Sept 13, 2008
I just returned my first adventure outside of South Africa, to Zimbabwe
to visit a friend and his wife in Harare. But first to Victoria Falls Monday
Sept 3, on the mighty Zambezi river, with Zambia (not to be confused with
Nambia) on one side and Zimbabwe on the other. Dzimba dza mabwe (House of
stones), named for all the ancient stone building ruins is where the name
Zimbabwe comes from.
One day, I went
for a full day tour to Chobe National Park in Botswana on the Chobe River, that
separates Botswana and Namibia. At the confluence if these two big rivers is
where the 4 countries meet. Crossing borders back and forth is a scene. It was
awesome with the most African elephants in Africa at Chobe. Saw tons of cool
animals and birds. The next morning I had my own private sunrise birding trip
on the Zambezi river and saw so many amazing birds and hippos, and was served a
lovely breakfast. Then a sunset dinner cruise back on the Zambezi.
It is quite a bizarre scene to be in Zimbabwe after
this recent election, everyone I talk to so disappointed, believe it was a
rigged election, and that not much will change despite Mugabe’s removal
(my friends refer to him as “Bob”). Although the torture and killing that he
did won’t continue at least. What I didn’t know until I got here is that
Zimbabwe does not have its own currency and is suffering for it. They are using
the US$ which does not actually exist except for what tourists bring. They accept
Rands which is what I had in cash, and debit or credit cards as well. The
shortage of petrol is also another serious problem. I don’t know why. I stayed
with my friends who live in Harare and work at two different universities. I learned a lot about their day-to-day lives
and some of the history and politics there, including that the Zimbabwe black
majority suffered apartheid by the British before South Africa by the
Afrikaners (Dutch). My friends took me to one of the largest historic sites
there, called The Great Zimbabwe, about 250 miles from Harare. It is the ruins of an old stone community
from the 12th -16th centuries I think. Apparently there are smaller similar ones
around the country. I was struck with
the similarities with the native American ruins in the southwest of a similar
time period. We stayed in a cool old
cottage not far from the ruins. We has a
lovely time and it was great to see various parts of the country. The road we travelled in the main road
between Zim and South Africa and it was in horrible shape. Unreal to have so much traffic with cars,
buses, large and oversized trucks driving this route constantly. The legacy of the Mugabe regime is
everywhere. People truly hate him.
Zimbabwe is in a more desperate state than South
Africa, overall. And while I was there
the cholera emergency was in full swing in one of the large, poor
neighbourhoods in Harare and now spreading to the countryside, of course due to
lack of adequate basic sanitation. At
least 24 have died and thousands are ill.
It is inexcusable in the 21st century that anywhere suffers
from lack of basic sanitation and potable water. South Africa has big problems with it but
Zim has even lacked back chemicals for water treatment for years even where
there is a relatively reasonable access to water. And now, the WHO says the first-line drugs are
not working and the alternative azithromycin is not available. Tragic…
While the winter rains have helped increase the water storage for Cape Town and the Western Cape Province region to nearly 70%, we are at the end of the rainy season and levels need to be more like 80-85% to lift restrictions. And even then, it would be a temporary lift. The problem will not go away, obviously. We are all expected to use no more than 50 litres per day, and I attach the poster plastered around Univ of Cape Town with similar huge billboards and signs all over the city. It may be a good lesson to check your own usage. You will see in the article below how much more water we use in the US compared to this.
A friend sent me this article recently and it is the best I have seen in terms of the analysis, not just for Cape Town and South Africa in general, but worldwide, and I thought you would find it informative as well. It is long, but worth it.
I attach a picture of the water conservation poster that is all over the UCT campus and many like it, plus large billboards all over Cape Town and the region, in general.
Photos from the Victoria Falls Area and The Great Zimbabwe: 1) Cliff and Sarlomie at the lodge (Norma Jeanne's) near The Great Zimbabwe in Masvingo, 2) Stone ruins from The Great Zimbabwe, 3) Shona village women at The Great Zimbabwe, 4) Young girl selling LARGE sweet potatoes along the road from Masvingo, 5) & 6) Victoria Falls, 7) Sunrise on the Zambezi River for the birding boat trip (with breakfast served), 8) Downward Giraffe for a drink, 9) Fiesty young fella getting a little close, 10) Sunset dinner on the Zambezi River.
