The Zimbabwe Chronicles Part 2

Following lunch at Chitora, we all drove to Brian's home in Mutare, where we found Brian, Brian William, Lindsay, Lauren, Steven, baby Findlay, a lot of Australians - and chaos. Flo immediately took charge of Findlay, while the rest of us tried to help in some way, but, Sue, the wedding planner, was rather stressed so we didn't stay too long. We left to visit Lynne instead. What a lovely person she is!

Flo amuses Findlay, while Lauren and Sue look on.

Karen is amused at the efforts to put up a shade tent.

Brian, Paddy, Tim and David sneaked off to watch the Grand Prix while chaos reigned!

Sue showing signs of despair!

Lynne with Sue

From Lynne's house on the golf course, we finally drove up to the Inn on the Vumba, where we were to stay. Unfortunately, there was no Zesa! ZESA stands for the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority and it has become a noun, as in, "There is no Zesa!" or, "When is the Zesa coming on?" So, dinner that night was by candlelight - very romantic! The electricity came on again at about 3 am, but was off again, just when we needed to wash and dry our hair the next day. Fortunately, Christine, the manageress, had promised to turn on the generator if there was no electricity.

Our candlelit dinner at the Inn on the Vumba. Along the left from front to back: Sue, Karen, Kathy, Flo, Tim and Me. From the right from front to back: Terry, Paddy, Bernard, David and Margy. Séan is missing, as he kindly took the photo.

Tea arrived at 6 am and David and Terry went for a run and a swim. I had a bath (no showers!!!) and washed my hair in the hope that Christine would hold to her promise. Finally, at 7:30 am the generator kicked into life and we all managed to get to breakfast at 8 am all ready coiffed.

After breakfast, we all dressed in our finery and, at 10 am departed for Leopard Rock Hotel and the golf club house, where we were all to gather ready for the wedding of Lauren to Steven.

Elizabeth Coughlan

The Zimbabwe Chronicles Part 1

We were picked up at Harare Airport by Tim's driver, Lovemore, as Tim and Flo were on their way back from Mana Pools where Flo runs Goliath Safaris. Their home in Harare is lovely and the garden shows Flo's artistic touch.

Flo's garden. I love the little warthogs on the left!

All sorts of imported goodies are now available in Harare.

The next day (Friday), Tim, Flo and Séan had business to deal with, so David and I drove to Borrowdale Village. What a transformation! When David was there two years ago, The shops were empty. Then, in Bon Marché supermarket, all David could see were bottles of imported Zonnebloem wine and nothing else. Now, the shelves are groaning with all sorts of delights. People want for nothing - as long as they have access to the necessary American dollars. Unfortunately, huge swathes of the populous have no way of acquiring American dollars. They can buy nothing and can only resort to bartering, begging or burglary to survive.



That evening, we had a delicious braai, cooked by Tim. It was such a jolly evening as we caught up with each other's news.

Flo has added photography and writing to her other artistic skills. Her wildlife photos are stunning. Some of her latest show a lion kill that happened only a few metres in front of her. It is an amazing sequence of images.

On Saturday we relaxed looking out over Tim and Flo's garden. It is wonderfully tranquil and a twitcher's paradise. Tim has identified more than 70 different species of bird visiting their beautiful oasis in Harare.

On Sunday morning, we left Harare for Rusape where we were to have morning tea, followed by lunch, at Chitora, Terry and Sue's farm. There, we met up with Terry, Sue, Kathy, Karen, Paddy, Margie and Bernard. It was lovely to be at Chitora again as we have had many family gatherings there in the past - and I hope there will be many more to come.

Farmhouse teas are serious business for Paddy, David and Tim.

Séan, Karen and Margy relax in the garden at Chitora.

Elizabeth Coughlan

Off Again! This Time to Zimbabwe.

It seems that I am hardly back in Turkey again, that I am flying out on another mission. Tomorrow, Wednesday, David and I are off to Zimbabwe for ten days, to attend our niece Lauren's wedding. We will stay in Harare with Tim and Flo before driving up to Chitora, then on to Mutare for the wedding celebrations. We hope to visit Peterhouse as well while we are there. It should be a fun occasion!

On Sunday we said goodbye to David's ex PA, Nazlı, who is also getting married at this time. We were to have gone to her wedding, but it clashes with Lauren's. Nazlı is beginning an exciting new life in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, as her husband-to-be works there for the OECD (the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). We wish both of them everything they would wish for themselves.

People work hard in Turkey. mainly because they don't have the benefits safety net that allows people to idle away their lives in the UK. Sevil, my manicurist, is profoundly deaf, but she still works a full-time job in my local hairdressing salon doing manicures and pedicures. She is an expert lip-reader and communicates easily with her customers. She is such a lovely person and is always smiling.

Me with the lovely Sevil.


No one is afraid of doing menial tasks in Turkey, with the result that rubbish is collected and the streets are swept every single day. Istanbul is much cleaner than London, or even Norwich! We also have people who come in the night to sift through the rubbish for recyclable goods! People here work because they have no alternative.

Jessica's trip to Ludham, and other things.

I am in England, at present. I came to help look after Jessica while Clare was away doing scientific research on a ship in the English Channel. Before Clare left, we went to see the Northern Ballet's production of Wuthering Heights at the Norwich Theatre Royal. It was a wonderful performance, one we thoroughly enjoyed.

This is the village sign. They designed a new one for the millenium,
but it was stolen - can you believe that?

I have had a very busy week, here. One of the highlights was going on Jessica's school trip to the village of Ludham. It is believed that the village was established by the Saxons in, what is now, the Norfolk Broadlands. In 1066, King Canute founded St Benet's Abbey and included Ludham as one of its manors. It also has an entry in the Doomsday Book in 1086. The village even had a dragon at one time (so the legend goes). There is an active group that have established a village archive where information can be found (see http://www.ludhamarchive.org.uk)

Members of the archive society made this patchwork map of the village.

We visited the Church of St Catherine (yes, she of the Catherine Wheel - Jessica drew a picture of the wheel that is in the church) and the children explored the church and heard about its history. The present church dates from the fourteenth century, but there was a previous church on this site that had been taken over by St. Benet's Abbey in 1220. We then went on to explore the churchyard and the village itself. The children were interested in everything and were busy drawing and making notes for their report-back at school.

Jessica and her friend, Laura, explored the pulpit.

Their teacher told them about the history of the church.

The children learned about bell-ringing.

Everyone had a lovely day. The children were a delight and, for once, the sun shone most of the time.

Thatched cottages in the village of Ludham.

Elizabeth Coughlan