132 + 9105 = 9237
Average 15.9
Time 8 h 13 m
Total from Amsterdam 14637
Location S19.279107, E28.075926
We left with Priscilla and Liana at 7 am then stopped to say goodbye to Juliette from Tilus Supermarket. The ride through town was easy, roads bumpy and stop signs where there should have been traffic lights. Stopped at 35 km for peanut butter and banana sarmies, then saw a guy drive by, make a U-turn and came back to chat. David Steyn asked if we were heading to Vic Falls, then told us his folks live there and to please pop in. Another coincidence is that he went to school with Priscilla. From here the tar was fairly good but incredibly bumpy for about 30 km … hard on the bum. There was also a slight headwind so the pace slowed down quite a bit. A few hills but nothing radical. The rest of the ride was on good tar, not a wide shoulder, sometimes no shoulder but much less traffic on the road and drivers courteous.
As there are no hotels, boarding houses on this stretch of road until we reach Ivory Lodge where they have camping, though there is 2 km of very soft sand before reaching the campsite. Ivory Lodge is 144 km from where we are wild camping tonight. We had leftover macaroni cheese for supper, though the ‘moesh’ looked more like scrambled eggs. We’ve put the fly sheet on the tent as it gets quite cold at night and early mornings. Peter’s watching Star Trek and I’m about to read a few pages before the eyelids start drooping.
Song for the day ….On top of old Smokey…
– Liana off to school
– David Steyn who stopped for a chat
– Donkey drawn cart
– This was Ford, now serves as a display shelf for bread
– Our wild campsite
