Zimbabwe is the former Rhodesia. Under British rule with Prime Minister Ian Smith, Rhodesia became probably the most prosperous nation in Africa with it's western style economy. With almost an entirely black population however, it was only a matter of time until the White Rule was overthrown and taken over by the Blacks.
This is not a history lesson so if that's your goal, look elsewhere. This is just some observations which Janey and I made during our several visits. When we made our first trip to Zimbabwe the year was 1994 and we were assigned to the American Embassy in Gaborone Botswana.
Boarding our plane in Gaborone, it was required that we fly north across the Kalahari Desert to Moun, some 400 miles north..right on the border of Namibia and Zimbabwe. Flying across the Kalahari is a unique experience. The Kalahari is an unusual type desert made up of white sand and scrub jungle. Try to imagine this.."That as the plane makes it's way across alternating patches of white sand and tangled jungle..the white sand reflects the suns rays making for an up-draft..then you hit the jungle patches, and it creates a down-draft. So it's not recommended for "White-Knuckle" fliers because you are subjected to regular downdrafts whereby the plane will drop like a rock for a thousand feet or so.
Landing in Moun (and this was also the same staging point for our trip into the Okavango..see blog). We caught a connecting flight for the short hop to Chobe River lodge where we will be staying. This is still Botswana.
Our quarters will be a single adobe thatched roof hut, but good size with very comfortable accommodations inside. There was a private BBQ outside our hut, but we never used it although the Monkeys sure did. Anytime you looked, there would be at least a half dozen of the critters, hoping for a handout. We learned very quickly that you can't set your drink down beside your lounge chair because one of the monkeys will grab it, and shinny up a tree and sit up there laughing at you while he has your drink. The chobe river is elephant country where we saw herds of up to 100. But this blog will be about Zimbabwe.
Our objective was Victoria Falls..the worlds largest. The Zambeze river runs between Zimbabwe and Zambia. We arrived in the town of Victoria Falls via a chartered mini-van after about a 2 hour drive from Chobe Lodge.
I chartered a chopper and put Janey in the Co-Pilot seat (See Pic of back of her head as we come in for low pass over Victoria Falls) from the Zimbabwe side. Across the Zambezi river lies Zambia. I've posted also my favorite shot I made from about 300 ft above the falls. I have a 20 x 30 poster of this shot on my library wall. The other picture is of Janey, being helped from her first chopper ride. We would go back again next year and do the same thing.
At the time we were there, 1995, the Zimbabwean dollar was valued at about 1.5 to 1 to the U.S. Dollar. I believe today, May 2011, one U.S. Dollar buys over a trillion Zimbabwean dollars. When Ian Smith was (Englishman) was Prime Minister of the then Rhodesia, it was a thriving country, the garden of Eden of Africa. They kicked him out, and started reclaiming all the rich farm land from the Whites (Who were the producers), and re-distributing it to the blacks. Today the country is a complete basket case.
Today, Robert Mugabe who took over by coup decades ago..has a choke hold on the country. He lives in opulence superior to our White House, while his people starve.
