By train from Victoria Falls to Bulawayo

train station Vic Falls

On my last day in Victoria Falls, I went to the train station in the morning. It wasn't early, around 10 maybe. I wanted to buy a first class ticket to Bulawayo, and ended up with a second class ticket. My mistake for being lazy. But for my defense, I had to say goodbye to Claire whom I hung out with for a few days. She flew out to Windhoek (instead of taking the bus). So I had my second class ticket which cost me USD 10 instead of the USD 12 for the first class.

Mosi oa Tunya – The Smoke which Thunders

Zimbabwe, 30 Oct. 2010 - 1st April 2013

Here I was again, at the glorious Victoria Falls on Zimbabwe-Zambia border. I didn't even go to the Zambian side because I didn't want to pay a Zim visa again.

Here a few pictures comparing my two visits, one end of October in 2010 and the one now beginning of April 2013.

Oct/Nov 2010

Khame Ruins

Taxi rank, Bulawayo

On this Saturday of Easter weekend I decided to go and visit the Khami Ruins, which lay about 20 km out of Bulawayo. Eric, an American I briefly met when I arrived in Packer's Rest in Bulawayo, told me he hired a taxi to get there and back which cost him a total of USD 120. That's quite a lot of money to visit some old ruins. I thought I'd try to get there by minibus commuter.

Matobo's

The Matobo's is a park with a large number of rounded boulders which resemble bald round heads from which the name comes from. At a site now called World's View by Cecil John Rhodes, founder of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), his remains lay in a stone grave with two of his fellow companions of the time.

Bulawayo

With a nice mix of colonial style houses and “old” modern buildings, Bulawayo has a specific charm. The citizens are quite laid-back and the atmosphere is quite and gentle. I experienced no harassing from street or crafts vendors. I walked around the city quite a lot and visited the Art Gallery and the Natural History Museum.

Gabs – Leaving ZA or a boring day or two in Gaborone

Robert brought me to the Caltex stop in Midrand where my Intercape bus would be stopping and let me board. Before that, while still at their home in Kempton Park, we made plans for the close future. Laurentia's sister Lucretia told us about Soweto and that I should visit. There are organized tours. Laurentia and Robert never went to Soweto and told me it would be nice to all go and visit together. By the way, Soweto stands for South West Townships.

Tlokweng Road, Gabs

During the previous day I sent and checked the Couchsurfing requests for Gaborone. It seemed a better prospect than to go the only backpackers that looked good on paper, but was a bit out of town (about 12 km). More so, Couchsurfing is always a good way to meet new people and have good local advice for visiting and sightseeing.

Back to Jo'burg

I bought a City to City bus ticket from Hoedspruit to Jo'burg after having contacted Laurentia to see if it was OK to crash a night or two at their place. She said she'd ask her husband Robert, and a little while later answered positively. The bus ticket was for the next day, and so I drove one last time to Hoedspruit with Katryn and Nelri. They left me when the bus arrived. I climbed into the coach and asked the driver if he could drop me off in Midrand, because it was much closer to where I had to go than the train station in the city centre. The driver told me to relax and take a seat, which I did.