In Norwich, before we go

It is three years since we spent two months in Southern Africa, travelling from Cape Town, up the East Coast of South Africa, through Swaziland. Botswana and Namibia then down the West Coast, through The Cederburgh and back to Cape Town. Since then we have made trips to Egypt, Morocco and New Zealand, and a couple of shorter visits to Andalucia in Southern Spain. Anyone who read our blog from New Zealand may remember that although we enjoyed the scenery and environment, the cultural similarity to the U.K. meant that it was more of a holiday than an adventure. Now we are returning to Southern Africa for what we hope will be another new and exciting experience and maybe a challenge to our preconceptions. We will fly into Johannesburg, hire a car and buy a tent, we are taking some basic camping equipment with us from home. We are spending the first three weeks in the Kruger National Park, somewhere we didn't get to on our last visit, spending two to four days at different campsites, slowly working our way northwards. We hope to see some of the animals but are probably more interested in the environment and he geology. Leaving the Park through the northernmost Gate we will cross over into Zimbabwe, where we are anticipating some new and different experiences and encounters.
We will spend some time in and around the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, visit Bulawayo and the Hwange National Park before reaching Victoria Falls. We will then return southwards, through the Matobo National park and the mining area of Gweru before crossing back into South Africa. Our last destination, before returning to Johannes burgh for the flight home, will be in the Blyde River Canyon.
This is our first visit to Zimbabwe and new territory for us, we hope to be able to get beyond the mass media reporting and see and hear facts for ourselves. We know from our travels in other countries that on organised trips, tours and safaris, all the information given is strictly regulated, so called 'cultural experiences' are set up and arranged for tourist entertainment. Nowhere was this more blatantly obvious than during the trip we made travelling independently in Cuba about eight years ago. We have also shared and exchanged with friends around the world media coverage of events in their countries and ours, and seen that the bias in reporting can range from the bizarre to the hilarious. So we hope that by travelling on our own, camping and shopping locally we might get the opportunity to speak to people who live there, both black and white, listening to their views, how they feel about the current situation.  We will only see a small part of the country, mainly in the south and west, if it is a good experience, there is much more waiting for us.