The Art of Zimbabwean Travel

The modern philosopher, Alain de Botton wrote a beguiling book entitled:The Art of Travel. It was welcomed as an honest and entertaining book for armchair travellers. It opens with the sentence: “It is hard to say when exactly winter has arrived.” 

In Zimbabwe, November is the month when it is hard to say when the rainy season has started. The crisp blue morning sky can rapidly fill with cumulo-nimbus clouds offering a promise of rain, so desperately needed. But by lunch time these promises dissolve leaving us baking again under the tropic heat.

But for drivers of cars and trucks, a dry road at least displays the potholes and crevasses which score the tarmac. The road from Bulawayo to Hwange in particular has become notorious for the poor condition. Consequently, we left Bulawayo with a large dollop of trepidation at 5.30 am, carrying some breakfast rolls and water, and advice that Halfway House was a good stop in 4 hours for coffee and a rest.

Well, that wasn’t to be. The remains of Halfway House stop, just 30km beyond Lupane was a shell of what it once was. The building had deteriorated into a wooden workshop of sorts, and the question as to whether coffee might be available was answered with an apologetic smile…ah, no. The little kiosk with the ancient pump was similarly buttoned up with a derelict air. No coffee there then either…ah well, only another 3 hours to the next village.

So it was back on the horror that was the National Road to Victoria Falls. Large 32 wheeler trucks with trailers ferrying coal thundered down towards us as we 

swerved around the bathtubs in the road. Overloaded buses crunched past at speed, generally ignoring the holes, keeping to a schedule and inattentive to other road users.

And always the wildlife…goats, cattle, stray dogs, school children. There is a clarification of the two kinds of road wildlife here: the quick and the dead. And certainly we see them both. 

Then the road block. Police standing in the centre around a tired oil drum, either waving us past or, for overloaded vehicles or those displaying potential fine material, being waved down and the Big Book brought out. So far, we have been fortunate…smile and wave, we say, just smile and wave. We pay the toll at the booths, for the privilege of part destroying our car on the road, with a smile, and proceed. And then arrive at Hwange for a dubious coffee from the ubiquitous Chicken Inn, and sit for a while in air conditioned plastic seats, pleasantly surprised to have made it without major problems. 

This is all on the tar roads. However, accessing the sites requires the negotiation of the dirt roads, which is a different matter. I am very grateful to cousin Ian for the use of his strong Land Cruiser which handles the dirt with relative ease. But there is still no getting away from the soft sand, or the hard stony gravel and deep trenches which need careful manoeuvres to arrive safely.

Thanksfully, we have had no problems and the car has behaved perfectly. Now we hope that the major rains can hold off until we have completed the visits of the remaining sites which are very rural. We are told access might be challenging in rains…the euphemism “challenging “ is very widespread in Zimbabwe, and is applicable to almost every situation, from getting water, fixing a problem or simply living. But, as always, the people here are resilient, and find a way to Make a Plan.

Thank you for reading.

Sandy