Running to stay warm

The power situation in Zimbabwe leaves much to be desired. My colleagues and Viv have all informed us that it has recently worsened. Fortunately, the cottage has a backup solar powered generator, but during outages, which can last up to 18 hours or longer, we cannot use the microwave, toaster, washing machine, tea kettle, oven, etc. Internet connectivity is also not great. Kyusik and I have repeatedly been dropped from our Zoom calls. There is no dryer either, so we have to hang up all of our clothes on a clothesline outside. At least we are able to use the gas stove, so we have been frying or toasting our bread in a pan and boiling water or heating up leftovers on the stove. It has also been pretty cloudy most of the time, which means that it doesn't ever warm up in the cottage. The only ways to get warm include taking a shower, getting into bed, building a fire (which only warms up the living area), and going for a run. Last week, while I was gone for 2.5 days in Mutare, a city about 3.5 hours to the southeast, close to the border of Mozambique, Kyusik and the boys almost froze and had to go running to keep warm. 

There is only one hydroelectric dam in the whole country. Even at full capacity, it cannot generate enough power to supply half of the country, and right now, the water levels are low. To make matters worse, there are about 4-5 coal powered electricity generators, with most of them in need of repairs. A recent power surge when Zimbabwe borrowed electricity from South Africa resulted in the outage of these coal powered generators. South Africa does load shedding, power outages that they schedule. At least that is somewhat predictable compared to here, where you need to take every opportunity when the power is on to wash your clothes and have no idea when it will be back on. Kyusik also read that a solar energy project has received millions of dollars in investments that have just gone straight into the pockets of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's friend, with nothing to show for it. A similar alternative energy project has also resulted in only enriching his cronies. All of the Zimbabweans we have talked to about Mnangagwa say that he is actually worse than Mugabe because he makes decisions that are incredibly harmful to Zimbabweans. There has also been increased militarization of the government and surveillance. The banking situation also hasn't changed. My colleagues say that you need to withdraw any deposits immediately from the bank for fear of losing the funds and that most people still keep all of their savings at home. Even the data package that we bought one month ago has seen a 60% increase in the price in Zimbabwean dollars. Although the education system here used to be excellent, it is now declining with the teachers and lecturers only getting paid intermittently and not nearly enough to live on. The situation is also the same in the public health system, with trained health workers leaving to the private sector or leaving the country all together. Approximately 90% of all university graduates are unemployed, and the lucky ones leave the country to find employment elsewhere. 

Since I only returned back to the cottage after lunch last Saturday and didn't feel up to driving far, we went out to eat at a local Zimbabwean restaurant called Gavas that specializes in grilled meats and fish and stews, all served with sadza, which you can substitute for fries or peanut butter rice. The best part of our meal was the whole grilled bream.

Yesterday, we drove about 30 minutes outside of Harare to hike to the Domboshava cave, where there are ancient San paintings that date back to 4,000 to 13,000 years ago. At the top, there is also a balancing rock and lovely views of the surrounding area. Prior to our hike, we went grocery shopping and out to lunch to a place that served sushi, ramen, and Chinese dishes. There were 2 other tables of Chinese people and of course they were smoking. There is a big influx of Chinese people here because of the mining companies and other Chinese companies building infrastructure. The miso ramen noodle dish was tasteless, but the garlic shrimp glass noodle dish we had was quite good. 

In addition to Bryce’s post about our 2nd day at Imire, scroll back to July 10th to also read Acadian’s post about our first day there. It is a rhino conservancy that was entrusted with 7 baby rhinos when poaching was at its worst, successfully breeding both black and white rhinos that have then been reintroduced into the wild. Their 2 cheetah they acquired as cubs from a Canadian zoo. These cheetah have since been “rewilded” and are now hunting the impala and other antelope that inhabit the property. Our walks with elephants and cheetah and feeding black rhinos were especially magical.