Good times in Zimbabwe

---

I flew from Addis Ababa to Harare, making a quick stop-over in Lusaka, Zambia. I spent 11 days in Zimbabwe. English is widely spoken in Zimbabwe and the local languages mostly spoken are Shona and Ndebele. After experiencing hyper-inflation in late 2000’s, during which notes of a trillion Zimbabwean Dollars were printed, the government adopted the US Dollar as the local currency. The Botswana Pula and South African Rand are also widely accepted.

Harare is the capital and largest city in Zimbabwe with ca. 3 million inhabitants in its metropolitan area. I stayed with a couchsurfer in Harare, who sent a friend to pick me up at the airport at a much cheaper price than the taxis. We drove right through the city centre, stopped to have something to eat and then he dropped me off at my host’s place. His name is Gerald and he wasn’t home when I got there but his brother, Clarence was home. I was very tired because I left the hotel in Addis Ababa at 7am that morning. I immediately fell asleep on the couch, until late. When I woke up I met Gerald. Clarence cooked earlier so they had dinner left for me. Originally I asked to stay just for 3 nights but ended up staying 5 nights. It immediately clicked and I felt at home with these brothers, we had a lot of fun and laughs, playing video games, watching movies and series. I hung out with them and their friends too, who took me around one day as well. I did not want to leave. One of the things I love about couchsurfing is that you get to meet friends you never knew you had. Although these brothers have a very small place, they did all they could to make me feel comfortable and to make sure I’m OK. They have just one bed and they let me sleep on it while one of them slept on the couch and the other slept of the floor on a mattress. How cool is that? Simply humble and good hearted people!

I explored the city centre mostly on my own, after both brothers explained to me how to get there etc. The city centre is at walking distance from their home. I must say that the city looks much better and more modern than I expected. Two of the main streets are Samora Machel Avenue and Nelson Mandela Avenue. Near the beautiful African Unity Square you’ll see the Parliament of Zimbabwe and also the Cathedral of St. Mary and all saints. The pedestrian mall on the 1^st Avenue was also a nice stroll. Here I did a few groceries and also got myself a simcard, easier to keep in touch with the brothers. Clarence took me to a local restaurant where I had some “sadza” with chicken and vegetables. Sadza is the same as white “funchi” in Curaçao and it’s eaten with the right hand. After this time, I had sadza several more times. In general I found Zimbabwe to be quite expensive, especially groceries. Some things are ridiculously expensive, others aren’t.
A friend of the brothers, Brian, picked us up one day (Clarence, his girlfriend and I) and we drove to the Chiremba Balancing Rocks. These rocks are located in a park where you get to see some set of rocks literally balancing on top of each other. These rocks were formed as softer rocks among them eroded away, forming a very peculiar landscape looking very surreal. It was really nice place to visit. We also visited the Mukuvisi Woodlands, a park where they have some wildlife. Unfortunately most animals were quite far away from the viewing platform but I could clearly see some zebras in the background. They have walking safari’s too but we were too late for this. The place also had a variety of tropical birds and two large crocodiles.

One evening Gerald took me to a small but very nice jazz concert of a Zimbabwean artist called “Vee Mukarati” where he launched a new album called “Moto”.
Another day I went with the brothers and a group of their friends to a place where people come with their cars and their drinks, they park, have fun, play music. You can bring your meat and some people will cook them for you on a barbecue at the spot. The guys brought meat so we had some barbecue with sadza and vegetables there.

When leaving Harare, Brian and Clarence brought me near this particular intersection in the outskirts of the city. From there I could catch a ride to Masvingo, 300km south of Harare. The place was a chaos! This bus came and I went onboard. After waiting 3 hours for it to fill up, I finally left for Masvingo. Then it also had a breakdown which delayed it for about 30 minutes. I arrived around 19:30 in Masvingo and there was no electricity. I took a taxi to this particular guesthouse I heard about but their cheapest rooms were full. The taxi driver took me to another place which was cheaper (and had free wifi!). I came to Masvingo just to be able to visit the Great Zimbabwe Ruins. The same taxi-driver picked me up the next morning and brought me there and we visited the site together. The Great Zimbabwe Ruins is a UNESCO World Heritage site. After being called (Southern-) Rhodesia during British rule, the country was named after these ruins in 1980 when it became independent. The site was built and occupied between the 11th and 15th century by native, black Africans. The Rhodesian white minority government refused to recognize this fact, since blacks were seen as inferior (and are still seen as such by many). They pressured and censored archaeologists to deny this fact. Also early European colonizers refused to believe it. The site consists of several parts and the best preserved is the “Great Enclosure” with its Conical Tower. The Hill-complex lies on a hill from where there are nice views over Lake Mutirikwe.

That same day I boarded a bus towards Bulawayo, the second largest city in Zimbabwe with ca. 700.000 people. The colonial heritage is clearly visible in Bulawayo and I’d say it’s prettier compared to Harare, also more colourful and it looks more organized and cleaner. Gerald arranged for me to stay with a good friend of him in Bulawayo; Tswarelo. They don’t have a big house but I was hearty welcomed and treated very well again. Other than wandering around the city I did not do much here. I took advantage to get a haircut in Bulawayo and Tswarelo took me to a poetry nigh at an Australian-owned cafe and it was really cool to see different talented people performing. When going towards Tswarelo’s place you’ll see some big silo’s which used to be completely full back in the old days, when Zimbabwe produced a lot of agricultural products. Since the land reforms around the year 2000, during which much land owned by white farmers was given to black farmers, the food production contracted big time and instead of exporting food Zimbabwe had to start importing. The land reforms were not implemented correctly in my opinion and I hope the country will start producing a lot again like in the past, since they have everything needed to do so.

I took a bus from Bulawayo to Victoria Falls. I was told that you could easily get a seat on spot, no need to buy a ticket. The bus arrived late (00:30 instead of 11:30) and it was completely full. Many of us had to stand and there was no way I was going to stand for so long (5 hour drive), so I found a way to lay down on the floor. After 2.5 hours one passenger next to me got off and I immediately grabbed his seat.
Victoria Falls is the name of the town at the waterfalls bearing the same name. The town has 30.000 people and lives on tourism. The waterfalls are located on the Zambezi River, which forms the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe and is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. There has been a drought lately and the falls were not at full capacity. Some parts of it were completely dry but it was still impressive and I did get a bit wet. There is no way you could take pictures when it’s at full force since you’ll be soaked. They advise you to bring rain clothing but I didn’t (I should have known), but it wasn’t too bad. It’s definitely an amazing place and the rainbows appearing in the falls makes it even more amazing. There is a path going all along the falls with different view spots. At the end of the path there is a bridge, built in 1904. The entrance fee, at US$30, is nothing but exaggerating though, a good way of squeezing money out of tourists: disgusting! Just outside the falls you can walk along a road towards a huge Baobab tree which are abundant in the region. You can stay for the night in Victoria Falls and there are several activities you can do, such as bungee jumping, boat trips on the Zambezi River etc. but I wasn’t interested since I’m on a budget. I had lunch in town and got a ride back to Bulawayo with an older man for the same price as the bus. One of the employees at Victoria Falls arranged this ride for me which was cool. Otherwise I had to wait until 11pm for the bus. During the ride back to Bulawayo I could observe the dry landscape in the Victoria Falls area and it was very hot. Back in Bulawayo I bought a bus-ticket to my next destination.

Zimbabwe was great, I liked it and especially the people I met. Many times it’s not about the places you go to, but about the people you meet. Without Gerald, Clarence, Tswarelo and his family my experience in Zimbabwe wouldn’t have been the same. Now they are friends for life. Such nice, humble and hospitable people. I definitely want to return to Zimbabwe one day and visit more parts of the country, like Mutare area and the Mana Pools.

---

Comments

[Ake Och Emma]

Cool photo
That is a cool photo you got there. Interesting destination you went to. Zimbabwe is not on many people's agenda. /Ake

[Elton]

Thanks Ake. True, it's not on many people's agenda and that's one of the reasons I wanted to go :)

[Angelique]

Another interesting place! Carry on Elton!

[D MJ Binkley]

Cute
When we've been on the road for extended periods we get tired. You have so much energy! Glad you continue to have fun.

[Elton]

hahaha thanks. Well, I get tired too. That's why I stayed in the Netherlands for a longer period and worked, same with New Zealand last year. :)