Last few days in sunny Africa

In Otto Christian Rawson's words in 1901...

''There is no bettere climate in the world than in Rhodesia from July to November. The green grass begins to grow, in spite of the lack of rain, as soon as the cold weather and frosts are over in early August-and to see the cattle grazing contantedly and coming home full as the sun goes down like a great red ball in a clear sky, gives one a wonderful sense of happiness, and peace...''

How things change-in 1901, Harare was at this time ''a very small place with few buldings. Pioneer Street waas the only street in the town with Manica road showing a few buildings''. Rawson was English/German and was one of the first white settlers in Zimbabwe, (then Rhodesia) and was the major driver of agriculture in the Trelawney/Darwendale area where we lived. Our family owns a large piece of land on Manica Road which used to be central Salisbury (Harare) but is now little more than some rundown shops.

He says that Avondale and Mount Pleasant (suburbs in Harare) were favourite resorts on Sundays for shooting small buck and birds. He would never have believed what has come of Harare now!

He was right about the Zimbabwe climate-we had a fiercely cold winter this year, but the last few weeks have been great with long, hot, dusty summer days. When I get back to Oxford, the change will be immense, with autumn drawing to a close, and the short, cold days.

I feel I have done what I planned to do and gained much useful experience for the future. I saw 'Prime Circle' on Friday night, a South African band, and bumped into a Scottish acquaintance whom I had met at a pub in university over a year ago... What a small world...

The last few weeks, I have spent shooting on beautiful farms, going for a scull on the serene and peaceful Mazowe dam, playing the odd round of golf on world class golf courses, and getting drunk over poker games with friends. I don't think I realise how lucky I am to have Zimbabwe as my homeland. It is somethig that I really miss when in England, and really appreciate when back in the country. The political situation is terrible, but economically, it is picking up, and no doubt that when things turn round here, the change will be enormous. Already, loads of people that previously left, are starting to flock back. Personally, I want to take advantage of my UK ecucation, get some cutting edge work experience in London for a few years, and then settle down in Africa, having found a career that I want to pursue. I am thinking along the lines of business consultancy.

I took part in the Tom Soper mountain bike ride yesterday, fell off and grazed my knee/elbow-stupidly tried to go down the technical hill. Tom was paralysed, neck down, when hit by another car whilst going through an intersection. The walk attracted 862 participants which is incredible, seeing as there are only 10000 whites in the country.

Watching a programme on how Lehman Bank went bust at the moment; need to start getting things together for my flight on Wednesday.