Zim & South Africa Visit Days 1-5
Day 1 (5th August)
Today is a marvelous Day as I prepare to make my journey back to my roots - Africa!!! I have to say that I have not been back to Africa for almost 11 years!! When I last left there, I was looking very, very young...
Woke up early this morning to get ready for my flight. Had a nice comfortable sleep (only I know why) but lets just say I was not freezing cold.
Had some breakie with auntie Constance, Pam and auntie Todlana.
My flight was at 11am, so needed to be there 3 hours before. I drove the car and we went via the North Circular (A460), M11 and then the M25. Took us a while but we got there on time.
So that thieves could not break into my suitcase, I went to have it wrapped in clingfilm at £5 a bag. You should have seen the bag afterwards....compressed to some small cling film wrapped ball.
Tried to take a photo with auntie and Pam but was stopped by security...oh dear.
Anyways, I boarded the plane with no probs but was sat at some seat 44d (in the middle of the plane). The Zambian guys next to me were nice: Michael Snr, and Michael Jnr. I was served some beef dish, which was not my 1st choice but was nice.
Arrived at Duha international airport at 7-ish pm. Now I wait 4 hours...
Day 2 (6th August)
This must be the longest connection I've done. 00.30 hrs and I'm boarding a smart co-bus to be taken to the Qatar Airways A330 plane.
The rest of the flight is a blank as I attempted to sleep.
I woke up at 6ish to find myself cruising 30,000 feet above Malawi, going towards Zimbabwe. At one point, I was so sure I was above Ngungumbane arriving in Joburg at 7am. I was whisked off in a wheelchair through immigration and customs like a celebrity. Just as I was getting used to this, I found myself being followed by a sniper dog. Phew, good thing I left my ganja at home! lol.
My uncle Fa met me and had the pleasure of driving through Joburg - but it was quiet!!!
Apparently there was a COSATU strike going on. The roads were empty and shops closed.... not the norm.
At home, I was welcomed by Matshazi with a nice cold Oros drink. On seeing the sun, I quickly rushed outside and basked in the sun's ambiance!
2 hours later, I came inside and lo and behold, I had a tan!
That evening I met my auntie and two wonderful cousins (more like young sister and brother) whom we were to form a strong bond!!
That evening... I felt the coldness of Africa!
Day 3 (7th August)
Woke up late-ish only to find the whole family had gone to school and work. But I was eager to see the Joburg I was in. But with limited transport, I opted to go to the local mall.
So we hailed down a kombie and after paying $5 each, we got to Clearwater Mall. May I say that this Mall easily beats any big town's Mall in the UK. It competes even with Manchester Arndale. After a bit of (window) shopping, we decided to walk home... 30 minutes later we arrived and bwoy was I tired?? Yes!
My uncle and aunt live in this smart complex called Nelinda Hills and I was impressed. Irregardless of where they are in the world, they can open their gate.
Very Impressive.
With so much walking done, I slept in the lawn under the blazing sun for 2 hours - I needed that.
Evening came and my oldest brother came to visit - Vezokuhle, followed by more uncles and aunts. Eventually I left with uncle Kuthula Msimanga (my mum's brother) for us to go prepare our overnight journey to Zimbabwe.
After packing the Mitsubishi Colt bakkie, we left at 11.30pm from Craighhall park, destined for Bulawayo...
Day 4 (8th August)
Taking on the reigns of the car, we went down the M1 past Pretoria, Polokwane, (aka Pietersburg), Lous Trichardt (which I have to say its quite hilly and eventually Messina). This was the last town in SA before reaching the SA/Zim border. We stopped to stock up on a couple of essentials to take home with us and off we went to the border.
The border is queue-ridden and I have to say, this was the first of many bribing events I witnessed during my visit. The SA border guard had the cheek to tell us we were missing paperwork, which apparently we had to ask for (even though we didn't know such paperwork existed). R100 later, we proceeded to the Zim border in Beitbridge where again we had to fork out monies for TIP (temporary Import License), 3rd Party insurance, Fuel duty, Vehicle fee, Border gate pass etc..
The amount of money we paid was ridiculous, and paying by Zim Kwacha was useless. So much un-necessary bribing occurred for the simple reason that the Zimbabwe's civil servants have gone so corrupt!
This customs woman made us unload the bakkie for the simple reason that we were refusing to bribe her.
Anyways after 4 hours at the border, we were off. Before we had even left the town we were stopped by the police at a "roadblock". On producing my UK driver's license I was told to pull over and questioned on my intentions in Zimbabwe and so on by the Zimbabwe's CIO (Central Intelligence office)
Luckily this time there was no bribing required (uku Diza). During the 320km drive to Bulawayo, we were stopped 5 times at Police "roadblocks" and each time a contravene of some sort was discovered and required us to pay a certain sum of money. At one stage, I was taken outside the car and held against it with an AK-47 - just an intimidation technique.
By 3pm we were arriving in Bulawayo, such a long journey it had been.
PS: I had to make a quick stop at my old school Mzingwane High School, for old times sake.
As I entered Bulawayo via Leopold Takawira Ave (aka Selborne Ave) I heard my brother shouting "MGCINI"... I knew I was HOME!
Day 5 (9th August)
Waking up at 8am, I was suddenly reminded that I was in Zimbabwe. We had to quickly make our breakfast because electricity could just go in an instant!
Breakfast made and warm bath taken, I took the time to find a couple of my old friends from the neighbourhood. My boys are now married men with kids to show as well - Bwoy what am I doing?
Before I knew it, a couple of people had come to greet me as they had heard that Mgcini was around!
Pumula East has changed yo! The earth looks dead, vegetation is minimal and things just look dry. The sun is however, BLAZING! I just had to bask in it cause we don't get much of it here in the UK.
In the afternoon, my uncle came and it was time to go to the rural areas - Ngungumbane - where i'll see my dad. The whole gang of cousins had decided to come as well! Going through town, we collected a few essentials (including bread bought off a GP surgery!)
Life is hard here - survival made it is!
The drive was pleasant until we reached the dusty roads and things got a bit bumpy from then. By 8pm we were passing through Mdzidzi... and then we realised we might be short on fuel. Passing through Mataga, we managed to get 5 litres from a drunkard (And I feel he robbed us).
By almost 10pm we reached Ngungubane.
But my uncle and cousins still had the long trip back to Bulawayo...
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written by africanaspects , September 12, 2008
I'm sure you are aware how long I've been trying to get this "comment" issue resolved...
But YES! I'm glad its up an running!! Cant wait for your witty comments!!
written by precious , September 14, 2008
But dont worry Precious, I still got love for you!! lol...
Hope you are enjoying the website!!!
