Day 39 starts with me eating breakfast by myself, wondering how I'll get out of Bulawayo. Then a Polish couple shows up and invites me on a daytrip to the nearby national park, Matopos. Their plan was to have a taxi take us down and drive us through the park, and it'd be cheaper the more people joined in. I figured, why not? So we head on down to Matopos, but the rangers won't let us into the park; no taxis allowed. The local tour operators had paid off the rangers so that no taxis could come in, forcing visitors to rely on the tour operators. Zimbabwe is a shady, shady place.
The Polish kids notice that a large SUV is behind us, a private car looking to tour the park. They talk our way into that car, a group of South African retirees road tripping through Southern Africa. They let us squeeze into the back of their car and drive us all around the park. Matopos itself is known for it's unique granite formations, and looks a lot like parts of the Sierras. Frankly the Sierras are nicer. The guards wouldn't let us see the park's main vistas without paying another $10 at the trailhead. On principle, and because we couldn't be sure this was the last bribe, no one paid. We drove around the park for a couple hours though, and it's a beautiful place.
The South Africans drove us back to Bulawayo. They were headed back to Victoria Falls, and offered to give me a ride. Really, really good luck.
I started the morning alone, stranded, and wondering how I was going to escape Bulawayo. I ended up seeing the national park very cheaply, and getting a free ride back to the doorstep of the backpacker's hostel in the town of Victoria Falls. My friends from the first visit were still there, to welcome me back.
No comments:
Post a Comment