Zimbabwe, like Botswana, is a landlocked country near the base of the African continent.
Its neighbours are Mozambique (to the east), South Africa and Botswana
(to the south and west), and Zambia (to the north).
Zimbabwe lies on a high plateau, and its terrain consists primarily of grasslands
bordered on the east by mountains.
The northeastern border of the country is marked by the mighty Zambezi River,
along which is located the incomparable spectacle of Victoria Falls and the
magnificent expanse of Lake Kariba.
The Zambezi has become one of the world's best water adventure travel destinations,
offering outstanding whitewater rafting in the Zambezi Gorges below the falls
as well as excellent canoeing and kayaking above them.
Other adventures include bungee jumping and micro-light flying.
Oddly enough most of these activities are run from the Zambian side of the falls,
for tax reasons !
There is evidence of settlements in Zimbabwe dating from as long ago as the
second century AD, but these early inhabitants were supplanted around the 5th
century by Bantu-speaking peoples.
In southeastern Zimbabwe, in 1870, European explorers came upon an impressive ruined city,
which they believed to be the biblical city of Ophir, the site of King Solomon's mines.
The immediate result was a frantic, and utterly unsuccessful, search
for gold deposits in the surrounding region.
Archaeologists have more recently determined that the site was occupied as early as
the 3rd century AD, but that its ruins date from the12th to the 15th century.
Known as Great Zimbabwe, it was during its heyday the capital of a Shona trading
empire that collapsed for reasons that remain unknown.
By the middle of the19th century, with European influence still slight, the region's Shona
states had been defeated by an invading Ndebele army from the south.
Ndebele power didn't last long, however. In 1890, the fortune-hunting Cecil Rhodes
arrived at the head of a private army of settlers and commenced to conquer
what he thought might be a rich gold-producing region.
By 1897 the area had been completely subdued.
In 1923 Rhodesia became a self-governing British colony, completely controlled by
the white settlers.
Currently, however, Zimbabwe is in a state of turmoil. Members of the Zanu PF political party,
many of them independence war veterans led by Chenjerai Hunzvi, have occupied some
1500 white-owned farms in the hopes of spurring land reforms (in the cards since 1980).
Exacerbated by inflation of more than 50%, HIV infection rates that may be as high as 40%,
and chronic unemployment, this might not be the most relaxing moment to visit Zimbabwe.
Yet, despite the recent instability, which is confined primarily to specific rural areas,
most of Zimbabwe's cities are bright and well-organised.
With a little planning and a lot of healthy caution, now may be a good time to visit often
jam-packed Victoria Falls and the country's other popular tourist destinations.
Whether you're lying in a tent listening to hippo snuffle in the river nearby or shaking
your booty at an all night percussion jam, there's enough elbow room to raise a bucket of
chibuku to your lips and toast your good luck in being there.
