Some advice on the way to start your day in Harare: Go grab a warm muesli muffin and a coffee at Vali’s at Triton gym and rock yourself into a riotous mood with the help of the spin class playlist. Get the benefit of the music and the vibe without breaking a sweat, just a smile.

8 July
Returned to Harare from Hippo Pools tired, dusty and delighted with all our treasure (pods, wild fruit etc for Daniel’s nature table at school), to find that ZESA had blown the borehole over the weekend and we had not a drop of water in the house. Peachy.

11 July
Graham is reading a book called “Living with a Willy” in preparation for his “birds and bees” chat with Daniel (in about 6 years time! We might be a tad premature methinks – no pun intended). I’ve read it already. It was a gift and I was overcome with curiosity. The author has 101 euphemisms for the word “penis”, most of which make me blush.  We might just chicken out, and give him the book to read himself!

13 July
Adult diapers – you’d think they would come up with a more discreet, attractive name? – usually the preserve of the aged, would I think do well for people who have given birth to one or more children (naturally) and suffer from hay fever. Hay fever characterized by violent sneezing – in the early hours of the morning – when you are likely to have a full bladder anyway – and you are understandably reluctant to get out of bed, it being the middle of winter… I’m assuming here, having no personal experience to draw upon, just a guess …

16 July
I am reliably informed that the new, “in” term for kissing is “lunging”. Sounds quite aggressive. I would be inclined to protect my tonsils against the inevitable onslaught if such a proposition ever arose. Yes, we can agree that it is unlikely – my lunging days – inept slobbering – are over, for which I am quite grateful if a bit nostalgic …

HARI SREENIVASAN: All right, so if modern-day dictators aren’t using firing squads or kidnappings, what are they doing to stay in power?

WILLIAM J. DOBSON: Well, the modern dictator understands that if you are going to try and keep ahold of your people, you have to use new and different techniques, such as — take, for example, Putin. Putin chooses to send tax inspectors or health inspectors to close down or shutter a dissident group. In Venezuela, laws are written broadly and then used like a scalpel to — against any group that is deemed a threat. The Chinese Communist Party frequently refers to democracy and makes sure that all of its top leaders only serve two terms. There are all sorts of different ways in which regimes are finding how to move and navigate through forces that challenge their regimes that make them appear to be other than what they are.

More here and here

The weekend (already ambitious – it was just the one night), found my family camping at Hippo Pools.  There was some grumbling on the part of my husband … “mutter, mutter, who had the bright idea to go camping in the middle of winter? Rhubarb, rhubarnmnbkfferitsgbv@$!&*!! … But we were pretty much swept away with the kids’ excitement.

We all squished into grandpa’s car. Grandpa passed his license back in the day when licenses were licenses and they couldn’t be purchased for cash, and grandpa has his vehicle serviced every 5 minutes by a genius.  Anyway granny and grandpa happily in the front seat, mom, dad and 2 squirming kids in the back. Oh happy day.

Did I mention that grandpa does not make potty stops, not for man nor beast nor 5 year olds? The need to go to the loo made itself known around Bally Vaughan somewhere – not even half way to Hippo Pools. Luckily, after turning onto the dirt road, grandpa pulled over to study the map and we all dived out of the car with alacrity. The boys and the kids went, us older girls prudently waited for the ox cart and passengers to pass by. The spot was not chosen for its seclusion, it appeared to be just round the corner from the local bus stop and unfortunately we seemed to be a bit of a novelty, so the oxen were not motivated to put foot. Equally unfortunately, grandpa was. So into the car again, this time on a corrugated dirt road, bouncing happy child on my lap (read: bladder), face pressed to the window in the hopes of spotting an elephant, for another hour and a half, at least. I gave the passing buffalo (with baby) less attention than they deserved it must be said. Short shrift was made of the National Parks Officer who wanted to chat at the boom gate on arrival. I led the charge for the bathroom with undignified haste (and I may have elbowed one or two elderly folk out the way), only greeting the staff on my way back – the nature of my urgency was no secret.

The rest of the day was spectacular apart from the fact that the fish weren’t biting (“too cold” I told the kids sagely, like I’m the expert).

And then it was time to go to bed.

I was sharing a tent with my daughter, and the boys were right next door. Bad mistake, in the middle of the night every sound was amplified – I won’t elaborate. Before I could succumb to sleep however, I was viciously attacked by my sleeping bag and we did wrestle for some time before I beat it into submission by opening the zip.  All the way.  At which point everyone was awake, sleeping bags make that swishing noise when you move, it’s that plastic-like fabric on the outside, so loud … Then my feet were cold, as my makeshift mattress (garden chair cushion, I kid you not, which I was reluctant to pack I might add – my sum experience of camping as an adult consisting of the beaches of Mozambique …) didn’t quite make it that far. So the spare blanket went into keeping my toes off the freezing floor. Then pain, such pain, my hip bones drilling into the ground – it was impossible to sleep, so I tossed and turned and had short hopeful conversations with everyone I woke up … until Graham got up at 4:30.

I heard him stop and hold his breath, then the hippo moved off, he exhaled, and I asked him to put the kettle on (and he wondered whether I loved him at all).

When everyone was up, we all took turns fitting our feet into the hippo’s footprint left on the muddy bank.

‘Twas quite a beast.

Community Radio Harare included this article in their latest newsletter, Talking Harare:

Some Norton residents are travelling 100km to Kadoma in a bid to resolve ZESA’s disputed estimated bills. An investigation by Talking Harare following a tip-off from Harare Residents Trust (HRT) showed that some households in Katanga, Knowe and Govans are receiving monthly ZESA bills of about $100.

If they approach the local ZESA office they are being asked to go to Kadoma where the ‘responsible District offices’ that have the authority to deal with such queries are located.

Kadoma is about 100km from Norton and residents have to pay $10 for transport alone and this does not guarantee them the reversal of the high bills. Residents who have been affected by this anomaly told Talking Harare that sometimes they are forced to make several trips to Kadoma and no solution is offered.

Others said they end up paying the high bills fearing to be disconnected of electricity or ending up spending more money.

In Knowe suburb, residents are also complaining that each household is being forced to pay US$2 as education levy to the Norton Town Council, irrespective of whether or not one has a child attending council school.

Excerpted from the Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust bulletin number 31:

Selective Application of the Indigenization Policy

Hon Fani Munengami (MDC-T Glen View North) enquired on whether it was government policy to apply the Indigenization Act selectively as Chinese companies appeared to be spared as evidenced by ZIMASCO in which the Chinese had 73% ownership. The House was informed that the law was not being applied selectively and ZIMASCO had submitted its proposal even though management was arguing for exemption on the basis that Chinese were friends of Zimbabwe.