Great Zimbabwe

Perhaps the biggest incentive for us to visit Zim, apart from the lure of the US dollar dispensing ATMs, were the ruins of Great Zimbabwe some 40kms away from the town of Masvingo. We bargained hard with a 'taxi' driver to take us there and back as we thought the ruins were only 6kms or so away. We did well to get the ride for $26, although we still thought it expensive until we left town and realised how far it actually was. We did feel a little rough for haggling so hard. We felt even more sorry for the driver when we got pulled over at one of the many police road blocks and he was fined $30 for 3 separate offensives ( the seat belt, licence and registration trifecta). This put him at a $4 loss for taking our fare! On our return to town we gave him a bit extra as it was quite a lot further than we had thought. Anyway, the ruins were very impressive. We had envisaged a series of small walls requiring a great deal of imagination. But no, some of these dry stone walls were 11m tall and 5m thick, and very little reconstruction had taken place here. These are the best preserved African ruins south of the Egyptian pyramids, or so they say. The most impressive section of this ancient settlement was the walled 'village' built on top of a rocky outcrop, the hill complex.

The oddly surreal thing about this place was the lack of tourists. I'd imagine if Zimbabwe's image improved, and the large number of tourists returned, then these ruins would be teaming with visitors. But as it was, we virtually had the place to ourselves. Try and picture an image of the Taj Mahal, Stonehenge or Angkor Wat without any seeing any other people. That was the unique feeling we had when we were at this marvellous site, and I'm sure it won't stay like this more much longer. At least I hope it doesn't.