Beautiful Country - Destructive Leadership
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2005
1
52
58
Trip End
Dec 27, 2005
Masvingo,
Zimbabwe
Friday, September 16, 2005
President Mugabe has been the president since independence from Britain in 1980. He was a freedom fighter and many consider him the countries father (he does everything he can to encourage this idea). like many men in power, it went to his head and he has done everything possible to maintain his firm control of the country (squeezing independent voices, imprisoning opposition party leaders, rigging elections etc). The event that lead to his country becoming one of the most economically devastated, despite its history of being southern Africa's breadbasket was that he kicked all the white farmers off their land and gave that land to black Africans (mainly his cronies). Those that now had the land didn't have the farm equipment or the knowledge of how to farm and so production came to a near halt plunging his population into near famine in parts. Because it doesn't export much, inflation has gone through the roof. A year ago it was over 600% , but the government has gotten it down to a miniscule 265% (argh). He hopes to get it to double digits in a year (good luck). They rig the exchange rate to try to get foreign currency from tourists. The official rate is now 25,000 Zim dollars to one US dollar. On the black market (where everyone with sense buys) it is around 40-45,000 Zim Dollars to one US. The fact that the largest bill printed by the Zimbabwean treasury is 20,000 Zim Dollars ($50 cents), Exchanging 100 US dollars gets you 3 bricks of money. I tell you, you feel like a drug dealer with the stacks of money you have to pack into your pockets and backpack. The president has also recently began to purge urban areas of people that don't vote for his party (ZANU-PF) by bulldozing poor slums. Though claiming to be undertaking some urban renewal program, he is really punishing his opposition's strongest supporters for their badmouthing. Its a poor country and getting poorer. 30% of the population (mainly the educated classes - especially the whites) have emigrated in the last few years, taking their knowledge and capital elsewhere. Mugabe has also recently strengthened his hold on the government and opposition so things aren't going to change too soon probably.
The people here are resigned to their plight a bit. Those that would talk to me about the government were very open about how things wouldn't change until Mugabe retires. They are proud of what their country had accomplished. It has some of the nicest towns and cities I have seen in Africa with nice architecture, wide clean streets, and a wide range of shops and stores - something absent from other African countries I have been to. They also have nice parks, flowers and a middle class. It is really the poor that are suffering most. One guy told me to thank people in the US for all the food aid. He said he knows that most people think aid from foreign countries goes to the corrupt government, but he said much reaches those who really need it in the villages. He said he felt it important to let me know that so I could tell others. I wish them luck and think they'll pull through if only more pressure is brought to bear on Mugabe. Time will tell. He recently avoided the wrath of the IMF who were going to essentially foreclose on Zimbabwe's debts due to his lack of payment for months. The day after Mugabe miraculously came up with a couple hundred million US dollars to pacify the IMF, I was talking with the owner of our hotel. I said Mugabe must have really looked under every sofa cushion to scrape together the money. He told me that in order to pay, Mugabe essentially emptied all foreign exchange accounts of Zimbabwe's businesspeople and gave them Zim Dollars in exchange. He essentially stole all the money from those in the country that were holding the fragile economy together. It looks like it is only going to get worse. What turns a guy so wrong? How does one man become so egotistical that he rationalizes such actions that he knows only put off the inevitable? Oh well.
Leaving Zambia, We crossed the bridge over the Zambezi gorge and got our Visas. I hated giving that SOB my $30 visa fees as it only helps him, but I rationalized my decision to go by saying I would be helping the common people too. Once over the border, we tried to get a bus to Bulawayo, our first stop, but we didn't have any Zim Dollars for the bus, and I didn't want to exchange money at the official rate on the street. After much haggling with the bus driver, we found a taxi driver that would take our US dollars and pay for our tickets on his bus. It was a lovely 7 hour trip. My dad was loving it up front next to the driver. His neighbor had brought along a fifth of whiskey and a couple cokes and proceeded to empty all the bottles. His attempts to share with the driver were thwarted by my father who felt that the driver had enough issues without adding alcohol to the mix.
Arriving in Bulawayo in the evening, we found a place to stay, but still hadn't been able to find a safe place to change money. The lady at our hotel offered us a couple hundred thousand dollars (Zim) and we went out in search of some food. We ended up eating fast food - Chicken and chips - Argh, but what choice did we have. The next morning we got our bricks of Zim dollars and set off wandering around the city. Bulawayo is a very nice city. It has some British colonial architecture, well planned streets, lots of shops, and is quite clean. We enjoyed just walking around. That night we had a great dinner at the Golden Spur. Steaks the size of dinner plates for $4 US. Can't beat that. It was a nice place and the owner was happy to take a few US dollars when I realized that the 2 inch stack of Zim cash we had brought wasn't enough to cover the $20 US bill. The lady was depressed too that every time someone paid, just counting the money you needed one of those electric machines. She said we should have come 10 years ago when this city was blooming. Everyone seems to be making plans to depart - her son is in England and she is trying to decide whether to leave too. Tough choices.
The next day we went on a guided trip to Matopos National Park. Our driver took us to the national park and we drove through the bush all day looking for animals. We saw some game, though not as much as in Zambia, that's for sure. The real attraction was the landscape of rolling hills made of huge boulders. The rock formations were stunning. Also, we were looking to find a Rhino, which inhabit the park. We were getting discouraged until after lunch we spotted a huge White Rhino (well the guide did, we all thought it was a rock until we used the binoculars and got closer). WE drove up to it and it woke from its slumber and stood up to face us. It was massive and had a horn that must have been 3 feet long. It looked like it was going to charge our truck and V and my dad started crying. I assured them all would be ok and that he couldn't tip our vehicle over.
The next day we woke up early and went to the BP Station to wait for a bus to Masvingo. The gas station was pretty sleepy because it didn't have any gas (shortages are common nowadays). It only took about an hour before we were picked up and on our way to Masvingo. The trip took about 4 hours and we arrived mid day. It took us a long time to find a decent place to stay. I refused to pay at the dingy backpacker with beds that looked like Crater Lake. I hiked all over the town until I found a nice guesthouse that would even let me pay in Zim Cash (most hotels by order of the government require payment of foreign currency by foreigners - Screw Mugabe).
Our goal was to see the Great Zimbabwe, site of the largest man-made stone structures in sub-Sahara Africa. This ancient civilization was thought to be built by outsiders by the British as no one back then wanted to believe Africans were capable of building such structures. It has since been proven that Africans were responsible for building the city in around 1200 AD and that the city thrived until about 1500 when lack of food forced the people to migrate elsewhere. The stone structures are mainly granite walls built by stacking shaped granite slabs. The walls are as high as 10 Meters and are also meters thick. The structures are built up a hill next to a great lake. The king lived on the hill and his wives (200+ of them) lived in the great enclosure below. The structures reminded me a lot of the fortifications I have seen in Ireland. They don't use any mortar for the buildings but are very stable. It is a very unique site and something not found anywhere else in southern Africa. The site gave its name to the country in 1980 after Independence.
The next day we had to get back to South Africa. It was Saturday and My dad was leaving on a flight Sunday evening so we were going to need to hurry to make it in time. We got up early and found a bus that was going to Beitbridge on the border. It was a ratty bus, but it left at 10am and only took 5 hours to get to the armpit known as Beitbridge. From there we took a taxi to the border (2K), walked across to the South Africa border post (2k), I kissed the ground of south Africa after all the frustration in Zimbabwe and gave Mugabe the finger, hitchhiked and got a ride the 22k to Messina in South Africa. Then we found that the bus to Jo'burg wouldn't be passing through town until after 7pm (it was 4pm) so we went to a restaurant and got some food. It had been a grueling day getting this far. We then went back to the gas station and camped out on some grass waiting for a bus. When one finally came at 8pm after V and I bought a ticket, the driver said he didn't have any tickets to sell my father. The bus was half empty I protested. He said he knew, but that he couldn't let anyone on without a ticket or he would lose his job. No amount of begging, cajoling, pleading would change his mind so we had to get off and wait for the next one. One came at 9:30pm but it was packed with people eating their dinner of fried foods. It was a brutal 7 hour trip all the way to Jo'burg. My neighbor didn't mind using my shoulder as a pillow (not nearly as much as I minded). Anyway, we arrived in Jo'burg Sunday morning at 4am, found a backpacker to sleep at and passed out. My father had gotten one last taste for African Travel before he was to get on his plane.
My dad was leaving that afternoon. We were going to miss him a lot. I was surprised at how much pain this guy could take on the road without bitching (well, bitching less than me I have to say). We covered a great deal of ground, spent no more than 3 nights in one place and had suffered a lot of long bus rides. I know he had a great time, but when we sent him off in the taxi to the airport, I think I said goodbye to a man elated to be leaving and thinking about how he would be able to get back to work the day after getting home. I figure he needs at least a week vacation to recover from the ordeals we put him through over here. But he got a couple great pictures of Lions and Elephants - the most important reason for blowing a few thousand dollars coming to Africa. I think next time he is going to rent the DVD. I hear word through my brother that he said it is fascinating here, but he didn't think he'd be back soon...
