Harare

As the majority of our bags were in Harare with Jan, that would be our next stop.  We got a ride into Hauna with a supervisor from the power station as the combis didn’t run until the afternoon.  He dropped us off at the NRE office just outside of town as he said we’d get pushed around at the bus rank.  An employee sat with us by the side of the road while we waited.

 

About 30 minutes later, the bus came flying past us.  Even though we waved it down, it didn’t stop.  We grabbed our bags and walked/ran the 1 km to the bus rank as fast as we could.  The bus was in line to pull out when we arrived.  Tico was a few steps behind and the employee helping us was shouting at him, “my friend, the bus is leaving” while grabbing for his hand.  We had to convince them to stop moving so we could put our bags underneath.  The bus inched forward as we boarded and then we stumbled to the back as it drove over the bumpy road.

As the man made his way to the back to collect the fare, I asked the woman next to me how much it cost.  She said it was $10 each and confirmed that with the man.  He then asked for $25 each from us.  I refused and he lowered the price to $15 a piece.  I continued to argue that we were paying what the rest of the bus paid and handed him a $20.  He didn’t say anything else and walked away.

 

The first 2 hours were through Nyanga National Park and provided beautiful views as we worked our way out of the valley.  The bus continued to fill up to the point of people standing and once a few people got off, the last person standing was offered a bucket to sit on in the aisle.  We asked the man next to us where the final destination would be and communicated that to Jan so we’d have a ride.

Harare

As we entered the city, the ticket salesman announced something in Shona.  It was hard to hear with the loud music, but a few minutes later the man who had told us where we’d be going got frustrated.  He hadn’t heard the announcement, but realized we were following a different route.  Once we realized where we would be left, we hopped off the bus and called Jan to tell him where we were.  He coordinated with a friend to have us stop by his shop and we waited there to be picked up.

We walked the 1 km through the industrial area where Jan picked us up and decided to get a drink before heading home.  Amy, Jan’s wife, had prepared dinner and we were reunited with the rest of our belongings.  They helped us to decide what we wanted to do with the rest of our time in Zimbabwe as well as look ahead to the nearby countries.

The next day we went downtown to the Mozambique Embassy.  We had been told we could get the visa at the border, but we might run into issues.  So we decided to take the safe route and get it before.  We read the list of requirements posted on the wall and approached the woman behind the counter to find out more details.  She asked if we had the necessary paperwork and proceeded to list only 3 of the 6 on the list.  Thankfully, we actually had those since we didn’t have all of them and were sent to the bank to make the payment.

As we passed through the downtown streets, there were lines of people in front of banks.  We knew there was a cash shortage, but this was the first time we were in such a large city to see the impact at this level.  Some banks didn’t have a line and we tried to get money at those.  The security guard at a few ATMs would say there was no cash while others let us try our luck.  None of them provided us with money.

We reached the bank to make the deposit and saw another long line.  Since we weren’t going to the ATM we could skip the line and go to the teller inside.  We made our deposit and returned to the embassy with the receipt.  The woman informed us that we could come back the next business day at 4 pm to pick up our passports.  We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city and seeing how most of the shops were boarded up, but the streets were lined with people selling their goods.

We got a combi to the shopping center close to Jan’s and had our first encounter with livestock.  There wasn’t enough room for 2 so I sat on Tico’s lap while wrapping my arms around the man next to me.  He happened to have a cardboard lid full of day-old chicks that chirped and climbed on each other the whole ride.  We got off at a shopping mall where Jan picked us up that evening with his brother and we headed home to have a BBQ.

 

The following day was Jan’s 50th birthday party.  By the time we woke up, Amy was already decorating the house and we helped where we could.  They needed lights hung and wine bottles cut to make centerpieces.  The main course would be a sheep on a spit so we offered a hand as they got all the metal pieces in place to get it over the fire.  As guests started to arrive, we walked around meeting new people and stuck to our safety net of the ones from out of town that had arrived the day before.  We also got recommendations of places and people to meet in Mozambique.  The night was coming to an end when Val, a member of the Mountain Club, approached Tico and mentioned they were going rock climbing the next day.  We talked it over and decided to stay at her place for the night so we could go climbing.

 

 

 

The 3 of us were up and getting ready when Lynn, another climber, arrived.  We would drive out together, but needed to get shoes and harnesses to fit us.  Val is the equipment keeper so we had plenty to choose from.  The climbing site was about an hour North of the city with a view of the dam in the background.  We all took turns climbing and belaying up different routes.  Once at the top, we would abseil down to rotate positions.  Tico showed off his years of experience, while I accepted tips from anyone giving them.  It was a fun morning and made us both realize that we want to do more climbing.

 

 

Our passports would be ready the next day so we spent the morning relaxing before Amy could take us downtown.  Time got away from us and we were racing against time to make it before the office closed.  As we got close, we jumped out and ran the half a block to the embassy.  We walked in 1 minute before the office closed and as the woman was packing up her things.  She recognized us and immediately asked why we showed up so late.  Meanwhile, she dug through the basket of passports and found ours with visa stickers in both.

As we wanted to take the train to Mutare to get to the border, we walked down to the train station to learn more about tickets.  We picked one of the only days when the office closes early as there were no trains.  There were 2 numbers listed for information and reservations and we took note of those.  Jan would be our ride home so we spoke with him and started walking in the general direction as he’d call when he was finished with work.  We ended up getting further than he had expected and ended up near the presidential estate after dark.  The road directly in front of Mugabe’s home is closed at dark for any type of traffic.  We asked one of the armed guards how to get by and he sent us to the next street over and directed us to walk on the opposite side of the road.  Not too long after, Jan picked us up as we continued wandering along a road without street lights.

We didn’t have plans the next day and the train didn’t leave until the following day so we took the recommendation to go to the Mukuvisi Woodlands.  It is a game park within Harare, which would offer a different viewing experience than we’d seen previously. Upon arrival, we were asked if we wanted to do game walks or just viewing.  As we had a long walk to get there, we opted for just the game viewing.  When we approached the waterhole, there was a worker cutting the grass with a weed eater.  This meant there were no animals in sight.  We took our time reading the information posted as well as laughing at the scene before heading to the aviary.

 

As it turned out, there were no birds to be found so Tico found entertainment in feeding insects to spiders.  There was a collection of parrots, macaws, and parakeets across the way so we wandered through looking at their bright colors.  Tico tried to speak to them and got little response although he was able to get 2 golden parakeets to raise a leg and wing on command.  We walked past ducks and turtles on the way out and realized how much more we appreciate animals in their natural habitat.

 

 

Imire

The following day we were dropped off at Imire, which is a wildlife conservation center near Harare.  They have black and white rhinos, which is rare considering the effects of poaching these days.  We would do a morning game drive to see the animals, and because they live in a controlled environment, most approached us with ease.  Our guide provided the zebras, giraffe and sable with food so they came quite close to the truck.  When we found the elephants, accompanied by their guards, we were given the opportunity to feed them.  It was different than what we’d done in Oudtshoorn as we just dropped the grains in their open trunk and then it was the next person’s turn.  At lunch time, we headed to the edge of a lake and ate while the white rhinos (also with armed guards) ate nearby.  The game drive came to an end shortly afterwards and we made our way through the bush back to headquarters.

 

 

 

 

 

During the drive, we met 2 ladies, Ferne and Suzy, who had spent the night at Imire and were heading back to Harare.  They offered to drive us back to town, which saved us a very expensive taxi ride.  We asked them to drop us off on the main road by the pine trees as Val and some of the Mountain Club were rock climbing.  Although we weren’t completely sure we were at the right spot, we walked down the road and into the reserve. We saw droppings and high fences on our walk, but didn’t think too much about it.  After meeting up with the group, we found out that there are giraffes in the area.  While it looked like just another rock from the road, there was a perfect wall for climbing on the other side.  There were about 20 people taking turns going up and belaying.  As the sun was setting, we opted to watch instead of finding all the right equipment while chatting with familiar faces.

 

Once it was dark, Val offered to drive us to the clubhouse.  We’d meet Jan with our bags there and get to the train station later that evening.  It turned out that the station wasn’t far from the clubhouse so we swung by to see if we could get tickets as we hadn’t been able to before. The man at the window said that the couple sleeper cabins were all booked.  He offered us to sleep separately in the gender-based cabins, but we wanted to be together.  So we selected 2 random seats since it wasn’t sold out and waited to see what it looked like when we came back.

We headed to the clubhouse to see some of the group we’d met hiking a couple weeks before.  They were having trivia night so we joined a team and tried to share as much wisdom as possible.  While we probably didn’t help that much, we had to leave before the game was over.  Jan took us to train station and reassured us that he’d come back to pick us up if the train ended up not leaving as scheduled.

 

From the minute we met Jan and the mountain club, they welcomed us with open arms.  We got to see parts of the Eastern Highlands that are hard to reach without a car and got to go rock climbing even though we didn’t have gear.  While the city of Harare isn’t overly exciting, the people made it an experience that we won’t forget.

Helpful tips:

• The road in front of the presidential estate closes from 6 pm-6 am daily for foot, bike and vehicle traffic.
• Imire offers a volunteer program, which allows upclose interaction with the animals.