Don’t Look Back In Nyanga
A couple of weeks back when we were first experiencing Zimbabwe in the town of Victoria Falls, I made the comment that the cash crisis was driving the country towards a cashless society and that Visa is accepted everywhere. I so regret saying that now – it turns out to be a completely misguided statement based on a tourist driven micro economy in one single town, and not in the slightest bit true of Zimbabwe as a whole. In fact it’s probably the biggest load of bo***cks I’ve ever written. We’re finding this out the hard way.
The near six hour drive from Great Zimbabwe to Nyanga first takes in long spells of barren land, turning more fertile after crossing the Save River on the unexpectedly spectacular Birchenough Bridge. Eventually we reach the large city of Mutare at the foot of the mountains, from where the scenery makes a radical change: lush greenery even featuring pine covered slopes which lead down to fast flowing rivers. Bold mountains thrust their rounded peaks and towering granite pillars skywards, gorges trace deep clefts between those peaks. Roadside restaurants specialising in fresh trout begin to appear – this is now very different terrain, so markedly different from the rest of Zimbabwe.
North of Mutare the mountain road lifts us above the city, yet views quickly become obscured by a growing dense haze which seems to be getting thicker with every mile. As we get within half an hour of our destination the scene makes another change – and this time it’s horrific. The entire area, this beautiful landscape with its wonderful views, has been absolutely ravaged by wildfire.
Unbelievably large areas are devastated, ranging from burnt woodland to huge black fields where crops have been consumed by the flames. Where the ground isn’t black, it’s white with the covering of ash left by the inferno – the heat has been intense enough to reduce whole trees to piles of white dust; the ash is so deep in places that it looks like snow. We now know what that deepening haze was: these valleys are filled with smoke trapped by the hot air. The sun is a hazy blur, the sky invisible behind the curtain of smoke. Hulking mountains have become nothing more than vague outlines. Visibility is severely impaired.
Calling in for diesel at the cutely named village of Juliasdale, I ask the guy when this all happened. “Started in the middle of August and still burning now. We have all been very afraid”. Burning for four weeks then. Sure enough, as we get nearer to Nyanga, fallen boughs lay smouldering in the ash, and occasionally we can see the telltale orange glow of flames reflecting in the clouds of smoke. The unreal devastation comes to the very doorstep of our hotel, blackened eucalyptus trees along the dirt road driveway and the acrid smell of smoke hanging in the air.
We came here to see beautiful scenery and it’s been destroyed, came here to see views which are now hidden by the dense smoke, and came here to hike the hills which are all but inaccessible. And just as we are wondering what “Nyanga time” is going to look like now with this unexpected twist, the issue of money and Visa cards rears its head and slaps us full in the face.
Checking in at the hotel which, incidentally, seems empty apart from us and the staff, is going perfectly normally until I produce my Visa card to pay and the guy behind the desk gives me pretty much the look you would get if you tried to pay with a dead trout.
“Our system does not accept foreign cards”, he explains, without saying why they didn’t tell us this when we booked, especially as we told them at the time how we’d be paying. You see, with a hefty cash deposit left in the hands of the rental company which will hopefully be returned when we take the car back, we’d calculated carefully how much cash to carry to Nyanga in order to have enough but not be overloaded. We certainly don’t have enough to pay for three nights lodging, food, drink and diesel.
Hotfoot then to Nyanga’s only Bank, where the ATM is silent and lifeless with a blank screen and the manager is shaking his head. “Our system does not accept foreign cards”, he explains. There’s a theme developing here. There’s nothing for it but to talk the hotel into letting us pay for just the first night and defer payment for tonight’s dinner until….well, just until.
Next morning, we try the same Bank again plus two money lender outlets in downtown Nyanga and meet with three very similar refusals. As in, why the bloody hell would you idiots think that Visa cards will work this far from civilisation. We guess they have a point, but then again the hotel had said they accepted cards and we knew there was a Bank in town. How were we to know that neither of them would play ball?! The nearest “proper” ATM is, it turns out, 90 minutes drive away back in Mutare. Ah well, I quite liked the feel of Mutare when we passed through, we may as well go and take another look.
You know, one of the arts of travel is to make the best of things when they go wrong and turn them to your advantage. So, Michaela, how about lunch at one of those trout restaurants we saw along the way? Cue some proper relaxation, ample cash now stashed in pocket, sitting here at a cute table high above the river, consuming the most incredible smoked trout wraps you could ever wish to eat. Yeah, smoked trout wraps, you better believe it. Divine smoked trout wraps.
Trout and more trout
And that’s that. We’ve paid the hotel, we have enough cash for diesel, enough for food and even enough for a beer or two. We’ll probably have far too much for comfort when we get the car deposit back but hey we’ve been as resourceful as we can and our cash problems have been solved. Should be plain sailing now.
After a couple of hours working on the Namibia plan, and how to fill our time tomorrow in this fire ravaged region, it’s time for a shower before beer o’clock.
Michaela turns on the taps. The water is the colour of mud, a thick brown liquid which would make a hippo think twice before showering. Just as we pull on some clothes to go and tell the manager, the power goes off, the lights go out and we’re plunged into darkness. Oh this is such a fun week.
By the following morning the mountain breeze has lifted some of the smoke from the valleys and the lovely rolling scenery basks in the early sunshine. There’s no doubting this is beautiful scenery and without the blackened earth and charred trees Nyanga would be absolutely delightful. Taking advantage of the improvement we drive to a number of destinations in the area: the little town of Nyanga itself, worthwhile sights inside the Nyanga Park and out to the Nyangombe Falls.
The sweeping mountainous countryside is good on the eye, the waterfalls are great places to sit and listen to the soothing sound of the cascading water, and even Nyanga itself has that recognisable laissez faire feel of a mountain town. It’s such a shame to see so much damage to a beautiful natural environment.
Back in Bulawayo somebody had said to us that Nyanga is their favourite place in Zimbabwe. We can certainly see why that would be.
36 Comments
normareadtalktalknet
Well, what a horrific experience, last pic though looks very Zen! even time for some lippy.. alls well that ends well 💋
Phil & Michaela
Never parted from the lippy, my Mrs….😃
Toonsarah
A post full of contrasts, this! The beautiful scenery versus the devastation of the fire, the delicious-looking trout wraps versus your struggles to pay for anything, the relaxation by the waterfalls versus the challenges in getting a shower 😉 But you’re so right, ‘one of the arts of travel is to make the best of things when they go wrong and turn them to your advantage’, and you’ve certainly done that here!
Phil & Michaela
And that’s without mentioning that the hotel staff were so bad that we dubbed it “Beyond Fawlty Towers”! Such a shame about the fires though Sarah…it is so obviously a beautiful area and has been ravaged.
Toonsarah
We’re wondering if we’ll see the same in parts of California
Terry Christopherson
Beautiful photos.
Phil & Michaela
Thank you for your kind comment, Terry. The fire ravaged woods have a spooky look, don’t they.
Terry Christopherson
For sure.
Helen Devries
At least you were able to see something of what you wanted…..
One thing we found was that asking a bank for ATMs which accept its cards is one thing…getting an ATM to co operate is another. Here it is very hit and miss…. ATMs from the same bank behave differently.
Phil & Michaela
Yes, same in Zimbabwe, different reactions at different branches. Might have been useful if the hotel had told the truth too…!
Lynette d'Arty-Cross
When I started looking at the photos at the top of your post I thought that the haze looked like smoke. As a result of climate change we have had two horrific summers of forest fires (2023 was very, very bad) here in western Canada, so I recognised the look of forest fire smoke immediately. So heartbreaking to see this beautiful area in such a state of devastation. One of our iconic national parks was hit by fire in July. The best we can say is that after six weeks, it has been suppressed.
Phil & Michaela
It was seriously depressing to see – particularly because here, in an underdeveloped country, nobody came. No fire trucks, no water, no assistance of any kind. No state of emergency, no Government intervention. And as someone said, it didn’t even make national news, so nobody in the cities even knows it’s happened.
Lynette d'Arty-Cross
Agreed – that’s seriously depressing.
Heyjude
Makes you wonder how many creatures were killed, not to mention human populations.
Phil & Michaela
We had the same discussion…just how many?
Heyjude
Love the title 🤣
Trials and tribulations of African travel. The fires sound and look dreadful. I’m glad you survived that particular adventure.
Phil & Michaela
A mixed few days, I would say
Heyjude
Hope you are doing better now, wherever you are.
Phil & Michaela
In Botswana, in the town called Francistown. Not the most exciting of places as it happens…
Heyjude
Okavango Delta, Chobe. I found Botswana very different to the rest of Africa back in 2000. Much more affluent.
Phil & Michaela
In which case you’ll most likely be interested in our observations on Francistown, to follow shortly…!
Heyjude
😊
Lookoom
These wildfires remind me of Canada. As you say, the ones in Zimbabwe are not in the news. I often think that we depend too much on our credit cards, our phones and the internet, what a panic it will be the day the networks go down.
Phil & Michaela
And it will happen one day
Travels Through My Lens
The wildfires just seem to be getting more intense with each season, all across the globe. It’s very frightening. Your post is a perfect example of the Anthony Bourdain’s quote: “Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” Safe travels!
Phil & Michaela
A perfect example indeed!
WanderingCanadians
It’s always heartbreaking to see the aftermath of the wildfires. Glad the smoke cleared a bit and you were able to spend some time in nature. What a hassle about the visa/money situation, but it sounds like you made the most of it and managed to enjoy a good lunch while you were at it!
Phil & Michaela
Yes it was quite distressing to see the devastation. In terms of the cash stuff, I guess you just have to find answers! Part of the joys and challenges of travel.
grandmisadventures
How sad that so much of that beautiful area was damaged or ruined by fire. Back home in Utah summers always meant fires ringing the valleys. They would name them because there were so many. It was always so heartbreaking to see entire mountains covered in flames and then ash. It seems like this leg of your journey threw quite a few curveballs. But thankfully you were able to get the money needed and enjoy a fantastic trout wrap and see the beauty of the area without the fires 🙂
Phil & Michaela
It was awful to see, Meg, especially as these rural areas get absolutely no help. No fire crew arrives, no Government assistance, just nothing. They’re just left to cope with it themselves.
wetanddustyroads
The burned fields are such a sad sight – how long is it going to take to recover (if ever), especially since it’s so dry there at the moment? I have to say I was surprised when you mentioned that cards are preferred over cash, because 4×4 adventurers from South Africa driving through Zimbabwe always mention on forums that you have to make sure you have cash or you will have problems. However, I am happy to read that in the midst of this crisis, you were able to still see some beauty.
Phil & Michaela
Yep we got lulled into a false sense of security there….although to be fair the hotel had confirmed it would be fine, only to discover that it wasn’t! It’s a beautiful area and would be great to see when the fires haven’t caused such pain
Latitude Adjustment: A Tale of Two Wanderers
You guys have a lot of perseverance!
Phil & Michaela
Sometimes there’s no choice!
Alison
What a travesty of errors! Alls well that ends well though. We are used to forest fires in Australia, and I often wake up to the smell of burning. I can’t believe how resourceful you guys are.
Phil & Michaela
Sometimes there’s no other way!