Binga to Makuti Lodge

[appleblossom]

We have two choices for our trip.

 

We are driving on the country Binga/Karoi road up to Mana Pools.

 

1. Leave Vic Falls (7.00am), drive as far as Matusadona (stay at Sanyati camp), drive on the next day to reach Makuti.

 

2. Leave Vic Falls (8.00am) , drive to Binga and stay overnight. Leave very early next day to reach Makuti.

 

A couple of questions:

Is trying to reach Sanyati River Camp (Matusadona) in one day, unrealistic? It makes for an unhurried drive the next day.

Is staying at Binga going to give us a nightmare to try and reach Makuti the next day?

 

We are driving a 4x4 Hi-lux.

 

What would you do?

[A&M]

Have not been on that road for a long time,but recent reviews on another forum indicates that the road is in a fair to good condition,and remember it is tar up to Binga I think or close to. So getting to Binga in a day from Vic Falls should not be a problem.And from Binga to Makhuti also not a problem.Just don't speed on that road as there are bad patches,80kph.max.

[appleblossom]

Thank you

[firmin13]

We went from Hwange to Mana on that road last year. We started around noon, went to Binga for an overnight stay and from there to Musango for 2 nights. Then we travelled on to Makuti Lodge. Road is ok for a 4WD. The bad stretch is to Musango and around the turn off on the 'main' road. We started with sunrise in Binga (having fueled up the evening before) and arrived in time for lunch at Musango. From there we started around 10:00 am to arrive in Karoi around 3:00 pm for a tire repair and arrived at Makuti around sunset.

Probably you can do both of your options, but you don't have much time left in case of any mishap. We would start in Vic Falls before our aorund sunrise (you start on tar) and go on to Matusadona. Drawback is, you have the last (and unreliable in 2012) chance for fueling up at the turn off from the VicFalls-Bulawayo road. So if you have two tanks, that's what we'd do.

Fuel in Binga is said to be reliable (it was in our case), so if that could be an issue, go for it, but its a long ride. Between Binga and Karoi there is no reliable fuel (at least it wasn't in 2012).

Have fun, because it is very nice road to travel, we loved it.

[appleblossom]

Have decided to travel early from Vic Falls to reach Matusadona. Stay overnight at Sanyati River camp and head off for Matuki in the morning.

Yes, we've seen some photos of the route and are really looking forward to the challenge, seeing the Zimbabwe countryside and meeting locals en route.