zim roads

[Tim TDP]

I am scheduled to start the following trip to Zim on Thursday
Reading some recent Zim reports, I am scared of the roads and damage to my car.
Driving a Hilux 4*4 and towing a Bushlapa Boskriek

My trip itinerary is:

Pilansberg
Palapye
Plumtree Border Post
Motobo (Khayelitsha House)
Masvingo (Romelda Retreat Cottage)
Chimanimani (The Treehouse Project)
JuilisDale (Froggy Farm Eco Cabin)
Harare (Boutique On 22)
Chizarira National Park (Mucheni2 campsite)
Mana Pools (Wilderness Ruckomechi)
North Kariba (Hornbill Lodge)
FERRY: Andora Harbour - Mlibizi
Hwange (Little Kapula Camp)
Pandamatenga Border Post
Palapye
Lanseria International Airport

Any advice will be most welcome

 

Thanks

[Johann Groenewald]

Hi Tim,

Is this the sequence in which you will visit the places?

Driving from Harare to Chizarira and then to Mana seems a bit odd to me. You will badically double up on probably the worst sections and Chiz to Mana in a day is a stretch too far in my opinion.

If you could switch to Harare - Mana - Kariba - Chizarira, then you can drive on to Hwange without having to use the ferry.

The road conditions will certainly vary but I find the bad sections slow you down and you dont neccesarily damage your vehicle if you take it easy.

If you plan your days for 5hrs drive time max, then I think you shoukd be fine.

Kind Regards

Johann Groenewald

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[gra...@segaigai.com]

Hi Tim,

              I can’t help with the Zimbabwean roads, but I did drive from Palapye to Kasane last week.  There has been a great deal of rain in eastern Botswana this season, and even on Saturday evening I got caught in a downpour in Gaborone.  (I hadn’t bothered to pack a raincoat as I thought all the rains were over).  The end result is that there are road crews everywhere patching up damage where water has got under the seal; and some of the unpaved roads still have big puddles, though these are shrinking rapidly now. The graders are out on the unpaved roads and working hard.  Even the road to Segaigai Farm is supposed to be getting some attention later this week.

 

From Palapye to Francistown the A1 is in very good condition, excepting a small patch of roadworks near Topisi.  

 

The A3 from Francistown to Nata is under reconstruction.   For most of the way a new highway is being built alongside the old one, but (i) there are construction vehicles going back and forth across the old road; (ii) the old road surface is deteriorating and is being temporarily patched in places;  (iii) there are long stretches with temporary speed limits of 60 km/hr or lower, and police making sure these are adhered to; and (iv)   the construction crews are working hard to make up for lost time, and you can expect delays.  I had to stop 8 times on this leg. The longest delay was only 5 minutes, but cumulatively the Francistown to Nata leg took about an hour longer than normal.

 

The A33 from Nata to Pandamatenga also has long stretches of roadworks. 

 

There is nothing that will damage a car or trailer but you will need to allow extra time on your Pandamatenga to Palapye day.  The reconstruction of the A3 and A33 is a BWP 4 billion project scheduled for completion sometime in 2027, so we will have to expect delays and detours for quite a while yet.  

 

Have a great trip !

 

Graeme

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[Pete]

Hi Tim. We went end-Feb to Mid-March. In these areas:
Masvingo - Chimanimani - Juliasdale - Harare, the roads were great between towns. In towns, and the last few km approaching places to stay, the roads got bad to terrible. But still OK for a Fiat Uno, just go v slowly! I was in a 2wd bakkie.

[Alan Stewart]

Hi

 

We have just completed a zim trip .

 

WOW we are going back

 

Roads

Gonararazou to vumba to nynaga Harare , perfect

 

Harare to lion’s den is OK ,

Lion’s den to Farners wife not the best average speed 50km/hour

Farmers wife to mana pools check in (marongora ) ,  bad and slow average speed 40kmhour

Mana pools road from turn of to reception , 75km took use 3,5 hours (PS 2 bridges are damaged but the detours are perfect )

 

 

Hwange town to main camp (did not drive it BUT it seems it is on big detour so very slow )

 

Hwange main camp to Bulawayo ,  250km took us 9 hours

 

THE PIECES BETWEEN THE POT HOLES ARE BRILLIANT 😊

 

 

My2c

 

Alan Stewart

 

083 702 3680

al...@zapco.co.za

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[Lizette Swart]

Good morning Alan,

Great feedback, thank you! I have copied our newdata team to check our road conditions as well.

Kind regards

Lizette Swart
lizette@tracks4africa
co.za

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[Garrick Barnard (SafariGaza)]

Hi Tim,

I got back yesterday from 3 weeks in Zim - it ws awesome.

I agree with Johann that your sequencing seems a little off and Graeme has given a great account of the roads in Bots.

Road between Manjolo and the Sanyati Bridge is slow going at times - we averaged 25km/h (no trailer) - we did not go all the way up to Karoi. Opted instead to “cut the corner” by turning left after the Saniaty bridge at Magogoro (advice I found on this forum). The route goes through Deve, Makande, Baka Reshumba, crosses the Nyaodze River and then follows the power lines into Kariba. There was a bit of wash away on the slopes, not sure what a Bushlapa would be like on these.

We took a barge/ferry from Kariba to Matusadonna, with Dave McMaster - Highly recommend this experience.

On our way back down - Chizarira (Mucheni View) to Vic Falls took us 8 hours - the roads get “better” the further south you get, and the river road from Deka to Vic Falls is the way to go. .

Safe Travels!

Garrick

I would also like to give a shout-out to Margot from Maabwe Bay - Thanks for all the advice and the work your team is doing on the roads.

1nt - Stokpoort
2nts - Elephant Sands
1nt - Victoria Falls
2nts - Mabwe Bay
1nt - Rengwe 
2nts - Kariba
5nts - Mana Pools, BBC
1nt - Kariba
3nts - Matusadonna, Tashinga
2nts -Chizarira, Mucheni View, Hippo
1nt - Victoria Falls
1nt - Kharma Rhino

Garrick Barnard

gar...@conservationsafaris.org

076 569 8849

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[Margot Donaldson]

Thank you Garrick

Was great to host you and your group at Maabwe.

I’m glad I was able to help.

We are just about done now on the roadworks. It’s not been an easy task.

Best regards 

Margot 

Maabwe Bay Camp

Lake Kariba 

Phone no/Wattsapp 00263776977446

Or Netone line usually better 00263719478520

Email marg...@icloud.com

FB: Maabwe Bay

https://Tracks4Africa.co.za/listings/item/w255166/maabwe-bay-campsite/.

On 22 Jun 2026, at 12:28, Garrick Barnard (SafariGaza) <garrick...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Mike Lauterbach]

Good morning all

I have 2 x Garmin GPSMAP276 for sale:

1 x "refurbished" 276C GPS in excellent condition with repacked battery
pack and a new onboard capacitor for time.  It comes with the original
mounting bracket, charger, cables, Trip and Waypoint Manager and an old
copy of T4A.  R2500.00

1 x 276C GPS with a discoloured screen, with repacked battery pack, new
onboard capacitor, mounting bracket and charger. Selling as spares for
the battery and capacitor.  R450.00

Also on offer is one onboard battery/capacitor for R70 without shipping
costs.

Buyer responsible for shipping costs

Please PM me if you are interested.

TIA
Mike

[Yann Belbeoch]

Hi there, 

I'm looking for a garmin map for the Seychelles island ? do you have one ? 

Best regards

Yann

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Cordialement

Yann BELBEOC'H

5 rue des bons francais, 44000 NANTES, France

M +33 (0)6 07 21 42 42

yann.b...@gmail.com

[Danie Kotze]

Good morning, 

For a recent Europe trip, I used OpenStreetmaps on my Nuvi alongside Google maps on Android Auto and it worked quite well. Perhaps that is an option to investigate. 

Cheers, Danie. 

Sent from Outlook for Android

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From: tracks...@googlegroups.com <tracks...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Yann Belbeoch <yann.b...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, 29 June 2026 20:26:21
To: tracks...@googlegroups.com <tracks...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [T4A] GPSMAP276C

 

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[Lizette Swart]

Good morning Yann,

Our data comes from self-drive travellers so unfortunately we do not have the Seychelles covered in our maps.

Regards/Groete

Lizette

Lizette Swart

liz...@tracks4africa.co.za

+27 (0)21 880 8660

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[Joe Louw]

I have maps for the Seychelles on my GPS76csx, I need to dig that unit out, so if you willing to wait for me to get my hands on it I can share.

PM me if you interested.

It’s not auto navigate maps.

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[Yann Belbeoch]

Thanks a lot for your answer Lizette.  I will manage it without your precious help I used to have.  

Next time. 

Have a nice evening. 

Yann 

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[Yann Belbeoch]

Thx Danie.i started to investigate this track. May be.  

Best regards

Yann 

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