A Day In The Sun

Well, day two is winding down and the mosquitoes are circling us like vultures descending on carrion. 

  After a magnificent breakfast, we ended up  spending the day being pampered at a hair salon run by a wonderful lady that was my mum’s friend.  We also took a trip through the city centre which has changed so much. 

Hoopoe bird on the telephone line

The heat mixed with the smell of burning wood filled the backdrop to the traffic chaos on the crowded streets. Cars hooted and flew past in their mad dash to get to different destinations further up the congested roads.  Men, women and children risked life and limb in their brazen attempts to sell water bottles, flags, airtime and snacks to cars stopping briefly at traffic lights.    
Watching the hwindi’s (illegal touts who stand on the sides of roads encouraging commuters into Emergency Taxis, an informal transport link) work their street corners by corralling prospective passengers into an ordered group for the oncoming Emergency Taxis made me think of how ingenious Zimbabweans are.     

With every possible economic and natural disaster washing over their towns and cities, the motto of the survivors is: Don’t worry, we’ll work a plan!

For those of you old enough to have watched the tv show, Macgyver, you will remember  his amazing talents of using whatever he had at hand to create something extraordinary that would help save him. Well, that for me is a typical Zimbabwean. 

Water storage with carious sources of fuel in case the water and electricity are turned off, a frequent occurrence in Zimbabwe

 Everywhere you turn, people are creating/inventing incredible things to help make life easier. I am in awe of their resilience and forward thinking in a time when most are crushed.

A millipede, better known locally as a Chongololo!