Leaving Capetown tomorrow

We’ve been so busy since we arrived in Capetown that we haven’t had a chance to update the blog. We were also remiss in documenting our trip to Matobo National Park, about 40 min outside of Bulawayo, the Sunday after we arrived in Bulawayo. It’s the only place I had been previously on a work trip when my colleagues and I took a half day to visit in between meetings. This time we hired a guide, having also finally dropped off our rental car. Not only is driving in Zim challenging bc you have to drive on the left side, with the driver on the right, but the roads can be quite harrowing as they are riddled with potholes and two lanes only. To make matters worse, livestock such as goats, cattle, and donkeys can step into the road at any time as you are whizzing by. We had also hired a guide hoping to see some white or black rhinos, which are supposed to be quite abundant in the park. Our guide Blessing was able to call the park rangers to see where rhinos have been spotted so that the chances of seeing one are quite high. Unfortunately it was raining the entire day, resulting in no rhino sightings. However, we did see some rock paintings of a rhino, wildebeest, as well as other animals that date back 10,000 years ago. In addition to the cool rock formations and wildlife, the other big draw to the park is Cecil Rhodes’ grave. He is the British millionaire who made his fortune through South African diamond mines, establishing DeBeers, before “founding” Zimbabwe and claiming it for the British as Rhodesia. He did so by swindling an illiterate chief to sign over all mining rights to him. He is also the benefactor of Rhodes scholars. Although many Zimbabweans are rightfully not fond of him, Mugabe at some point while he was still in power, prevented the desecration of his grave by arguing that the country would lose a huge tourist attraction. Although we were got quite cold in the wind and rain, we were warmed up by a fabulous meal of barbecued or braaied meat, vegetables, and fruit skewers that Blessing prepared for us.