The last day in Bulawayo proved to be the most relaxed of the entire trip. It started with a ride out with Deb and Catherine to see a charity/Christmas market which was on that day. There were some amazing stalls of local goods, produce and crafts, including some fabulous paintings, alongside stalls of childrens toys and tat which I suspect would not look out of place anywhere in the world. It was also a little odd to be seeing all the Christmas paraphernalia while walking around in short sleeves and feeling too hot!
After this we took a spin through the centre of the city and also took a peek at the Bendover Bazaar. The Bendover was a strange place. It seems to be where all the clothing aid sent from Europe ends up in Africa. There were probably over 100 stalls of second hand clothing, shoes and the like all of which tend to be piled on the floor leaving you to bend over and search through them for what you want, hence the name. It also explained why amongst the high degree of poverty in Zim everyone is so well dressed.
After that it was back to the house for another braai, steak this time and, if I say so myself, the best steak of my trip so far. Good food, drink and excellent company made for a very pleasant, and a tad lazy, afternoon. I finished the day sitting on the veranda with a spiced rum and coke chatting and watching the stars. The Andromeda Galaxy and Orion Nebula both providing good viewing through a set of binos. After that it was relatively early to bed for a 6’ish start the following morning.
We set off slightly later than planned at around 6:30 and drove direct to the South African border at a place called Beit Bridge, a slightly different route to the outward journey which gave me more of a view of Zimbabwe rather than going back through Botswana. The border post is apparently one of the busiest in Africa and proved a rather interesting experience even though we did get through in around an hour, which I am told is very quick for this border post.
The final leg back through South Africa to Johannesburg took us through some varied scenery and landscapes at least some of which I hope to get to visit further before my trip is done. We arrived back around 7PM and after unloading the evening was spent relaxing/recovering from the journey.
The time since has been spent sorting through the photos and video (which will start posting shortly) and generally starting to look at the options and plans for the next few weeks.
