We took our first weekend off after almost two solid months of work in early June, heading up the the mountains that form the Mozambique-Zimbabwe border, on the Zimbabwe side. Things are dicey in Zimbabwe these days -- not so much in terms of violence and personal safety (as many news outlets have reported in recent years) but because of the near utter crash of their economy -- inflation was more than 5000% last time I checked, meaning prices change once or several times per day. Unofficial money exchange is the only way to survive. Extended power cuts are routine, and sometimes water is not available. Zimbabwe is currently not issuing passports to its citizens, allegedly because of a lack of paper and ink with which to print new passports, stranding thousands. It really is amazing to see this country that was the epicenter of southern African tourism descend so far so fast.
But putting all that gloom and doom aside, we did have a terrific long weekend off, staying at a lodge run by our friends and Park colleagues Petra and Bart. Petra is Belgian and Bart is from the Netherlands, but they've both been in Africa for many years. They run our herbarium program at the Park and know a ton about southern African plants. They also run a great lodge, even if tourists are few and far between these days in Zimbabwe.
Ndundu Lodge is confortable and funky, with Bart's fascination with odd metal parts displayed throughout -- old gears embedded into the floors, old farm compactors forming the base of the bar, and other oddities throughout. Great fun. And terrific food!
We spent one afternoon at a nearby lodge that used to be one of the Grand Old Dames of Zimbabwe, and sadly is falling into somewhat of a state of disrepair. But we did enjoy their small game park, which Bart used to manage and is now managed by his friend Wilfred. It was great to be able to walk around to see the animals as no large predators inhabit the reserve -- see the zebras just behind Ian in the photo!
Thankfully we had a firelplace in our room at Ndundu -- we sure needed it! It was definitely winter in the mountains of Zimbabwe, with something approximating frost on the grass in the mornings. brrr!
