Online Reporter
Trust Freddy
Herald Correspondent
After a gruelling 65-day overland journey, two UK-based Zimbabweans arrived home last Sunday, to fulfil a lifelong dream. The sojourn gobbled over £30 000 for what could have been an 18-hour flight costing £1 280.
Innocent Hananda, originally from Gokwe, and his uncle Chikerema Sakutukwa, from Murewa, successfully completed the ambitious road trip from England to Zimbabwe, a feat they planned for three years.
Their mission was more than just a road trip; it was a quest to inspire fellow Zimbabweans in the diaspora to invest back home and to put their country’s tourism on the map.
Motivated by a lack of black Africans featured in similar travel videos, the duo set out to be among the first Zimbabweans to make the solo drive in self-built camper vehicles.
A desire to be among the first to make this journey and imprint their names in the record books was their driving force.
Hananda’s vehicle of choice was a 2014 Toyota Hilux diesel, while Sakutukwa opted for a 1998 Toyota Landcruiser Amazon 100 series, both picked after extensive research into the challenging terrain they would encounter.
They converted their vehicles into mobile homes, kitting them out with everything they would need for the long haul.
“We have been to over 22 countries, covering more than 17 000 kilometres,” Hananda said.
“We used the Eurotunnel from London to France, and then from Spain to Morocco, we took a ferry. From Morocco to Zimbabwe, it was all road. We drove on some tough roads in Africa crossing rivers, jungles, and because we were using Google Maps, some of the roads we used were last used in the 50s, but still we navigated,” Hananda said.
The path was not without its perils.
In Cameroon, they needed an army escort to navigate conflict torn areas, and in other countries, they passed through “some scary forests”.
“We really enjoyed the journey, but in some countries we faced a lot of challenges,” Hananda said. “In some countries, we paid over £1 000 for a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) for our vehicles; it was very expensive. But here in Zimbabwe, we only paid US$50.”
Communication was another hurdle, especially in French-speaking countries where locals couldn’t read their Google Translate messages.
“We would get stuck,” Hananda recalled. “After translating our English to French, the challenge was that some law enforcement agents could only understand spoken French, but not read it.”
Despite the hardships, the trip was a profound eye-opener.
“Sometimes we look down upon ourselves, but in some of the countries that we passed through, there were literally no roads,” Sakutukwa said.
“In some of the countries we passed through tarred roads were just limited to cities, the rest it was a jungle.”
The duo’s journey was not just about personal achievement; they also aimed to raise funds for the less privileged back home.
Through a GoFundMe campaign, they managed to raise around £3 000, which they plan to use to support needy children in Zimbabwe.
“We launched the GoFundMe during our journey, and we are now close to reaching £3 000.
“At first, people thought we were joking, but we have seen a number of people beginning to donate, and we are expecting more,” Sakutukwa said.
He also reiterated that their journey was not just about raising funds, but about inspiring the wider diaspora community to invest back home.
“We are not saying just donate to us, but we are saying the extra that you have, go to remote areas and invest back home through empowering the less privileged. Together, we can make a difference, we should learn to help others,” Sakutukwa added.
The two adventurers arrived on Sunday and on Monday they had the honour of meeting with Deputy Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Tongai Mnangagwa .
“Imagine all the countries they went through with our flag flying high, people asking about Zimbabwe,” the Deputy Minister said.
“You know, we need more and more of this, where people show confidence and pride for their country. Most people in the diaspora, some of them don’t want to even identify as Zimbabweans.
“But we’ve got these two gentlemen who drove through over 21 countries, telling everyone, ‘I’m going to Zimbabwe, I am a Zimbabwean.’ ‘I might be living in the diaspora, but I’m a Zimbabwean.’
“That goes a long way in showing the confidence that our own people have in their country. And this will help us to have more and more people come in and want to explore what these guys have experienced.”
The two Zimbabweans have become the second set of adventurers after Hugh Ndudza completed a 212-day overland travel and reached Harare on May 26, to become the first black Zimbabwean to successfully complete a road trip from London to Harare.
Coincidentally, the two had already planned their journey to travel as a convoy and would begin a similar journey on May 30, just three days after Ndudza arrived.
