Harare, Zimbabwe: The First Days
As we departed from London Heathrow Airport on our way to Zim land we caught the England vs. Portugal futbol match on a flat screen TV, surrounded by English futbol enthusiasts. There were a few Portugal fans making their presence known, but luckily the overwhelmingly English crowd was able to keep their cool. As the seconds wound down on this crucial match, the clock was also ticking on the departure of our plane! No sooner than England lost, we began our brisk walk to our gate and found ourselves right on time for our British Airways flight.
After our long flight, we (except Kinesh) landed in a foreign world completely unknown to us. Not knowing what to expect we made our way through the airport, just like any other airport in the world. As we waited in line to go through customs we were all tired and excited at the same time. Before we knew it Kinesh’s Uncle, Sanj Man, Kinesh’s Aunt/Cousin, Priya, and his Uncle/Cousin, Paras found us in line and directed us straight to the front of the line. Priya and Paras had come from Canada to visit their family in Africa. As we stepped into position at the front of the customs line, that had not even opened, the former leader of the line boasted, “The line starts back there.” We happily turned to him and said, “Yeah, we know. We’re with her.” That’s right our paperwork was being handled in VIP fashion by the customs agent director. Later we were made aware that one of Kinesh’s uncles is the leader of the Civil Aviation board for Zimbabwe. That might have had a little something to do with it. After being whisked through customs, Priya and Paras wheeled our enormous back packs to us and we made our way to Sanj Man’s house.
On our way to the house, Sanj Man gave us a driving tour of downtown Harare. During our tour we learned about the current economic conditions of the country and about how the city once used to somewhat thrive. Some parts of the downtown area seemed nice and well built, while others seemed run down and almost abandoned. The number of people walking into and within the city was astonishing. As we drove through the area, our eyes were opened to an entirely different world. Upon arrival to our home far away from home, we desired nothing more then to sleep and eat too. Luckily for us, Sanj Man’s wife, Bagthimami always had food ready for us at every major meal and anytime our stomachs beckoned.
We slept for three hours that midday before heading out to a family friend’s home for dinner. Dinner consisted of homemade pizzas, fresh garlic bread, paneer, and of course a good stock of alcohol. From the time we got there the power had already been out for some time. The power situation was definitely interesting. The area was undergoing staged power outages. They were staged due to the fact that the demand for power is too great for the current power resources. To resolve this issue the government had decided that the best thing to do would be to shut off specific grids at planned times during the day. In this instance “Planned” is being used in a very loose sense of the word. That night, the power did not work in our favor. Our dinner was driven over to another home in a different grid and promptly returned for us to devour!
Somewhere during the first day or two of our visit we made our way to “The Round House.” This was actually a round house that has been in Kinesh’s family for many years. There, we were introduced to a lot of Kinesh’s family members including more Uncles, Aunts, Grandparents, Cousins etc.
In preparation for our upcoming road trip, our clothes were hand washed and hung dried, not to mention perfectly ironed by the house maid…Barbara. Not only were pants and shirts ironed, but so was everything else, down to our underwear and socks too! “Barbara” soon became the household name used to describe every house maid encountered from that point on. Not only was the term used to describe the local house maids, Priya soon became known as “Queen B,” as she helped to serve not only the five of us, but her cousin Paras too.
That night we went to sleep knowing that we needed our rest. The next day we would be hitting the road and heading south to Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Africtravelers
After our long flight, we (except Kinesh) landed in a foreign world completely unknown to us. Not knowing what to expect we made our way through the airport, just like any other airport in the world. As we waited in line to go through customs we were all tired and excited at the same time. Before we knew it Kinesh’s Uncle, Sanj Man, Kinesh’s Aunt/Cousin, Priya, and his Uncle/Cousin, Paras found us in line and directed us straight to the front of the line. Priya and Paras had come from Canada to visit their family in Africa. As we stepped into position at the front of the customs line, that had not even opened, the former leader of the line boasted, “The line starts back there.” We happily turned to him and said, “Yeah, we know. We’re with her.” That’s right our paperwork was being handled in VIP fashion by the customs agent director. Later we were made aware that one of Kinesh’s uncles is the leader of the Civil Aviation board for Zimbabwe. That might have had a little something to do with it. After being whisked through customs, Priya and Paras wheeled our enormous back packs to us and we made our way to Sanj Man’s house.
On our way to the house, Sanj Man gave us a driving tour of downtown Harare. During our tour we learned about the current economic conditions of the country and about how the city once used to somewhat thrive. Some parts of the downtown area seemed nice and well built, while others seemed run down and almost abandoned. The number of people walking into and within the city was astonishing. As we drove through the area, our eyes were opened to an entirely different world. Upon arrival to our home far away from home, we desired nothing more then to sleep and eat too. Luckily for us, Sanj Man’s wife, Bagthimami always had food ready for us at every major meal and anytime our stomachs beckoned.
We slept for three hours that midday before heading out to a family friend’s home for dinner. Dinner consisted of homemade pizzas, fresh garlic bread, paneer, and of course a good stock of alcohol. From the time we got there the power had already been out for some time. The power situation was definitely interesting. The area was undergoing staged power outages. They were staged due to the fact that the demand for power is too great for the current power resources. To resolve this issue the government had decided that the best thing to do would be to shut off specific grids at planned times during the day. In this instance “Planned” is being used in a very loose sense of the word. That night, the power did not work in our favor. Our dinner was driven over to another home in a different grid and promptly returned for us to devour!
Somewhere during the first day or two of our visit we made our way to “The Round House.” This was actually a round house that has been in Kinesh’s family for many years. There, we were introduced to a lot of Kinesh’s family members including more Uncles, Aunts, Grandparents, Cousins etc.
In preparation for our upcoming road trip, our clothes were hand washed and hung dried, not to mention perfectly ironed by the house maid…Barbara. Not only were pants and shirts ironed, but so was everything else, down to our underwear and socks too! “Barbara” soon became the household name used to describe every house maid encountered from that point on. Not only was the term used to describe the local house maids, Priya soon became known as “Queen B,” as she helped to serve not only the five of us, but her cousin Paras too.
That night we went to sleep knowing that we needed our rest. The next day we would be hitting the road and heading south to Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Africtravelers
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7:59 PM
