ROAD TRIPPING

MLK Day (and one extra day off) gave us a good window to hit the road and see some previously unseen parts of Zim.  First stop:  Great Zimbabwe.  We headed out fairly early and got to our lodge just as the rain started.  Perfect timing to hole up with a sundowner (i.e., happy hour cocktail) and watch the storm pass.

A lovely view from our lodge near Great Zimbabwe

The next morning was blue skies and puffy clouds, and we got an early start.  Great Zimbabwe is a UNESCO World Heritage site about five hours south of Harare.  It contains the ruins of a former city dating back to the 11^th century.  Stone walls built on and around a steep granite outcrop are still standing.  It’s believed the granite hill served as a royal palace, and the walled city below housed up to 18,000 people at its peak.  A local guide showed us around the site and gave us an overview of the area’s history and culture. 

Stone walls remain around the ruins of the old city

The stones help show the scale of these massive granite boulders

Following our guide into the ruins

The walls in some areas are over 15 feet tall

Andrew, for scale

Zimbabwe' translates to 'great stone houses' in Shona.  Easy to see how the site - and this country - got this name

The view from the top of the boulder hill provided amazing 360 degree views of the area.  This is the rainy season in Zim, so everything has greened up and come into bloom, providing a lush landscape to take in during our hike around the site.  

The rain has greened everything up!

Looking out toward the "Great Enclosure"

We spent about three hours walking through the ruins and checking out the small on-site museum (which we had to tour with flashlights because, of course, the electricity was off).  The rain clouds started rolling in just as we were rolling out.  We had another drive of several hours to get to our next stop: Matopos National Park in the southwest part of the country.  Massive granite boulders set the backdrop for the primary reason for our trip: rhinos.  The park is one of the few remaining areas in Zimbabwe with a wild rhino population, so we wanted to check it out.

Our hotel was just outside of the park and set into the rock landscape.  And I do mean set INTO the landscape.  The reception building and the bungalows were built among the huge boulders, and rocks provided the walls for some of the structures.  We arrived just in time for sundowners again, and made plans to head out the next morning with a guide to look for rhinos.

If you look closely, you can see some rooftops among the rocks.  That's the hotel.  We drove right past it at first since we didn't even see it.

Not your typical resort grounds

A lovely happy hour spot

We left the next morning and headed to the park, where we met up with a Zimbabwe Republic Police officer who went along with us.  The park is heavily patrolled and police are stationed throughout to discourage poachers.  Information about the number and location of rhinos in the park is not publicly disclosed.  The officers are armed with AK-47s.  Protecting these rhinos is serious business.

Definitely the first time I've ever hiked while accompanied by a police officer with an automatic rifle

We had to visit a few different locations within the park and hike for several miles but we found them!  A group of five rhinos all together.  Apparently they have terrible eyesight, so as long as we stayed downwind and moved slow, they were fairly oblivious to our presence.  We followed them for about half an hour or so as they lawn-mowered their way through a grassy area.  These guys are serious grass-eating machines.  A pretty incredible experience to be so up-close-and-personal with these delivery-truck sized animals.

They have to cut the horns every couple years to deter poachers

I do mean up-close-and-personal

We spent the rest of the weekend hiking on the lodge property, taking in the lovely scenery, and spotting all sorts of birds and other critters.  It was a bit gray and drizzly but it didn’t stop us from getting out.  Actually felt a bit like our Portland home… but about 20 degrees warmer. 

The rain clouds made for a spectacular sunset

Some of the resident critters... A klipspringer - cutest little antelope ever

A lizard in drag

The rock dassie, or rock hyrax, or rock rabbit.  Zimbabwe's answer to the marmot.  (But not a rodent.  Not a rabbit either.)

We just passed our 8-month mark in Zim, which means we’re just about 1/3 of the way through our time here.  And we’ve probably covered about 1/3 of the country now, so we’re right on track.  Road trips here take quite a bit of planning – since there’s a fuel shortage, we have to carry jerry cans with us, and since there’s no electricity, we have to make sure to have flashlights and batteries.  But we’ll hit the road again in April to check out another part of Zim.  Stay tuned for the next road report!

THE SEASON FOR CELEBRATIONS

The end of the year always brings lots of celebrations, starting with Andrew’s birthday and Thanksgiving at the end of November.  We celebrated Andrew’s birthday with our trivia team that meets weekly at a restaurant in Harare.  Our team consists of a rotating cast of about 10 characters, including other embassy colleagues as well as a few folks from other embassies, locals, and visiting guests of team members.  We usually finish in the top 4 or so out of a field of a dozen-ish teams, and have even managed to win a couple of times, which earns us a few bottles of wine.  The season finale was last week, where we tied for second and won a bottle of champagne.  Works for me!

Happy birthday, Andrew!

Then we celebrated Thanksgiving at a colleague’s house.  The dinner featured all the usual fixins’, although all with their own African flare.  For example, the cranberry sauce was made from dried cranberries.  And the two turkeys on the table came from Brazil via South Africa.  Our embassy commissary procured a load of frozen turkeys that were trucked in from South Africa… but the truck got held up at the border and ended up arriving to Harare about 24 hours later than expected.  I admit I was a bit dubious about eating frozen turkeys that may or may not have remained frozen during their epic voyage, but they were actually delicious… and everyone present lived to tell. 

A successful, botulism-free Thanksgiving!

We also fit in a trip to Nyanga during a long weekend in November.  Nyanga is a town about 5 hours from Harare in the mountains near the eastern border with Mozambique in an area called the Eastern Highlands.  There are waterfalls, misty mountains, and lots of peace and quiet.  The first day, we woke up to rain and no electricity (the latter of which is pretty par for the course), so we lit a fire in the fireplace, worked a jigsaw puzzle, and watched the rain… which was a nice change.  The second day, we woke up to sunshine and a hike out to the top of the escarpment showed that we were actually on TOP of the clouds.  We went for an a lovely hike to take in the views before heading back to Harare.

Waterfall views on a hike in Nyanga.

Rock outcrops dot the Eastern Highlands.

I headed to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for a training class the first week of December.  I was there for almost a week, which mostly consisted of meetings in windowless conference rooms.  But I was able to get out for one afternoon, so I hired a driver to show me around town a bit.  Addis felt like a bustling metropolis compared to Harare – traffic, construction projects, people everywhere!  A bit of a shock to the system, but a great chance to experience a very different kind of Africa.

Cool carvings in the hillside outside Addis.

A tour of the Mercato in Addis.

Need something altered?  This lineup of tailors stands ready.

Recharging with some Ethiopian coffee.  Those slightly wild eyes attest to the potency.

When I returned from Addis, we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary at a local animal sanctuary called Wild is Life.  They take in orphaned and injured wildlife and try to release them if they can.  Those that can't be released stay at the sanctuary for guests to learn about them – and get up close!  We got to feed a few of the giraffes – so fun – and they had several baby elephants – so cute!  A guide walks the small group around the grounds and talks about the wildlife.  In between and at the end, guests get to sit on their patio with cocktails and nibbles and watch as the sun goes down and the animals roam around.  A memorable way to celebrate our anniversary!

Everyone smile for the camera!

Elephants!  And baby elephants!

The pangolin - a highly endangered (and very long-tongued) anteater-meets-armadillo.

The kudu herd turned up at sunset.

And then we come to the holiday season.  Harare is decidedly unfestive – no holiday lights around town (or any lights, really, since the power is almost always out), no holiday displays in store fronts (because there aren’t that many stores), no holiday music on the radio or movies on TV (because there is only one state-owned TV station in Zimbabwe).  According to one local, this is not always how it was, but the dire economy has made for a pretty austere holiday season this year.  Fortunately, Andrew and I have become pretty good at figuring out how to make our own fun, so I’m sure this holiday season will be no different.  We got the house decorated for Christmas before Andrew had to head back to the states for work for a couple of weeks.  He’s back now, and came bearing a suitcase full of Trader Joes’s snacks and goodies.  Peanut butter pretzels!  Christmas come early!  Thank you, Santa!  We’ll celebrate Christmas Eve tomorrow as we make the rounds to a couple different colleagues’ houses, and then we’ll host several friends for Christmas dinner at our place. 

Our place is ready for Christmas.

From our Zimbabwe home to yours, we wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

CAPE TOWN BIRTHDAY

October marked five months in Zimbabwe, and I was starting to get antsy for a change of scenery.  As my birthday was also in October, we decided to observe the occasion by taking a week off and heading to Cape Town, South Africa.  A direct flight from Harare to Cape Town on RwandaAir had us in a whole new world in under four hours.  Cheap (and amazing!) food and wine!  Well paved roads!  We celebrated both with equal enthusiasm.

Heading out for a boat tour of the waterfront, with obligatory sparkling in hand.

A lovely way to see the Cape Town waterfront.

We didn't just drink wine - we also drank fancy coffee!

A stroll through the colorful Bo Kaap neighborhood

We started with a few nights in Cape Town itself, and fully immersed ourselves in all possible tourist activities.  A few loops on the Cape Wheel (think London Eye… but on the Cape Town waterfront)?  Check.  A boat tour of Cape Town harbor?  Yep.  A walking tour of some of the historic neighborhoods?  Done.  A hike through Kirstenbosch botanic gardens and up (and then back down) Table Mountain?  You bet.  (Although that last one almost killed me.  The Table Mountain hike took about four hours and was almost exclusively steps… and a few ladders.  I felt every bit of my 29+20 years for the next several days.)

The skywalk trail in Kirstenbosch botanic garden.

View from (almost) the top of Table Mountain.

Even with all of those things checked off the list, there was a ton that we didn’t get to do – Robben Island, museums, and so many great restaurants left unvisited (for a reason…  Alas, I brought a stomach bug from Zim with me to Cape Town so wasn’t able to enjoy solid food for a few days.)  Cape Town is absolutely beautiful with the ocean surrounded by mountains.  With so much still to do, and with such a gorgeous backdrop, I know we will be back.

Hard to beat the views along the Cape Peninsula.

We managed the first few days in Cape Town without a car and just used Uber (Uber! Another source of excitement!) to get around the city.  But for our last day in Cape Town (and our onward journey from there), we rented a car and drove down the Cape Peninsula to Cape Point.  It was a gorgeous drive and the weather could not have been more spectacular.  Oh, and did I mention there are penguins on the Cape Peninsula?  That was a major highlight.

Good advice.

Watch out!  They are (apparently) vicious!

One of these things is not like the others...

Pretty sure this was one of the nicest days at Cape Point ever.

The Cape Point Lighthouse, and some helpful directions.

The road along the Cape Peninsula was a Big Sur-esque model of engineering.

From Cape Town, we headed inland to the western cape wine country.  We spent a couple nights in a town called Tulbagh and then headed to another town called Franschhoek for a few nights… and sampled lots of the local wines in both spots.  The valleys were beautiful!  Steep mountains, green valleys, vineyards, birds.  The wineries were pretty spectacular too - posh architecture and expansive views of the valleys.  And the wine was delicious - and cheap too!  I mean, we were doing serious research so we would know what wines to buy if we ever see them for sale in Zim.  (Even though most places we asked said they did not export to Zimbabwe... because nothing exports to Zim.)  Perhaps our steadfast research will benefit you.  If you ever see Glenwood, Boschendal, Le Lude, or Haute Cabriere labels, give them a shot.  (We actually found some of that last one on the shelves of the embassy commissary.  Score!) 

The Tulbagh valley.

Rijks - the hotel/winery where we stayed in Tulbagh.

Andrew doing serious research! 

The view coming into Franschhoek.

The grounds at Boschendal.

Views of the winery and Franschhoek valley.

Fog rolling over the Franschhoek mountains.

Our hotel in Franschhoek had a Nellie-like pooch named Bella.  Bonus!

The tasting room at Haute Cabriere.

Sunset at Haute Cabriere...

...with some brut rose?  Don't mind if I do.

And more sparkling at La Lude?  Don't mind if I do that either.

A memorable birthday in many ways, and we can’t wait to go back to see what we missed (and to continue our wine research).