More about Mozambique

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Day 342
37030 km from the beginning of the journey.

Written in Maputo.

One of the attractions of Maputo is a house designed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel in the center of the city. The same Eiffel who has designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Except that this house in Maputo is unfit for living, and because of a very simple reason.



Namely, the whole house is made of metal. Eiffel himself had never been to Mozambique, and so he could not foresee how hot it could turn inside. And this kind of a house will not suit to our climate either.

Mozambique

Day 340

Written in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. I went to the Vodacom agency to buy myself a local SIM card for internet. Having my Huawey USB modern , that was repaired with a tape, in hand. There were 3 people waiting in front of me there. And they all had an iPad in hand. And soon there were two more persons in the queue waiting behind me. With iPads in hands as well.

So I silently pushed my device into the bottom of my pocket. And an hour later I had the card and could communicate and this post is the actual outcome of the issue.

For the start some pictures of the Maputo. To make the long story short - it is a beautiful city and the salespeople in the street are not intrusive.



Cathedral of Our Lady of Conception - Nossa Senhora da Conceicao.

Great Zimbabwe Ruins

Written in Harare



Great Zimbabwe Ruins, or the Great Zimbabwe National Monument is the largest stone structure in Africa outside Egypt. The subject is a national monument and UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986.

The city was the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe that existed in 1100-1400. It is believed that there could be up to 18,000 inhabitants then.

Zimbabwe, Khami Ruins and Matobo Hills

Day 332

Khami was the capital of Shona (Torwa) civilization in the 15-18 century. The ruins of the abandoned city of Khami are located 22 km from Bulawayo. The place is the National Monument since 1937 and the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986.



The road taking to the historical site was decently marked starting already from the downtown of Bulawayo. Only the GPS showed the existence of the route only the first 15 kilometers and then the road came to an end for this instrument. A few more kilometers, and then a sign directed to turn right, and further on it was already a sandy cattle path.

Zimbabwe, Bulawayo

A view of the Zambezi River from Zimbabwe`s side. The riverfront is suspiciously empty, normally in a place like that visited by tourists there is always somebody offering a wide range of local production. But there is nobody here. I take a couple of pictures and return to the car and within a few minutes f the souvenir sellers have appeared like from nowhere. At first two, then some more.

Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls

Day 325

Victoria Falls, a view from Zimbabwe's side this time. And if to come to this area - it is worth to have a look at this special attraction from both sides - Zambia and Zimbabwe. Otherwise the picture is still incomplete.



And a decent overview could be achieved probably only on board of a helicopter flying just above the waterfall, but I missed it. Instead I found from the display an aerial photo, which gives a pretty good overview of the 1.7 km long magnificent sight.

Zambia, Victoria Falls

The morning of the 321-st day of the journey in a camping site near Livingston began with the issue that the monkeys stole all the white bread meant for my breakfast. Again. I guess I was about 5 meters away But my own fault, there is no need to leave something out. And last night the guards had advised me to take everything edible and also inedible - such as the camping table and chair, into the car, because the elephants were known to linger around in the dark. It was very polite of them to warn me because on the road and also on the lawn there were odd dark piles. And not of unknown origin.

The number one attraction in Livingstone and in Zambia is definitely Victoria Falls, located on the River of Zambezi (known in the local language as Mosi-oa-Tunya, The Smoke That Thunders). The Zambezi River is Africa's fourth longest (2674 km, the first three are - the Nile, Congo and Niger River). Tonga Zambezi means "Great River" in the local language.

The height of the Falls is 105 meters, it is higher than Niagara Falls, which is 51 meters. Impressive is the length of the cascade - 1,707 meters, or nearly two kilometers.



The waterfall is located at the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Here you can see a small part of the waterfall and the pedestrian bridge, which is located in the Zambian side. In the top left there is the big bridge connecting Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was designed in England, the construction took 14 months and the bridge was ready by 1905. One can see a small part of the waterfall in the right side.

Zambia, Evening guests

Wildlife - this time smaller specimens that are moving and flying around everywhere. The earth is full of ants, they know how to bite and up from the trees some kind of smaller creatures are falling down between the collar. Usually the first reaction is to get this "somebody" quickly out from between the collar before the stinging or biting, or some chewing begins, and only later the idea that a picture of the insect should have been taken comes to the mind , but it is usually too late then.

Some, however, are captured. This one looks out like an advertisement of Lipton tea, but never mind.

Zambia, Kalimba Reptile Park

Day 316
Lusaka,
Pioneer Camp


At the camping both WIFi and internet of variable speed can be used and so I made a search in Google to find out what else is there interesting and worth to see here in Lusaka .
Basically, of course, markets and a few bigger shopping centers and Munda Wanga Park (already visited ), the National Museum (also visited). And then there was something unvisited - Kalimba Reptile Park, located 10 km north of Lusaka. Finding the place was no problem because already entering the city at the intersection a sign "Reptile Park," caught the eye, never mind that GPS showed another and a longer route.

In Africa it is generally safer to follow the signs and signposts, and if necessary, ask the local than to trust the GPS data on maps. So it was this time as well. Twenty minutes of driving along the red dusty African road - and there they were.

The place was like a usual reptile zoo with a picnic site and separate swimming pool for guests. The residents were the crocodiles of various sizes and ages, and there were indeed many of them , and also snakes, turtles. The ticket was 20,000 Kwacha or 4 USD.


The main inhabitants were the Nile crocodiles, the guide said that there were about 6000 of them of different ages and sizes. And they are raised primarily because of their skin.