Day 50 Nairobi to Cape Town
Great Zimbabwe To Bulawayo, 320kmWe woke early and broke down our tent, had a hearty breakfast which was almost taken by a troop of Vervet Monkeys which seemed hell bent on getting a free meal. We grabbed our camera gear before walking to the entrance of the Great Zimbabwe monument where we met Phillip (our guide)
Phillip led us to the base of the monument, a large 80 meter high granite outcrop with a tiered fortress on top which dated back to 900AD. We ascended the monument which became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1986. The site is divided into three main areas: the hill complex, the great enclosure, and the valley ruins.
As we climbed the hill complex (the oldest part of the site) via the ancient pathway which was used by guests of the royals we were amazed by how the builders of this amazing engineering marvel incorporated the natural granite boulders and rectangular blocks to form walls up to 6 meters thick and 11 meters high. Within the walls were the remains of daga houses and as we climbed to the top, the royal living quarters, witch doctors dwelling, blacksmiths, and the Royal bank where millions of dollars worth of gold was unearthed during the excavation process. From the top we had unprecedented views of the surrounding landscape and were watched carefully by a rock hyrax.. We slowly headed back down the hill and through the valley ruins to the Shona village where we were greeted by traders selling stone carvings and wooden ornaments, we then headed up to see villagers perform a traditional dance ceremony.Next we headed to the Great Enclosure, the largest single structure in sub Saharan Africa.
It's outer wall is 250 meters in circumference, with a maximum height of 11 meters. The inner wall runs along part of the outer wall forming a narrow parallel 55 meters long which leads to the 10 meter Conical Tower believed to be a phallus symbol of the Kings abundance.
After finishing the tour we headed back to the truck where we set off for Bulawayo stopping in at Masvingo for cook group supplies and snacks for our train trip to Victoria Falls.
The truck broke down on a hill around 16h00 due to fuel issues . After Patrick bled the fuel lines we were back on track and managed to pull into Burkes Paradise in Bulawayo around 17h00 where we met Adam Burke and had him explain a bit about his property.
Al's cook group got stuck into preparing dinner which was one of Celeste's recipes " Chicken ala Orange" which was greatly received by the crew. We headed off for well deserved showers and an early night as some of the group were heading out on a Rhino Safari the next day.