11th & 12th August 2026
11th August 2026
(A few of Josh’s photos and videos from the 11th including: lunch cassava, baobab seeds, Kadoma Feast site, sunset at a local events venue)
12th August 2026
A later start was warranted, although we still needed to pack. The goal was to be in Harare by noon but that still left us plenty of time for breakfast with the girls in Kadoma. As we were heading out the door Chisomo remarked that it will be quiet around the house. It’s nice having people around.
Mabasa drove into town to get a few last minute supplies and fuel for our trip. Then it was all me. I squeezed into the tiny driver’s compartment (at least that’s how it feels to me) designed for a small Thai man and we headed out towards Harare. The drive was thankfully uneventful and the roads not that bad. Just a few overly ambitious overtakers and one toll to pay. The worst roads we encountered were in Kadoma. The worst traffic was of course in Harare. Today my driving was Mabasa approved (much approved over my hurried driving a few days before).
Before reaching the city center we branched off into the suburb of Mabelreign and shortly arrived at the Manshu Guesthouse. Just before pulling into the driveway we heard that our plans for the day had changed. One of the members we were planning to visit wasn’t actually expecting us until the next day. Additionally one member couldn’t be contacted so we won’t be able to visit them. The new plan was to drop off our bags, situate our rooms, and go get a bite to eat.
My nephew Matt had accompanied me on a trip to Malawi and Zimbabwe in 2022 over the Spring Holy Days. While in Harare we twice stayed at Manshu in Mabelreign. The garden here is still very pleasant, although there is more greenery in April than in August. The staff at Manshu, including Tapiwa who is currently I the UK and his younger brother Tafadzwa who is managing things currently, are flexible and accommodating which helps make things a little more pleasant when plans change. You can read about some of that first trip to Manshu here.
We dropped our bags off and climbed back into the pickup. We couldn’t actually check into our rooms until after 2pm. The manager at the guest house, Tafadzwa, recommended a local place that makes burgers and chips. Highly rated by locals especially for $2.50. We found the place kind of. By that I mean it was a bar that mostly serves local dishes. However the bar is actually connected to a butchery where you order your chips and burgers. While you wait for your meal to be finished you step outside to a little doorway between the bar and the butchery and watch while all the ingredients are compiled and your order is called.
Josh and I ordered cheeseburgers. The cheese was handed to us to hold onto so we could hand the prepackaged slices to the lady handing out orders. She gave us options for sauces which included a spicy mayo which was the real champion of the sandwich. I liked the chips a lot, although I shouldn’t have added the extra salt. The burgers were … not bad for $2.50. I guess I was expecting more from a butchery where you could see the meat in the refrigerated cases right in front of you. Somehow I think they got the meat for the burgers somewhere else and saved the good stuff for customers buying by the kg.
We headed back to the guesthouse, ate our food, reconfirmed the number of rooms we had, negotiated our room situation, and then waited while one more room was made ready. The lady who cleans the place and cooks the food does a fine job of it. Everything was quickly made ready and we were able to really settle in.
Mabasa rested while Josh and I took a walk through the neighborhood. It was cold the night before and today was no different. The city was cloudy and windy all afternoon and we wished we had taken jackets and hats on our little stroll along the quiet street that runs in front of the house. There are some very nice homes in the neighborhood. The nicest ones all have fences and gates, in fact all the homes in this neighborhood seem to have fences and gates.
When we got back from the walk, without knowing we had just returned, Mabasa asked if we could get some fruit while we were out. We decided to get our hats and jackets and go for another walk in the opposite direction towards the little market area where we found the burgers. There are a couple of grocery stores there. Josh enjoyed seeing the similarities and differences between a typical African grocery store and the ones back home. Many things are the same, including some of the prices, and many things are different. Thankfully we found what we came for: Cripps Pink apples (a.k.a Pink Lady), some kind of mandarin oranges, dates, chunks of pre-peeled sugar cane (for Josh to try for the first time), ginger juice, and instant cappuccino mix (condensed milk flavor).
As we walked we talked about travel and the different perception of people and neighborhoods before and after experiencing travel. The places Josh and I grew up are very different in many ways even though we grew up in the same country. We’ve also had different travel experiences in and out of the US. Each experience shapes our perception of the next place we go potentially. Since I’d previously done this walk in this same place and have a general understanding of the place and somewhat of the people I was ready to go more places and see more neighborhoods. Perhaps on his next trip to Africa more things will feel familiar to Josh now that he’s been here.
I’ve gotten some reports from back home about the weather there. Family in Ohio and Alabama had some tornado warnings and flood warnings. Lena experienced some heavy rainfall the other day while she was driving back from the grocery store. Friends from the Chicago area said there were tornadoes that touched down and did some damage. This summer there have also been fires in Minnesota where we have friends, and fires near Spokane, Washington where we have brethren. It seems there’s always something going on somewhere. For now at least it’s quiet in Harare.
We enjoyed a quiet evening, snacking on fruit and sugar cane. We chatted about working with people in the ministry of God’s Church, about our observations of the world we live in (with regard to being part of the Church of God), and ended the evening at a respectable enough hour to climb into bed. Tomorrow is another day with more plans to see more of Harare and visit more of God’s people here. I just hope it’s slightly warmer in the morning.
-Lewis VanAusdle
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