Supporting the Highlanders in Bulawayo

This morning we had planned to visit the Natural History Museum, but unfortunately it was closed due to a protest by the workers who hadn’t been paid. Instead, we spent the morning at Khami Ruins, a World Heritage Site. Khami Ruins was inhabited by the Torwa people between the 15^th-17^th centuries after the Great Zimbabwe, which we will be visiting later this week, was abandoned. While there, we also visited a Ndebele village where a grandmother ("go-go") lived with her three grandchildren. [Note: Most Zimbabweans are either Shona or Ndebele]. After returning to town, we had lunch at a local restaurant in the market. We ate pumpkin leaves and beef with sadza. Sadza is eaten with most meals and is the Shona name for a porridge made from mealie meal or ground maize/corn. In South Africa it is referred to as pap and in Zambia it is nshima. It is quite filling! Today we also had a rare treat. Archie and Blessing went into a local hotel bar to find out when the Africa Cup games were on that evening and we were pleasantly surprised (especially Scott) to find out that the local soccer team, the Highlanders, were playing a game in the afternoon against the Black Leopards from South Africa. It was quite fun, especially as Scott’s college coach, Bobbie Clark was once the coach in Zimbabwe for this very team in the early 1980’s! It was a great afternoon and also an interesting lesson in being the minority as we were the only white spectators in the stadium filled with 5,000 to 6,000 people. See more photos.