Day 35 - R and R (Rocks and rain)

A cool coloured lizard at Matopos

Today was another big day as we were joining the Addisons and others to check out the Matopos, an enormous national park filled with these unique rocks. I know what some of you are thinking, 'wow, rocks. I can see that back in Australia' (insert sarcastic tone), but oh man, these rocks are amazing and I don't think any photos that Alex or I took would do any justice at the brilliance of these rocks. I on purposely didn't mention Andrew because the guy brought his camera but not the battery. 

Lisa stuck in between rocks

Alex standing, Keryn jumping 

Andy getting crushed

L-R: Madi, Andy, Lisa, Becky, Jonno, Aldo

So we departed the Addisons house around 11am and convoyed in four cars to the Matopos, about an hour's drive. Upon entering the national park, we had to line up at the blockade and pay the entry fee. While Debbie, Des and Pete sorted out the entry fee, us guys casted our eyes to the left where we saw a man sitting on a bench with his trusty AK-47 by his side. I guess his job is to shoot at anyone who avoids paying the crazy tourist prices. Deb comes back and tells us that she got us in as locals (a cheaper rate) and gave us the heads up not to say 'G'day' to the guards. Andy and I started practicing our Zimbabwean accents but I don't think it would have fooled anyone. 

The memorial for British men

After driving through the gates and avoiding eye contact with the guards (let's be honest, I don't look African) we drove for another 15-20mins along bitumen and then dirt roads to reach the tourist spot to climb the boulders. The route we took was surrounded by unique shaped rocks on either side and was just a taste of what was to come. We reached the tourist bit only to be met with another fee to climb the mountain. We had to pay $10 to climb the mountain, $4 if we were locals, but we had no I.D to present, only some awesome Ndebele phrases we learnt back at Sandra Jones Centre, but come to think of it, the only phrases we know are 'Thank you for being my wife', 'you think with your bum', 'you are beautiful' and 'goat', which probably wouldn't go down well with the sales clerk. 

After paying the fees, we followed the trail up the bald hill towards the large boulders and memorial at the summit. The summit was just amazing, nothing that I had ever seen before. Massive yet somewhat lonely looking boulders spread throughout these bald hills and these boulders are massive. We had a ball climbing them. There are several memorials at the top, but there is one big monument dedicated to some British soldiers who died during a battle with the local tribes. Looking out into the distance we could see the mountain ranges as far as the eye could see. We could also see the storm clouds rolling in. Deciding it was best to leave before the storm approached, we headed back down the hill to where we parked the cars. 

Unique rocks 

The convoy left the tourist spot and we drove to find a nice picnic spot for lunch. Unfortunately all the secluded and good spots were taken so we had to find another. We found a nice area and pulled out the chairs, food and drinks ready to enjoy each other's company. And then the rains came, torrential rain. It bucketed down and we had to flee into the cars, leaving behind chairs and drinks. We sat in the cars for 20mins waiting for the rains to relent, but it never did, it just continued to drench us. Some brave people went out to pack up the rest of our things and we were out of there, destination: anywhere but here.

Roads become rivers

We drove back the same way we came in, dirt roads first and then bitumen. The 20min journey turned into 40mins due to the gushing waters flooding the roads and us praying that we didn't get bogged. Alex did a brilliant job navigating through the waters and we need to give a big shout out to our wheels 'Curtain Wondervan' who defied the odds by keeping up with the 4 wheel drives going through the treacherous waters. We were told by the car behind us that the water was so high and our van was so low that our exhaust pipe was underwater in some areas. We were looking in awe at the sheer amount of water bucketing down and flooding the roads. One cool thing that Deb pointed out was the water cascading down the bald rocks creating a temporary fast-flowing waterfall. Another crazy sight was seeing cars drive into the national park, the place we were desperate to avoid from the flash flooding. One guy even drove in in a sedan. I'm sure he'd wish he had a 4wd. 

We got out of there, back onto the the main highway and headed back to Des and Pete's to finish our lunch on their front lawn in the sunshine.

Thanks for reading

Jonno