Wed. 29th May 2013
We were up early today to say goodbye to Liz who is heading on with Nomad to Nairobi and it is sad to see her go as we have had so much fun. As we are up early we decided to play nine holes, well there is a golf course here. The hotel has clubs for hire, a relaxed dress code and caddies to carry our bags for us. The tee markers are shaped as elephants, grey for the men and pink for the ladies which seems very appropriate. All that remains is to see if we remember how to play. If not we can just enjoy our surroundings.
The course is full of wildlife such as warthogs and impala grazing on the fairways. It is also approaching dry season and the sprinklers are all on, in excess at times as we squelch through the wet ground. We have an audience of staff to see us off as the hotel is not busy and our caddies are quite friendly and chatty. They are keen for us to tell our friends to come to Zimbabwe and impress on us how tough a time they are having. We were the only people playing today but there was still a drinks cart waiting for us by the sixth tee, any excuse to get some more money out of us. We called the game a draw and I think we will need to practice when we get home.
This afternoon we finalise most of our plans for the next week and we are looking forward to seeing more of Zimbabwe especially staying at The Hide in Hwange National Park with its many game activities. After spreading our belongings around our room for four days and on Janis before then, it is time to squeeze everything back in our backpacks and I am amazed how such a big pile of stuff can compress into such a small space.
We did have time to catch up with family and it was good to talk and to wish my mum a happy birthday for the 31st. We are thinking of you all and looking forward to seeing everyone next month (I am writing this on 1st June!). Where did the last ten months go? Out thoughts inevitably wander at times to sorting our re-entry to life in the UK but we try mot to dwell too long as Africa is amazing and we do not want to miss a second of our time here.
It is quiet in the hotel bar for supper, only one other table is occupied. Our companions for the last twenty days all gone their own ways and it is just the two of us again and our backpacks. We are not sure exactly what Zimbabwe has in store for us, or how easy it will be to get around but I am sure it will work out, just like every other place we have visited on this trip.