Hey there Moonraker68,
To be completely honest with you I haven't been following the news here for the last 18 months, as I've been overseas.
From what I saw, things in Zim are a struggle for many people out there. As in many place's around the world, the rich are very rich and the poor are, well very poor. However they struggle on and do anything to help each other. I met many people out there, blacks and whites and they all have their own stories to tell. The Zim 's are certainly a rare breed as they are an amazing race. They always seem to be happy and always willing to help. You may know that they converted to the US doller just over 2 years ago, which has helped to try and stabilise things in the economy anyway. There are still the political ongoings that don't need mentioning.
In the time we were there we spent time with family over christmas and new year then took off and travelled quite extensively around the country taking in the diversity of such beautiful countryside. As I have already said we visited many national parks, lakes and areas of natural beauty. This is a very underestimated place and I truly believe that things will be improving greatly within the next 5-10 years, hopefully sooner.
Sadly I didn't manage to get any hunting in but I did have some offers so I'll have to get my arse back soon to take them up. While there me and the missus helped out with the Midland Black Rhino Conservancy, which although did suffer from heavy poaching in the past, things changed when an ex Rhodesian Army sergeant major took over. The guys they have working there are noting short of amazing, The tracking skills and knowledge these men have is second to none and we learnt a lot. The first morning tracking we got close to a female rhino that did not want to settle down! I had the camera up and ready when I heard her running from our left to right, then she turned to what sounded like our direction. I was scanning around for the nearest big tree then round the other's faces to make sure we weren't all looking at the same tree! Just a week earlier one of the trackers we were with was helped up a tree by a charging rhino, sadly the tracker he was with at the time didn't get away so lightly, he was still in hospital when we were there. He's back at work now though.
Well that was a great introduction to our time with the prehistoric animal, and we both had a fantastic time helping the conservancy which relies solely on donations and the monies received by hunting clients. I know they hunts the various game animals in the area of which there are many, and the great thing is that it all goes back into the Midland Black Rhino's and the local community as all the workers for the conservancy are locals, not any outfitters pockets.
We didn't have any troubles at all in our time there. All in all I cant wait to get back.
Cheers, Mukiwa
I wish I was back there now
