Bulawayo (8-25)

Wednesday was travel day. I had to wake up at 6:00 to be at the bus pick up location at 7:00. The trip to Bulawayo took 5.5 hours. Since this was an Intercape bus, it was reasonably comfortable. I came to Bulawayo to visit two national parks. On the way to the guesthouse, the driver who met me told me he could take me, and I agreed.

The guesthouse is in a residential area out of the city. I had an enjoyable walk to a nearby grocery store to pick up some drinks and snacks. Then I settled into the garden to relax, eat, and read. Photos of the garden were a big attraction for choosing this guesthouse, and relaxing there at the end of each day became my routine.

Thursday morning Albert picked me up and we headed to Matopos National Park. The park is known for its rock formations and cave paintings. Another site there (with an additional fee) has Cecil Rhodes’ grave. As we went through the park, I learned that Albert had been to the gravesite but had not been farther into the park and had not seen the cave paintings. So he enjoyed the tour as much as I did, which was nice. He later told me that he had a good job as a sales representative, but two years ago the white owners closed the company and left the country. So now he uses his car as a taxi to earn some money. His wife is a teacher at a government school, but teachers are not being paid now due to the economic crisis.

When we came to the first stop, I informed Albert that we would be stopping everywhere. This one was the MOTH shrine which honors men killed on Easter 1947. Their ashes are in a memorial there. A sign gave some information, but it wasn’t clear why they were killed that day.

As we drove, I enjoyed the many rock formations. They are reminiscent of places in the Southwest U.S. Albert told me that the word “Zimbabwe” means “stone house.”

There were bundles of elephant grass along the road. Women cut the grass, bundle it, and set it on the side of the road to sell. When we saw some women, Albert learned that they sell each bundle for $1, which is nothing for all the work involved. It is used for the thatched roofs on the huts and needs to be replaced every two years.

The first cave we came to was White Rhino Cave. Getting to the cave required walking up over the rocks to it. The cave is small, but the paintings on the walls are amazing. Even though the paintings are rather faint, it was exciting to examine them and make out the lines of the drawings. A ranger later told us that they are 4000-6000 years old. 

Favorites are the white rhino 

and the giraffes.

When I paid to enter the park, I asked if they have a map. They don’t. So we were on our own. When I saw the sign to the dam, I decided we should go there. It turned out to be a good choice. Before the dam there was another cave—Pomongwe Cave, and there was a small museum at the parking lot. We had to pay to go to the cave, but the ticket includes the Cecil Rhodes gravesite, which I had not chosen to go to. The ranger explained the museum exhibits to us and told us that there is a cave with better paintings after the dam.

 Pomongwe cave is the largest easily accessible cave. It was occupied from 10,000 to 2,000 years ago, and the paintings are 2000 to 6000 years old. Paint was made from ground stone mixed with blood or animal fat. 

They are quite high on the wall because the floor used to be much higher. This we learned from a man who was visiting with his family. He grew up in the area and used to play in the cave. He and his friends found a lot of caves in the mountains. He was visiting to show his sons where he grew up, as they live in London now.

After the cave we headed for the dam and Nswatugi Cave, the one the ranger recommended. The river on the bottom side of the dam has very little water, and there is no water on the top side. 

The turn to the cave was farther than we had thought, and then it was seven kilometers on a dirt road. Once we arrived, we had to walk about a kilometer up to the cave. But, once we saw the cave paintings, we agreed that it was well worth the effort to get there. The cave is smaller than Pomongwe, but the paintings are much clearer. Just as we were finishing, a tour group arrived. We were really glad to have had as long as we wanted to enjoy the paintings alone.

On the way out of the park, I decided that we should stop at the Cecil Rhodes gravesite since I’d paid to see it. The site is called World’s View. Rhodes requested to be buried there because this was a place he liked to visit to relax. The grave is on the top of the mountain; so we had a short walk up to it. It is a popular pilgrimage site for British people. 

The view from the top is spectacular.

With the rocks, cave paintings, and view from the top of the mountain, it was a fantastic day. It was fun to share Albert’s excitement as we explored places that were new to him. On Friday he told me that he had told his wife and children about everything he had seen.