Here are his thoughts on Day One:
It’s my first trip to Zimbabwe in years. The border crossing has never been nice and takes forever (for as often as SADC meets, can’t they streamline this?) but somehow the chore of getting across the Limpopo makes arriving that much sweeter.
The air smells different once you arrive, earthier and warmer and more like home. And I wonder what the South Africans did to their trees. What happened to their baobabs?
I love stopping to look at the trees on the highway from Beitbridge. Once upon a time, the road after the border was filled with black market money changers. Now the Engen service station takes money in any currency you care to offer. They quote the price in US dollars, and at the touch of a button, it’s converted to rands.
Now the street vendors are selling SIM cards, fire extinguishers, traffic triangles and safety vests. But just a bit farther out, when the donkeys start appearing on the roadside with their clanging cowbells, the trees get bigger and more beautiful.
This one is a place for lovers. Over decades, the two trunks have grown into one, and people try to immortalize their own love by carving names, initials and hearts in the bark. Baobabs are soft but resilient. They heal themselves over time, so one day the old initials will get absorbed into the tree while new ones get carved on top. It’s not a bad system. – http://zimbabweelection.com/2013/04/30/zimbabwe-election-road-trip/
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