Visit Every City

Sunday, April 24th, 2022

Morning came early since we had to be prepared to leave right away. Mike and Mabasa were also up early finishing a tuneup on the pickup for our trip. They weren’t sure what time they might be finished so Matt and I were packed and ready. The coffee came and went and eventually so did breakfast. Some of the work on the pickup took longer than expected so Matt and I had a chance to relax a little more. I received a message from Mabasa that they might be ready within an hour so we decided we might take a walk in the neighborhood. We got as far as the door to the house when Matt spotted some large bug hanging from the power lines overhead. It was a locust. Specifically it was a Green Milkweed Locust which is also known as an African Bush Grasshopper. Somehow we convinced the little guy to fly down off the line so we could get a better look at him. All he wanted to do was eat rose bushes but he did show us his wings a few times. We also managed to shoot a Ghost Mantas in the bush where the locust had landed. We tried to find some other interesting species in the garden but mostly just found flowers.

A little while later I received another message from Mabasa. He would be there any minute to pick us up. It was time to head out of Harare. We greeted the family, took a few family photos in the pickup, and headed off to Kadoma where the Chichayas live. Sunday morning meant there wasn’t a lot of traffic so we made good time. The landscape between Harare and Lake Chivero I’d seen before, when I came to Zim with Nick Lamoureux in 2019 for half of the Feast of Tabernacles. But beyond that everything was new. I sat in the front and chatted with Mabasa, solving all the world’s problems and periodically noticing different aspects of the landscape.

Just within the town of Chegutu on the side of the A5 Highway, when traffic seemed to pile up a bit, Mabasa pulled over and bought a watermelon for the family to enjoy. I love watermelon! Especially when it is either very cold from being in the refrigerator, or when it has been sitting in the sunshine ripening. After picking out the best one he jumped back in the driver’s seat and we headed down the road again. Just beyond where the watermelons were bought we saw two very old airplanes. Their hulls were cakes with a thick layer of dust. Their underbellies streaked with mossy growth. They once were the Flying Pot Restaurant. I hear it was a very nice place to eat once upon a time. After leaving the edge of Chegutu the highway becomes very straight. Actually unusually straight for roads in Africa. In fact the stretch of Highway between Chegutu and Kadoma is famously straight. It’s the longest strait stretch of road in all of Africa.

Overall the trip was quick and we reached the town of Kadoma in the early afternoon. Kadoma is a famous place in Zimbabwe. Some of the early English settlers had gone there. There are some older buildings still standing and still in use. We saw a hotel from 1925 and another small building from 1914. There is a textile factory just on the eastern edge of town. The whole area is riddled with mines which collect minerals such as gold, platinum, chrome, and a plethora of other important commodities. The town itself is quaint and busy, even on a Sunday afternoon. A few of the interesting highlights for me were the countdown traffic lights, the brickwork shopping mall, and the hotel. We stayed in town long enough to get a few supplies, but some pizza, and look for some donuts. The power went out while our pizza was being made so we were stuck there until someone who knew how could start the generator.

We managed to leave Kadoma and head to the neighborhood of Eiffel Flats just as the rain began. We toured Eiffel Flats which is where Mabasa’s family has lived for a very long time. His mother had lived in a small house in the area and was known for being generous to her neighbors and a very gracious landlady. Eiffel Flats is also where Chisomo works. The school she teaches at has 2,800 students and enough teachers to teach them all. There are about 55 children in each class. For four years I had worked as a speech therapist in the largest primary school in the US, in Fairborn, Ohio, but I don’t think we had quite that many children. The area also has plenty of mines both large scale and small scale. There are mines with shafts and mines with open pits. The periodic blasting tends to be unsettling for the residents at times, even shaking their homes. Sirens go off before the blasts to warn people. Most don’t seem to mind that much since there are whole generations who were born and died and raised their children and grandchildren here.

The pizza was a delight and so was the watermelon. The donuts we had purchased from a grocery store in town were about what I had expected, a sweet bread with delicious chocolate on top. Not quite the donut Matt was hoping it would be, but not a bad treat. After enjoying our lunch with Mabasa and a moment to relax, Chisomo took Matt and I on a long walk around Eiffel Flats. We saw the family plot where they grow their maize, beans, and all sorts of fruit. We saw their fish ponds but the fish were already in bed for the afternoon. We saw the house where Mabasa’s mother, a long time member of the Church of God, had lived for many years before her death. As we walked we learned more about differences between Zambia (where Chisomo is from) and Zimbabwe. We also learned how Chisomo and Mabasa had met and married. It was a pleasant way to finish out the afternoon.

We got back to the house before sunset where we were greeted by Christal and Layla. The two girls are almost always bursting with energy. They showed us around the garden a second time, introduced us to their dogs, and then proceeded to wear us out playing games and allowing us to use them as human free weights. After we were finished with our exercises we headed inside to watch cartoons, get some work done, eat supper, and watch some more cartoons before bed. Matt had a chance to talk with his wife and kid back home, and I had a chance to catch up with Lena. For supper we had a delicious dish of chicken and rice with a certain very spicy sauce on the side. I regret eating so much of the spicy sauce, but I don’t regret how tasty it was. I think Matt feels the same way.

– Lewis VanAusdle