Zimbabwe - Land of Mugabe

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<pre style="color:� line-height: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;">Zimbabwe - Having waited 2 extra nights in Francistown, Botswana due to the inaccurate information about the bus I needed to catch to Bulawayo, I finally caught it after some negotiation. Despite being told the bus would arrive in Francistown no later than 11 am, it duly arrived at 12.30pm and we were on our way shortly after. At first glance, it appeared there were no seats left but I was determined that I was boarding the bus whether or not I had a seat. When you spend time in Malawi and become accustomed to their poor standard of buses and general lack of regard for safety, sitting in an empty aisle sounded like a pleasant change. However, as luck had it, I managed to grab the last seat and off we went to the border. The journey took us past some lovely rural countryside and away from the hectic sprawling urban town of Francistown. It was only a short ride to the border - 2 hours later and after standing in a never ending queue, I paid my 50 USD and I was officially in Zim. As ever, I spent time looking at my full page visa in my passport - a common ritual upon exiting and entering a country and deliberated over my next few days of travelling. Before leaving, the authorities decided that it was necessary for every piece of luggage to be carried off the bus as they were making sure they didn't miss out on a penny's worth of import tax - given the state of the economy, it is probably no surprise. </pre><pre style="color:� line-height: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;">The bus continued onto Bulawayo which is the second largest city in Zim. It was interesting to see that they have adopted the American grid system for planning the town and it's roads. There's not a huge amount to do and see in Bul and whilst I arrived quite late in the afternoon and could of perhaps done with a day off, I decided to head towards Masvingo and the Shona Ruins in Greater Zimbabwe the following morning. Wise decision I thought as I've had enough of towns/cities - they are generally all the same and in Africa, they contain Shoprite, Bata, PEP and a guy selling banana's on the street corner for the equivalent of 10p. In actual fact, you could go as far as saying all towns/cities are homogenous. My passion is the countryside and that will certainly never change.</pre><pre style="color:� line-height: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;">Upon leaving Bulawayo, on a rather old and tacky bus - it was clear to see some of the problems Zimbabwe is suffering from. Rather than go into great detail, I'll just list them as I'm being lazy;1. Unemployment is up at approximately 45%2. The industry sector is at a standstill3. Manufacturing sites and warehouses are on the verge of collapse4. Robert Mugabe and his policies5. Litter and waste disposal in a problem6. A lack of tourists - perhaps put off by recent political events in past years. Although Zim is perfectly safe nowadays. Zimbabwe was once a leading economic powerhouse in Africa, let alone Southern Africa and it once had a very productive agricultural sector where commodities were exported all over the World. Unfortunately, due to the Land Repossession Act which saw commercial land taken over by peasants and Africans, the country has never recovered. This is a real shame as Zimbabwe has vast areas of good agricultural land which could be used in an efficient manner if the government's policies, resources and manpower were put into action. In regards to the above, it was the Act itself and the manner in which land was repossessed rather than the people who took over commercial land which lead to Zim's agricultural downfall. I really want to make that clear to avoid any difficulties. No thought was given at the time to the potential economic issues which might have arisen from the Act - although I don't think Mugabe was too concerned. He just wanted various people out of the country.</pre><pre style="color:� line-height: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;">Leaving aside the above and Mugabe...the countryside between Bulawayo and Masvingo was beautifully green and flat, providing the perfect view. Now I'd wanted to come and see the Shona Ruins as they date back to the 11th-13th century and much of the sites are still preserved to this day. The ruins themselves depict how the Shona people used to live and it was very interesting to see. The old walls are particularly steep and narrow and much like other tribes, they used a hill to offer them security and also a vantage point of the surrounding area. After seeing the ruins, I pitched my tent up by a tree in what was a huge campsite before treating myself to a corned beef and onion sarnie. Not bad! I left the following morning at 6 am with the hope of reaching Harare. I was desperate to do some trekking and had heard the Eastern Highlands near Mutare were spectacular. However, with hardly any proper equipment or shoes I decided that it was best to head North to the Capital. I caught a minibus into Masvingo (the Shona Ruins are some 25km out of town) and after a mis-match of information, I eventually found the station. It was certainly noticeable to see the contrasts in the standard of English in Zimbabwe compared with Zambia, Botswana and Namibia. In these latter countries it is spoken very well. However, I had some difficulties just asking for the bus station in Masvingo, let alone where the cheapest place to stay was. Due to this problem, I actually missed the first bus to Harare before having a nice chat with 3 gentlemen from the army who were on watch for any troublemakers - Oh sorry, they missed the small scrap between two guys vying for business. In fairness though, it looked that petty they probably thought, best to leave them to it.I was then approached by a lovely lady who worked for the Zimbabwe Red Cross whose colleague had a pick up. They kindly offered me a lift with a small family for the same rate as the bus. Boom. Having had no luck with buses or public transport for that matter, I was over the moon.</pre><pre style="color:� line-height: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 4 hours later we arrived in the huge city of Harare, passing it's industrial heartland and heading into the CBD. It was here that my usual organised self was troubled as the driver and I could not find any backpackers. Oooops. P.S Always have a list of cheap backpackers/guest houses on arrival into any new place as it always helps, it increases safety and sometimes you need a long list. I had a list of 4 but 2 of them we couldn't find and the other 2 were drastic. In the end, I figured the cheapest place was charging 25 USD for a terrible room and no security so I went a little more upmarket. I stayed in the Blue Horizon Inn which at 45 USD was very good (negotiated 5 USD off as I wasn't going to make breakfast at 6am as I was leaving early at 4.30 am for the bus to Malawi). The room I had contained 2 single beds, DSTV (watched IPL cricket most of the day) and a clean bathroom. The bed made a great change from sleeping on the floor and it was particularly cold in Bots/Zim, especially after Sunset. Harare itself was a very developed city with the bog standed high street shops and a few sky rise buildings. There was a beautiful church in the heart of the city too which I wanted to look at but there was an event of some kind taking place - so I missed it out. Not much to report from Harare, huge city but lacking in character and architecture. A common theme running throughout many towns/cities I've visited this far.</pre><pre style="color:� line-height: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I left the following morning in the hope of being able to board a bus to Blantyre, Malawi and as luck had it, it left that Sunday morning at 7 am. Thank goodness to as the next bus left on Wednesday and 3 more nights @ 45 USD would have made me bankrupt. To cut a painfully uncomfortable journey short - I spent 29 hours on two buses and one shared taxi and was charged the ridiculous sum of 85 USD to pass through Mozambique for 3 hours. All this before I reached Butterfly and Nkhata Bay at 10 am. I must say, not only did I feel aggrieved at paying the visa fee, they couldn't even take a proper picture of me. So now, I have a full page visa in my passport of my eyes closed - and until I obtain a new one - I will always remember how Mozambique stole my limited amount of USD.</pre><pre style="color:� line-height: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;">on a more serious note, never have I come across such intolerable, aggressive, rude and obnoxious immigration officials. They were truly horrible to anyone and everyone; asking people to speak in English despite their very limited conversation, telling people to stand 1 inch further back and slamming their stamp on everybody's passport. It riles me just thinking about them. </pre><pre style="color:� line-height: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Tete Corridor though provided some beautiful scenery, very typical of other Southern African countryside. Although, this was more savannah and particularly dry compared with other countries and the mountains in the distance were a sight to behold. Despite the stunning scenery, life here looked very hard and sadly, the populous were living in abject poverty. It seems they live in a forgotten land, no surprise given the huge distance to the Capital, Maputo in the South. The town of Tete though was an interesting town, it seems that it is growing rapidly here because of the mining being done in nearby areas. This town at least, had a bit of money and you could tell with the infrastructure present. The highlight of passing through Moz though was crossing over a beautiful wide river which almost split Tete in half. The surrounding views were splendid also. Hopefully the money from mining here and seep down to provide some rest bite for the poor. Unfortunately, I doubt this will be the case. Companies working in mining are notoriously ruthless and I'm sure the ones present in Tete, will be no different. </pre><pre style="color:� line-height: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;">Into Malawi...the scenery heading north on the M1 was glorious (much more picturesque and free of cars than our British counterpart). The interesting rock structures north of Lilongwe, the forests and plantations south of Mzimba and the mountains near Mzuzu make for an enjoyable ride. I will never forget nearly freezing to death on the bus though.Arriving back at Butterfly was wonderful - it was great to meet new and old faces. Having spent nigh on 6 months there before leaving for 6 weeks, many people had become family and it is no wonder why I returned back. </pre><pre style="color:� line-height: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;">Butterfly, the people in town and Lake Malawi had provided me with many memories I'll cherish for a lifetime and I only added to these on my return.I initially planned to stay 2 weeks but stayed 5. Helping out at the school and around the lodge, doing some maintenance and creating a sand filter system for the water being used in the kitchen were just some of the things I did. Now we can water the garden from the water used in the sinks which is very eco friendly and it avoids wasting valuable water too (yes to sustainable development). This will be great in the dry season as the gardeners will be able to water the plants/trees more freely. It was also great to spend time with friends, watching some of the world cup, having a few beers and going for a swim (my shower). I dearly missed the lake whilst I was travelling - there's no words sometimes for the sunsets and views the lake and horizon produces, it is simply breathtaking. </pre>

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