Places I have been #5

I've been looking through our ancient slides and have actually got some fabulous slides taken during our trip around Rhodesia (or Zimbabwe, as it's called today). When I manage to scan them onto my computer I promise to show you some of the best ones. In the meantime, I will have to use links to share our adventures with you.

We did as much as we could in the three weeks we drove around Rhodesia in 1973. We got to visit some remote ruins and took in as much 'rock art' as we possibly could. Much of it has blurred into the background, it was so very long ago... We sat in the car from early in the morning until late at night as we drove through the diverse countryside. I drank Coca Cola because I couldn't drink the water... it couldn't have done my developing son's nervous system too much good, but we didn't know about things like that in those days. (He seems quite alright, but didn't sleep through until he was a 'big boy.') I needed 'liquid'. Needless to say I put on a huge amount of weight and my doctor was absolutely horrified when I got onto the scale!!! A diet of Coca Cola, cashew nuts, dried fruit, dates and prunes is guaranteed to do that.

Eventually, we made our way over to the Victoria Falls, which are every bit as awesome as you might imagine them. We spotted the 'mist' from miles away and stopped to take some photos. I know we have an amazing slide taken through a glass bottle.

We booked in at the local game park and stayed in one of their cottages that came complete with a resident cook who would have done us proud if we'd had any food with us.  We hadn't anticipated doing any cooking, didn't have any supplies and the shops were closed by the time we realised we might be going hungry that night. Needless to say, we were feeling pretty disgusted by that stage so we decided to go for a walk through the 'rain forest'

It was late afternoon, we didn't have a brolly or a raincoat, but we did enjoy our walk through the spray.  We got pretty wet, but it was all so spectacular we didn't mind.  Standing on the edge of the cliff, admiring the view, we turned to remark on it to the couple standing next to us and were absolutely gobsmacked to realise we knew them.  Very well, in fact.  My dad's older sister and her husband were staying only a few doors down from us! None of us knew the others were even in the country! (This has happened a few times in our travels.)

Wonders never cease!  When they realised we were going to have to go to bed hungry that night they invited us over for dinner!  Way to go aunt!

Now, I don't remember what we ate.  It's hardly relevant.  What I do remember is standing in the kitchen with my aunt and hearing what sounded like rocks falling on the zinc roof.  We rushed outside to see what was happening and joined our men on the verandah where they were watching a herd of elephants in 'the garden' next to the cottage.  They were that close!  A huge male had his tusks on either side of the Maroola tree that had long branches overhanging the kitchen and we watched, enthralled as he looped his long trunk around the tree and proceeded to 'rock' the tree until it dropped its fruit at their feet. Maroola (or Marula as it's sometimes called) fruit is made into a potent liquor today.

That wasn't the only close encounter we had while we stayed there.  My man walked down to the river's edge one lunchtime and after he was gone I felt bad about lazing in the cottage so I took myself off to find him (totally stupid thing to do!!!).  Just as I spotted him I was practically rushed off my feet as a small croc made its way over my feet and back to the water.  A total 'townie' in those days, I got the most awful ear bashing... we'd both got an awful shock!

Today, you can visit the falls in style.  The hotel has been refurbished and we have family who have stayed there recently and rave about it.  There are lots of 'things to do' and you can fly in and fly out.

The Victoria Falls are one of the seven wonders of the world.  A must see if you ever get the opportunity.

April Blackbird

Places I have been # 3

Fort Victoria (now called Masvingo) and the Great Zimbabwe Ruins

Well, I talked so much about our 'hitch-hiker' when I was telling you about Lake Kyle that I forgot to tell you how much we enjoyed our visit to Fort Victoria and the Great Zimbabwe Ruins.

If you've ever sat, very quietly, in a very old building you may have had a sense of the awe we felt when we visited the ruins.  There weren't very many other visitors at that time and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

The walls are hugely thick and it must have taken forever to put the place together.  When we were there, nobody was quite sure who the builders had been.  There had been much conjecture, but no absolute conclusion.  "A medieval city built by a prosperous culture." What a city it must have been!

Definitely worth a visit if you're ever in Zimbabwe.

April Blackbird

Places I have been # 2 - Fort Victoria en route to Lake Kyle

Back in 1973, when we made our one and only trip up to Zimbabwe/Rhodesia we drove a Ford Corsair.  It still had bench seats, back and front and nobody ever thought about using things like safety belts.  Which was great, it meant I could sit with my back to the car door (on the passenger side, of course) and put my feet up so they didn't swell too badly. Shock! Horror!  I can just hear the comments.

It gets worse though.  In those days, we used to pick up hitch-hikers.  Truly.  It was the done thing.  South Africa had compulsory army service for all school leavers and these young chaps were sent off to remote areas to do their training.  After the first six weeks they were allowed a weekend pass.  How they got home and back was their problem.  So, as a nation we supported each other's sons.  We'd pick up these young men and drive them as far as we were going.  No problems there.  We never, ever had problems with one of these young soldiers.

Thing is, my man had back-packed across Europe and felt empathy with every traveller he saw on the side of the road.  Which is why we picked up a lone hitch-hiker (in the middle of absolutely nowhere on a very hot day) on our way up to Beit Bridge.  Big mistake.  Which we only realised when this man began to give the guards at the Beit Bridge customs a huge run around.  They wouldn't let us go and he wouldn't sign the papers.  It was getting dark and the swallows were swooping in huge swirls in the beautiful sunset and it was beginning to look like we were all going to be sitting in the car for the night.  Warning bells tolled.  Loudly.

Needless to say, he eventually signed and we were allowed on our way.  I would happily have left him there.  He wasn't going to have any of that!  No way.  Turned out he was a badly shell-shocked Vietnam vet.  We learnt all about that when my man hit a rabbit that night.  Our passenger went hysterical!  We were miles and miles away from everything and everyone and we had to stop to pick up and move the dead rabbit.  We were beginning to get quite worried at that stage.  When we pulled in to the only hotel in the area we discovered that they had only one room.  We tried to leave our passenger in that room, but he wouldn't get out of the car.  So the hotel staff kindly phoned around and found that there were two rooms available at the Lake Kyle park.  We think they also had a word with the man who owned the place once we were gone...

When we arrived (very late and absolutely exhausted), he'd organised a Rondaval (a round hut) for the two of us, and he put our hitch-hiker into a caravan quite a long way away from us.  Our hitch-hiker didn't want to leave us, was scared of being on his own, but the owner persuaded him there was no way he was going to put him into our room.  Thank heavens.

The next day we were offered a trip on the lake compliments of the owner.  We had an amazing day out and got to see a lot of the crocodiles and other wild life from the small motor boat.  We didn't take our hitch-hiker with.  He'd caught a bus into the nearest town to have a look around.  Once we realised he was able to get 'out' on his own we (I am almost embarrassed to tell you this) jumped into our car and drove off as fast as we could. We, quite literally, ran away from him! We never saw him again and I cannot ever begin to tell you how relieved we both were.

We didn't pick up hitch-hikers after that.  Not unless they had army uniforms on.

April Blackbird

Places I have been - # 1

While I was chomping on my very yummy, home-made muesli this morning, I picked up a Gourmet Traveller and began browsing the recipes.  There are so many fantastic recipes in that magazine, but this time it was an article that caught my attention. The journalist was reporting back on the best hotel he'd ever stayed in.

The article sparked a distant memory... I've always wanted to write about the 'places I have been'.  So I thought I'd write about one a week.  Starting to-day.

Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe), Africa - August 1973.  Leopard's Rock Hotel - Vumba Mountains - the BEST hotel I've ever stayed in.

Not the poshest, but definitely the best.  I'll tell you why.

We were very young.  I was very pregnant with our first chickadee (he was born in November) and we were a very long way from home, with very little money. I would freak out if one of my kids did the same thing!  We knew the writing was on the wall for Rhodesia and we wanted to visit the country before it became too dangerous.  So, we packed up the old Corsair and made our way up.

It was a grand adventure and I'll tell you more about it over the next couple of weeks, but to-day I want to talk about our stay at The Leopard Rock Hotel.

In those days it didn't have a casino and wasn't nearly as grand to look at.  It's had a major refurbishment... they had to, it was hit by mortar fire in the early 70's (see what I mean about needing to visit while it was still safe?) and the grounds are just stunning.

We hadn't made a booking and arrived late in the afternoon of the 5th August expecting to be turned away (I remember because we had to book a trunk call to Johannesburg to wish my dad a happy birthday and it cost us a small fortune).  I waited in the car while 'my man' made enquiries.  Far from being turned away we were (quite literally) welcomed with open arms.  The hotel was practically empty!

By the time our luggage was lugged upstairs by the tall, very dark man with a huge white smile and shining eyes, our room had been opened to air and there was a small crystal decanter of sherry with two glasses on a little table.  The welcoming note that stood beside it had been handwritten and was personally addressed to us.  A little silver tray of Lindt chocolate blocks, and a bunch of freshly picked flowers stood alongside. I don't know about you, but we've never been welcomed in this fashion by any other hotel.

We were informed that the drums would beat to announce the serving of dinner on the terrace and then we were given a quick guided tour so that we would feel 'at home' in this vast castle of a hotel. We were introduced to everyone we met.  By the end of the tour we were 'friends' with all the staff and the few visitors.

We were blown away!  To this day we both still speak of this experience.  We have never forgotten the friendliness of the staff and management.

Our bedroom looked over the beautiful gardens, down over the majestic slopes of the Vumba Mountains and we watched as the mist drifted in over the tops of the thorn trees.  The sounds of the drums beating duly summoned us down to dinner.

'Our' waiter met us at the door, a huge smile on his friendly face!  "I am your waiter while you stay with us.  If there is anything you want, ever, please ask me and I will get it for you."  Wow!  He was true to his word.  I didn't drink tea or coffee in those days (wonder where my kids get their pickiness from?), but I did drink hot chocolate, Milo and Ovaltine.  This sweet man would not rest until he had coaxed me to drink something 'for the pickannini' and he'd always come around at least twice more than he probably should have, with the chocolate basket.  "Please, take a big handful."

When we eventually got upstairs to our bedroom, we found the curtains drawn, the lamps on, the beds beautifully and very precisely, turned back with a hot water bottle stratigically placed for maximum comfort.   Everything in the hotel was always absolutely spotless.

The next afternoon, we arrived home from our drive a little earlier than we'd expected and 'our waiter' met us at reception to inform us that afternoon tea was being served in the drawing room.  Scones and cakes, fresh cream and home-made jams!  All beautifully served. With a big glass of Milo for me!

Given that we'd been camping and staying in game park 'rooms' up until then, we truly thought we'd died and gone to heaven.

Our stay at The Leopard Rock hotel went on in the same vein.  They told of us of the best places to visit and what to stay clear of.  When I arrived home one night feeling totally and completey car sick after a day of wending our way around tight bends in the deep mist, 'our waiter' came  to our door to find out why we weren't coming down for dinner.  He insisted on bringing something up to our room for us.  Hey, who else has ever given a hoot about whether or not we've come down to dinner?

My man plays the guitar and one night while he was playing in our room (very quietly and I promise we had no neighbours to bother) we became aware of quiet singing outside our door.  I'm not quite sure who was the most surprised when I opened the door.  The small group of people outside our door, or me!  It took a lot of persuasion to get them to hang about and they wouldn't come into our room to listen, but we did leave the door open and we all enjoyed the evenings music together.  We sat on the floor just inside our room and they sat on the floor just outside our door - all very proprietal. 

The morning of our last breakfast together has stayed in my mind forever.  'Our waiter' did not want us to leave.  He plied us with food and drink and then insisted on fetching the chocolate basket so that I could make sure I had 'sweets for the pickannini, for the long journey'.  They stood on the stairs of the hotel and waved goodbye until we could not see them anymore.

We have never forgotten them and the kindness they showed us. We think about them each time we read about the terrible goings on in that amazing country and we hope they are safe.

I'd love to take my chickadees there one day, some time in the future.  No doubt, it won't be quite the same, but the views are still amongst the most incredible in the world.  To-day you can 'fly-in and fly-out'.  Things have changed.  As they do.

April Blackbird