We are now installed in our room with a view for our last night in Hwange before we head up to our Vic Falls timeshare. One of our favourite spots in the world. There are several sculls in front of us, some recognisable, others not so. None look too human so we relax.

As I type this and try to catch up with this journal, Kayla & Aiden, describe the animals currently drinking, or heading to drink at the dam, just beneath us, in order of appearance: Wart Hog, Impala, Water Buck, Zebra, Hippo, Guinea Fowl, Kudu and Buffalo - this without the bins. The large herd of Cape Buffalo are wending back into the bush, about 400 metres off to my immediate left. Kayla practices here flute in between doing her journal. We all catch up on our journey so far. The Hippo fart occasionally, and the bubbles show us which end is the back.

Finally, we are back in the hide at Masuma Dam where (if you showed any interest in our last trip, you will have subjected to in excruciating detail) we stayed during our last trip. A kind of home coming almost. As soon as we arrived, Abiot, our resident tea maker and general dam organiser, said "you have been here before" he remembers my name .......(although Ilge thinks is just a ploy for a bigger tip). Either way, it seems that business is very bad, and he has no problem remembering folks from way back. This is the kitchen, and a very serviceable one it is too.

Last night we stayed at another of our favourite places on Earth; Sinamatella Lodge, about 30K (an hour and a bit), up the corrugated dirt road. Our house organiser, Abisha, said the same thing about remembering me as soon as we got out of the van. He's even thinner these days.

Last journal entry, we were at the South African equivalent of this hide near Mopani. This however, is the real McCoy, or real McN'joroge if you prefer. Lots of Kilometres to get here. Luckily, we had forgotten just how incredible this place is, so we enjoyed the SA equivalent anyway. Still, there really is no comparison between the two.

After we left Shipande hide in Kruger, we went to Shingwedzi camp, in northern Kruger Park for a game walk. There are a few interesting points we stop at on the way, but again, not much animal viewing, except for a few fairly rare Roan Antelope. After Lataba, and Mopani, this is obviously an old, but not yet too run down camp. There are a lot of rooms and cottages. However, our early morning game walk had been cancelled before we got there, so we decided to just leap off to Messina at the border. It's best to confirm bookings here, so we dig into our AA book (highly recommended) for a self catering, book it and head up to Zim. Instead of a 50K drive, I ended up doing 350Km.

Northern Kruger is very sparse, dry, and almost devoid of game. The thin Mopani scrub gives way to open grasslands and electrical pylons. It becomes more arid as we travel North. About 170Kmthrough the park, almost animal free. We are however, back into the "Baobab Belt": massive Baobab trees marching across the valleys like something out of Tolkein. There is actually a tree reserve just south of Messina.

Out of the gate, we are back in South Africa - we treat Kruger as a "panic free" zone - I adjust my paranoia quotient back to normal. There is no signal for cells here, so I check the mirrors, and road ahead for about 100Km till it returns. It's pretty flat, lots of villages, a transport stop check point. Back to regular Africa. Everyone reads or dozes - they have seen this stuff before.

Theoretically, with a cell signal and a phone, you can call someone to tell them you are being robbed/ car jacked/ raped/ invited to tea. Reality is that this would not work in time, and of course, the chance of this happening are pretty remote anyway. Either way, once the signal returns, I relax somewhat.

Messina appears to be much like a border town should. It has a "frontier" feel to it. "You can get it here" it says. Well tended old houses are all around. Banks, gas station - lots of them supermarkets etc. I choose the first one. Hmmm, not much in here, and the quality is not very good. After a few bag fulls of stuff, Ilge spots the problem. There are no whites here. Sure enough, this is the "black" supermarket - apartheid by disposable income I guess. The mainly white one is up the road.

I was knackered when we checked into the Illala Lodge just out of Messina, and I retreat into a couple of Castle beers while the domestic details were fixed up. Hmm, this sounds like a rerun of Phalabora. The lodge is beautiful. Hidden in its own game park, it is a great retreat from the driving and hustle of the city.

Come morning, and of course we are woken by the various doves which are pretty well spread across Southern Africa and are to me the standard early morning bird call. There are two: Laughing (acording to Aiden) Dove which tells us "Work Harder, Work Harder", and the Turtle Dove "Kookoo Rew Kookoo". A constant background from dawn through the early morning.

There are a lot of bits to do before we attempt the border - we want a lot of South African cash (don't ask!), small $US bills (don't ask!) some food to see us through to Bulawayo - our next destination, a fill up of our 3 x 25Litre containers with top grade Diesel - this we will definitely need, a fill up for our cooking gas container - no cooking gas in Zim, some "luxuries" like soap, butter, sugar, salt and oil and a final confirmation of some more documents at the police station for our Mozambique adventures.....

The only message I have about the Zim border is that there is a lot of money and taxes involved - especially if you are in your own vehicle.

By 11:30 we are out of South Africa, totally topped up with just about everything we think we need.

The Zim side is packed with people. Some guy offers to "help" me with the formalities, I'm too smart for this taking it to be a rip off. Actually it would have saved a lot of time and effort after queuing in the wrong queues several times. A few US bucks would have really helped us and this guy. I learn a lesson.

Visa's, ($US50 each for double entries), Canadians getting quite deal as Brits are twice that. For your information, kids are free, tolls, insurance and my favourite, "Carbon Tax". I freak out when I see the charges: its $ZIM20,000 for each foreign registered vehicle, per month, $US10 in black market terms, but an incredible $US400 at current "official" rates. Fortunately, this is a "commercial" transaction, and we get the mid rate about $ZIM900 per $US. I give the guy $US40 for two months. The carbon tax is very suspicious, as there is no fuel available in Zim. As there is no foreign currency here, there is none available for fuel All fuel supplies are currently smuggled in and only available on the black market (Pssssstttt! Need Petrol?), so we pay a tax on fuel that is not available and has already been taxed in SA, Zambia or Botswana. Welcome to Africa. Insurance for 2 months is $US4.00. I cannot imagine what this is likely to cover.

It turns out to be a great investment as these documents are requested and inspected at 3 more police, customs and finally some other guy at the border gate to get out. We give him some candies, and a pop and we are out into the opens of Zim again. I count our insurance, taxes and candies, a very worthwhile investment.

We are still within spitting distance of the border, and there is another police checkpoint.

"Where are your guns?" we are asked.

"We are Canadians, we do not need weapons" I tell him using my old British charm.

"How will you defend yourselves without weapons" he asks.

This is turning nasty....

"I thought that was your job" I reply with just a trace of question in my voice.

Seems to work, and we are off - about 2 hours to get through. I really must just eat it and hire someone next time.

From the border the vegetation is just dust, goats everywhere. Drought and over grazing I suppose, but after 50Km it turns green, and appears to be game ranches. Africa continues.

It's like driving through ghost towns, You see the signs of ancient colonial infrastructure all over. Game lodges, hotels, garages shops. All derelict or with no windows and smoke marks around the doors. Sure, these where "Whitey" colonial owned places, but no one has gained by this economic Armageddon. I remember the once prosperous and generally happy communities when the war was on 25 years ago, and this really is simply pushing everyone back to the stone age. Where there were once thriving businesses, now there are makeshift beer halls, goats and fading remnants of empire. I at least find it sad. The roads however are still wonderful. We see about 3 cars and 5 trucks per 100Km.

I have never been on this road before. Zim never ceases to surprise me. Geographically its spectacular. We pass huge Kopies glorious spectacles of greenery, valleys and hills. Slowly climbing up the Limpopo watershed back up to the high velt at about 1400 metres.

Three or four more checkpoints, all want our "CT", insurance and passports. It's Friday evening, and they all seem to be looking for guns. Maybe there is a shootout scheduled for Bulawayo tonight......

Around 5:30, we roll into Bulawayo and find our hotel - a bit run down admittedly, but a place to start with. This seems to be the white enclave for Zim travellers, certainly no other foreigners here.

A couple of quick calls (this Canadian cell phone that works here is a great idea), and Zim cash and fuel are organised for tomorrow.

There are lots of Zim folk here, almost exclusively white. I remember them as garrulous and only too pleased to chat with strangers. Now that is gone. They seem to be very aware of the local problems, and shy away from talking about their issues.

Yet more beer, a scratch dinner of boiled spuds (no local cash yet) and we play cards, watch TV till we go to bed.

In the morning, we meet our "contact" and exchange $US200 for 8 bundles of local cash - we are lucky: we get bundles in $ZIM500 notes: this is the highest denomination they have here and is worth about $US0.25 - yes 25 cents. It's about 6 inches (15.24 Cm for those metricated types) high. Everything here is priced in thousands. This should be fun.

The guy at the hotel desk is extremely helpful and resourceful. We manage to get a lot of info updates re game parks and local events. A plan is forming for our next few days.

His advice is to get a cab into town as foreign cars are targeted as probably containing more goodies than locals (I can believe it). I place an add in the national paper for property wanted, and we investigate.

It's been 25 years since I've been here. Things have changed:. I remember one of the best pints of beer in the world in a centrally located pub long ago. Now, as we walk through town, we smell urine in doorways, smoke marking showing the use of wood fires inside houses, sad shops with little to recommend their wares. Well, what did I expect? After a few hours of this, its lunch time. Kayla gets a "chicken curry with rice" for 60 cents which was only rice with bones and skin, and it's not really what she was after. Milkshakes at 30 cents are a hit though.

Everywhere, there are queues at banks. The country appears to operate on cheques, very little cash is available, and so you cannot get any money, only credit for your personal cash. As yhe cost of a decent (European) meal would take a 5 centimetre bundle of notes, this is the standard process. Barter cannot be that far off.

No internet in town ("try later"), so it's time for Kayla & I to check out the local supermarket.

If it was not so sad, this would be funny, there are some fruits, veg and essentials, the same (or even stranger than SA), cuts of meat - ie unrecognisable to me, even cheaper at $CAN3.00 per Kilo for "T Bone" steaks, but the cost, and the silly denominations, mean we have to wait 5 minutes for each customer ahead of us while the money is labouriously counted - we are lucky getting ZIM$500 notes, at the banks you can only get 100's, 50's & 20's the 20's being worth about one tenth of a cent. There are also coins for 1 & 2 $ZIM. All bundles are in 100's, and every checked bundle is thrown into a bucket under the till with a "Thunk".

The tourist office is amazed to see us, this must be the most tourists they have had in a year. We get there at 11:55, and she kicks us out at 12:00. You would think this was a special occasion. We actually have to give her updates on the costs of game parks, so not a very enlightening.

All emailing shops seem to be having an eblackout, so there is no way to check what's happening, or what I need to know. We do find one out near our hotel, and get some updates. One of the mails is a response to my enquiries for accommodation which is from the hotel next door. They quote in $Zim, and it's half the (actual/ real) price of the one we are staying at now. This is interesting information.

Next to our current location is the New Orleans restaurant. We decide to splash out for our meal this evening. It turns out to cost $25.00 in our terms, $1200.00 (all $US) at the official rates. Ilges fish meal turns out to cost as much as all the others put together: $600.00 at official rates. Worth every cent.

I check into the Banff Lodge Hotel, which adjoins the the New Orleans restaurant. I tell him our quoted price, "That was yesterdays price he tells me" Everything has gone up by about 30% in a week. Whatever, we move in

Sunday, and we are out to the "Chipengale" wildlife orphanage about 20Km south of Bulawayo. Several other families make it out for their Sunday excursion. It has obviously seen better days. Looks like it is now sliding down the slope of Africanisation. Even relatively new sections (The Princess Diana Children's Education Building) show obvious signs of neglect or budget cuts or both. A few animals scurry around their cages. Lions pace, birds squawk. A day out.

I was not able to get any information whatsoever as to what facilities the Matobo Park still has - if any, so we stay at the new fantastic! Banff Hotel, and head south to Matobo Hills National Park for a simple day trip on Monday. Somehow we miss the main entrance, and end up in the southern part of the park. They obviously do not see many folk down here. I negotiate a South African rate ($US8.00 each), and they thank me as we have paid their salaries for the month. Jesus! Originally, I wanted to stay here fore a few days, but once again, the facilities are pretty basic. Eleanora, our Zim reference tour adviser recommends it for its amazing views, space and geology. This is the Rain Making rock formation which was used by the N'Dbele way back, apparently with excellent effect occasionally.,.

We stumble into the game park instead of the national monument. There are some pretty heavy issues regarding getting out of your vehicle here. The game park has lots of Rhinos, very unusual now as something like 98% of the rhino's in Zim have been poached in the past few years. There is no map, so we just drive in a general direction.

At the picnic stop we have cucumbers and drinks. Somehow, with zero budget and salaries, everything is still in working, if not pristine order. There is still an attendant here, and the toilets are clean and the water is hot. We are probably the first vehicle here in a week. Incredibly all he asks for is a newspaper. Zim remains the same.

The monument is indeed quite a spectacle. There are ancient cave paintings, now almost totally faded and even a functioning museum from some time back. The curator asks us to support his football team; I expect he asks everyone who visits here. There is only a page with the first entry being over 2 years ago. Like the museum, he himself has seen better days. We give him our butter (wow what a luxury here!) and some oranges with the refrain that I still use when I say goodbye to someone "We wish you luck, and we wish your wonderful country much luck in the future". He has obviously been around since Zim was a British colony, and understands exactly what I mean.

It is by the way, an offence punishable with up to some number of years in prison for insulting the president, or the government. We tread carefully, but there is no need, everyone is incredibly outspoken about the causes of the problems in Zim, and no one here blames colonial this, or British or American conspiracies.

The hills themselves are indeed quite a spectacle, and "Worlds View" the site of John Cecil Rhodes himselfs grave is probably even more so. All around are a series of hills and mountains receeding into the hazy distance. I personally am entranced with this and the balancing boulders all around. The area adjacent to this memorial spot, (it is after all, a graveyard), and we pass an hour with a scratch picnic Unlike the orphanage, this is well worth the day out.

Enough of Bulawayo, we decide to see if Hwange Game Park is still a going concern. (It was and is)

Settling the bill is silly. For 2 nights at a 3/ 4 star hotel, we pay $US66.00. This includes two evenings of excellent dinners plus all drinks and a huge bag of laundry. Totally illegal of course, but talk about cheap. Come on down!

Before we head out, I'd organised some cash and diesel. Things get mixed up, but just talking to the manager, and a few phone calls manage to locate a fill up (75 litres), and then get set for cash. If I thought the last pile was big, then this is just rediculouse. It's a massive lump, pretty well a shoe box full. $US300. I feel totally paranoid with this huge wad of cash. I'm told that it's illegal to have more than $ZIM500,000 in your car. Paranoia! We distribute it around the van, and hide lumps of it all over. I also feel very vulnerable and decide not to stack up with stuff at the local supermarket, but just bolt for the northern road. It's 100Km out of town before I relax and convince myself that no one is following us with wicked intent. My paranoia is of course just that. We have huge amounts of US cash and checks with us. This large bundle of local notes probably means more to me in PPP (Purchasing Power Parity to use the economic phrase), as a reasonable standard monthly wage here is Zim$10000 - Zim$15000. We have just got Zim$650,000: or at PPP 4 - 6 YEARS of some poor Zim folks earnings. This could be in our pocket back in Toronto, but our equivalent would be maybe a quarter of a MILLION Canadian dollars. Words fail me.

4 hours and 350KM later, after driving along a 100% African road, pretty straight, some hills, lots of bush and vegetation, many villages, a few speed limited area (very few actually), we turn of to the Hwange game park. We see it on the left, the large mass of vegetation rising into the distance about 20Km west of us.

Hwange Park is EXACTLY how we left it 3 years ago. The only difference being the last time there were 6 groups for dinner, this time there is just us. The waiter is delighted to see us. It's also a lot more expensive now. Absolutely no one else here apart from two local Zim guys. One who it turns out has only enough fuel to get 10Km in and out of the park every day, the other, Ian with no transport. We have the total run of the place. The food is just as I remember it. Really good. It is now also ridiculously cheap with our silly exchange rate. About $US1.50 per meal. Truly excellent beers are $0.30 each. What can I say apart from you really have to come to Zim before something happens and help these people!

There is time for an early evening game drive. We invite Ian along.

Animals everywhere, not just Kruger stuff mind you; REAL numbers. Herds of a hundred Elephant, pile and piles of them. In Kruger, we would stop for a lone bull and never saw a matriarchal herd. Here it's the opposite. It's very dry, too many seasons without rain, or much of it. It's drier now than when we were here at the end of the dry season last time, and now there are 3 months more to go before the rains. With the sad state of the country, no foreign exchange and no diesel to supply the pumps which provide the water for these animals, I'm afraid there will be a massive natural culling later this season. Right now it is truly breathtaking. We stop at a pan where there is still a diesel pump working. There is one herd of elephants: 100+ drinking - lots of babies. Another herd charges in as this one is leaving, again 100+. I look behind me on the other side. Another herd is thundering down on us and bellowing for us to get the hell out of here. In all my years in Africa, I have never seen anything like this. Totally amazing. The entry fee is well worth it. At the Nyandoluvu platform, the herds (yes even more of them) have just left. A few stragglers remain, and night descends as we rush back for the gate for curfew.

I offered to take Ian to the Nyandoluvu game platform for our early morning drive. The other Zim guy here has told him about a dead Elephant at the Tchebetchebe pan. On the way, its another animal fest. As the sun rises, a giraffe gives us a perfect sunrise shot.

The deceased elephant can be sensed before we see it. It stinks. Hyenas have got into it and at this early hour of the new day, Vultures are having a field day. Gak! But this is one of the incredible memories I will keep with me till my brain fails. Baboon in the trees, jackals scuttling around, hundreds of vultures and Maribou storks on and in the trees and the elephant. What else could we do but check it out?

Again at the Nyandoluvu hide we check out the game. This is where my bearing seals failed last time. This morning I bend down and do the same thing I did 3 years ago. No oil leaks. I have lain one ghost to rest this day.

It is truly spectacular here (heard this before?), but we need to be within range of Vic Falls for our time share, so after a few shots of the shoe boxes of cash, a breakfast courtesy of Ian, we pack up and head across the park to Sinamatella. Everywhere there is (surprise surprise) Elephant shit. Huge lumps of it everywhere. It's 150Km half "tarred", half dirt. The decent tar hangs in for about 60Km, it's pretty well covered in Elephant shit - just piles of it EVERYWHERE.. From there on it might just as well be dirt. Potholes and rubble.

Halfway, just as the tar ends is Shumba picnic site. Off to the hide for lunch (tins of stuff) and misc substances. Almost Etosha levels of game here. Piles of elephant of course, but lots of buck, buffalo and zebra. An hour or two later, totally enthralled, we head off here to Masuma. First time around. Up to now, I thought we would not have enough time with Peter & Maureen to come here. Now I know we cannot not come back with them.

We say hello to Abiot after these three years. He loves it here and really enjoys telling stories about the animals he sees everyday. We spend the rest of the afternoon here, then up to Sinamatella for the evening. We book in, and I honestly do not mind paying the $US120 for a night here, and a night at Masuma. I hope some one benefits from this huge infusion of cash Probably not, but we have done what we can here to help the staff and the animals.

Sinamatella is also the same. The manager (Miss Clay) who used to run the restaurant is now gone. To South Africa to live with here daughter, but the infra structure remains. We get the best lodge as we are again the only people here. As usual, the food is even better here. Curry and Apple crumble for pud. I'm out of superlatives again, just as I was last time I wrote about here on our last trip.

For me, this is my dream come to life again. Many days and months have passed since we were here last, and many of them contained a vision of this view before us now. We meet an ex Zim guy who now lives in Atlanta. He's obviously lost it. Came into the restaurant asking "where are the animals". I tell him they are everywhere (itsw 11:00AM now, so he should know that they will not be out. "I've only got 2 hours in the park" he explains. Well tough luck buddy, you really belong back in the US, not here.

Our lodge organiser is Abisha. He did not look too full bodied when we last saw him, now he is even thinner. We promise to come and see him again in 10 days, this time with Peter & Maureen in tow.

In the morning we stock up with Samosa's and Apple pie, and head out to see Abiot for our very own exclusive day and night at our own paradise. Here. Now. Heaven.

Since I started this entry, we have now also added to our game viewing itinerary, Giraffe, Elephant, Baboons. Lions grunt as the sun goes down. Many many elephants and buffalo take up a large section of the horizon.

There is nothing more to say.

Odometer: 309682 Distance Travelled: 1382Km Trip Distance: 1250Km Total Trip 4005 Km