into Zimbabwe

We got to the Zimbabwean border around opening time, again taking well
over an hour to get cleared through. Canadians pay $75, the most of any nationality (other than a
Chinese girl who had to pay $500), apparently because our PM was the head of a committee that
determined Zim should be expelled from the Commonwealth due to human rights abuses, in 2003.
There are almost human-sized naughty baboons running around in the parking lot of the border agency
looking for food.
Carried on to Harare, capital of Zim, modern city of 2 million, looks great until you look at the ground to
see garbage and crumbling sidewalks. We passed through a derelict township on the outskirts of the
city to reach our campsite on the grounds of a guesthouse with a security guard. Some of the group,
with Dan the cook, took a taxi to a club in town where the locals (men only, women don’t go out and
drink) got them all up dancing, took videos of them, and made fun of how white the Irish guy was.
Another half day of driving to Masvingo, into a pounding rainstorm. The front window leaked and my
day bag, already chewed by a rat, got soaked. Most of us opted to pay extra for cabins at our campsite.
Went for a tour of Great Zimbabwe Ruins, from the 11th century, a massive stone complex from the 11th
century that housed 25,000 people. We climbed to the top for a view of the valleys below but they
were mostly obscured by the light rain and fog surrounding us.
The rain came down all night.
Then we were on our way to Bulawayo, the city of killing – due to executions by an ancient king of the Ndebeles, the local tribe. Our tour leader is an Ndebele. We camped outside the city at an old colonial mansion with vast grounds and a swimming pool. That night, very cold and windy, we had the head from a local tour company come to tell us about our next fantastic couple of days, which include tracking 3 ton white rhinos on foot. My heart is racing just remembering this adventure – see next post!