Acts of Random Kindness II - Zim Judicial System

So after leaving Blantyre went to Monkey Bay and Cape MacClear in Lake Malawi.... there it was time for some R&R following some intensive travelling.... beautiful landscape, fantastic sunsets and amazing fish.... and quite cheap as well... my plan was to spend there only 5 days and then continue to Zim and finish the trip in Botswana however, the plans changed yet again....

Whilst at lake Malawi I met up with two English (Johny from London and James a professional photographer leaving in Cape Town who was travelling in Malawi and Tanzania taking pictures of NGO for his portfolio).

James was driving and he was going back to Jo bergh passing through Harare so, I waited a couple of more days on the lake and after go with him dropping Johnny off in Zomba... Eventually as I was so excited about Zim Johny eventually changed his plans and decided to come with us...

First part of the journey was to return to Blantyre to get a transit visa as we had to pass again by Moz and also to get money (dollars as three months ago the zim dollar was abolished as it was reaching ridiculous numbers - one example a bus journey in the city was about 3 trillion)... because the president of Malawi decided that forex should be closed (and the only ones that remain open offer atrocious exchange rates) and the banks only change money if you hold an account with them, we had to go to the black market to get some dollars... after that we decided that we should get on the way and, because there were three of us and all had tents we could just do some wild camping somewhere....

So around 17ish we got on our way to Moz... before we had to stop to get some Malawi delicatessen... on the side of the road there are vendors that sell mice on a stick... whenever I am in a different country I always try to eat something exotic and of course this time it was no exception.... the mice (small ones) were only dried and had some spices ... they still had all the fur and the insides hadn t been removed which let me to almost back out... but in the end I ate it and I must say it was quite tasty... although I only ate one and didn t get all of them in the stick (about 10 or so).... by the time we were done with all this and the driving itself it was already night and we crossed the border into moz just before it closed... we drove for a while (about 40km give or take) and started to look for villages.... when we saw one that seemed to be nice enough, we entered it... when I say village I mean a group of 4/5 circular huts so we were hoping that they would be quite welcoming... because we were so close to the border they spoke chicheua (Malawi language although I belief I am misspelling it) so my knowledge of Portuguese was useless.... but we had N 1 Power sachets (Malawi gin which comes in sachets) so, after a while the universal language of sharing a drink surpassed the initial language barrier... although I believe that they still considered us crazy muzungos (white people) which decided to invade they small gathering of houses (and when we got there everyone was asleep but after when we were setting up the tent the whole village was there - about 15 people) ... we had great time and I guess so did they and we were probably the most unusual guests they ve ever had...

Our journey continued towards Zim... again we passed the border very late specially cause we had to bride the police to let us in.... because South Africa has a big problem of stolen cars being taken to Zim they have requested that all car owners must have a letter from ZA Interpol to prove that the car really belongs to that person.... well James didn t have that letter and the fine was US200... after greasing some palms we managed to pay only us40 but this was very time consuming and we wouldn t made it to Harare at night... so again we decided to stay at another small village and where hosted by Isac ... this was quite an interesting experience because not only allowed me to have a feel of rural life but also, the guy was the chairman of the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change - Zim opposition party) so he could tell us in the first person what the election period was like... in the village of about 40 people everyone was related in the first degree and the surrounding villages they were also relatives.... the surrounding villages were ZANUPF (Mugabe's party) and because they were starving they accepted to not only support him for exchange of few vegetables but also got them to intimidate Isac including threatning his life... the next morning he took us to some caves where he used to hide during the frequent raids carried out by his relatives.....

We continued to Harare and one of my friends from Edi (Tinashee) had spoke to his family which was living there and we were welcomed like family... there are no words to describe the gratitude I fell towards my new Zim family... they took us in like we were their sons and let us stay in a flat of one of the ants who was living in the UK... unfortunately we were a bit lax in regards to security and we paid dearly for that... during the night the car got broken into and they stole everything in it.... 25l jerrycan of petrol (although there is again petrol in Zim it is very expensive) and stole James passport and his external drives with all the pics he had taken for the trip (and like I said earlier the whole purpose of the trip for him was to built his portfolio).... for me they stole my bag full of book and unfortunately in it there was one of my black moleskin with everything for the past two years... they also took all my toiletries and malaria and bilharzia (bug that lives in snails in lake Malawi that gets into your skin and deposit larva's that eat you up from the inside)... so we went to the police to file a report... as soon as I got in they started questioning me why I was there in Harare, if I was a tourist why was I not in a hotel, what I was doing there and so on... for a couple of minutes which seemed never ending I though that not only had I been a victim of a crime but also was gonna end up spending a night in prison... what made things worse was the fact that I was staying in a flat right next to the presidential palace which I guess could have triggered some suspicion (and I looked quite dodgy not having shaved for three weeks and now I am unable to do it until I get back)... on top of it all it was a long weekend with Monday being heroes day and Tuesday armed forces day... Murphy law "all that can go bad will go bad"... the rest of the time spend in Harare I was just chilling and hanging out with Tinashee s brothers who showed us around....

After Harare took a night train to Vic Falls and again was welcome by the fantastic hospitality of Tinashee aunt Barbara and uncle Gordon... they not only organised the lodge we stayed in but also organised all activities such as white water rafting, bungee jump (I know that I said I wouldn t do it again but well...) and perhaps one of the most amazing things a private game reserve visit with the manager... I had done quite a few self game drives but this was totally different... Ian knew what he was looking for and his knowledge of animal life as well as all subjects related were immense... in addition he loved his meat so during the night whilst listening to the wild life (we slept in his house inside the reserve) I got to eat all sorts of exquisite meats... Kudu, Croc and elephant (no it is not cruel.. they have to be shot down for population control purposes).... all and all it was an amazing couple of days.... leaving Zim was though and things although still hard are much better.. it is a country of great prospects and opportunities so I may try to come back for work.... in 2011 there will be other elections and hopefully this time it will go smoothly and the country will regain its greatness (Zim was the biggest success of Africa - better in many ways that South Africa in terms of development and natural wealth)...

The trip from Vic Falls back to South Africa was very long... it started at 10pm on Saturday and arrived at Bulawayo around 09am... after waited until 1pm and got on the bus back to j burgh... although the bus I got was not the ryanair of buses it was certainly the easy jet... I was a bit concerned that I would be arriving at 2am which is not a good time to arrive specially to j bergh but, I was assured that I would get to the main station (Park Station) thus it would be fine... unfortunately it was not so... we stopped at a some other station in an old garage and although I could see the main station it would still be a 15m walk so there was no way of doing that at night... on top of that I was also robbed of my South African mob so I could call no one and, because only people with less money use this service (the others prefer to use greyhound or city to city which is more expensive) taxi s dont go there... so I had to wait in the bus until it got light and then fill myself with courage and tackle the streets of Jozi.... around 6h30 I asked around if anyone was going that way but no one was so I had to make the short journey on my own... everyone has heard gruesome stories about Jozi and I also watched Louis Theroux documentary of "Law and disorder in Jozi" (which looking back may have not been very wise) but it was 6h30 so hopefully the thugs would be sleeping and I hadn t showered in 26h and hadn t shaved in a month.... I also tried to make my meanest look (which I have been told it doesn t look that mean) and so I went... the first couple of metres everything was fine.. there were only commuters and people obviously going somewhere ... I was thinking that it maybe wasn t that bad even as I looked at the above the ground tunnels which connected the different buildings internally so that people that have to go outside... and then, saw about 6/7 dodgy looking guys and one of them looked at me and said something to all the others who started staring at me... the first though through my head specially after having jst returned from the bush is that I was a impala with broken legs at the mercy of a pride of lions that was jst salivating at the prospects of an easy meal... at that moment I did something that I normally condemn but at the time felt that it made me look tougher.... so a spat on the ground and then......... well i crossed the street to the other side and started walking briskly.... other people for sure was aware of what was going on as two of them also crossed the street and started calling me.... it was at that moment that I saw the police station and decided that this was not a time to try and elegantly walk briskly but to run... and so I did... my experience so far with the police in Africa has been a conflicting one as most of the times they are trying to get money off me through brides but, this time they were amazing.... they went outside with me and at this time the guys that had previously chased me were still there but there was nothing the police could do since they hadn t committed any crime... so they let me use the phone to call a hostel to pick me up and asked the people on the CCTV cameras to keep an eye on me until someone came to pick me up....

I am now in the safety of the hostel and only been out once to go to the apartheid museum as I like to limit my close encounters with grievous body harm at one per trip.... tomorrow I flight back....

It has been absolutely wonderful time and there is still much that remains to be seen so I definitely have to come.... hope that everyone enjoyed my little adventures and until the next big trip...

Cheerios