The Nesbitt Castle Bulawayo

... on the beach with Sarah until I heard the crack and fizz of a freshly opened can of beer, and it was on. Beer club had started.... it was 9.30am. Good introduction for Stu. Morning drive proved to be rather entertaining with drinks flowing freely, music blarring and stories being shared. The buzzer was pressed more than just a few times for urgent toilet stops, Jamie at one stage climbing over and out the beach before we had even stopped. Lunch we pulled ...

... a strange country, or a strange ruling government more like. To further emphasize that I was able to buy a newspaper that had a printed price of $500 trillion zim dollars or $2 US dollars! We had another quiet night in by the telly and I managed to speak to home for the first time since being away. Unfortunately, the lines weren't connecting to England so Han wasn't able to but we'll have a mobile shortly that'll be good for the rest of southern africa.

... the truck with a chameleon in hand that he had picked up off the road. We all took turns holding it and letting it climb into our hair and on top of our heads. We reached the park and were stunned by the alien rock formations that surrounded us. Boulders looked like they were balancing perfectly and could fall at any second, but apparently had not done so in over 3 million years. We were brought up to a cave that has Bushman ...

... same day a girl from one of the other trucks was attacked by one the lions. It grabbed her around the neck & wrestled with her. Luckily she got away with some scratches & a sprained ankle! It just shows you that they are real, wild animals & you can't mess with them. Did the lion breeding programme which was really interesting & saw some lion feeding - fantastic! They put a pile of meat by the fence infront of us &amp ...

... story. Because of the petrol shortage, there are not as many busses running as there used to be, nor are those left running as often. This has led to a situation where all buses and trains are booked out for weeks in advance at times. Such was the situation in which I found myself. With the larger busses booked out for a week and the train for nine days I was left wondering how I would get anywhere. In came Auntie. Auntie was the housekeeper at Danayi ...

Arrived in Bulawayo after leaving the lions behind at Antelope park. Here we spent a couple of days at a lovely campsite that was in someones back garden, and we had the use of the annexed cottage which meand sofas, TV and and oven! so we made the moist of this byw atching dirty dancing, armageddon (worst film in the world) and having the most lush lasagne for tea. You really miss an oven when all your cooking has to be done on a stove or ...

... random things happen. Also fun being one of the only tourists in a country like this. Nobody goes here anymore, and that is very sad. The people are fantastic and the country is beautiful. Just so sad that it has been totally destroyed by a tyrrant and failed policies since the independence in 1980. 26 years and what is left? Not much. But clearly one of the highlights of the travel ...

... builder and founder of Rhodesia, chose to be buried; and since he had all of southern Africa to choose from, you can imagine that it's a fairly impressive place. We stopped for a while amid the hills, than returned to Bulawayo and paid a visit to Ericah's mother. Although her sight and speech have been affected by a stroke, her mind is still quite clear, and we were happy to see each other again.

... out of the game reserve we came upon a family of three rhinos sleeping on the side of the road. They were initially a bit alarmed at the noise and got to their feet but didn't run away. We were only about ten feet away! Check out the photos! Tonight we are heading back to on the train to Victoria Falls. So far Zimbabwe has been awesome. If we hadn't taken the "travel advisories" and "official warnings" with a grain of salt we would have missed so much in this ...

... or 4th world country BUT... for the first time on my trip I got ripped off, knew it, pleaded to other locals to help me... and everyone just laughed. I was furious. Usually locals will deal with a crooked bus guy if you explain and ask for help. On my bus to Vilanculous they guy refused to give me my change back after I paid him and no one helped me... very sad for their country. Where is teh pride? After seeing the ocean spots I wanted to see I left Mozambique unsure ...