Blogs from Harare, Zimbabwe, Africa
March 29th 2012
OK the internet is having issues and i have spent all day trying to add photos to this blog but no luck, I will try and put them up in the nxt few days. Having left the farm early this morning I am now back at ‘Hogwarts’, the Harare house. Though I have heard that a lot of people don’t like the house (which used to be a school) I think it’s brilliant. It’s very higgledy piggledy with rooms and floors all over the place and a lovely garden with a swimming pool. Possibly the most prominent feature of the house is Napoleon the massive dog, he has a colossal head but it is completely empty, not an intelligent animal but he’s brilliant. Along with Napoleon is Gilly the other dog and the complete antithesis of ... read more
March 28th 2012
The Farm: Staying on the farm has been (and continues to be until 6am tomorrow) amazing. Life out here is so action packed, I am always so busy, which is why it has taken me 4 weeks to start writing a proper blog. Whether swimming in the pool, jacuzzying, reading in the sun, going to Clive’s aviary (yes aviary!), checking out the ostrich or being set on by the pack of dogs (Bella, Nushka, Delilah, Milo, Hermione and Scruffles) Just staying at the house I am overwhelmed with options! For example on our first day we had a Black Mamba on the front lawn, how much more exciting can you get!! We had to shoot it with a shotgun as it got into the ostrich/chicken pen and how many people can say they went black mamba ... read more
March 25th 2012
OK so thus far my blogging has been poor - awful so i thought I should catch up on the events so far. I am not a talented writer and I'm sure the following paragraphs are going to be pretty dull to read but here we go; this is more a blog for me to look back on and then can remember the stories and tell them later. The School, I have spent most of my time in Zim helping to teach at St Basil's primary school so it seems to me a good place to start my blog. On my first day we arrived (me and Oscar) to find the children (all 700 of them) in the main assembly point ready to welcome us. Unsure what to expect we stepped up in front of this ... read more
March 5th 2012
Developed, organized, friendly, plenty of choices are things that we were not expecting to find in Zimbabwe but from our time here so far we have been amazed at how easy this country actually is. The media has made this country sound like a horrible place to visit and travel to but the reality is completely different. The media portrayed Zimbabwe as one of the most dangerous in the world just few years ago but the situation is different today as it was then. Of course the security can be changed radically in every Africa country and advisable to check the situation before your departure. Especially in Zimbabwe you’ll notice that the tourism is going slowly forward and tourists trying to find a way back to this amazing country. One piece of advice for travelers going ... read more
March 4th 2012
Arrived into Harrare to find a visa payment of $55, a portrait of Mugabe and a thourough search awaiting me, along with Graham and Pauline in the arrivals lounge. Apart from Graham misplacing the parking ticket (which was sorted out by a "fee" of $2) the journey to town was easy, if a little uncomfortable on the worst roads ever made. Spent the first night with Heather, Clive and Carly in Hogwarts and was woken by Napoleon licking my face at about 6am to go with Carly to school. Met all the kids and went with them to a local stables for horseriding and a general good morning, later went back to the centre where I met 2 guys working on the paper mache furniture among other crafts who were both really interesting people and helped ... read more
March 3rd 2012
So far: stuck in nairobi, thrown a dog into a pool, eaten a steak the size of my face and shot a black mamba I hope the following month is as good as the first few days... read more
22 October - 20 November: Mozambique - Zimbabwe
Published: November 25th 2011Africa » Zimbabwe » Harare
November 25th 2011
Our chums in Blantyre had recommended staying in Chocas. It wasn't particularly clear why though. The town itself was slightly run down holiday homes - but it clearly wasn’t holiday season. We chugged the L200 through the town - no shops or business - to find a sea front lodge to stay at. The sea front after Chocas town is dominated by a long spit of white sand dunes. It has been designated a nature reserve and split into touristicos of small campsites and lodge cum restaurants. We spotted 3 potential lodges and as it was now dark we were keen to find a base. 2 of them were deserted and locked up while the other bizarrely claimed to by fully booked despite an empty car par. We had 2 options left either hope the Carrusca ... read more
August 10th 2011
You believe in fate and that everything happens for a reason. You remain in high spirits even though everything seems to be going wrong. You begin to feel trapped and wonder why you can’t escape the city. Traveling through Africa without a plan or set itinerary is the only way to travel a continent where political unrest, riots and problems can happen at any moment. But poor public transport, now that's another story. With exploding engines and wheels falling off the axle, transportation in Zimbabwe is both daring and chaotic. In a country where car and bus wrecks are a common site, they serve as a sharp reminder of the risks you take while traveling Africa. After failing to leave Harare over the last eight days due to bus breakdowns, you try again, not expecting to ... read more
Zimbabwe, Milawe, Zambia, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Uganda
Published: May 28th 2011Africa » Zimbabwe » Harare
May 28th 2011
Zimbabwe I was surprised to see that Zimbabwe was atually very frindley towards the tourists and had fairly decent infrastructure in certain areas. Everywhere we went you would always get people waving and whistling at you, to the extent that your arm actually became tired. We headed towards Harare (the capital) where we had to bush camp before getting there. We got bogged after the first turn off but eventually managed to get the truck out and camp a bit further down the road. We capped the night off with a bit of drinking and forming a delta force recon group to find firewood, in our drunkeness waking everyone in the campsite up. The next day we entered Harare to do a bit of shopping for the cook group and get some local currency which now ... read more
July 31st 2010
Zimbabwe outside of Victoria Falls is not on the general tourist map and after the past few years it might be like that for a while longer. To travel here is to witness a proud people that are not only friendly and protective but also resilient. If it weren’t for the people and the golden landscape I wouldn’t have much to say. But this country is a country that is recovering from the top of society to the bottom. So much so that you can get some of the cheapest games of golf in some of Africa’s and the world’s nicest and most challenging courses. I took mostly sleeper trains to travel throughout Zimbabwe. They were rumoured to be travelling brothels. But I was lucky enough to have 3 other backpackers doing the same thing so ... read more
