"Tampa_Shawn in Zimbabwe" a Zimbabwe Travel Page by tampa_shawn

Fascinating country with some amazing people.

History is a bit tragic..

County made it out of Apartheid with relative ease (as compared to South Africa) and once was known as the bread basket of Africa

However governmental policies in the past seven years have thrown the country into crisis and the country now is dependent on aid to feed its people.

Still an amazing country to visit

Bring ALL the supplies you will need during your stay - this includes bringing your own food (it may not be available at any price)

The store shelves are totally empty so don't plan on being able to buy ANYTHING (toilet paper, sun screen, food, water)

Bottled water was available when I was there but this is not always the case so I'd also pick up some 3l containers of it before entering the country.

Note: If you are caught bringing meat into the country it will be confisgated - even at land border crossings (and they are known to check coolers etc)

Bring Stuff to Trade

Pack things to use during your trip that you can leave behind. You can either give away your old stuff or trade them for crafts when you leave the country (due to inflation the country is not getting any imports - stores are empty)

The locals will be thrilled with your old goods - I traded/left behind almost everything - the "hottest" items I had were: pillow (I bought earlier in Africa for camping), t-shirts, shoes, books, magazines and insect repellent

I got a hand made drum for a pair of dead Keens (white water rafting shoes)

Bring Cash in - US dollars, South African Rand, or Namibian dollar

Most places wont accept credit cards w/o a fight and if they do they tax on a 10% charge - I did however find places that would accept American Express Traveler Checks (high end items - white water rafting, helicopter rides)

You do NOT want to use the banks or ATMs in Zimbabwe (when I was there...)

The "official" exchange rate was US$1 to 230 Zim Dollars (the rate you will get if you use an ATM)

AND

the black market rate was US$1 to 2,000,000 Zim Dollars (yes - $2 MILLION)
(note: the black market exchange of money is illegal in Zimbabwe)

So if you went to the ATM to get your money a soda (if available) could cost you $20 US dollars!

I had a collection of all 4 currencies (US, Zim and Namibian dollar and the African Rand) and I found that I got the "best" rate with Zim dollars (I couldn't figure that one out since with an inflation rate of 1200% it was essentially worthless) - the Rand was probably the most preferred and for most travelers the easiest. The Botswana money had the worst exchange rate. They do NOT accept other currencies.

Do bring a collection of small crisp bills since change may not be available (bring big bills for the more expensive items - they will have change) - when entering countries like Zimbabwe I always bring US $50 in nice crisp one dollar bills.

Even in border towns food choices were VERY limited and often spoiled (there were lots of sick tourists when I was there).

We went to eat dinner one night in Victoria Falls (a tourist and border town - which means this would be the most likely place in the country to have anything ) after walking around for hours peeking into various restaurants - the one with the most choices was a new, big, beautiful casino

The choices on the menu were - chicken, chicken enchilada, chicken quesadillas and fish (which was described as "REAL OLD" by the waiter)

I got the chicken quesadillas which was covered with melted moldy cheese

this restaurant was the only one in town that had any sides available - rice

and to drink we had the choice between water and hard liquor (no coke, no beer, no juices)

Choices at other restaurants included
(1) Choice 1 - Ostridge - no sides - no drinks
(2) Choice 2 - Impala (deer like animal) - no sides - coke and bottled water
(3) stew - I could not get a clear answer on what kind....
etc

Quite an experience.... oh and this place only accepted Zim Dollar - it took a huge stack of them for us to pay the bill

BYW - inflation is so bad here the menu does not have prices since they may change daily. We actually had to ASK for it. (I'll post the pictures)