Travellers who have been to magical places like Mana Pools, Gonarezhou and Kariba will always return to Zimbabwe. However, currently there is uncertainty about what to expect from the numerous police roadblocks and the cash crisis in the country. Continue reading Is now a good time to travel Zimbabwe?
Category Archives: Travel tips
How to be safe around elephants
It was twilight and not a good time to be out on foot with predators lurking around. The next moment we were shocked to a standstill! A big elephant bull was standing a few meters from us, clearly annoyed with our intrusion. It is difficult to say who got the biggest fright, us or our armed guide!
This incident happened a few years ago when we went for a guided walk in Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools National Park. Then, if it wasn’t for the flooded river crossing, we would have been back at camp well before dark.
In many game areas in Southern Africa the camps are unfenced, which means that elephant can visit at any time. We had an elephant visiting our site while we were pitching our tent and also at night whilst sitting around the fire. Continue reading How to be safe around elephants
Money matters while you overland
Ready cash is always an issue when you plan an overland trip: how much should you take with you, in which currencies and how do you handle money on a day-to-day basis while you overland?
During our seven month overland trip in 2015, we found that the US Dollar is a universal and safe funding backup – not that it is accepted on the street everywhere however. We had enough US Dollars secreted in various places in our vehicle for emergencies only. We took 1500 for our trip and returned with about half as we only used this when all else failed. We learnt that one should not take large denomination notes like 100’s as they are difficult to change. Also, that one should not accept dirty or decrepit USD notes as change as they are difficult to pass on, especially at border posts, where we mostly needed our dollars, for buying visas and paying fees.