After a few days in Victoria Falls, it was time for Sarah to make the trek up to Tanzania to fly back to Beirut and time for me to make my way back toward Cape Town. We parted ways at the Zambia border... after a bit of fear and frustration at me not being able to use my ATM card. Yes, folks, please take a few types of cards to Zimbabwe because the banking system is less than stellar. Being the good friend that she is, Sarah left me with what cash she had on her (I wouldn't let her draw more because I knew she had a long journey ahead with unknown costs) and I went back to town.
I literally tried every ATM in town and none of them worked. I took only my South African bank card (from Standard Bank in SA) thinking that of course it would work in Zimbabwe. And it did, a couple of times, which is why I didn't have any reason to think that I would be left with about 18 USD and no formal transport to my next destination. I asked some people around town how to get to Botswana because I knew the border was about 80 kilometers away and perhaps there would be an ATM close to the border that would work for me. Everyone suggested I go to a "hiking spot" -- yes, for hitchhiking and wait for someone who was headed that direction. It didn't take long... a nice man named Canaan picked me up and drove me all the way to the Botswana border. He would have driven me further, but the cost of taking vehicles into Botswana was higher than he wanted to pay. We waited for public transport to town together and chatted about both our lives. He is Zimbabwean, but studying in Italy... he was back to visit his family and traveled to Botswana for building supplies for a garage at his home. Sadly, most products like this are much more accessible and inexpensive across Zimbabwe's borders in neighboring countries. Just a byproduct of the political situation in Zimbabwe. We finally got a lift and made it to town where we parted ways. Canaan and I are still friends, though, on facebook! :) I began my ATM search in town.. by this time it was about 2pm and I knew that I had to make a plan before sunset or it could be bad news. Again, none of the ATM's worked and this was quite an expensive place to stay because it was nearly in the middle of the Chobe game reserve, so I didn't have enough cash on me to stay and travel to the next city that might have a working ATM. As a sidenote, it's fortunate that I had some fruit, bread, and peanut butter, so I didn't have to spend money to eat (a nice thing i do whenever i travel to save money -- stock up on cheap eating supplies). I ate the biggest avo of my life for lunch that day. It's also fortunate that people in this region are some of the friendliest that I have met in my life!
Also, I had a small travel guide that told me how much it cost to cross borders in each of the Southern African countries... I decided to go toward Botswana and Namibia becuase their borders are close and it doesn't cost anything for Americans to go into Botswana and Namibia as tourists... unlike Zimbabwe and Zambia.. it cost me 30 USD (actually 300 Rand because I didn't have cash and they pegged the exchange rate at an unfair 10 to 1 ratio, instead of the accurate 7 to 1) and it would have cost me 50 USD to cross to Zambia with Sarah.
Once again, I found myself sitting at a "hiking spot" waiting for a lift. Again, it didn't take long before someone picked me up, this time Moses! Moses is a Namibian who delivers medical supplies to rural hospitals and clinics -- he was so friendly and very helpful. He drove me another 80 or so kilometers to the Namibian border. Once in Namibia, my friendly driver had to work in some remote places and thought I'd be better off catching a taxi (yes, like the mini-bus taxis in South Africa, cheap, run frequently, and have regular routes, but not like a private taxi that many of you may be used to).
About an hour or 2 later, I made it to Katima-Mulilo in Namibia after crossing 2 borders, hitchhiking about 250 kilometers, and spending about 3 dollars in public transport (sadly, I only spent a few hours in Botswana, I definitely want to go back, though). I arrived around 5pm and got there, fortunately, before the sun went down. The first place I went in town was a Standard Bank ATM that fortunately worked and I withdrew enough money to last me for several days. It was quite a relief.
Although I was scared at some points during this adventure, it was one of the most invigorating and challenging things I've put myself through... to literally travel and do what needed to be done with nearly no money. I realized what I was capable of .. it was amazing! I traveled the rest of the way back to Cape Town alone and learned a lot about myself in the experience. More on my personal experiences in the next post -- and more about Namibia! :)
Wow, you are certainly an adventure your ownself. I certainly admire the way you get around although I am always worried when I see the hitch-hiking stories. I guess that it must be a fairly common practice, but, still worries me.
ReplyDeleteI think what has happened in Zimbabwe is so tragic, my Rotary Club did a matching grant with a club there about 5 years ago to put in a water system at a children's orphanage. This was just before all the trouble started and most all of the Rotarians in the Club fled the country and lost all their properties. Such a shame.