Africa – 2017 – Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe – Oct. 6, 2017  Two more weeks to go. We are in Zimbabwe. Three more days here and then of to Botswana. Victoria Falls are flowing, but less than in the rainy season. The rock formations can be seen clearly.

The chasm is very deep and rugged. If the falls were flowing at full capacity we would not have been able to see the deep canyon.

There is a bright side to most things, if you just look for it, I guess.

The people and the food are great.

First chance at the internet as we have been waaay out in the bush. The spelling of waaay is no accident.

We have already taken two internal flights with good results. We are thrill seekers, that’s for sure.

The planes looked well cared for and everything worked out nicely. As they say, any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. These landings were perfect.

There has been an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease and we are required to soak our shoes in a disinfectant when crossing the border. Interesting.

The trucks are in long lines as they try to cross the border into and out of the country.

Many women work the long lines of trucks in the oldest profession on earth. Some think this activity is how the AIDS epidemic might have started.

There are rumblings of discontent here. Mugabe is still in power and the elections are not far off. The banks have frozen savings accounts. Withdrawals are limited to twenty dollars US per month.

There are people selling 1,000,000.00 notes on the streets for a dollar. It’s crazy.

There was no cooking oil in the markets as we left town. We learned more about what was going on in the country after we left.

People were being killed before the elections. You need to have the right shirt on when the folks representing their candidate come to your door, or its curtains.

The political parties are sometimes violent and run along tribal lines to a large degree.

I guess sometimes it’s better not to know what’s happening around you until you are safe somewhere else.

We just returned on October 31, 2023 from Jordan and Egypt. Yes, timing is everything. The stories of this amazing adventure with photos is now on Facebook at R.C. Hand.

There are now several videos here of my guest appearances on several podcasts as well as on Facebook.

Take a look at my novels on Amazon when you have a moment. The first chapters of my novels are all here on my website to read.

They include “The Adventures of the Smith Family”, “Sailing Away”, “Dreams of Costa Rica”, “Atlanta”, “Kazu, son of Oshida Kamasaki”, “Mrs. Vee” and another detective novel, “Judgment Day” among others.

The  photos and videos of my storytelling live on stage at The Long Beach Searches for The Greatest Storyteller event are are now up on Facebook and Instagram at R.C. Hand. I won the event one week with my story about an unsupervised Halloween.

Google R.C. Hand, author to learn more about me and to see all of my novel’s covers. Many of those covers are from photos of our trips around the world.

“Sunrise, Sunset,” my book of ten short stories is now on Amazon and is also available as an Audible book.