Eastern Highlands
Our first segment out of Harare took us to the Eastern Highlands. This ridge of high mountains crests at the border of Zim and Mozambique, and reach elevations of roughly 2500 meters. The countryside is more rugged than I had anticipated, similar to the steep, new mountains of Southern California. This area is responsible for much of Zim's mining industry, one that produces a not insignificant amount of diamonds.
Our home base for the couple of days in the highlands was the little town of Chimanimani, gateway to the national park of the same name. The weather was a welcome departure from the heat and powerful sun, as the town rests about a mile above sea level. Cool nights made for good sleeping, even if mu and I were sleep fighting over the lone sleeping bag we brought on the trip.
We were lucky to have Grace, our tour leader, looking out for our adventure bent and arrange a guide to attempt the tallest mountain in the national park, Mt Binga. A shade under 2500 meters, it is a stiff hike that is slated to take 9+ hours. We had 6, due to the logistics of local transport, etc.
The Hike
The hike starts up a steep gully, ascending through pillars of rocks in a vaguely lunar setting. Once through that section, it emerges on a plateau that has broad vistas across the rest of the park, and to the farmlands of the east. As I have felt several other times here, the view is primordial, all that is missing is the t rex. Binga is looking ominous, craggy and a real challenge, still several thousands of feet above us. We push onward aggressively, at a near jog and blow through the park's hut. (Although our ever helpful guide stops for a cigarette break. thanks, it is not like we are in a hurry or anything)
Up another large gully finds us at the basin for the peak, with at least 750 feet of elevation to go and not much time. Here, our guide's pace falls off and he starts taking even more breaks. Finally, my patience tapped out, i just blow by him as he stops for yet another break. With the guide left behind, the two us push very hard for the summit, winded but well within our limits. Ever since the Muir trail, we have found an ability to keep moving even when quite fatigued, which translates into highly productive and sustained periods of exertion.
Right about at our turn around time to get back down, the summit pinnacle comes into view. Yes! We have done it, and have expansive views looking across many, many square miles of Zim and Mozambique. Man is it pretty up here!
After a quick bite to eat, we head down, meeting our guide quite a bit below the summit. He has brought no food on this hike, so mu gives him her PB&J. Why would you bring food on a 6 hour extremely strenuous hike? We have to keep moving fast to get the transport back to town, outright running a few times an safely navigate the steep decent. We pull into the base camp at 6 hours and 15 minutes, a very tidy performance. We could not do this hike much faster and will feel the burn in our legs for quite a few days. It is well worth it, as the views and experience were perfect and quite unexpected. This is a part of Zim that is not frequently visited and a real gem.
Great Zimbabwe
From the beloved rigors of high mountain hiking, we move on to the Midlands and Great Zimbabwe. This is the name of the ancient civilization that populated the center of Zim from the 13th - 17th century. This ancient site is the greatest in southern Africa. At its height, the civilization had about 20k on this site, ruled by a king who had 200 or so wives. Through a mix of grazing and agriculture, the civilization thrived, trading with people as far away as China, the Middle East and Portugal. The civilization controlled territory that includes modern day South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique.
Zimbabwe literally means 'house of stone' and this civilization is the namesake for the country. House of stone is quite appropriate for the countryside itself, as there have been boulder fields and large granite domes sprinkled throughout. All of the dwellings here are made of granite bricks, hued from heating the rock and then pouring water to induce natural fracturing. The rock walls are very impressive, up to 10 meters tall and still super solid.
The hisotry and images of this ancient civilization have been appropriated by the government, both in the name and through decorative art that is at the center of the modern flag. We did not know anything about the site or culture before visiting, but it is a history worth appropriating. The site has two major areas of ruins, one high on a cliff band that served as the king's lair and a large complex in the valley floor.
I preferred the hill complex, with grand views across the very pretty countryside. The complex is beguiling in its use of the large, intact boulders and the man made brick walls, which merge seamlessly. There is no mortar used in any of the construction, just gravity and natural force keep these walls together. They look like they will easily last another 7 centuries, at a minimum.
The entire archeology site reminds me of Manchu Piccu in Peru, with the ordered rock walls. Yet, i dreamed of visiting the Peruvian ruins for years and years before going and only just learned of this site few days ago. Surprising and a failure on my part. I am curious if any readers knew of this civilization before the post, did I just miss it in my global anthropological background knowledge?
These last few days have been wonderful, and quite surprising. I did not expect to get into the alpine zone nor visit the ruins of a truly advanced ancient society on the entire trip, much less in one country. And yet we have done both in the space of 2 days, very comfortably in fact. A testament to the variety and scope of this oh so interesting country.
:o)
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