Tuesday, January 26th - Matobo, Zimbabwe

This morning we were up reasonably early so we could get away and drive to the nearby Great Zimbabwe National Monument and have a tour there.  Miriam was our guide and she was fantastic.  I think she was just waiting flip-flops or light shoes but she moved pretty fast over the rough ground and rocks and climbed up the hill to the ruins pretty quickly.  She was a local and a big woman so you just didn't expect her to move so fast.  I certainly couldn't keep up to her and others were also commenting on the pace.  Luckily she had a lot of information to tell us so there were lots of stops along the way as we learned about the site but it was a big site and we really had to hustle to see it all before our departure time.

Great Zimbabwe is Africa's most significant ruins site south of Cairo and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.   The name Zimbabwe means large or important houses of stone and this was the largest site so thus the Great Zimbabwe name.  Some believe it means the court or parliament of the country.  Zimbabwe, the country, was named after the site.  From the 11th to 15th century it was a major trading centre and artifacts from China, Persia, Arabia and other distant places have been found.  The area was rich in gold and that is why it flourished.  The population was close to 20,000 at one point and by the middle of the 15th century the land could no longer support the city - lack of water and agricultural production - so the city collapsed.  Most believe the site was constructed by the Bantu and Shona people although Rhodes tried to convince everyone it couldn't possibly be the blacks who built such a site.  Some historians tried to make a link to the Queen of Sheba but I don't think that was accepted by many.

There are three main areas: the hill ruins, the great enclosure ruins and the valley ruins.  The hill ruins is believed to have been the Royal city with its high granite base and buildings and covered walkways made of granite and sand brick.  Some of the walls are over five metres high and have no mortar within them and yet they are still standing today.  This area is believed to have been the king's residence and that of other VIPs and a ritual area for worship as well.  It was high on the hill so this was the biggest climb of all.

The Great Enclosure was to the south and lower down the hill.  It was an elliptical shape and had several large individual living areas with kitchens and living areas and in conical shapes.  Miriam said these were the residences of the Royal wives.  She also said that the King would yell from the "communication rock" up on the hill to summon whichever wife he wanted at the time and everyone in the valley would hear him.  Obviously he made other announcements that way too but this is the only one she mentioned. 

The Valley ruins were the living quarters and businesses of the regular residents and they spread throughout the lower valley and were made of brick and other materials.  Some of them were the most current in construction.

There were other parts of the site that we did not have time to see, including a museum which probably would have been very interesting.  One of the interesting finds on the site was that of several soapstone carved Zimbabwe birds.  These were large and supposedly sat on the top of pillars up on the hill.  Other artifacts were also in the museum but we did just the outside tour.

After our tour we all piled back on the bus and were on our way again for about a 400 km drive.  We of course had several stops for facilities and food.  We even had a shopping stop along the side of the road.  There was one big curved area with a big pullout and there were a number of vendors there selling a lot of different merchandise but mainly carvings.  I wandered around and looked at things but didn't buy anything.  Luckily, some of the people on the tour did a great job of supporting the local economy - and some of them bought a lot of stuff.

We drove through Bulawayo the second largest city in the country, and it was very modern looking - at least what we saw of it.  There were high rises and wide streets with boulevards.  There were large homes, some with big yards, and the whole area just seemed so much richer than the rest of the country we had seen to date.

This was the day our itinerary said we could go visit John Cecil Rhodes' graveside in Matobo National Park but we couldn't do that because we were apparently too far away from the site.  I don't think anyone was too disappointed but it might have been interesting to see.   He was certainly a big part of their history - the history of all of Southern Africa actually.

The Farm House was our hotel for the night and it was a farm with horses in the middle of nowhere.  There was a large garden area and a pool and a outdoor braai (BBQ) and eating area.  There was also an indoor restaurant and lounge with large patio looking over the garden.  Our rooms were chalets that circled around the main area.  It was very relaxing and very quiet - a great place to spend a couple of nights.

Dinner tonight was a braai and we ate outside.  It was delicious and there was lots of food.  And it was wonderful to be sitting out under the stars, and there were a lot of starts out by the time we finished.  After dinner, some folks spent some time in the lounge drinking and dancing to the music which our guide was now in control of, having taken it away from the bartender.  I was simply sitting and doing some internet work as this seemed to be the best place to get good reception.  I didn't stay too late but it was after most people had gone to bed so I have to confess that it was very dark outside trying to find my little chalet but I made it.