bribing some cops

On Easter Sunday, Trevor, Katie, Danielle, Amanda and myself crossed over the Zambezi River and entered Zimbabwe. We met up with Eleanor - a lovely Zimbabwean woman who was giving us a ride - and set off for the Ivory Lodge in Hwange, where we would meet up with the Zimterns, Derek and Ale. 

The 170-km ride from the border to Hwange was beautiful. We passed maybe 15 cars throughout the entire journey. From what I could see, villages were spaced about every 50 kilometers and consisted of one cinder-block building surrounded by 20 to 30 circular huts (I've been told that many southern Africans believe that evil lives in corners and that's why they build round huts). My favorite part of the journey however, was passing several different soccer fields. All of the fields were surrounded by long grass and many of them had donkeys or cows grazing in the middle of them. There was also one field where four crooked tree limbs had been propped up by large rocks in order to make goal posts. I got so excited when I saw this - it proves that a soccer pitch can really be set up anywhere!

A driver 'negotiating' a traffic fine with the police. 

We also got our first real taste of Zimbabwe during our ride in the form of road blocks. Zimbabwe is notorious for it's corrupt government officials (President Mugabe has actually been forcing all international NGO's out of the country because he is afraid they are 'fronts for the opposition') and perhaps even more so, its corrupt police officers. Police officers will set up road blocks, stop every single car that passes and look to nail driver's for any number of offenses (i.e. not having red and white reflectors on your car, not having a neon yellow safety vest in your car in case you get a flat tire, not having a 'registration' for your radio, not having a toll card). And because police officers get paid next to nothing, they will often double the fine so that they can pocket half of the money.

Driving from the border to Hwange, our van was stopped at three police road blocks. At each road block our driver had to show his license and registration, endure a thorough inspection of his van and answer at least ten questions. Our driver had to pay one ticket (I'm not sure what it was for) and at one of the road blocks I actually saw a driver handing a bribe over to the police officers (he was probably driving without a license). 

Sitting in 'The Hive.'

Other than the road blocks, our drive was pretty uneventful. When we arrived at the Ivory Lodge we met up with Derek and Ale, explored our digs, and then I parked myself at 'The Hive' for the rest of the evening until dinner. The lodge is located right next to a pretty large watering hole and 'The Hive' is a thatched burrow-like structure that overlooks the watering hole. From here you have fantastic opportunities to see all sorts of wildlife. 

Elephants coming to the watering hole!

After seeing a few birds and a herd of eland I was about to leave when all of a sudden I spotted something at the tree line that lay just beyond the watering hole. After a few minutes, two elephants emerged from the bush and began playing in the water. I was mesmerized. And things only got better. Right as it was getting dark, a whole herd of elephants (at one point we counted 15) emerged from the bush! As we sat there watching, one elephant came within three meters of 'The Hive' and started playing in the dirt. I felt like I could've just reached out and touched it!

This elephant was three meters from us!

We must've watched the elephants for over an hour, but we finally tore ourselves from the sight when we heard the banging of a drum, which announced that it was dinner time. The Lodge chefs cooked a delicious three-course Easter dinner for us - creamy tomato soup, roast beef with butternut squash and potatoes, and crepes for dessert. And we shared our Easter dinner with the Canadian Ambassador to Zimbabwe and her family! The food was great and the conversation was even better (I'm actually working on a blog regarding a question that the Ambassador's husband asked me so keep an eye out for it). 

Easter dinner.

After dinner we headed down to the fire circle where we spent the rest of the night enjoying some Lion Lager (the local beer), answering riddles and looking at the stars before heading to bed. Monday morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to go on a game drive. 

Sunrise in Zimbabwe.

I'll be honest - when I woke up at five in the morning on Monday I had no desire to go on the game drive. It was cold, I was tired and part of me thought, "I've already seen a bunch of animals in Botswana." But I somehow got past my that mental block, rolled out of bed and got myself into our four-by-four without saying a word to anyone. And it was definitely worth it: 

 

Within minutes we had spotted several eland and a sleepy giraffe!

I also saw some animals I hadn't seen before - jackals, wildebeest, cool birds...

I forget what these birds are called... but I do remember that they mate
for life.

... and water buffalo! Water buffalo are one of the 'Big Five' so I was thrilled to finally see a huge herd.

The herd we saw consisted of over 100 buffalo!

When we finished up our game drive, it was time for Trevor and I to head back to South Africa (we had wanted to take a day off from work to go to Bulawayo, the GRS site in Zimbabwe, but because the Kim site is seriously under staffed, our leave request was denied...). We drove to Bulawayo, boarded our bus to Johannesburg and settled in for our 15-hour bus ride (6 of these hours were spent getting across the border). And so ended yet another amazing trip through southern Africa.