We had heard many stories about Zimbabwe and most were from people who said not to travel there. We even met White locals living in Bulawayo who told us we would be unsafe and be ripped off by the Blacks. We decided to keep an open mind and if we found someone who had travelled there independently then we would consider going. While in Soweto we met Christopher from the UK and after chatting with him about his travels we decided to go.
We crossed the border at Mussina on the South African side and as we had bought a few things in SA we were able to get the 15% VAT back if we exported the goods so after passing quickly through immigration we lined up with a dozen or so Zimbabweans traders. We were supposed to have the goods checked by customs to prove we were exporting them but they didn't bother and stamped us through so we collected our refund cheque and walked crossed the bridge over the Limpopo River into Zimbabwe. There were lots of traders on bicycles carrying boxes of oranges and bedding into Zimbabwe. In the truck lane there were lines and lines of trucks from SA waiting to cross the border.
On the road from SA, the N1 highway, we passed dozens of utes overloaded with household furniture, families returning to Zimbabwe. Sadly we also saw several of these utes or their trailers with punctured tyres or broken axles on the side of the road. We had read in the newspapers that the SA government was asking Zimbabweans to get passports and work permits if they wanted to remain in SA and they had a deadline of January 2011 to do that or they would have to return to Zim. We also saw that the Zimbabwean government had reduced the cost of Zimbabwean passports by 20% and were not sure if this was a coincidence or not.
As we approached the Zimbabwean immigration building we passed by a huge deserted new duty free shop advertising spirits but it had obviously only been used for a very short time and then left to decay as no one could afford to buy such luxuries when the inflation was running at 1000%. We had no problems getting a visa for $30US while Brits had to pay $55US.
A short stroll from the border and on a dusty road outside the Zimbabwean border town of Beit Bridge we negotiated for a shared taxi to take us a few minutes up the road to a mini van bus stop. It is the custom to have lots of mini van buses running particular stretches and it keeps more people employed compared with having huge buses but it means shared taxis have to get you to those 'hitching points' and they can charge more than the vans for short distances.
There were 3 minivans waiting for passengers and we were the last two to fill the first van to leave for Bulawayo so didn't have to sit in the dust and heat for very long. The conductor put us in the front two seats and we were able to chat to the driver, although his accent was pretty difficult to understand. We nevertheless had a great laugh with him and the other passengers.
One of the most obvious differences between SA and Zim was the use of donkeys and carts to carry people and goods along the dusty path beside the road.
The roads were in pretty good condition with long straight stretches and hardly any traffic on them at all. We passed through small villages and there were police checkpoints before and after the villages and the driver and conductor would have to get out and take their papers to the traffic inspector or police officers and pay a bribe to continue, this must have happened about 8 or 10 times. Some of the stops also included the payment of a road toll with the toll booth being a few officers sitting on chairs in the middle of the road. The driver told us that the government didn't have enough money to pay the police so they had to be given free rides and supported by taking bribes. We could have taken a Greyhound bus that started in Johannesburg but it would have arrived at the border around 6pm and would probably have been full so we opted for the minivan bus instead to go the 300+kms to Bulaweyo.
A lot of passengers got off in Gwanda so we had to hang around there waiting to refill the empty seats for about an hour. The locals selling bananas on the footpath wanted us to take pictures of them. The Gwanda area had a lot of grazing for cattle in the sparse vegetation and some peanut plantations.
We passed by a couple of areas where they used to mine asbestos.
We arrived on sunset in Bulawayo and the friendly driver dropped us at the Packer's Rest backpackers just out of the CBD. Conveniently there was a tennis club with a sports bar and restaurant next door to the backpackers where we could eat. It was such a modern popular place that could have fitted in any European city and not be out of place and was such an unexpected sight. The place was packed from Wednesday to Saturday nights with mostly Black people and they mixed happily with the few Whites who frequented the place.
We enjoyed the seeing the old colonial buildings around the city centre and wandering around the streets.
A White lady approached us on the street asking for money. She had an involved story to tell about how she had not seen her children for 9 years and how she was supported by World Vision and her church. She said she had no work but was a hairdresser and a sales assistant. She was very well dressed and stayed with a guardian although she appeared to be in her mid forties. We bumped into her a few more times as the city is pretty small. She seemed to be known by the souvenir sellers on street.
Christopher had told us to visit the National Art Gallery and find a lady called Cynthia who would show us around. As we rounded a corner a Black lady called out to us and asked if we were tourists and had we visited the Art Gallery. I asked her if she was Cynthia, to which she replied "Yes but how did you know that!" She was most surprised we would know her name! She showed us the artists' studios at the gallery and introduced us to them and their work.
One artist told us that his wife was a teacher and she earned $150US per month but they had to pay $200US per month for rent. He was trying to make money as an artist but wasn't doing so well and would probably have to trade his small art brushes for a broom and get a job as a cleaner if he wanted to make ends meet.
The drains and parks were not looked after but there were lots of schools and an enormous polytechnic near our backpackers. The school children were all dressed in uniforms of different colours and styles depending on which school they were at.
We had thought about going to Matobo National park but the tours run by the backpackers were $120US per person. A Japanese man who had waited 3 days to get a party of 3 to go eventually went alone and he never saw one animal on his day in the park!
The electricity goes off a couple of times a week as there is not enough to go around so the backpackers had a gel fuel they could use in a portable cooker when guests needed to cook.
We found the people friendly and not at all pushy. There were many SA chain supermarkets and they were well stocked with goods from SA and the prices seemed comparable. There was even a new huge shopping mall with lifts and escalators and very few people. We didn't see any tour buses or other obvious looking tourists about.
The currencies used now in Zimbabwe are the US dollar, SA Rand and the Botswanan Pula so when you purchase anything you could get a combination of all those currencies in the change. The exchange rate used in Balawayo is less than that used in Harare and at the checkout in the supermarket they could give your docket in any of the currencies. However they do not use any American coins so prices jump up in whole dollars or you have to have sweets or biscuits for change, and this makes things expensive for the locals!
