Although sad to be leaving Mozambique, we were excited to be heading somewhere new and we set off with great anticipation after packing up and saying our goodbyes.

The drive itself was very gentle and soon arrived at Chimoio and began looking for a place to spend the night.

We eventually found a rather sweet little place on the Chicamba Real Dam where we settled in around a roaring fire for a braai and a well deserved beer.

The next morning we awoke early and ready to tackle the day. A few minutes of packing later we were back on the road and found ourselves pulling up to the Zim border at around eight thirty that morning.

The long queues of huge trucks awaiting entry made us fear the worst as we approached the border post, but shortly after nearing the offices, a Zimbabwean official (we think, otherwise some really enterprising young chap) came up to the car with all the necessary forms and indicated the correct place to park, where to go and what to do.

Aside from the excessive carbon tax (US$30), road toll (US$10) and the mandatory third party insurance (a further US$35) required to enter Zimbabwe, the officials, at both the office and the gate, were very friendly and helpful and gave us no trouble at all.

And this after earlier repacking all of our meat from the freezer into the blue plastic bucket on the roof in an effort to avoid having to give it all away to some border official performing the usual vehicle search (no meat is allowed to cross the borders), they weren’t even interested!

Pulling up to the gate, the smiling official asked for our gate pass, wished us well in our travels in Zimbabwe and waved us through… easy as that!

The scenery changed dramatically as we continued further into Zimbabwe, driving along steep mountainous passes towards the quaint little town of Mutare (actually the third largest city in Zimbabwe) and then on to the Bvumba region.