Zimbabwebound

On Thursday, a friend and I had to cross the border to collect a few items.  As it was only going to be a day trip, we decided to go over to Francistown (in Botswana) which is only a 2 hour journey (not including waiting at the border).  Our day began at 4:30am; we started this early so that we would miss the bus loads of people that get to the border on or a little before opening time (6am); this plan failed … we got there at about 5:45 and there was already 3 buses and numerous cars already waiting for the gate to open.  As we are both thinkers (and we had a 4wd) we explored in our minds the possibilities of trying out the other border crossing about 90klms away (we had been told about this crossing but had been advised not to go unless you are in possession of a 4wd).  We made a quick U turn and started our adventure to the “other side”.

It all began smoothly, the road was nicely tarred and was incredibly smooth; at 30 klms the road turned to gravel, but it wasn’t too bad.  It only took another 10 klms and we started to see the reason for possibly needing a 4wd.  At the 60 klm mark it was obvious that nothing less than a 4wd was mandatory for this trip as we were venturing into large (but dried) sandy river beds and manoeuvring our way through thick red dirt.  With the petrol tank running only on the remaining fumes and both of us feeling incredibly lost (as we were driving through rural villages and guessing our way though various cross roads) we did eventually find ourselves at the border post about 4 hours after our departure from Bulawayo.

I have to admit, our previous crossings (at the more heavily used border) has been very ordinary, with very few smiles and not a huge amount of help given and then the Botswana side is even worse (incredible rude and EXTREMELY impolite) but this crossing was totally different.  The guys on the Zim side were so friendly and we spent a small amount of time chatting with them mulling over news and current affairs.  As we ventured over the dried river bed to the Botswana border post, I was wondering if they also would be different … and they were … it was GREAT; the guys at the Bots border post were so helpful and also enjoyed a good chat.  I think the thing that made this all worthwhile was the fact that on both sides there was absolutely no queues and we didn’t have to wait 5 hours just waiting in a line (like our last South African trip).