Flamboyants of Kwekwe Leaving Kwekwe finally is always bittersweet: saying goodbye to the farm and the people and the magnificent flamboyants which welcome the traveler and burn with colour, but knowing that we are homeward bound. We left early, with coffee in the flasks, enjoying the relatively smooth tar through Chegutu and Chinhoyi and Karoi towards our destination in Magunje, past huge empty grain silos. Along the way we pulled over for a coffee refill at Saucy Sue's a ve

The mornings start early and loudly in Zimbabwe, awakening with the sound of profuse bird calls. The Heuglin’s Robin is one of the iconic birds of the country. Although it struts around, black head and white brow, proudly sporting a bright breast as red as the African soil, she is not related at all to the gentle English robin. This robin is a show off with a range of melodic songs to entrance and astound any listener. She can also easily become habituated to selected people,

The road to Gokwe from Kwekwe is very welcome tar after so much dirt road driving. It twists through a landscape pockmarked with informal mining activity; diggings and scratchings in the red earth, leaving mounds like an abandoned cemetery of dreams in the veld. Chinese vehicles and trucks weave around the tracks, evidence of their growing presence. Gokwe is a growing hub of market trading. Houses are springing up, adding pressure to the school places in the town. The main se

The rocky road from Gokwe tumbles down the steep escarpment into the Sessami valley, twisting and turning like a river. Leaving the black “cotton” soils of the high ground, it falls into the brown sands of the valley which stretches out into the distant shimmering horizons towards the Chizara hills and the great Zambezi river. The iconic baobab trees have appeared, sporting their fresh green leaves and bright red flowers. Unexpectedly, a small herd of zebras appear, actually