On our way back to Harare, we decided to drop in and see a family friend Cessie Goddard. A grand old lady of Zimbabwe, she is an old friend of both of my grand parents and is also the mother of Jim Goddard, a close business partner of my dads. They live on Pezulu ranch, another one of the very few farms that are still in the hands of their owners. The ranch is another beautiful piece of land with the classic Zimbabwean Msasa bushland and rolling, lichen-covered granite mounds. The centerpiece of the farm is the huge main homestead, a three story turreted castle, built by Jim for him and his family.
Its always very interesting talking to Cessie, and we spend hours hearing stories about my relatives and friends from way back. She is also irresistably hospitable, at its not long before she has convinced us to stay the night. As usual we are extremely well fed as well. I am feeling much better at this stage, well enough to drag Sophie out of bed at first light. We walked up the huge granite dome that sits alongside the castle and reach the top just in time to see the big red sun pop up over the horison. The view in the early morning light is amazing.
Later on we go to the popular watering hole on the farm, Mermaids Pool, where a creek runs down a long, steep, and more or less smooth slope of rock and into a natural pool. Unfortunately there was not a lot of water running but there was just enough for us to have a ball sliding down on a rubber innertube.
After another huge meal we were again ready to go. We set off much later than we should have, and so we found ourselves driving into Harare in the dark. Thios is never a good idea as there are a lot of trucks, many without a full set of lights and hardly any street lights. At one stage we found ourselves driving down the wrong side of a dual carriageway, as the newly built side of the road had split off without so much as an signpost and left us driving into two lanes of oncoming lights. Luckily we were able to hastily cut across the grass onto our side. Nonetheless we eventually arrived safely.

On our way back to Harare, we decided to drop in and see a family friend Cessie Goddard. A grand old lady of Zimbabwe, she is an old friend of both of my grand parents and is also the mother of Jim Goddard, a close business partner of my dads. They live on Pezulu ranch, another one of the very few farms that are still in the hands of their owners. The ranch is another beautiful piece of land with the classic Zimbabwean Msasa bushland and rolling, lichen-covered granite mounds. The centerpiece of the farm is the huge main homestead, a three story turreted castle, built by Jim for him and his family.

Its always very interesting talking to Cessie, and we spend hours hearing stories about my relatives and friends from way back. She is also irresistably hospitable, at its not long before she has convinced us to stay the night. As usual we are extremely well fed as well. I am feeling much better at this stage, well enough to drag Sophie out of bed at first light. We walked up the huge granite dome that sits alongside the castle and reach the top just in time to see the big red sun pop up over the horison. The view in the early morning light is amazing.

Later on we go to the popular watering hole on the farm, Mermaids Pool, where a creek runs down a long, steep, and more or less smooth slope of rock and into a natural pool. Unfortunately there was not a lot of water running but there was just enough for us to have a ball sliding down on a rubber innertube.

After another huge meal we were again ready to go. We set off much later than we should have, and so we found ourselves driving into Harare in the dark. Thios is never a good idea as there are a lot of trucks, many without a full set of lights and hardly any street lights. At one stage we found ourselves driving down the wrong side of a dual carriageway, as the newly built side of the road had split off without so much as an signpost and left us driving into two lanes of oncoming lights. Luckily we were able to hastily cut across the grass onto our side. Nonetheless we eventually arrived safely.