14 July, Sunday: Kerry and Gaeme, Masvingo -> The Lion and Elephant Camp

We woke up to a very bubbly Kerry in the kitchen, having rustled up an amazing breakfast, despite there being no electricity (thank goodness for gas). The couple advised us to not cycle on the road heading towards Beitbridge which was our initial plan. They suggested we go the other way around to the Lake, so off we went.

We cycled 21 km from Masvingo alongside the Mutirikwi National Park and the landscape was flat bushveld and in the distance we could see beautiful koptjies covered in dry vegetation. We turned right onto a powdery dirt road and began our climb up what looked like a small hill from the road we just came on. The sky was a clear blue and the temperature reached double digits. As we reached the top of one of the hills, we rode into an alley of tall trees shading the road and peaking out the leaves we could see Lake Kyle. It was breath-taking. For 15 km we cycled along this massive pool of water through these beautiful indigenous trees, it was a beautiful scenic route. As we rode further away from the lake, we landed up going through rural villages and we saw more people walking on the road. The rural huts are different here, the rondavals are built with cement and very neatly thatched roofs.

The view we cycled into at the top of a hill

Just after 1 pm we managed to have cycled 50 km and called it a day. Since we were'nt cycling towards our destination for the night, we had to cut the ride slightly shorter as we'd run out of time. We loaded the bikes and continued the loop around the Lake and the National Park. As we got back onto the tar, we landed up in these mountains of pure granite rock. It was the most incredible thing!! All around us were these massive rocks, but not boulders, it was literally mountains of just pure rock and sticking out of the rocks were beautiful flowering red aloes. We got to the dam wall and in this valley of rocks, we could see where the lake was flowing into. We have never seen anything like this before and it was such an unexpected panaromic drive, literally taking our breath away - it was just so incredibly beautiful!! We stopped at picnic spot on the top of the rock, overlooking the lake and had lunch, taking in this amazing scene for the last time.

We finished off the loop, coming out just after Masvingo onto the Great Zimbabwe road, heading towards Beitbridge. The road is once again, horrendous. It's hard to believe that this is the "highway" in the country, the main road leading to SA. Its so badly potholed, the tar on the edges have fallen apart completely and the trucks and busses just zoom past up a blind rise, its dangerous even just being in a vehicle. It took us 2:30 hrs to eventually get to The Lion and Elephant. My parents had memories of staying here and its a familiar spot for my family who used to live in Zim as this is where most people would spent the night when going through Zim and SA. It was sad to see how run down the place is, the pool is standing empty, the facilities are chipped and broken and the campsite benches are rotten from termites. As the sun was going down, we set up our tents in the camp which is right on the road, hearing the traffic go by. Mom made a delicous chicken curry and we sat in the cool night drinking Amarula, making the most of our last night in Zim, trying to block out the loud noise of trucks speeding past. It's insane the amount of traffic for 9 pm on a Sunday night. The amount of trucks, busses and cars all going in and out of Zim, it feels like we on the highway in Jhb centre.

Cycled: 50 km

Time: 2:56 hrs

Ave speed: 17 km/hr

Ascent: 328 m