This time last year I was packing my bags (boxes of wine included) to head off to Zimbabwe. One night in Harare and then to Lake Kariba for the long weekend. I'll say right now that when there's a long weekend in S.A and Zim on the same weekend... Don't travel to Zim on an overnight bus!!!
The trip to the border post wasn't all that bad, despite a fire extinguisher going off under the foot of the sleeping co-driver. To whoever invented those - Good job!! I certainly felt like I was being extinguished. And no amount of wet wipes or hand sanitiser could get rid of the grit that was now an extra layer of my skin.
A bit of a blurry view from the bus window. Beautiful parts of S.A. I hadn't seen before.
I had been warned to take an open mind and closed shoes to the Beitbridge Border Post. This was not warning enough for the chaos that prevailed. Getting the passengers stamped and ready to go was the easy part, you queue by bus groups, so it goes pretty quick. I was not particularly surprised by the level of unfriendliness with which I was received, but hey, it was late and I was thrilled to have gotten this far.
Getting the bus and all our luggage through was a different story... The buses all park on a field in a very loose description of the word queue. And to get to the front of this queue you drive your 8-ton giant vehicle as though you are a taxi in the middle of Church Street on pay day. After much arguing and yelling and fighting with other drivers and officials, I think they let us through so that our bus driver didn't end up dead or in jail - delightful chap he was. And there we sat, and we waited, and we waited some more. The deal is that they are supposed to check all your luggage before they let you through. Seven hours later we were in exactly the same spot paying off some guy to let us through without having anything checked. Now I understand that bribery and corruption is rife at border posts, and while I don't particularly agree with it, if that was the plan, why on earth did it take so long??
We finally arrived in Harare, a staggering 9 hours late, after a few stops in the middle of nowhere for toilet breaks, an extra hour stop to drop off/pick up more people, and making all of one friend. I have never been so relieved in my life!
So a few words of advise for your next road trip...
- Never ever take a Citiliner bus, ever!
- You can never be over prepared (yes, you'll need those wet wipes!), and
- Unless you're driving, take a Valium or three!
More on my Zim adventure later.
Peace.
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