During the autumn term of 2018 I attended a course in Literary travels through Africa at a Folkhögskola. Besides literature from Mozambique, Botswana, Angola and South Africa, we studied literature from Zimbabwe. And Zimbabwe was the country where we travelled to meet authors and publishers of the books we read. One can say that the trip was organizationally quite relaxed and we were not always sure about how, where and when, but we had a fantastic program which we somehow followed and enjoyed immensely.
Fifteen students and two teachers left Sweden from different airports on 29 October. Here are the expectant literary travelers waiting for a connection to Harare at Joma Kenyatta airport in Nairobi.
Arrived in Harare and bundled into two taxis for our fist sight of Harare. Funny how taxi drivers find the most trafficked roads!
Here Susan and Angelica är posing outside our B&B in Avondale, Harare. the B&B is called "Its a Small World". Its a Small World is quite a simple, but an interesting, or shall I say, challenging place. Avondale appears to have been a very wealthy suburb of Harare. Still big mansions behind high walls, but looking a bit sad.
It was wonderful to have Angelica and Susan on the trip. We have known each other for many years and Susan is the one who encouraged us to study with Folkhögskola. Throughout the trip we three shared rooms and had a lot of support in each other. Even though we mixed individually with the others and made good friends, it was good to always have each other to go back to.
And here we are, the triplets, as we became known!
Our first evening in Harare, no food at the B&B, where to get food, what to eat, who knows, we can take a 10 minute walk down to a shopping centre, but its getting dark, better to stick together. So we found a supermarket and NANDOS! South Africas best chicken takeaway, Nandos. Here we are munching in our Nandos. Our youngest companion, who is vegetarian had a vegetarian Nandos and said that it was one of the best vegetarian hamburgers she had eaten. Even Susan agreed. Ah, NANDOS is best!
Heroes Acre, the first stop on the first full day. We have two guides from Kufunda Learning Village, where one of our teachers has close contacts, having lived there for 3 months. The guides, Alan and Irvine (who the Swedes kept calling Ivan) guided us. After a quick visit to a museum with horrific details of the atrocities which took place during the Rhodesian war, we decided to walk up to the Heroes Acre. Turned out to be real heroes, walking up a hill at midday in + 30 degrees, on our first day in Africa, we were like that song, "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun!"
After that sweaty walk (thank goodness they had bottles of water for us) we are shown Heroes acre, an enormous monument in memory of the heroes of the Rhodesian war. All the important comrades are buried here. The monument was built by the North Koreans, which is very obvious, it is very ugly. And strange that North Korea should build a very un African monument to the freedom fighters, the comrades. Something seems wrong. I'm not sure how deep this "comrade" is actually in the heart of the people. Anyway, thats just my impression of a monument that could have honoured the freedom fighters in a much more dignified, culturally accurate way.
Much better are the photos of the view of Harare from here,
Trying to find some shade. If I remember correctly, when the British first came here, the city, which they named Fort Salisbury, more to the right of this photo.
A visit to the Museum with enormous stone sculptures of the different Zimbabwean animals on parade, and below, still there, a memorial to honour Queen Victoria. This is a country of contrasts.
In Harare we had the pleasure to meet an author, Blessing Musariri. We had read one of her short stories in the book Moving on. Her story," These feet are made for walking". The story highlights loyalty to tradition och folklore being challenged by practical needs. The story is written in an easy, swinging way and most pleasurable to read.
We also met a poet and author, Togara Muzhanenamo, in his lovely home in one of Harares better suburbs. His wife, a document filmer was also present. She, by the way said that she had never visited the Heroes Acres and predicted that it would not be there in 10 years time. Interesting after the rather soppy visit to Heroes Acre. Togara read some of his poetry, but that which impressed me most was his short story we read in Moving On. A truly beautiful story and when he told us that the original text was a poem, I can understand why the story is so beautiful to read.
And Its a Small World had a pool!
So now its time to leave Harare and head for Kwe Kwe, by bus, InterCape, all booked and ready and safeguarded by the bus drivers prayer for a safe trip. We drove though dry landscape with land which obviously has previously been cultivated. We saw a lot of groups of people all in white, some sort of religious gatherings. They are called the Vapostolics, I think. Heard that they are quite a problem because they don't send their children to school.
A few miles out of Kwe Kwe we stayed at the Mbizo College, where we are to have a workshop with Zimbabwean Association of writers. Five men and one woman, a spoken word poet. Very interesting atmosphere among these people. Although the men were all wonderful storytellers and writers, I found the older men were still living a bit of a chauvinist world, which we noticed in the relation to Mercy, the only woman. Also an old, although still present undercurrent between Shonas and Ndebeles. That in any case was my perception. But nevertheless a most interesting and stimulating two days. Must say that Mercy, the spoken word poet, delivered an unbelievable piece of so called slam poetry.
Our sleeping quarters at the Mbizo College, with mosquito nets and all. The rooms were actually meant för two persons, but we three had no problem fixing the room to suit us. Susan and Angelica posing on the beds!
Quite adequate. Bathroom down the corridor, only cold water, but it was hot outside so cold water was very welcome
Doing the washing, good exercise for arm muscles for spoilt Europeans. Angelica and Maria getting stuck in to a week´s washing.
The happy workshop gang in the courtyard, Mbizo college.
Three nights at Mbizo College was pure luxury, in Zimbabwe terms. The place is very conducive to socializing with fellow travelers and staff. Three good meals a day, lovely weather, beer and of course the interesting workshop
And then, the highlight of the trip and one of the reasons I wanted to travel to Zimbabwe, to see the Zimbabwe Ruins, or Great Zimbabwe. A wonderful experience and fulfilleded all my expectations. I have been waiting for over 40 years to see this, having studied archaeology many years ago.
Just enjoy the photos
Atop a granite outcropping, walls merge with enormous boulders to form the fortified Acropolis
Quoting from an article in google, "The granite walls - embellished with turrets, towers, platforms and elegantly sculptured stairways - seem to have had no defensive functions. But, in the words of archeologist Peter Garlake, they display "an architecture that is unparalleled elsewhere in Africa or beyond"
Built between the 11th and 15th centuries, Great Zimbabwe was home to cattle-herding people who also became adept at metal working
Other smaller sites were ransacked by European treasure hunters in the 19th century. These smaller ruins were called zimbabwes and can be found as far as Mozambique.
Much about Great Zimbabwe is still a mystery, owing in large scale to frenzied plundering of the site around 1902, but it can be stated with certainty that the Queen of Sheba never drew a breath here. Instead, at any given time during Great Zimbabwes heyday, anywhere between 10 000 and 20 000 black Africans did.
By the thirteenth century, they dwelt at the epicenter of an industrious southern African empire, with trading links stretching as far away as India, Persia and China. By the 16th century when the Portuguese arrived, Great Zimbabwe had fallen into obscurity. No one is certain why.
Just a reminder, all this above is according to Wikipedia
Our guide, who had been working there for 20 years, or so, told us an amusing story, maybe its true. He said that from the Acropolis the king could look down on the place where his 1000 concubines lived. From a cave with the necessary acoustics, he could summon a concubine. For example he would call, " wife number 852" and the women in the enclosure could hear. Wife number 852 would dutifully start the long climb up to the king. Yes, well.
A not so comfortable drive back to Kwe Kwe in our minibus, arriving in the dark!
After the workshop we attended a church service with the principal of the Mbizo College, a lovely woman in all ways, but not for me her church going ways. Interesting Nigerian/American style church, fleecing money from poor people, singing and dancing, ok, but then a fake exorcism, No, not for me. I suppose in country areas of Zimbabwe this type of church gives the people a break from the daily life and its not for us to criticize, but definitely can criticize the money that the leaders of the church take from the people.
And hey, Bulawayo next!
When we heard that we were to travel to Bulawayo in the same mini bus in which we travelled to Great Zimbabwe, with 3 more passengers (!) we made a very strong protest. Eventually the 3 extras took a local bus (which by the way turned out fine, we could all have taken the local bus) and we, plus all our luggage piled into the mini bus. Oh, the luggage on top of the minibus. Need to add here, that we hit a goat on the way back from Great Zimbabwe yesterday.
Our driver, the same guy from yesterday, was probably a bit surprised at the amount of luggage. it took almost an hour to leave Kwe Kwe because we had to drive around to all the backyard garages to try to find a place to pump the tires. But we made it to Bulawayo.
Quite cramped in the minibus, but at least we did not hit any goats.
And, another highlight, a trip to Matopos National Park
Our two game rangers who drove us through the park and informed us about the rhino preservation measures which are implemented in the park. This caused a bit of consternation because the methods they use are very foreign to a group of Scandinavians.
We were fetched at our B&B in this safari jeep and travelled in this through the streets of Bulawayo and on the main road to the park. A bit strange, but it went well.
The Matopos National Park has the most fantastic rock formations, which I unfortunately could not get an acceptable photo of with my cellphone .
A "clump" (could it be?) of rhinos. We walked in single file towards two groups of white rhinos just lazing in the sun and not caring about us at all.
Also the rock formations of Matopos.
Bushman painting in a cave.
The paintings done by the San Bushmen cannot be dated because they did not use carbon.
Boulders surrounding Cecil John Rhodes grave. The view from this spot is just so worth the drive there, the cost ( I think it was 10 US dollars) and the disgusting toilets! The feeling of being on top of the world and looking over beautiful Africa, is almost too much. Only Angelica and I and one other of our group chose to go to this spot. Two men from Catalonia also joined us. Poor guys, they did not know that they had to bring their dollars in cash, you cannot withdraw money from the ATMs, because there is no cash in the country! So they had hardly any money. They were dumbfounded, no cash in the country!
These boulders are magnificent.
Our ranger and her temporary Irish assistant, sheltering from the cold wind under one of the boulders.
And here lies Cecil. Having had Cecil John Rhodes in all our history lessons since primary school (he was at one time Prime Minister of the Cape Colony) I felt I had to come here. Our guide at Great Zimbabwe, when I asked him how come Cecil Rhodes grave is left on this beautiful spot and is still a tourist attraction, given the history of this country, he answered that is just it. Cecil John Rhodes is part of their history. When his grandchildren ask him about the past and all the statues and graves are removed, the history will mean nothing to them without being able to see it. So there I am forgiven for visiting the site of the colonials. Its history!
As för Angelica, she wanted to come here because of a book we read by a Zimbabwean author, Petina Gappah, where the main character asks to be buried on this, for him, most beautiful spot. Angelica was so taken in by this request that she just had to see this place for herself. And I think she was very pleased that she did.
Cecil Rhodes statues can be found in a couple of places in Cape Town, in the Company Gardens, at Rhodes memorial and he used to be at UCT, but was dramatically removed. Still surprised that there are still 2 statues in Cape Town considering the fuss which was made about the statue at UCT.
Bulawayo is a lovely city, better than Harare, in my opinion.
According to our program we were to meet with publishers, Jane and Brian Morris in Bulawayo, which we did. We could walk form our B&B to our meeting place in a beautiful house, a sort of cafe, yoga, meditation place. We had interesting talks with Jane and Brian and met an author, Bryony Rheam. We have read one of her stories in Moving on. We could buy books that Amabooks published. I bought John Eppels. "White Man Crawling", "The Maestro, the Magistrate and the Mathematician" by Tendai Huchu, and "Nevertheless" by Shane Stachan. Eppel and Huchu ar also represented in Moving On. I was interested in "Nevertheless" because it is about Muriel Spark, who moved to Zimbabwe from Scotland as a 19 year old. Muriel Spark wrote, amongst others, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. I found it interesting that she lived in Zimbabwe at the same time as Doris Lessing, with whom she shared the same ideas.
And the best was left to the last. John Eppel, who we were initially not so impressed with, turned out to be a superstar. We met him in the centre of Bulawayo, at the Book Cafe and enjoyed an amusing, satirical, honest talk. Pity it was so short.
Returned to Harare on Intecape, quite uneventful trip, but an eventful happening at the bus stop.
The staff from Its a small World came to fetch in their pickups and cars. As usual we piled in like sardines, definitely not legal in Sweden. Surrounded by cars and taxis, our driver by accident drove very slowly into the car in front of us. It was hardly a bump, but the next moment the driver of the bumped car, appeared at our drivers window and pulled out the keys! This apparently so that she could not drive away. But how she could have driven away with all the traffic around us is a mystery. There ensured a heavy discussion which attracted the attention of bystanders and suddenly our car was surrounded by shouting people, all giving their opinion of what happened and what to do. I must admit to a bit of anxiety, it does not take much to get a crowd to do crowd related things that they normally would not do. However the two drivers managed to come to an agreement and we were allowed to leave. Only to meet one of our other cars stuck along the way. They had apparently run out of petrol!
And then, on the second last day, that happened which was not to happen, I got robbed! Rather unpleasant experience, but all worked out well in the end. Here I am installed in Meikles hotel, real luxury, with Carl, and feeling very lucky to have good friends in Angelica and Maria, who got me going again and to Carl who had already booked us into the hotel. Carl and I are on our way to Victoria Falls and Chobe Game Reserve.
A happy unexpected reunion with Evert and Lena. Angelica had left for Sweden the night before, Maria was going to travel home with Lena and Evert was going to take the bus to Zambia.
And so the Zimbabwean Literary Trip had to end. For me personally it was an experience which has given me a lot to rearrange in my perceptions of the Southern Africa which I though I knew so well.
Altogether a wonderful, never to be forgotten experience.
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