Safety Tips in Zimbabwe

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Zimbabwe is a dictatorship and a badly run one at that. Over the last couple of years the economy has been run into absolute ruin. Zimbabwe used to be a major EXPORTER of food. Now it relies on outside food aid to feed its people – when the government lets the aid in. What does this mean to you as a traveller? You cannot get petrol. Plan on that fact. Also meat is hard to find. Just look at the picture of the shelves in the grocery store in Victoria Falls. What meat you find is frozen and must be cooked within an inch of its life. That’s because electricity goes off in the afternoons. It may have thawed before. Vegetables and other items can still be found. If you have a car, take everything you need from another country. It’s a shame, but that’s the state of affairs.

Or in the street either. You are looking at 1 MILLION DOLLARS! Unfortunately its Zimbabwe Dollars. Yep, 5 notes shouldn’t make up 1 Million of any currency. So here is the trick – and it is a trick. At the time I was there I got between 750,000 and 800,000 Zim dollars for $1 US or a cool 1.6 Million for every £1 (UK). If I had gone to the bank and gotten the OFFICIAL rate I would have only gotten about 260,000. That’s just how crooked the government is. And if you change money on the streets it could cost you, or more likely the local person, some time in prison. So how do you win? Go by the Travel/Excursion Operators and ask around. They will sort it out. Don’t get too much; even locals don’t want this Monopoly Money. Besides, the grocery stores are empty and there’s no fuel!

Freedom House publishes some great facts on "freedom" and Zimbabwe is on the list of the

"Worst of the Worst: The World's Most Repressive Societies 2007"

Other "Winners": Belarus, Burma, Chechnya, China, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Libya, N Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tibet, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Morocco

From Report:
In 2006, Zimbabwe suffered...deterioration of political rights and civil liberties amid a near-total collapse of the country’s economy.

protests prompted the large-scale deployment of security forces, the use of excessive force, mass arrests & physical abuse of detainees.

crackdown on the country’s few remaining independent media outlets, employing new technologies to jam radio broadcasts...monitor and intercept internet-based communications.

inflation over 1,200%...put the price of basic goods—including food and fuel—out of the reach of most Zimbabweans.

The government’s seizures of white-owned farmland..precipitated the collapse of Zimbabwe’s economy...[once] the majority of the country’s exports, foreign exchange, and jobs. ...seized land went to officials & loyalists...w/o farming background....making Zimbabwe the world’s fastest-shrinking economy in a country without an active war or insurgency

Corruption is rampant....at the highest levels of government...lack of transparency in govt allows graft to thrive.

security and military forces...abuse citizens with impunity. ...ignore basic rights regarding detention, searches, and seizures....govt has taken no clear action to halt the rising incidence of torture and mistreatment of suspects... human rights abuses such as assault torture, rape, extralegal evictions, and extralegal executions without fear of punishment.

Prison conditions are harsh and life-threatening.

Women enjoy extensive legal protections, but de facto societal discrimination and domestic violence persist.

Homosexuality, decried as un-African by Mugabe, is illegal in Zimbabwe.

Although the Matetsi is a national park which means the animals aren't meant for hunting or game, but on the other side of the river, on the zambian side there is no national park or reserve, which means that hunters from villages and pochers illegale cross the river and kill animals in the national park. They then drag them over the river by small boats. This is very bad because some animals like elephants can become hostile against humans, and the herds are damaged when the killers come. This is beeing prevented by patrols driving around and keeping an eye out. The sentence for poachers is death, if they run the patrols have license to shoot on sight, so it is very serious. When I was there three men where shot on sight just few days before and we saw three men on the Zambian side running for it when they saw our tourboat. If you see anything suspicious, talk to your safariguide.

Usually I’m the kind of person to shrug off peoples “warnings” about traveling here and there, but Zim is different! This is a very dangerous place to explore on your own. I’ve driven myself through several African countries, and I won’t go here again unless accompanied by someone who knows exactly how to deal with the conditions there. Zimbabwe is a beautiful country, with a horribly repressive regime squeezing its people to death. Not surprisingly, many of the 80% who are unemployed and living under a 1000% inflation rate, turn to criminal means to survive. I’ve been assured by my friends there that things have only gone downhill since my visit 3 years ago.

Zimbabwe has got one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world, with estimation that one in three black Zimbabweans have the virus today. Hence use prevention; else you probably play Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun.

Due to isolation of the current regime, and a general shortage of foreign currency this airline is as cash strapped as the rest of the country. Also Robert Mugabe seems to be using "his" national airline at good will whenever he chooses to go on a trip. If the aircraft are flying it is dangerous enough, but at times you may arrive at the airport to find that Uncle Bob is one his way to Cuba or China and takes the aircraft away from under your nose.
On a lighter note the airline is in the Guiness Book of World Records for the scheduled flight with the least passengers - Dubai to Harare, one passenger boarded!
Do I need to say more?

As people might know, there have been shortages of petrol in Zimbabwe for some time. Whereas it is not as bad as it was a few years ago, there is still the possibilty of shortages. Each gas station will have a sign along the road that will tell you yes or no to the types of fuel they have.