Blogs from Harare, Zimbabwe, Africa - page 2

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

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

At Victoria Falls I cross the gorge bridge that links Zambia with Zimbabwe. It´s another easy border crossing. Given all the ominous talk before I came here, and from some people along the way, of unscrupulous African officialdom, I consider myself to have been very lucky in terms of a bureaucratically smooth passage across the continent so far. The only downside is that I get charged $55 as opposed to the $30 my newly acquired American companions H, A and K are required to hand over for a visa. The British are not welcome here. After undergoing the religious experience that is hearing, seeing and feeling the Victoria Falls, we hop on board an overnight train (which I have been expressly advised against taking) to Bulawayo. It is a good deal grubbier than the Tazara line ... read more

First the good news.... I'm an effing Trillionaire! I am now holding a stack of 50 Billion dollar notes and am a certified trillionaire. I also am planning on tripling my fortune tomorrow. The bad news... 1 trillion zimbabwe dollars doesn't go too far these days. It is worth about 50 cents and that is all that I have in my wallet today. Doh. Wow, so it has been a bit of a whirlwind tour since I last jumped off a bridge and wrote last. Livingstone and Zambia was amazing but we had to move on. There is soo much to see and so little time. We made tracks to Kasane, Botswana where we hoped to finally make it out on safari though we have already seen elephants, kobs, warthogs and giraffes from the side of ... read more

Pretty stressed out Out of all the contacts given to me to attempt to get a hold of here in Harare only one has panned out. Normally that wouldn't be a problem I guess, just the only one that responded and gave me a number to call was my good friend Larry's friend of a parents friend! I had hoped I could plan on one contact getting the ball rolling but that hasn't been the case. The one person was more a business acquaintance here in Harare. So no volunteer work here, and I am not really in the position to start something up! Right now thank you Larry for this guys number, because I have never seen dollars being burned through as fast as these few USD I have are! The damage for 1 day ... read more