Zimbabwe | Hole In The Donut Cultural Travel

Zimbabwe Travel Situation Improving

Published July 11, 2009 | By Barbara Weibel

During my travels, some places capture my heart more than others. Zimbabwe was one of those places. I met so many wonderful people who were gracious and smiling despite suffering unbearable economic woes and political suppression. Finally, I am happy to report that my friends in Zimbabwe, who keep me apprised of current events, tell me that things are starting to improve. But before things got better, they got very, very bad.

By the end of 2008, inflation had skyrocketed to 231,000,000%, unemployment reached 80%, and the Zimbabwean dollar was basically worthless. Violence ratcheted up during the 2008 presidential election, with despot Robert Mugabe using every means at his disposal to stay in power. Although the consensus is that Morgan Tsvangirai actually won the election, Mugabe refused to give up the office and mounted a brutal campaign of violence against the opposition that left more than 30 people dead and hundreds wounded. As if life weren’t unbearable enough in Zimbabwe, a cholera epidemic broke out in August 2008, killing at least 565 people and infecting another 12,000. Fortunately, world opinion turned against Mugabe, ultimately forcing him to consent to a power sharing agreement with Tsvangirai.

Just last week, my friend Victor Sibanda, who lives in Victoria Falls in the southern part of the country, emailed an update on the current situation:

Victor "Veneto" Sibanda

“We recently had the COMESA Summit here in Victoria Falls and we had our roads revamped and the pot holes on the roads that had become so big to be called ‘dish holes’ were sealed and that has been the positive thing that our town has benefited since the unity government. We are very grateful for the development. Among other things that are beginning to change face are the foot ware and clothing shops that were restock a few days before the Summit began.

Supermarkets are restocking and the prices are now packed in South African Rand and this makes the items affordable such that we have stopped going to the neighbouring countries for shopping and are now supporting the local shops. Other cities and towns are still cheaper than Victoria Falls as what seems as tradition but strange enough there are still challenges in the money making system. Salaries are ranging from $30-$150 per month from domestic to professional level respectively and this still makes buying bread at $1.00 a challenge. This may Continue reading →

Posted in Africa travel |

Tagged Africa, blogsherpa, Chobe National Park, Morgan Tsvangirai, Robert Mugabe, safaris, tours, Travel, Veneto Adventures, Victor Sibanda, Victoria Falls, Zambezi River, Zimbabwe |

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News From Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Published August 21, 2008 | By Barbara Weibel

A few days ago I received an email from my friend, Victor Sibanda, who lives in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. There is so much bad news coming out of Zimbabwe these days that it surprised me to learn Victor has started his own tour hosting business. I was encouraged by his news; it indicates there is still some small sense of normalcy in this devastated country.

I met Victor last year when I backpacked around the world for six months. I spent about a month and a half in Africa and realized my childhood dream of going on safari. The other destination I had always dreamed of seeing was Victoria Falls, so when I planned my safari, I also booked a side trip to Zimbabwe.

Victoria Falls Zimbabwe

All the arrangements had to be made prior to leaving the U.S. because the tour operators and hotels will no longer accept the local currency, as it is virtually worthless. Consider the following:

The regime is surviving by printing money. The German firm Giesecke & Devrient holds the contract for printing Zimbabwe’s currency and they have been delivering bank notes at a rate of Z$170 trillion each week. Last month Giesecke & Devrient decided they would no longer print bank notes for Zimbabwe, bowing to pressure from the German government.

John Robertson, a respected Zimbabwean economist, estimated inflation in July 2008 to be forty to fifty million percent.

An egg costs $50 billion Zimbabwean dollars and withdrawals from ATM’s are limited to a maximum of Z$100, about the cost of a loaf of bread.

On August 1, 2008, the government devalued the Zimbabwean dollar, making Z$10 billion worth ZW$1

Shops can only cash checks if the customer writes double the amount, because the cost will go up by the time the check has cleared.

Most credit card companies will instantly cancel any card used in Zimbabwe

At the time I booked and paid for my trip, the situation in Zim was not yet dangerous, but by the time I was scheduled to to visit, the situation had deteriorated. I contacted the company that had handled my reservations and asked their advice, explaining that I would rather lose my money than put my life at risk. The tour operator assured me Continue reading →

Posted in Africa travel |

Tagged Africa, Botswana, Chobe National Park, currency devaluation, hyperinflation, safaris, sunset cruises, tours, Travel, Veneto Adventures, Victor Sibanda, Victoria Falls, Zambezi River, Zambia, Zimbabwe |

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Solving The Zimbabwe Crisis, One Person At A Time

Published April 24, 2008 | By Barbara Weibel

Three weeks ago, the East African country of Zimbabwe held a Presidential election. By all accounts, incumbent President Robert Mugabe was soundly defeated, however his administration has so far refused to release the official results of the election. Instead, Mugabe’s corrupt government has unleashed a brutal campaign to retain power. The opposition says that ten have died, and hundreds have been injured; now, a “human wave” of refugees is fleeing to South Africa and other neighboring countries and Zimbabwe’s crisis is getting worse.

I traveled to Zimbabwe last year and it is one of my all-time favorite destinations. Everyone I met was quick to smile and thrilled that I was visiting their country. By the end of my stay, I felt I had made wonderful, lifetime friends. In view of the current situation, I have been especially concerned for their safety and have tried to stay in touch. The following is an excerpt from an email I recently received from one of my Zimbabwean friends, who shall remain nameless, for obvious reasons:

“Our President has been compared to the likes of Saddam, which is scary to think we had such a man rule us for 28 years. Everyone in the country wants peace and a normal economy once again, regardless of race or social circles. At this point people are getting frustrated and Continue reading →

Posted in Africa travel |

Tagged Avaaz.org, China, Mbeki, petition, Robert Mugabe, SADC, South Africa, weapons, Zimbabwe |

My Experience In One Of The World’s Most Dangerous Countries

Published January 23, 2008 | By Barbara Weibel

A few days ago, Forbes Magazine released their 2008 list of the top ten most dangerous travel destinations in the world. Among them, in position #9, was Zimbabwe, Africa. I am extremely familiar with the problems in Zimbabwe, since it was one of my destinations during my around-the-world trip last year.

I had always dreamed of going on safari in Africa, and of seeing Victoria Falls, which happens to be located in Zimbabwe. I’m no fan of tours. I prefer to wing it and just wander. When I left on my six month trip I had only six nights booked in hotels or hostels. However, Zimbabwe was quite another matter. The hotels no longer accept Zimbabwean dollars because they are virtually worthless (the country is experiencing 8,000% inflation each month), thus all my arrangements had to be made well in advance and I had to wire U.S. dollars to a tour operator in South Africa in order to reserve a hotel room.

When I departed on my journey in March of 2007, the situation in Zimbabwe was deteriorating, Continue reading →

Posted in Africa travel |

Tagged dangerous destinations, photos, Rainbow Hotel, Robert Mugabe, safety, Travel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe |

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How To Cross A Street

Published January 10, 2008 | By Barbara Weibel

It seems a simple thing, crossing a street. But my idea of how to get across a busy street in the U.S., whether on foot or in a vehicle, is significantly different from methods employed to cross streets in other places in the world. For example, take a look at this video showing a busy street in India:

Above YouTube video courtesy of SteveInSpain35

As I traveled around the world I was intrigued by the various means employed to cross a street. On my very first morning in Saigon, Vietnam I spotted a bakery across the street from my hotel. I stood at the curb for 15 minutes, waiting for a break in the monstrous traffic but the vehicles just kept coming. Just as I was about to give up, a local man stepped off the curb, walked out into the midst of the traffic, and slowly crossed the street as the vehicles weaved and darted around him. Eventually, I got up the nerve to try it and stepped out into the stream of traffic. Continue reading →

Posted in Travel tips |

Tagged Africa, cross a street, India, New Zealand, Singapore, Tanzania, Thailand, traffic, Travel, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe |

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Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Published December 1, 2007 | By Barbara Weibel

In 2002, five million of the 13 million residents of Malawi, a predominantly rural African country the size of Pennsylvania, were starving. Over the past 20 years, the World Bank and a number of rich countries that Malawi depends upon for aid (including the U.S.), pressured this tiny landlocked country to eliminate fertilizer and seed subsidies for its populace, even though the United States and Europe extensively subsidized their own farmers. Desperate to feed their families, landowners could not afford to let their land lie fallow, so they planted without fertilizer, further stressing an already depleted soil. Over time, their depleted lands yielded less and less food and the farmers fell deeper into poverty. By 2005, the country’s corn production was only 2.5 billion metric tons – the lowest in a decade.

The World Bank and Malawi’s donor countries, in their infinite wisdom, encouraged Malawi to eliminate fertilizer subsidies entirely and adhere, instead, to free market policies. The theory was that Malawi’s farmers should shift to growing cash crops for export and use the foreign exchange earnings to import food. I’m no genius, but I don’t see the sense in growing cash crops for export in a country where the people can’t even feed themselves. That doesn’t even take into consideration the fact that Malawi lacks the necessary infrastructure, funds, and trained workforce required to effect the movement of such crops, much less the ability to control the corruption that would undoubtedly skim a large chunk of the profits from such a venture.

Fortunately, Malawi’s president, Bingu wa Mutharika, decided to follow what the West practiced rather than what it preached. He reinstated Continue reading →

Posted in Africa travel |