Zimbabwe Destination Guide - Pilot Guides

Zimbabwe, situated in South-East Africa, was once a friendly and relatively safe place to visit. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, the regime of dictator – president Robert Mugabe has taken a strangle hold on the nation and it is no longer advisable to visit Zimbabwe. The president’s aggressive policy of evicting white farm owners from their land is escalating into a major famine as ‘settlers’ (i.e. supporters of Mugabe) have taken over and demolished farms and the country is facing a severe famine threatening the lives of millions. Coupled with the police state of abuse of all Zimbabweans and the total censorship of the press, Zimbabwe is close to total destruction, in the land that was once the ‘breadbasket of Africa’. Journalists are banned, and tourists are virtually non existent now; you can be arrested for recording real life events. Our advice – don’t go there right now.

main image: courtesy of Alessandro, Flickr Creative Commons

Climate
People
Languages
Cash

Climate

Namibia
Although very dry, much of Namibia made up of desert coastal plains, dunes and bush. It is sunny all year round, with the rainy season falling from December to March, although there is much natural beauty to be seen then.

Zimbabwe
Situated on a high mountainous plateau, it’s average temperature is 60F on the plateau and a scorching 80F in the Zambezi valley in summer, ranging from 50F – 65F during winter.

Botswana
Land locked and mainly desert land and scrub, the rainy season runs November to March, the dry season (May to August) is the best time to discover the county’s wildlife.

People

Naimbia
Naimbia is made up of 11 ethnic groups, a mixture of African, and some European and Afrikaners.

Zimbabwe
With a population of over 11 million, the people are based of two native ethnic groups, theShona and the smaller Ndebele in the west.

Botswana
With a population of one and a half million, over half of these are of Tswana heritage. European, Asian and other tribes live in the cities and regionally.