South Africa
Southern Africa
UK
Campsites (Africa)
After Kariba it had been our intention to go to Matusadona National Park which is on the banks of Lake Kariba. We knew that it was a long way and had heard that the last 70km of track in the park was in poor condition so we set off early. Apart from stopping for a quick sandwich for lunch we spent 30minutes or so trying to help these guys with their tyre problem but it turned out to be a leaking valve so we couldn't help. We made good time and were at the park entrance by 2pm however it then took us half an hour to cover the next 5km - and we still had another 60km to go. We decided that we should turn back but the problem then was where to stay that night. In then end we drove another 120km and managed to get to the entrance gate of the Chizarira National Park (S17 37.983 E27 51.680) just before 6.30pm. The park was closed but we were able to camp by the entrance gate. The next morning we discovered a flat tyre - the same one that we'd already had repaired twice. Once it was off we found that second repair had not been successful so we replaced it with the spare and drove on into the Park. After going to reception we went to the workshop as Kevin had decided that it would be best to put a tube in the tyre. This meant that we needed to get the tyre off the rim but there was no-one there so we spent the day at the campsite on the edge of the escarpment overlooking the Zambezi valley (S17 38.764 E27 52.613). The tracks in the park were rough in places so we didn't want to drive around the Park without a decent spare wheel. The next morning we returned to the workshop and ended up with 4 guys helping us however their skill didn't match their enthusiasm and after a while we discovered that they were casual labourers employed to help grade the tracks in the park! Unfortunately by this time they'd managed to damage the valve in the tube so we ended up having to try and patch the puncture after all. Kevin has now decided that we should carry 2 spare wheels on future trips. We drove out to have a look at a couple of other nearby campsites in the Park. One had a platform which overlooked this floodplain (S17 42.711 E27 50.392). We had lunch here and then carried on. None of the campsites have any facilities apart from a toilet at some of them so we stopped at Mabula campsite near this river (S17 42.537 E27 51.076) and were able to collect water so that we could have a 'shower' and wash some clothes. Despite the tyre problems we enjoyed our time at this Park. It would be nice to return and be able to drive round more of it. 1, Kokomori Bush Camp, South Africa 9. Senyati Safari Camp. Botswana Diary (Word '97 document)
Zimbabwe 2010 - Chizarira National Park
