hahaha, we found out that the BBC called it a "non country" while we were gone.
if you can imagine what it would be like to travel to a country that is in entire economic collapse, you probably don't need to read this. but it's really something. some travelers go to places like this for the thrill of it; we were there because we planned to go through it and Mozambique to get to Malawi. after a few days of learning through and through that we cannot afford to eat if a loaf of bread is $2 and a little bottle of water goes for about the same. and we'd probably end up stuck in each town for a few days before we acquire the social networks necessary to find out when the next bus comes to the next town. and that it's impossible to walk five minutes without being hassled to purchase anything for anything. and it's not just the difficulty of traveling that would have been a pain in the ass, but finding food and accommodation, and a proper bank.
funny story
the actual exchange rate for the USD to the ZimDollar is about 1:100billion, and the rate increases exponencially. they dropped 14 zeroes before we got there, and 19 zeroes a few months before that.
the deal, though, is that all ATM's have a fixed rate of $Zim40,000 to the USD.
Our friend Mark used to run overland trucks from Nairobi to Capetown. standard trip, but back then they went through Zimbabwe - now they avoid it because it's too much of a hassle.
anyways, one of his buddies with the same job had a couple on one of his trips who wanted to check out zimbabwe. so the guy told them explicitly, "don't do anything while you're there. walk in, look around, and get out."
so these idiots go in, look around, and spot an ATM. now the max zim$ you can get out is 400,000. so they dropped USD1000 and got their pretty zim dollars.
and went to a restaurant. where they found out that their zim dollars weren't even worth one coca cola.
imagine how much their hearts sank. and there's nothing they could do about it. and there are tons of stories of idiot tourists who've done this. 1000pounds, couple hundred dollars.
if only someone would have told them that zimbabwe doesn't use zim dollars anymore --- they use USdollars.
idiots
1.04.2009
1.02.2009
ps
these posts are quite long, and i'm sure that by now nobody gives a shit, and gave up on consulting a map to figure out where the fuck tanginyika, mpulungu and ... where all these goddamn countries are.
but, i've got to keep my memories down. because they'll be gone soon enough. :S
so before we move onto zimbabwe, i forgot about the whole reason we went to livingston. victoria falls. wikipedia it, it's -damn- cool. the zambezi is a hella long river that at victoria falls drops into a 120m deep meandering valley. we were there in the dry season, so the falls themselves were practically absent, but the crater was damn cool. on the zambian side there's a stretch of 1.7km where the river above stretches wide and drops into this monstrous hole in the world. along the top of the zambian side, there are few (if no) rules, and b,g,s+i all walked around up there, dangling our feet off the top of this 120m drop (this was before we did the bungee, btw, and probably why we were inspired to do it). the four of us wandered up there for hours, on this moon-like landscape of very eroded rocks and rivulets and ponds and puddles, testing our agility by jumping around at the edge of the crater.
this was probably the highlight of our trip. even though the froot loop tea in nyakanazi was good, and the ferry was scenic, vic falls (even in the dry season) is absolutely breathtaking. and our free range up there is choice. capital. ;)
but alas, it's the kind of thing that's difficult to put into words, so i'll assume that my brain can remember how cool it was up there.
btw, we did vic falls in the morning, the bungee jump at 3pm ish, and went to the "boiling pot" in the late afternoon. little winding rivulets at the bottom of the crater where you can swim, and where the rafting co's start their trips.
but, i've got to keep my memories down. because they'll be gone soon enough. :S
so before we move onto zimbabwe, i forgot about the whole reason we went to livingston. victoria falls. wikipedia it, it's -damn- cool. the zambezi is a hella long river that at victoria falls drops into a 120m deep meandering valley. we were there in the dry season, so the falls themselves were practically absent, but the crater was damn cool. on the zambian side there's a stretch of 1.7km where the river above stretches wide and drops into this monstrous hole in the world. along the top of the zambian side, there are few (if no) rules, and b,g,s+i all walked around up there, dangling our feet off the top of this 120m drop (this was before we did the bungee, btw, and probably why we were inspired to do it). the four of us wandered up there for hours, on this moon-like landscape of very eroded rocks and rivulets and ponds and puddles, testing our agility by jumping around at the edge of the crater.
this was probably the highlight of our trip. even though the froot loop tea in nyakanazi was good, and the ferry was scenic, vic falls (even in the dry season) is absolutely breathtaking. and our free range up there is choice. capital. ;)
but alas, it's the kind of thing that's difficult to put into words, so i'll assume that my brain can remember how cool it was up there.
btw, we did vic falls in the morning, the bungee jump at 3pm ish, and went to the "boiling pot" in the late afternoon. little winding rivulets at the bottom of the crater where you can swim, and where the rafting co's start their trips.
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