Bushsolation

Over the last few weeks I’ve been asked by quite a few people about how covid has affected me here in Zimbabwe. To set the record straight, my experience is not the standard Zimbabwean’s situation so I can only speak for myself and, for me, the impact of covid has been two-fold: (1) nothing has changed and (2) everything has changed.

(1) Nothing has changed.

The country has been on lockdown since 30 March, when it announced an initial three-week lockdown. Zimbabwe seems to follow South Africa’s decisions and so, just like in South Africa, lockdown here is very strict. You aren’t allowed out at all. No walks, no exercising outside and police are extremely harsh if you need to get in a car and go anywhere. But for me in the bush, that doesn’t really mean anything. For the past 5 months, I’ve been living in bush-isolation: working from home, foregoing trips to pubs or restaurants, unable to wander off for a walk (the elephants and lions and buffalo make that not such a good idea), all with very limited socialising. In fact I’d argue that since the lockdown, I’ve been more social and seen a few more friendly faces. We have had to move back to a tourist camp, where there are no guests and very few members of staff, but a heap of elephants which, for me, is quite the treat.

(2) Everything has changed.

Imvelo as a tourist company, is suffering dramatically because of this global pandemic. As you can imagine, there are absolutely no tourists, and as optimistic as Zimbabweans are, this is unlikely to get any better in the near future. Way too many staff members have been retrenched and all salaries have been significantly cut. For lodge staff members, Imvelo isn’t just a job; the lodge becomes your home, your colleagues become your family and your job becomes a lifestyle. Having to send people home in this time of distress is therefore very very difficult. Especially given how vulnerable livelihoods are in this region of Zimbabwe, and how terrible the economic situation is nationally - people here are very worried about the future. What that means for me (like for many people) is that everything is just that much more uncertain and will be for an uncertain amount of time…and that I must enjoy this bushlife because no one truly knows what will happen.

On my first bushbirthday, and while riding a horse that is so big it is nicknamed ‘Elephant’, I saw an end-to-end rainbow … it reminded me that while bush isolation is beautiful and feels very natural, isolation in itself really does not. So for those who are struggling, I’m sending you a big breath of fresh air. And for those who are feeling the impacts of this whole thing in other ways, please keep looking out for those rainbows, they are there!

Virus-wise, there are few ‘recorded’ cases in Zimbabwe, but out of 11 recorded, are 3 deaths. There are apparently 500 testing kits in the country, around 400 of which have been used, and 1 test centre so statistics are unlikely to be very relevant. Unlike in many countries, covid-19 doesn’t yet seem to be ramping up the numbers, despite having almost no available ventilators, but the reality is that it’s already had devastating, and deadly, impacts on the country:

- Zimbabwe relies entirely on other countries for all of its supplies and food, so already erratic food supplies are being further disrupted. Given the drought, food insecurity has become a very real thing here in Zimbabwe, especially in rural, isolated and impoverished areas, where subsistence farmers grow food for themselves and their families, and have been unable to do so.

- Companies in Zimbabwe, already suffering from a liquidity crunch, fuel and foreign currency shortages, as well as the world’s largest inflation rate, standing at 540.16% (February 2020, since then the government has refused to publish inflation rates…) are finding it very difficult to stay afloat.

- In certain areas, like where we are which is just south of Hwange National Park, people were already in very precarious situations: the recent drought has meant that staple crops were not planted and that feeding domestic livestock has been very challenging. Poor rainfall has also meant that wild animals from Hwange National Park have been wandering into villages, looking for food and water, thereby raiding crops (elephants) and killing cows, goats, donkeys and chickens (lions, hyenas, cheetah, wild dogs…). With jobs opportunities gone, and donations from tourists limited, people in the area have become desperate and we’re already seeing poaching incidents increase. This is devastating for conservation efforts and attitudes that have taken years to instil!

For those of you who were planning a visit out to Zimbabwe - please don’t cancel, and instead, postpone. These tourist hotspots need you, not just for business but also to help the local communities survive and develop and to make sure that wildlife conservation efforts persist.

Elephants wandering the camp!