kkuter

My third hike with the Mountain Club of Zimbabwe (which I am now officially a member of!) was in the same area as my first: the hills around Mazowe Dam. We were told not to share the exact location of the hike because the leaders want to keep it secret in order to protect it and also because it was private land. The reason to protect it is because there are some ancient grain bins and cave paintings along the hike, which were so cool to see!

The hike began and ended by crossing a bridge that was built by the locals from the trees in the area. The bridge was constructed so that the children had a direct route to school over the river and were not forced to take a detour in order to cross the river.

This hike had the most bushwhacking of any of the hikes yet. Lots of traipsing through very tall grass making navigation tricky, as this brief video shows. It also meant getting covered with ticks! I was very disheartened to learn that ticks and Lyme disease exist in Zimbabwe. However, there is no poison ivy/oak!

Our route also took us along the border with a game park, which is currently not open since its owner died and possession is still being sorted. When we hiked up to the location of the grain bins we were able to see a pair of giraffe striding across the park below. I got a few pictures, but they really don’t do it justice as the giraffes were rather far away from us.

The highlight of the hike was after lunch at the summit when one of the hikers pulled out two chilled bottles of white wine to share that he had been carrying all day in the heat in order to toast the birthday of the hike’s leader! And we still ended the hike as all hikes have ended with tea and cookies. I really love hiking in Zim!!!!! 🙂