Well, here we are. Our final country of this journey! Zimbabwe has one hell of a tale to tell.

Zimbabwe began the twentieth century as a British colony called “Rhodesia”. Named after the notoriously racist mining magnate Cecil Rhodes. Cecil was also a friend of Dorothy, in love with his private secretary Neville Pickering. Sadly for gay people in Zimbabwe, Cecil and Neville kept their relationship private. Rhodesia outlawed homosexuality in 1891. Modern-day Zimbabwe is a country where 50% of gay people have been physically assaulted. That is if they haven’t already been sent to prison for 14 years just for being true to who they are. Cecil, great work sister.

Zimbabwe has been an independent country since 1980. At this point, we enter the Robert Mugabe chapter of Zimbabwe’s story. Mugabe’s rule is synonymous with ethnic cleansing, corruption and the worst monetary policy known to humankind. Under Mugabe’s leadership, hyperinflation reached levels of 79,600,000,000% per month in 2008. This beats Venezuela’s shocking hyperinflation hands-down. Inflation was so rife that Zimbabwe printed a Z$100,000,000,000,000 (one hundred trillion dollars) banknote. All of which featured Zimbabwe’s now-infamous balancing rocks. They certainly proved a lot more stable than the Zimbabwean currency. Luckily for Zimbabwe Mugabe was deposed of his duties in 2017.

Despite Zimbabwe’s misfortune with its past leaders, Zimbabwe is known for being a country of superlatives, thanks to its rich farmlands and plentiful gold and diamond reserves. Zimbabwe is also home to Victoria Falls (the largest waterfall in the world) and Lake Kariba (the largest man-made lake in terms of volume). Wait, isn’t that Zambia? Well yes, but both of these mammoth landmarks actually span both countries.

Anyway, enough of the geography lesson. Realising that this was my last country of this journey, I thought it was fitting to include the perspective of someone who knows far more about Zimbabwe than I do.

I reached out to a close friend Wadzi to interview her about Zimbabwe. Wadzi is Zimbabwean, but lives in Germany. If this experience taught me anything, it’s that I might be able to write regularly, but my interviewing skills are very lacking…

Q - What is one thing that might surprise people about Zimbabwe?

A - “The US Dollar is a widely accepted and preferred currency”.

This answer doesn’t surprise me at all knowing Wadzi. Of all of the people I know, Wadzi is the master of commerce. I’ve never seen anyone with the ability to get through the Zalando checkout faster than Wadzi. If only it was an Olympic sport.

Q - What’s do you miss most about Zimbabwe?

A - “The SUN and thunderstorms lol.”

I find this astonishing. After living with Wadzi in Coventry for a year, I never once heard her complain about the weather. Well, other than every single time we stepped outside.

Q - What is the one thing a visitor must do when going to Zim?

A - “Definitely visit the Victoria Falls”.

I’m buying my tickets now. My Zambian tour guide will be so sorely disappointed. 

Left with the feeling that this interview didn’t quite provide the David Frost level of insight I was aiming for I scoured my memories and the internet to unearth two final facts about Zimbabwe.

Firstly, from nights out with Wadzi I know the Zimbabwean driving license is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen in a wallet. It’s guaranteed to get its owner ejected just about any nightclub, bar or airport. The reason for this is the Zimbabwean driving license is made from solid metal with oxidised lettering. A unique, and hardwearing approach to driving licenses.

The second morsel I present for you is that Zimbabwe’s biggest tree, the imaginatively named “The Big Tree” in Chirinda Forest is a whopping 65m tall and measures 4.5m in diameter. It’s estimated to be over 1000 years old is now a national monument in Zimbabwe.

The big tree isn’t the only natural wonder in Zimbabwe - the country is endowed with a vast wealth of wildlife in its ten national parks filled with all of the big five and 685 species of bird.

Right, I think this wraps up today’s post and this whole series for that matter. I really need a cold Zambezi. 

I’m going to take a bit of a break now. After writing 198 blog posts this year it’s time for me to do something else. There have been times it’s been tough writing every day. Some days I genuinely felt like throwing in the towel.

Try knocking out a blog post at 11:43 on a Friday night after a day’s work, three beers and a shot of aquavit. You’ll know what I mean.

As for today’s destination Zimbabwe, there could have been no finer country to finish this project. It’s unlikely to be a fast transformation, but I genuinely hope Zimbabwe’s fortunes improve now Mugabe’s reign is over.

Anyway, if you’ve read these posts I hope you’ve enjoyed them, and like me learned something along the way. I’m going to write one final post delving into what I’ve learned on this journey.