Last visit to Zim

Brooke and set out for our final trip to the Zim border with our car loaded with supplies for friends living there.

This afternoon I was talking with a friend who has just come to visit for a few days from Zimbabwe. She said that in order to get bread, you have to stand in line at 3:00am! Supplies are critical low, even if one has money to buy food, etc. the stores do not have anything on the shelf.

The government is now limiting the amount of supplies that are allowed to be brought in. The inflation is going up at a crazy rate, so the prices of good go up by the day. For a while the people could not afford to buy anything, since their wages did not go up as well. Then the government fixed the prices and the shops could not afford to stock the shelves, because they were forced to sell for less than their cost. Now the factories are low on stock and are refusing to make more since it will cost more to make the goods than they can sell them for.

So we had several objectives for our trip today: make it across the border to satisfy my visa requirement, make it past the officials with the supplies, meet our friends to deliver the groceries etc, and if possible, see Leopard Rock.

One of our friends recommended that we visit Lepord Rock. This is a golf course and hotel in the Vumba mountains, about 30 Km from Mutari. The golf course is rated #3 in the world since the whole course is natural. We understood it to be very beautiful.

We made it across the border without a problem and immediately contacted our friends to set a meeting point. Then we set out for Leopard Rock.

Now when you drive into Zim, even in Mozy, the terrine is very dry. There is some green on the trees, but mostly brown and black from all the fires. It is without a doubt the dry season. As we drove into the mountains, the trees were so beautiful! It is spring here, so there are many flowers in bloom and the trees are getting their leaves back. Once we finally arrived at Leopard Rock, we were amazed! Brooke calls it the pink castle! We took many beautiful pictures (which I hope to post soon). In the reception area to the hotel, there is a tall glass wall with a rain forest on the other side. There were many golfers out on this beautiful, fairly warm day.

We had lunch at the club house on the green, then headed back to Mutari. Along the way there were many vendors along the street selling beautiful linens. Most of the vendors sell the same kind of things across Africa. We found many uniquely beautiful items on our drive.

We met our friends without a problem in town and delivered our treasures: flour, sugar, toothpaste...

As we were driving back to Mutari, the border town in Zim, our gas gage was almost on 1/4 of a tank. A big whoops! We are in a country where not even public transportation can get gas. Fortunately we serve a wonderful God who takes care of our every need.

One of the friends we met in Mutari has a auto shop, so they have connections to get diesel. Within 15 minutes we had an extra 5 liters of gas (just over 1 gallon) for just about $7!

Another day in Zim... full of fun and adventure! (fortunately with on police this time!)