{"id":1398,"date":"2014-10-27T10:44:18","date_gmt":"2014-10-27T10:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ottertravels.com\/2014\/10\/27\/zimbabwe\/"},"modified":"2018-12-15T17:47:02","modified_gmt":"2018-12-15T17:47:02","slug":"zimbabwe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ottertravels.com\/?p=1398","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwe"},"content":{"rendered":"

We had to wait a few days in Johannesburg for our carnets (customs passports for the cars) to be ready. \u00a0I had been on tender hooks the last couple of weeks as without these documents border posts can become a bit of a hassle and we didn’t have time for too much of that, so couldn’t leave without them!<\/p>\n

Even though we had started the journey and were on the road having already driven through South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland.<\/p>\n

\"SA<\/p>\n

I couldn’t bring myself to believe that the trip was really going to happen. \u00a0It was such a big project, and I was given the task to lead it, \u00a0make all the decisions for my team and activities in each country. \u00a0A scary but amazing opportunity and one I kept thinking was going to get taken away from me…. \u00a0Not many people\/companies would let a woman lead a team of men driving through Africa. \u00a0I was waiting for someone to say “no, wait, we made a mistake”!! \u00a0I knew I could do it, I could see it very clearly in my head. \u00a0I had lots of experience travelling and working in Africa but travelled mostly by plane before. \u00a0I knew it was going to be a\u00a0tough trip but was excited and ready for the challenge.<\/p>\n

So I held my breath until I had the 3 carnets in my hands, the day I got them I was over the moon and quickly mobilised the team who were all biting at the bit to get going.<\/p>\n

\"1013\"<\/p>\n

We left Johannesburg straight away and made our way to Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

The Beitbridge border post took 2.5 hours all together which meant that the crossing into Zimbabwe was made after dark. This border is so inefficient and has 8 desks that need to be visited but not in any logical sequence. \u00a0While I did all the paperwork for the 3 cars the guys got down to throwing a rugby ball around much to the amusement of everyone waiting at the border post.<\/p>\n

We were warned that there were lots of “drunkies” on the road, took us a while to work out it wasn’t\u00a0drunk people but donkeys…. \u00a0So we drove about 80km from the border managing not to hit any\u00a0donkeys or drunk people and stopped and at the Lion & Elephant Lodge for the night.<\/p>\n