IT’S A VERY different Zimbabwe in the east. Green hills and waterfalls, a world away from the dry bush of most of the country.
10+ hours drive from the wildlife rich bush of Mana Pools sits a world of green hills, rivers and falls.
Up against the Mozambique border are the exotically named Chimanimani, Nyanga and Vumba.
In Zimbabwe's long-ago good old days, the Highlands were the summer holiday destination of choice.
We, however, were there in winter. It was freaking cold.
But when the sun comes out, it is easy to see the attraction, with superb hiking and views.
Every ZimParks camp sit we visited, we had to ourselves. Sometimes we even had hot water.
Birders absolutely must stay at Seldom Seen in Vumba, and there are several substantial waterfalls and viewpoints in Nyanga National Park.
North of the main town of Juliasdale, Nyangombe Falls are a short, rocky drive from a couple of pleasant camps.
Further south, the wee town of Chimanimani has plenty of attractions.
There are several mountains for easy hikes nearby.
Some of the short hikes can be joined together for an all day hike.
Family run farms in town provide excellent camping options.
ZimParks camps will probably be deserted, and of varying quality.
Bridal Veil Falls is one of the nicer spots in the area, and a camp site, too.
And if you don't feel like cooking, there are 3 or 4 places to eat back in town. Good fried chicken.
The dusty, junction towns in between and around will have a market and 2-3 eateries.
You won't find anything fancy.
You will get a choice of meats, and rice or pap, and we found it was generally pretty tasty.
For us, though, the highlight of the east was back towards Nyanga.
Mtarazi Falls NP borders Nyanga but has very different forest type.
This is the only place in Zimbabwe to find the rainforest tree Pouteria adolfi-friedericii – typically found in equatorial forests, such as the Congo.
There are short hiking trails through the forest from the spartan ZimParks camp.
Mutarazi Falls NP is, as the name suggests, home to Mutarazi Falls.
It's the highest in Zim, and the second highest in Africa. It's worth staying in the ZimParks camp to really enjoy the falls.
A private concession, Far & Wide, operates a zipline (US$50) and a skybridge ($80) over the falls.
On a late afternoon birding stroll, we discovered that the skybridge was unfenced and unguarded!
A bit disconerting without a harness, but well worth a sneeky peek for the views across the valley to Zimbabwe. Don't look down, though.
You might also see some samango monkeys, but you'd be very lucky to see the rare blue duiker.
If you don't mind some slippery roads, cold showers and crisp, misty mornings, the mountains of the east are rewarding.