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Nicole's
Travelogues and Budget Travel Tips..
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GWERU, ZIMBABWE
I had read about "walking with lions" from other travelogues on the internet before the trip. I was dying to go so instead of spending 4 days doing a safari, we decided to go to Antelope Park - the only place in the world where you can walk with lions.
Funny thing about this bus - it went about 95 MPH on the straight aways. It was the fastest bus I had ever We were dropped off in the Bus Ternminus in Gweru which was also the local flea market. Whoa it was really dodgy and we stuck out bad! I wanted to walk 3 blocks to the hotel to catch the taxi but
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From Vic Falls, we hopped on an overnight train leaving at 6pm to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (on route to Antelope Park near Gweru). We bought a whole sleeper car (only $20 each) - so we would have it to ourselves. Funny thing about the train - it stopped every 15 minutes or so. Sometimes it was so folks could get on - sometimes it wasn't. Well we found out later that it was because the phone lines were down, and the conductor had to stop to see if another train was coming to avoid a head on colision. Yikes! Definitely glad we didn't know about that before we got on! When the conductor and security guy came by for our tickets, we gave them cookies. Can't hurt to have them on our side! Benches weren't bad to sleep on but about 1am we woke up and could see our breath. The windows weren't sealed and there was frost outside. It was freezing! 
We woke up about 6am and arrived in Bulawayo about 8am. Our hostel knew a guy called Mr. Innocent that said he'd take us to Grewu for $20 each so he met us at the train station. But then he tried to say that we had to pay $40 each. No way! So he took us to a corner where buses and minibuses stopped instead. A bus came after about 20 minutes and we got on and actually got the back seat to ourselves and our packs. 
been on in my life - and I didn't think any bus was faster than the one between Bath and Cuenca in Ecuador! When he turned the corners the whole bus was close to turning over. Express Bus is not the word for what we were on and he kept passing all the passengers even though there were seats on the bus. Now that was definitely unheard of! Anyway we reached Gweru in record time 1 and 1/2 hours (supposed to take 2 1/2). 
Lisa wanted to walk across the street and call Antelope Park for a pickup at Wondercrust bakery. So she called and we waited and waited and waited. Meanwhile, everyone is staring at us and laughing and probably thinking about what's in our big packs. Lisa kept calling back and they kept saying that they were on their way. An hour and 20 minutes later, I said that I was just going to walk to the hotel and forget the ride. So we did, found a taxi and were at Antelope Park in 15 minutes.
On arrival, we were assigned a guide for our stay - Matthew, who was very cool! He ran through the history of the park and an overview of the activities. 