31st May 20011

I apologise for the lack of news the last two months – they went by so fast I can’t even believe it has been 2 months!

April came and went and it was pretty busy. The beginning of the month we had a few things to do in town and then went hiking/camping in Chimanimani mountains which are about 5 hours from us. We went with our good friends the Edwards’ and another couple and their 2 girls. We had packed our packs and since it was going to be a 3 night camp we did have quite a bit of stuff to take – but after putting our packs on our backs we all knew we had too much stuff!!

It was a long trek to where we were going. We had planned on camping in a cave called Terry’s cave and got directions to it. Because our packs we so heavy we did take a long time. The littlest of our group was 7 years old and she didn’t have a pack but kept arguing with her sister who did have one that it was her turn to carry the pack. The rest of us kept telling her she was more than welcome to take one of ours! My pack alone was about as tall as her! We were heading in the direction we were meant to but the last path we were meant to take disappeared along the river bank where gold-panners have destroyed the bank and so what we needed was no longer there. We crossed the river twice and then found what we thought was a path but then turned out to be a game path. Darryl Edwards decided that he would go up and see what he could find. He was gone for about an hour and by that time the sun had already started its decent home! Darryl had taken their two little ones with him and after an hour he showed up at the top of the cliff above us and beckoned for us to head that way – he didn’t have the two kids with him! He had to come back down as he had left his pack with us, which weighed a significant amount and he was already tired and worn out. None of us had any water left as we thought we were nearly there when we sat to finish our water supplies and none of us thought to replenish them while we sat there waiting by the river! Anyway Darryl started to panic a bit as he had left the two kids up there somewhere and the sun was very much going down. All we could do was head straight up! Seeing that cliff on our way down again I can’t believe that we did it! It was sheer determination that got us up! I know for myself I just said to myself you can do it now go! (Not what I was saying about an hour into the hike – I had sat down on a rock and with tears in my eyes said to Matt “I don’t think I can do this!”) Amazing how we had all grown in strength in just 8 hours! It was a vertical climb with not much to grip on to other than tufts of grass which fortunately were very secured into the ground. I would just grab handfuls and heave myself up. We all made it up though after a few near domino effects down the hillside and much sweat and tears. Darryl had the rear and when he came up next to me at the top he looked like what I imagined Jesus to have looked like that day he carried His cross. His back was bent over in pain and exhaustion and the look on his face was one of anguish and desperation! He asked if any of us had water but we couldn’t even help with that.

The last leg was probably the longest for Darryl and Hazel knowing that their two youngest were up there somewhere by themselves in the dark now. We found them though with their head lamps shining and we just barely made it to where we all decided would be a perfectly good spot to camp for the night! As much as we complained about the lumps and bumps beneath our tents I think none of us really cared and were just happy to be horizontal.

Despite the long trek, the 3 men folk (who were greatly out-numbered 8 to 4 by the women) still found the energy to have a slight adventure that night. They had been trying to light the gas burners for us to cook on and one of them was leaking. They had tried all kinds of things to fix it and for some insane reason lit it while it was leaking gas. It burned normally for a few seconds and then went woosh and fire fell down its sides sending the men in all directions. The other guy with us Jaku stayed well away and kept saying “it’s gonna blow, it’s gonna blow!” while Matt and Darryl were trying to find ways to put it out. Darryl attempted to use water but it made no change and Matt scratched around at the dirt by my feet and grabbed a handful to throw one the fire. It was a pretty funny scene – if any of you have watched Natcho Libre, the silly movie of the monk who wants to be a wrestler, there is a particular scene where he throws tortilla chips on the ground the attract the street dweller he wants to join forces with as a wrestling duo. Natcho does this very quaint running/hopping thing as he throws the chips and this was exactly what Matt did with his sand! I sat there laughing as that was all I could see in my minds eye and needless to say he didn’t put the fire out! I’m sad to say that Matt wasn’t the hero but Darryl ended up stealing the show by rushing in with a whole jug of sand and without a blink strode over to the fire and placed the jug over it! All this time I might add Jaku was still shouting “It’s gonna blow!” whilst the women carried on preparing dinner and the children were all in their tents playing cards – as if nothing was happening!

The rain and cloud came in that night and we all had very wet tents. The cave we were meant to be in was about 500m away from where we had camped so we packed up and moved into the shelter of a very ideal cave. It wasn’t huge but big enough for 2 small tents and the other tent was put just around the corner under an over hanging rock and the kids camped on the cave floor. The weather stayed pretty gloomy the rest of the time and the clouds only parted enough for us to see the full moon which light up the valley like a spot light. It was magnificent up there – not a soul to be seen – it was as if it was just us in the world! We attempted a few fires with wet wood so it wasn’t completely successful but we didn’t go hungry that is for sure! The last full day we had there a few of us went cave exploring which was so enchanting. It was like a world of its own behind the face of the rock, with alley ways and crossroads and trees that stretched high above the rocks to try and touch the heavens above. We even had to leopard crawl at one stage to get through a very narrow and low tunnel. The roads we took ended up taking us right back and around the other side of our cave where Matt was waiting with a fire. We set of the next day knowing that we had a very long walk in front of us and we couldn’t believe that what we had gone up on that first day was so vertical when we went down it and we had been so close to the actual path all that time!

But we made it down after much slipping and sliding on the mud from the rains and as beautiful as it was I think I will have to say that it was a case of been there done that, tick the box! I may change my mind after a few months or years!

And then Easter came along which brought Rita (Matt’s sister) from New York and a few other friends. It was a fun time and Rita was able to do a few videos of the house and property to show the family in UK. Rita was last here in Sept 2009 so it has changed a lot since she was last here. It was a busy time with her but fun too and we went back into town for HIFA (Harare International Festival of the Arts) the week in Zim when everyone can have their fair share of culture. Rita went to more things than we did – Matt and I have realized that we really do have that “farmer” mentality of early to bed where 9.30 is too late for us – hence we didn’t’ go to too many shows. The one we did see was awesome – a guitarist from Italy who was worth the late night.

We were pretty much busy the rest of April seeing people in Harare and sorting things out with the house in Harare.