In college, I was fascinated by Zimbabwean politics and culture. I wrote countless papers on immigration, political reform, the economy and, I conducted an intensive study of land reform. Needless to say, I was very interested in Zimbabwe and considered it an area in the world where I was not an expert, but was at least very familiar with the nation's history and current political/economic struggles. Once I moved to Vanduzi, and found myself just 60k (about 40 miles) from a border crossing my desire to travel there grew. I wanted to know what the country actually looked like. What food was available in stores, was Harare really that dangerous, and did all Zimbabweans hate Americans or was it really just their president. I had also been told that the culture in Vanduzi mirrored the culture in Zimbabwe, most of the people living in Manica Province were part of the ancient Manicaland Kingdom and descanted from the Shona tribe. The warm welcoming and hospitality I enjoy here every day in Vanduzi was apparently a result of Zimbabwean influence on the border. I was so interested I needed to see it for myself! I also live in a region that is very fertile, and there are a number of large-scale industrial farms that work right around Vanduzi. Many of these farm owners are Zimbabweans who fled the country during violent land invasions in early 2000 or when the economy crashed and inflation hit 1000000x (a loaf of bread costed 1.6 TRILLION dollars but the economy was so bad there was no bread available, people were starving and life was rough!). Between the reality of meeting people who'd fled the country, and the continual reassurance from my friends here that Zimbabwe was now recovered and was a country much more developed than Mozambique, once the travel ban was lifted for PCVs, my friend and I decided we needed to check it out for ourselves.
So, my friend Taylor, a PCV living about an hour from me, planned to cross the border into Zimbabwe at Mutare, and then check out Chimanimani National Park and the ancient ruins of Great Zimbabwe.
We spent the first day just traveling across the border, which was an experience in and of it self. We hitched a ride to the border post, got our passports stamped to leave Mozambique and then walked a couple hundred feet to the Zimbabwean side where we entered a building with air conditioning, aisles for people to wait in until they had their passports stamped and even had the opportunity to fill up our nalgene bottles with some filtered water. Wait, what? Simply getting our passports stamped in a facility like this was a nice indicator of the level of development that lay ahead on this side of the border...After getting our Visas, a man we had met earlier drove us into Mutare, Zimbabwe's second biggest city and also the closest town to the border. We immediately noticed the roads were better, there were sidewalks and trees and the buildings/down-town area more closely resembled a small suburban town square than a large African city. Also, we saw very few people dressed in capulanas (fabric women usually wrap around their waste), instead everyone was wearing westernized clothing, and their clothes wasn't ripped or stained either, they were just simply clothes. It was weird. We got a delicious lunch at Nandos and then set off for Chimanimani Village.
YUM!
We tried to hitchhike but didn't get very far and finally gave up and took a kombi (minibus) to the village. This trip took a miserable 2 1/2 half hours even though we only drove 80k, but the kombi kept stopping to pick people up and drove in circles and even stopped for a good twenty minutes to help some lady load bags of cement onto the roof. We arrived in Chimanimani Village just as the sun was setting, and managed to pick up some veggies and bread in the local market and walk to our hostel. We set up our tent, enjoyed wonderful hot showers, cooked some dinner and then relaxed in front of the fire that was constantly going at the hostel. We called it a night pretty early and retired to our freezing tent, hoping to get some rest so we could explore the National Park the next day. We chose to go to Chimanimani because we wanted to hike Mt. Binga, which is the largest mountain in Mozambique but lies right on the Mozambican/Zimbabwean border. A national park is shared across the border but from the Mozambican side it’s pretty inaccessible without a nice car. We had read online (and were told by others) that it was possible to summit Binga in one day from the Zimbabwean side. Well this unfortunately was not true and we didn't find that out until we got to the park the next day.
The bus stop in Chimanimani Village...you can see the beautiful rolling hills in the background!
We started our hike off in Chimanimani by scaling this incredibly steep side of a mountain, although the park is used more often on the Zimbabwean side it still doesn't have a huge amount of tourists coming in, and I'm pretty sure Taylor and I were the only ones in the entire park that day.
We climbed over humungous boulders and tried our best to keep to the trail but it was difficult.
You can't really tell but I promise you it was steep!
Trail markers were either a very faded small white or yellow arrow or a pile of rocks. The piles of rocks weren't uniform and we lost the trail a few times but always managed to find our way back.
A typical trail marker
After spending a good hour and a half climbing this first big peak, we got to the summit and found a wide open plain, with more small rock/boulders on top...it was so strange. We followed a trail and found a stone shelter, where campers sleep if they stay multiple nights in the park. We realized we weren't going to be able to summit Binga (all the guides online had lied!!) so we instead decided to hike to this waterfall close by to eat lunch and then hike back the way we came. We found the waterfall and it was a really nice spot, so we hung out there for a bit and then turned around and went back.
What a great spot for a picnic.
We were definitely disappointed we didn't get to climb Binga but honestly, the hiking in the beginning was pretty tough for me. I'm not an experienced climber and although my legs weren't tired at all the elevation really got to me. I had to take it slow because I was breathing so hard and my heart was racing! I gave Taylor quite a scare when I told him I had asthma...oops. Still, the hiking was really fun, and the park itself was beautiful! It was neat to be in a huge natural park with no one else around! We had spent about 8 hours in the park and were pretty tired by the time we made it back to the entrance and got a ride back to our hostel. That night we made some pasta and cheered with some beers to celebrate a pretty fun day.
Not tired at all...
The next morning we woke up pretty early, packed up the tent, and got in a kombi to head to Masvingo. We were lucky enough that after the first 2 hours we got out at a road crossing and were able to hitch hike all the way to our next destination. First we got picked up by a nice Zimbabwean man, who drove us about 50k and dropped us in a large town, and then almost immediately we were picked up by a South African farmer. I wish I could remember this man's name because I'm about to tell you all his personal story...
Our driver, a white South African, had moved to Zimbabwe 40 years ago just as things were getting pretty rough and violent across the border in South Africa (the late 70's and 80's marked the most violent times under apartheid rule and rioting and attacks between blacks and whites in South Africa had become more common). He moved to Zimbabwe, which at that time was the British colony of Rhodesia, and set up a huge farm to support his family there. He lived through a pretty tumultuous history in Zimbabwe, and saw the country gain independence, fight a civil war, and then sort of figure itself out as a "peaceful," democratic, Southern African Nation. He had fought during the war of independence and again with national troops during the civil war and he had lived through various land invasions, and racist policies led by the current president Robert Mugabe. He told us how difficult it had been to live in Zimbabwe in 2008, when the economy plummeted and there was no food on the shelves. How he was grateful he had supported his family through agriculture because there was always some crop growing in the farm that they could survive on but it was not easy. He spoke of various governmental attempts to seize his land, and redistribute it to local black Zimbabweans. He was very proud that after years of fighting in the legal system, his farm was finally protected under the constitution and he was able to stay and live and work in Zimbabwe, a country, he happily calls his home.
During this story, he talked about various historical events in Zimbabwe and reminisced about the country it used to be. I had read that Zimbabwe was once the "Breadbasket of Africa" and he confirmed this theory. He explained how the country was once a leader on the continent but today, it’s stuck. The economy has bounced back a bit since the US dollar was introduced, and because the last elections were peaceful, many are hopeful things will continue to improve, but only slowly. Until the current president dies, and someone new comes into power, will the country truly be accepted into the international community, and included in international organizations. There aren't many NGO'S working there either. As a whole, Zimbabwe is very isolated. Once Mugabe is out of office, he believes, the country will be more respected and more doors will open. He said he knew that Zimbabwe would never again be Rhodesia, but that there is so much wasted potential it really upsets him. He is optimistic though that in time things really will change, and Zimbabwe will once again be a leader on the continent.
I was fascinated by our driver's story. I've read countless interviews and articles about Zimbabwean land reform, and the influence Mugabe's policies have had on the white Zimbabwean population, but to meet someone who has actually lived through the struggles highlighted in human rights journals or new stories, and is still living there today was pretty unreal. I was happy that overall, our driver was optimistic that eventually Zimbabwe will change. And I agree with him. The people there seem hard-working, but friendly, and very open to foreigners. And the previous development is still there....the roads are paved, there is decent transportation between cities and most importantly, the farmland that was seized in the last decade or so is still sitting there, and with better management and, with programs that actually teach locals how to use the land, the country can only improve and the economy can only get stronger. So this awesome bolea might go down as one of my favorite car rides because it was just so educational and awesome!
After our driver arrived in Masvingo, he dropped Taylor and I off and we did some more grocery shopping before catching a car to the Great Zimbabwe ruins. We got to the national park, saw a ton of monkeys and baboons and I got very nervous about the idea of camping. We checked-in, and were reassured that the monkeys would leave us alone as long as we didn't leave food out, so we paid the fee to camp the next two nights and went to set up our tent and just relax. We spent the next day wandering the Great Zimbabwe ruins which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The ruins are the lasting remnants from the Bantu civilization, and were constructed between the 11th and 15th century. The ruins are divided into three types: the hill ruins, the great enclosure and the valley ruins. And all of these ruins stretch out over an area of 800 hectars (about 200 acres).
The Great Enclosure, is exactly what it sounds like, a large ellipsis shaped wall that spans a very large area. The wall was built out of huge granite rocks and formed small living quarters for the Bantu tribes.
The Great Enclosure and Valley Ruins...
The Hill Ruins, sit on top of a very large hill (we took a nice, steep little path up to the top) and resemble a small acropolis. We climbed this section of the ruins in the afternoon because we were told there would be a cool sunset and had great views of the surrounding lands.
Here is a view looking up at the ruins...you can barely see the acropolis on top.
The Valley Ruins are scattered throughout and lie between the Hill Ruins and Great Enclosure.
Overall, the ruins were pretty cool to see. There aren't many ancient structures like this still standing in Africa and it's very rare to see permanent stone structures anywhere in Africa; everything instead seems to be built for a temporary purpose and isn't very architecturally pleasing. Taylor and I were a bit disappointed though that the ruins didn't take too long to umm see? We had read online that you should devote a full day to exploring them but we pretty much wandered through everything in a matter of 2 or 3 hours and after that just hung out at camp. Still they were really neat and I'm glad we were able to see this very historical place in Southern Africa.
Such a problem.
Camping at Great Zimbabwe was a lot of fun. We had to cook all of our own food and there was no market close by to get a beer or chips if we wanted a snack (although there was a hotel about a 20 minute walk away with overpriced drinks and snacks!). We relaxed a lot, and went to bed as the sun was setting each night. Thankfully Taylor knew how to build a fire so we cooked with an old can over the open flames and really were pretty self-sufficient. It was cool, and very different from any of the other trips I've done since coming to Mozambique.
On our last morning in Great Zimbabwe, Taylor woke up early to leave to travel to another town to eventually make his way to Victoria Falls. I needed to travel 20 minutes back in town to eventually catch a 5PM bus to Johannesburg, but decided I'd rather hangout at our campsite than in a town square on a Sunday afternoon. So I helped Taylor pack up and then just hung out at camp. There was another group of Zimbabweans camping near to us and they came over a soon as Taylor left. They approached me to see if I was okay, they thought that Taylor and I were married and must have gotten in a fight and he had left me at the camp. HA, very funny, I explained that no, Taylor and I did not get in a fight we just had different travel plans and also explained that we were just good friends and definitely not married. They then invited me to come hangout with them and eat brunch and said they'd drop me off in town once they left. Since I was in no rush I joined them and it was pretty fun.
This group of Zimbabweans was a mix between NGO workers, all volunteering/working for Simudza Zimbabwe and then a bunch of very attractive university students (all wearing fancy clothes, high heels and a ton of make-up…which was odd since we were camping at a national park). Apparently the group exists to encourage students to be more self-sufficient, and to work hard to better their country. They are trying to encourage students not to take political hand-outs, and to instead work to support themselves so that in the end, they can create a more skillful set of leaders who will go on to help their country. Pretty cool stuff right? The group was also trying to raise awareness for a small community that lived close to a very large dam and had suffered from terrible flooding; they wanted to raise money to support these families. The girls who were with them were all models, who were also in university, and they were holding a workshop to teach them about their goals; the girls were then supposed to go on the TV or radio, to talk about these issues and raise more awareness about them. Everyone I met was so friendly and so nice and wanted to include me. I even met a girl who lived in Masvingo (the town I needed to catch my bus from) and she offered to hang out with me until my bus left that evening. So when we all left camp around noon, I went back to this girls house, met her family and watched TV for a few hours before being dropped off at my bus stop. I tried to protest and didn't want to be a burden to this university student on her free weekend but she insisted I hang out with her because I was a guest in her country and she wanted me to be taken care of. If I had sat in a park all afternoon (or at a cafe) what would I have thought of the people here? Clearly, her and her friends were worried about me and honestly, hanging out with them was fun, and a great way to meet people while I traveled!
The student group I met and hung out with on my last day in Zim.
After spending the afternoon with my new friends, I caught a bus at 5 PM and headed to South Africa to meet up with my college roommate for a few days of traveling and relaxing in Cape Town. That trip was fantastic and I will write about it in my next post. Overall though, I just want to say that traveling to Zimbabwe was awesome. I met some really neat people, enjoyed the wonderfully welcoming culture of strangers, enjoyed the best showers ever (seriously even in the national park the showers were 10 times better than they are in hostels in Moz!) and I got to see a new country, which was beautiful in so many ways. I think Zimbabwe is an incredible place, and it is much more developed than Mozambique, which I think will only help it to be a stronger country once the politics there improve a bit. I'm so grateful I was able to see this country while I am living here in Mozambique.
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