I stayed at Imire last year when I visited Zimbabwe and was really struck by the great work that they are doing, especially with their protection of Black Rhinos.

So what could be a better, you get to enjoy a short break in a wonderful environment and enjoy some of Africa’s best wildlife just over an hour from Harare whilst the money you spend goes towards protecting one of the most endangered animals on earth.

Below are the details:

Two nights all-inclusive for $280 per person!

What better way to relax before the Christmas festivities than two nights relaxing in the bush at Sable Lodge on Imire Game Park. Let us entertain you with our all-inclusive offer which includes accommodation, all meals and drinks, elephant rides and activities.

Guests may arrive at 9.30am for game drive leaving at 10.00am or after 3:00pm – please advise when booking

For more information please contact Imire Safari Ranch directly:

Sable Lodge
Imire Game Park
Tel: 0222 2094
Cell: 0772 522201
Email: sablelodge@imiresafariranch.com
www.imiresafariranch.com

Zimbabwe have won a dramatic final-over, one-wicket win in the third and final one-day international against New Zealand in Bulawayo.

Zimbabwe’s two big-hitting all-rounders, Elton Chigumbura and Malcolm Waller, finally came good, with a 112-run sixth-wicket partnership to end a 12-match losing streak across formats. Malcolm Waller, who finished on 99 not out, hit a single off the penultimate ball as Zimbabwe chased down a New Zealand’s 5 for 328 which included centuries by Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson.

Record Win:
Not only was it thrilling, but this is now Zimbabwe’s highest successful run chase and ended a sequence of seven successive defeats for the home side.

New Zealand Innings
Earlier on in the day the Black Caps won the toss and decided to bat. They initially got off to a poor start and loosing a few early wickets, but New Zealand captain Taylor (119) and Williamson (100 not out) shared a fifth wicket stand of 195 off only 133 balls.

It turned what seemed likely to be a respectable total into an imposing one, doubling the total by adding 164 runs in the final 15 overs, with the rampage starting in the batting powerplay taken after 35 overs.

Zimbabwe’s Innings
Zimbabwe fought back with captain Brendan Taylor, who had already scored centuries in the first two matches, cracking 75 off 65 balls as he and Hamilton Masakadza (36) put on 100 for the second wicket.

Tatenda Taibu also batted well, scoring an aggressive 53 but it was the swashbuckling sixth wicket stand of 112 off 85 balls between Waller and Elton Chigumbura that really put victory within reach for Zimbabwe.

Waller and Chigumbura got the target down to 34 off 36 balls when Chigumbura was bowled by Jacob Oram.

In a nervy finish, three more wickets fell and with four needed off the last over, Waller was dropped twice by Ross Taylor at midwicket.

Two runs were scored off the first miss and one off the second.

Then Ray Price skied a catch and was caught with the scores tied but the batsmen crossed and Waller had the strike and clinched the match.

The New Zealand captain took the blame for dropping Waller by saying “When you drop catches you lose matches,” and he went on to say that “Brendan Taylor and Waller batted very well”.

This post forms part of my section on Returning to Zimbabwe.

For me it is a tough decision to decide weather to stay in the UK or return home to Zimbabwe. If you take out the “feeling” of wanting to return home, just because it is my home, both countries have their advantages and dis-advantages and so in a very simplistic way, I decided to put together a scorecard, just to see in my mind which country had the edge and to see if it could help me with my decision.

I must stress that the scores below reflect my current feelings and are related to my current situation. They are also not based on fact and are just my current feelings for that particular category. For example most of my immediate family still live in Zim and other than my wife and baby, I have no family her in the UK. This will obviously be different for everyone and so if you like the idea, you should put together your own score card.

Where I have a very strong feeling I have given a higher score and a lower score for a less strong feeling towards that particular country:

This table is kind of a work in progress and does change as my feelings and situation changes, but as you see Zimbabwe currently has it, but by only a few points.

As always, I would love to get you thoughts and comments – what categories have I missed out and is there anything you would add or change?

Further Reading

This post forms part of my section on Returning to Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe won by 4 wickets (with 52 balls remaining) – 1st ODI: Zimbabwe v Bangladesh, in Harare

Brian Vitori and Vusi Sibanda starring for Zimbabwe, Vitori ran through Bangladesh with a four-wicket burst at the start, and Sibanda was all dancing feet and flashing blade against the left-arm spinners despite the early loss of Taylor. They could have so easily got bogged down, but he saw them through despite a stirring display of swing with the oldish ball from Rubel.

12th August 2011 – Hours of play (local time): 09.30 start (07:30 GMT / 08:30 BST) , First Session 09.30-13.00, Interval 13.00-13.45, Second Session 13.45-17.15

Latest:
Game Over: Zimbabwe won by 4 wickets (with 52 balls remaining)

Drinks: Zimbabwe - 107/1 in 21.0 overs (V Sibanda 53, H Masakadza 38)

Innings Break: Bangladesh - 184/10 in 48.4 overs (Suhrawadi Shuvo 20)
Drinks: Bangladesh - 119/5 in 34.0 overs (Shakib Al Hasan 41, Mushfiqur Rahim 37)
Drinks: Bangladesh - 39/4 in 15.0 overs (Shakib Al Hasan 0, Mahmudullah 4)
Zimbabwe won the toss and decided to bowl first

Brendan Taylor: "Our top order seem to have worked out a better gameplan during chasing. During the Test we saw that the ball did something in the first session."

Kyle Jarvis and Tino Mawoyo miss out from the Zimbabwe XI that played the Test. Prosper Utseya and Forster Mutizwa come in

Kepler Wessels says there is less grass on the surface compared to the pitch on which the Test was played. There is some early morning moisture but that should evaporate soon and bat first is the way to go, he says.

After the excellent victory on their Test return, Zimbabwe now take on Bangladesh in a One Day International (ODI) series - this is a format that is more familiar to both teams. Whilst the Test match was only settled on the final day, Zim were on top for most of the game, but they may not get it all their own way in the ODI's as these two fairly evenly-matched sides face off over five games to be played in Harare and Bulawayo.

Team News
Unlike in the test, Brendan Taylor will opening the batting along with Hamilton Masakadza. After his great performance in the only test against Bangladesh, Brian Vitori is in line for his first ODI cap. Prosper Utseya will also play adding another spinner to the team and Forster Mutizwa, who was rather unlucky to miss out on the Test match after his performance in the warm-up, is likely to slot into the middle order.

It's the batting department where Zimbabwe are likely to look a touch light, but a return to form with the willow by Elton Chigumbura would go some way to solving that. His bowling performance in the Test should give him confidence.

Waller seems the best equipped to fill the second all-rounder's berth which would give the hosts plenty of batting and bowling, but as an offspinner might not be suited to a pace-heavy game plan so may not be included. Keegan Meth could may also get the nod as he is a slightly better batsman than Kyle Jarvis, but expect that place to rotate (Mutizwa must also be in the running) and possibly be a thorn in Zimbabwe's side as they search for the right balance.

Zimbabwe Team: (probable):
1 Brendan Taylor (capt), 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Vusi Sibanda, 4 Craig Ervine, 5 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 6 Forster Mutizwa, 7 Elton Chigumbura, 8 Prosper Utseya, 9 Ray Price, 10 Brian Vitori, 11 Chris Mpofu.

Bangladesh Team (probable):
1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Junaid Siddique, 4 Shahriar Nafees, 5 Mohammad Ashraful, 6 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 7 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 8 Abdur Razzak, 9 Shafiul Islam, 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Nasir Hossain

A few Stats

If history is anything to go by, things do not look too good for Zim:

Bangladesh have won the last three series between these two countries - two of them at home in Bangladesh and one in Bulawayo - and have therefore been installed as favourites with the bookmakers, but it remains to be seen how they react to losing a Test for which they were ill-prepared and ill-equipped. There is a belief in the Zimbabwean camp that the subcontinental side do not have much of an appetite for adversity and so the hosts will fancy their chances, no doubt hugely encouraged by Monday's result.

Last Five Head-To-Head Results

• December, 2010: Fifth ODI: Bangladesh won by six wickets
• December, 2010: Fourth ODI: Match abandoned
• December, 2010: Third ODI: Bangladesh won by 65 runs
• December, 2010: Second ODI: Bangladesh won by six wickets
• December, 2010: First ODI: Zimbabwe won by nine runs

• In one day cricket, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh have played against each other 51 times: Zim 23 wins, Bangladesh 28 wins
• In the last 5 years they have played against each other 31 times: Bangladesh 23 wins, Zimbabwe only 8 wins
• Shahriar Nafees's batting average against Zimbabwe is 62.41, almost double his overall average of 33.34. Three of his four hundreds came against them, including his highest score of 123.

Bangladesh's recent dominance over Zimbabwe may suggest that are firm favourites on the eve this series, but the tables have turned a little. Zimbabwe beat them in their comeback Test and will want to maintain their status with a convincing performance in the ODIs. Although Zim's most recent showing in the fifty-over format, at the 2011 World Cup, was disappointing. They registered just one win over minnows Kenya and their five defeats meant that any outside chance they had of making it to the quarter-finals quickly disappeared.

On a more positive note: Ray Price should enjoy the game as his highest score with the bat (46) was against Bangladesh in August 2009 as are his best bowling figures of 4 for 22 also against Bangladesh in January 2009.

Series Fixtures

• First ODI: 12 August, Harare
• Second ODI: 14 August, Harare
• Third ODI: 16 August, Harare
• Fourth ODI: 19 August, Bulawayo
• Fifth ODI: 21 August, Bulawayo

Zimbabwe Cricket Books

Amazon, have a bunch of Zim related cricket books, including "Blood, Sweat And Treason" by Henry Olonga, "A History of the Rhodesia and Zimbabwe National Sides" by Jonty Winch who traces the history of cricket in this country (Zimbabwe) from the first recorded game played in 1890, through two World Wars and a guerilla war, to the comparative peace of post-independence and eventual world recognition in the 1980s when Zimbabwe was able to send a side to England to take part in the I.C.C. Trophy competition which it won.

There is also the Autobiography of another great Zimbabwean cricket coach Duncan Fletcher "Behind the Shades"

USA: Amazon.com

Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.com

At the moment Amazon UK don't have as wide selection as the US site, but I have ordered books from the US and had them delivered to the UK with no problems.

UK: Amazon.co.uk
Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.co.uk

Where to Buy Blood, Sweat and Treason

Currently available in Hardcover it is available online through Amazon, in the UK and US

UK
Blood, Sweat and Treason on Amazon.co.uk

USA

Blood, Sweat and Treason on Amazon.com

Match finished: Zimbabwe won by 130 runs

Zimbabwe: 370 & 291/5d
Bangladesh: 287 & 244 (57.3 ov)

Zimbabwe have won the one-off Test against Bangladesh by 130 runs in Harare, concluding a successful return to the longer form of the international game.

Bangladesh lost their remaining two wickets for the addition of 16 runs after lunch to close their second innings on 244 chasing an improbable victory target of 375.

Opening the day on 112 for three, the tourists lost wickets steadily in the morning session and when three fell in successive overs the end was near.

Some defiant late hitting by Abdur Razzak only delayed the inevitable as Zimbabwe recorded a comfortable win on their return to Test cricket after their self-imposed exile.

Bangladesh lost Mohammad Ashraful, who had put together a partnership of 38 with Mushfiqur Rahim before he was bowled by Brian Vitori for 39 off an inside edge. When Bangladesh then lost Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim in successive overs the home side closed quickly on victory.

Mahmudullah was caught by Tatenda Taibu off the bowling of Chris Mpofu for 11 and when Shakib was caught by Brendan Taylor off Elton Chigumbura for six the visitors were reeling on 174 for six.

Mushfiqur also fell to Mpofu, this time caught by Craig Ervine, for 28 without further addition to the total. Razak and Shafiul Islam put on a defiant half-century for the eighth wicket before the former was bowled by Chigumbura to leave the total on 224 for eight and Zimbabwe on the verge of victory.

Razzak had smashed 43 of those runs off just 17 balls, including five fours and three sixes, before his dismissal meant Bangladesh’s last hope disappeared in the final over before lunch.

Kyle Jarvis returned after lunch to claim the wickets of Shafiul and Robiul Islam to leave Rubel Hossain unbeaten on eight from a total of 244. Jarvis returned figures of four for 61.

Previously
Day 4
End Of Day: Bangladesh – 112/3 in 30.0 overs (M Ashraful 19, M Rahim 4)
Tea: Zimbabwe – 291/5 in 92.0 overs (BRM Taylor 105, CR Ervine 35
BRM Taylor: 100 off 170 balls (9 x 4
Drinks: Zim – 233/5 in 81.0 overs (BRM Taylor 71, CR Ervine 14)

Day 4 News
Zimbabwe go into the final day of their Test against Bangladesh needing seven wickets for victory after the bowlers responded to Brendan Taylor’s bold declaration by reducing the tourists to 112 for three.

Taylor became the second Zimbabwean in history – and the seventh overall – to hit a maiden Test century in his first match as captain, as Zimbabwe declared their second innings on 291 for five at tea on day four.

That left Bangladesh needing 375 to win from 123 overs, a feat which looked quite possible when their openers put on a brisk 65-run stand at the top of the order.

But Chris Mpofu bowled the dangerous Tamim Iqbal (43) and Kyle Jarvis took two wickets to give Zimbabwe every chance of winning their first match back in Test cricket after a six-year absence, with Bangladesh requiring a further 263 runs on day five.

19 years after Zimbabwe’s first Test captain Dave Houghton hit a century on his country’s debut, Taylor added his name to a niche list by going to three figures shortly before tea, before setting a target which was likely to induce some attacking shots from the Bangladeshi batsmen.

Taylor was unbeaten on 105 and Craig Ervine 35 not out from 55 deliveries, with both batsmen cranking through the gears in the second session after Tatenda Taibu had fallen shortly after lunch, and Taylor taking just 53 balls to score his second fifty after needing 117 for his first.

Taibu went to lunch on 53 not out, but added just six to his total before chipping Shafiul Islam to extra cover as he looked to clear the infield.

Although Ervine took a few overs to get his eye in having endured a wretched run of form since the World Cup, he then started finding the middle of the bat and went on to add 86 with Taylor in less than 18 overs to set up the declaration.

A wicketless opening session had put Zimbabwe back in firm control, with Taibu making most of the running as he breezed to an unbeaten half-century, while Taylor made slower progress to reach lunch on 46 not out from 112 deliveries.

After Zimbabwe’s collapse late on day three had put the match back in the balance, the two batsmen came out with a far more positive mindset to re-establish control.

46 runs were taken in the opening 45 minutes as Taibu and Taylor worked the ball into the gaps and ran an unusually high number of threes.

Taibu was also quick on his feet to the spinners, taking a particular liking to Shakib Al Hasan as he hit the Bangladesh skipper out of the attack by regularly finding the boundary.

However Shakib was replaced by off-spinner Mahmudullah who bowled a more negative line from around the wicket to force Zimbabwe to be more patient, and the scoring slowed down dramatically over the last 45 minutes of the session with just nine runs coming from the last 10 overs.

A more productive second session led Taylor to stick the Bangladeshis back in, and his confidence in his bowlers was rewarded after a nervy, run-filled period when Mpofu came around the wicket to hit the top of Tamim’s off stump as the left-hander shouldered arms.

Jarvis then gained his reward for another sharp spell of bowling when, having beaten the bat on numerous occasions, he finally found the edge of Imrul Kayes’ bat to have the opener caught behind for 31.

The 22-year-old fast bowler wasn’t finished yet, and also used the round-the-wicket approach to full effect as he sent Shariar Nafees’ leg stump cartwheeling to set up an exciting final day at Harare Sports Club.

Day 3
End Of Day: Zimbabwe – 92/4 in 34.3 overs (BRM Taylor 5, T Taibu 0)
Lunch: Bangladesh – 200/5 in 73.0 overs (S Al Hasan 40, M Rahim 3)
Drinks: Bangladesh – 163/4 in 59.0 overs (M Ashraful 62, S Al Hasan 17)

Day 2
End Of Day 2 Bangladesh – 107/3 in 46.0 overs (M Ashraful 34, Mahmudullah 4)
Tea: Bangladesh – 38/2 in 12.0 overs (Shahriar Nafees 17, M Ashraful 2)
Innings Break: Zimbabwe – 370/10 in 131.0 overs (KM Jarvis 4)
Lunch: Zimbabwe – 326/6 in 115.3 overs (T Taibu 3)
Drinks: Zimbabwe – 304/3 in 104.0 overs (BRM Taylor 64)
H Masakadza: 100 off 235 balls (8 x 4, 1 x 6)

Day 1
End Day 1: Zim – 264/2 in 90.0 overs (H Masakadza 88, BRM Taylor 40)
At Tea Zimbabwe 191/2 in 60.0 overs (H Masakadza 56, BRM Taylor 4)
At Drinks: Zim – 144/1 in 44.0 overs (V Sibanda 69, H Masakadza 23)
At Lunch Zim were 102/1 in 30.0 overs (V Sibanda 50, H Masakadza 0)

Zim were put into bat first on a typically sunny, clear but cool day at the Harare Sports Club and went about it very well on the first Test and only test against Bangladesh.

Considering that this is Zimbabwe’s first test in almost six years, their opening stand on the first day was pretty impressive, especially when you take into account that the pitch is expected to offer the seamers some early assistance. It is likely to flatten as the match goes on, Shakib Al Hasan made the expected decision to bowl after winning the toss, something Brendan Taylor admitted he would also have done.

Zimbabwe have 4 newcomers to test cricket in their team, opening batsman Tinotenda Mawoyo, middle-order batsman Craig Ervine, and bowlers Kyle Jarvis and Brian Vitori, who received their caps shortly after the toss. Tatenda Taibu, who created shockwaves through Zimbabwe cricket with his revelations of administrative problems, was in the starting line-up and will bat at No. 6. Zimbabwe played one spinner in Ray Price, who is likely to play a containing role.

Zimbabwe have not played a Test in almost six years, when they lost to India by ten wickets at this ground. Bangladesh also had a mini-hiatus from the longest version of the game. They last played a Test 14 months ago, against England. Bangladesh have never won a Test in Zimbabwe and only one member of the current team, Mohammad Ashraful, has played in a Test against them.

Zimbabwe Team: 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Tinotenda Mawoyo, 3 Brendan Taylor (capt & wk), 4 Hamilton Masakadza, 5 Craig Ervine, 6 Tatenda Taibu, 7 Elton Chigumbura, 8 Ray Price, 9 Kyle Jarvis, 10 Brian Vitori, 11 Christopher Mpofu

Bangladesh Team: 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes , 3 Shahriar Nafees, 4 Mohammad Ashraful, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Abdur Razzak, 9 Shafiul Islam, 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Robiul Islam

ODI Series Fixtures

Zim also take on Bangladesh in a series of one day internationals:

• First ODI: 12 August, Harare
• Second ODI: 14 August, Harare
• Third ODI: 16 August, Harare
• Fourth ODI: 19 August, Bulawayo
• Fifth ODI: 21 August, Bulawayo

Zimbabwe Cricket welcomes Bangladesh to restart their test career again this month.

The first and only Test match against Bangladesh will be played from 4th to the 8th of August 2011 at Harare Sports Club with Brendan Taylor leading the Zimbabwean side.

Cricket Zimbabwe withdrew from Test Cricket almost 6 years ago in September 2005 and the hope is that now with some major rebuilding they should be good enough to be competitive.

Test Cricket provides great opportunity for Cricket in Zimbabwe, and now its up to Cricket Zimbabwe, their coach and players on how they grab it and bring back good years of Zimbabwean Cricket.

Zimbabwe Squad News
Brendan Taylor (capt), Regis Chakabva, Elton Chigumbura, Craig Ervine, Hamilton Masakadza, Tino Mawoyo, Keegan Meth, Chris Mpofu, Ray Price, Vusi Sibanda, Tatenda Taibu (wk), Prosper Utseya, Brian Vitori

Test cricket presented the Zimbabwean selectors with an issue of getting the right balance to the side, this was probably not felt quite as acutely as in the limited-overs sides that have recently been selected.

The dependable Tatenda Taibu looks most likely to keep wicket, but Zimbabwe will probably have to break up one of their most dependable bowling partnerships, as only one of either Utseya and Ray Price are expected to be included in the team. While both men are automatic selections in limited-overs cricket, Zimbabwe are attempting to move away from their reliance on spin as they re-enter the Test arena.

It is also probably safe to assume that Chris Mpofu will take the new ball, it’s not entirely clear whether Vitori or Keegan Meth will partner him.

Probably Zimbabwe’s biggest weakness is their opening pair of Vusi Sibanda and Tino Mawoyo. Whilst they were able to hang on for almost 55 overs in the first innings of Zimbabwe’s match against Australia in Harare two weeks ago, neither gave you the feeling that they were very comfortable.

Bangladesh tour Zimbabwe 2011 Fixture Details
Thu Aug 4 – Mon Aug 8: Only Test – Zimbabwe v Bangladesh at Harare Sports Club

Where to Buy Blood, Sweat and Treason

Currently available in Hardcover it is available online through Amazon, in the UK and US

UK
Blood, Sweat and Treason on Amazon.co.uk

USA

Blood, Sweat and Treason on Amazon.com

ODI Series Fixtures

Zim also take on Bangladesh in a series of one day internationals:

• First ODI: 12 August, Harare
• Second ODI: 14 August, Harare
• Third ODI: 16 August, Harare
• Fourth ODI: 19 August, Bulawayo
• Fifth ODI: 21 August, Bulawayo

Zimbabwean NoViolet Bulawayo who hails from New Lobengula in Bulawayo, has scooped this year’s Caine Prize for African Writing.

She works as a lecturer at Cornell University in New York and said one day she hopes to become a full time writer. Her short story called Hitting Budapest follows a group of six starving Zimbabwean children, one of whom is pregnant at age 10, as they go about fending for themselves.

The children from a shanty town decide to raid a well off neighbourhood for guavas. They encounter a rich woman and insult her for throwing away a piece of pizza, a food they discover for the first time in their lives. On their way back home they come across the body of someone who has committed suicide.

Asked if her story is related to the current situation in Zimbabwe, she said it was linked through the issue of poverty. “The real issue is that a lot of people are living below the poverty line and children, being society’s most vulnerable victims, are suffering the brunt of it,” she said. The story also draws heavily from her own experiences of growing up in Zimbabwe.

Bulawayo was chosen from 126 submissions by a jury consisting of this year’s Commonwealth Writers’ Prize winner Aminatta Forna and the Man Booker Prize shortlisted Libyan author Hisham Matar, among others.

Handing over the prize, Matar explained why Bulawayo was chosen over four other shortlisted writers:

“The language of Hitting Budapest crackles,” he said. “Here we encounter Darling, Bastard, Chipo, Godknows, Stina and Sbho, a gang reminiscent of ‘Clockwork Orange.’ But these are children, poor and violated and hungry. This is a story with moral power and weight (yet) has the artistry to refrain from moral commentary.”

As Caine Prize winner NoViolet receives £10,000 cash and will be given the opportunity to take up a month’s residence at Georgetown University, Washington DC, as a writer-in-residence. The award will cover all travel and living expenses.

The Caine Prize has become a near-infallible early warning system for new African talent. Often, just being shortlisted is enough to catapult African authors to international renown, as has been evidenced by Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie.

Previous winners such as Leila Aboulela, Helon Habila and Kenyan Binyavanga Wainaina have gone on to publish critically acclaimed works, as well as further the cause of writing in their respective countries.

Read Hitting Budapest

Buy the book: ‘To See the Mountain and other stories’ features all five stories shortlisted in 2011.

UK	USA

KARIBA INVITATION TIGER FISH TOURNAMENT

50TH ANNIVERSARY

The Kariba Invitation Tiger Fish Tournament celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, starting on 26th October the Tournament promises to be the best for many a year.

Interest from teams outside of Zimbabwe has been exceptional and it is estimated that between 250 and 300 teams will enter this milestone in Zimbabwe’s fishing calendar.

To celebrate the anniversary a wide range of entertainment including Bud Cockcroft, Rob & Ellie Osborne, Fraser Mackay and Paul Bowen amongst others have been lined up to entertain every evening from Monday 24th October through to Friday.

There will be all sorts of fun during the three days with lots of giveaways and some great prizes to be won.

If you have not fished the Tournament before this would be an ideal time to start, and for those of you who have fished before, get organized you do not want to miss out, it’s going to be huge!

Full bar and catering will be provided throughout the week.

50 Years of Tiger Fishing…

www.kitft.co.zw
kitft@iwayafrica.co.zw

Kariba on Amazon.co.uk

I go home to Zimbabwe at least once a year, partly to visit friends and family, partly for a holiday and partly for “work”… and when I say work, there is a whole lot to do – you see for another website that I run (The Safari Guide), it is vital that I have as many good quality bird and wildlife photographs that I can lay my hands on and I can’t think of a much better place in the world to get them than in Zim.

Travel

So every year I “have” to travel all the way across the globe to one of the best places in the world to view birds and wildlife and then whilst I’m there, have to load up the Landrover with all my gear and drive all around this stunning, beautiful country.

Terrible I know!

Patience

But that is just half the “job” done, the next bit is to capture the images and this is where the real “work” begins. Photographing birds and wildlife takes loads of patience as you usually “have” to spend hours and hours relaxing waiting in stunning wild places like Kariba, Hwange, Inyanga or on the Zambezi for the perfect moment to arrive so that you can then take a few photographs of the wildlife you have come to see.

A few examples of this “toil” include the many, many times that I have spent hours and hours on a boat in Kariba in the boiling heat with only cold beer, a fishing rod and my camera to keep me going whilst waiting for the perfect opportunity to photograph a Fish Eagle, Kingfisher, Swallow or an Elephant.

Or there are the times that I “had” to camp in Chirundu or down the river at Mana Pools to get some more Elephant, Buffalo, Wild Dog and Little Bee-Eater shots.

Then there was the trip to Vumba and Inyanga where I spent the cold evenings curled up in front of a log fire in my cabin to keep me warm, just so I could go out in the morning and get the chance to photo a Samango Monkey, Blue Duiker, a Purple-Crested Lourie (or Turaco as they are now called) or even a Redfaced Crimsonwing (Cryptospiza reichenovii).

Ogh and not forgetting the trips all the way to Hwange and Victorial falls for those all important Ele, Giraffe and Trumpeter Hornbill photos.

I also distinctly remember spending hours in Hwange National Park watching and waiting for a lioness and her cubs to get up from under the shade of a tree so that I could get a decent photograph of her walking through the long grass.

But wait, there was also the time in Matopos, with the Rhinos…

I think you get the idea, it’s a tough job and I have to do it!

Equipment

To get really great close-up photographs of wildlife, especially birds means I have to play with use loads of toys complicated equipment – things like cameras, tripods and binoculars, which are incredibly mentally demanding…

Ok, ok…I think I have to stop there as I can’t keep this up any more. Visiting Zim is something that I really look forward to every year and my wish plan is that one day soon… I will stop having to visit and will spend all year round in such a beautiful country.

Until then… my next visit is in a few weeks time. I have a few incredible trips lined up whilst I am there and a whole bunch of new equipment toys to play with, on top of that I am taking my four month old daughter to visit her grandparents for the first time and to spend some quality time with friends and family and I can’t wait!

For those who are interested – I have a shiny new camera to play with and hope to come back with a whole bunch of new Elephant, Hippo, Imapa, Kudu, Crocodile, Hornbill, or any other birds and animals that will hang around long enough for me to take their portrait! You can read my Fujifilm FinePix HS20EXR Review here.

You can aso take a look at a few of the photos I took last year: Beautiful Zimbabwe – March 2010

Since Shona is spoken by over 90% of Zimbabweans, learning and retaining it is also a good way to solidify one’s ties with people in Zimbabwe. As such, we present over the coming weeks, lessons in Shona to help those of you who want to learn it for the first time, or for those who want to recap some concepts.

Lesson 1

These lessons are focused on simple conversations. The basic language skills are often enough to break down conversational barriers, to identify with others, and to pass on heritage by signalling to children who have been brought up abroad that Zimbabwe, too, is an important part of their identity.
Shona is a relatively easy language to pronounce because vowel sounds do not alter from
word to word. All words end in a vowel. Shona is a phonetic language – spelling easily indicates how the word sounds.

Vowel Pronunciation
a as in army
e as in egg
I as in big
o as in hot
u as in who

All vowels are pronounced e.g. roora (marry) pronounced as ro-o-ra, and kuuya ( to come) pronounced as ku-u-ya. Note that Shona has no l,q,x,c except the combination of ch-.

Pronouns
In Shona, as in many other languages, there are different forms of addressing people depending on the familiarity of the relationship and the relative ages. Peers can be addressed casually, whilst elders, regardless of how old you are, are addressed with respect, or in the more formal way. As such, the pronouns for ‘you’, and ‘he’ or ‘she’ change depending on how ‘senior’ the person is.

• I – Ini
• You – Iwe (singular, to a peer)
• You – Imi/mu (This applies for all plural forms of ‘you’, and is also the form for addressing a single, senior person)
• She/He – Iye
• It – icho
• We - ti
• Us – isu
• They – va/ivo (note that ‘they’ remains the same for peers and seniors)
• Their – avo

We’ll use these expressions in the next lesson, but for now just familiarise yourself with the variations. Remember that a language is not learned by memorising grammar, but by speaking the words. The audio for this lesson can be obtained from http://www.learnshona.com in an mp3 format that can be played on the computer, on many phones and music players.

Next week’s topics include possessives, greetings and the verb ‘to know’. We’ll also have a set of common phrases that follow on from the concepts in this lesson.

Nyasha Madavo.
Nyasha Madavo is founder of LearnShona.com.

Learn Shona – Related Books

Beginner’s Shona (Chishona) by Aquilina Mawadza
Shona, a Bantu language, is spoken in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. This dictionary and phrasebook features the ChiShona dialect. Included are vocabulary sections, a phrasebook, pronunciation tips, a brief outline of the language’s grammar and information about local culture.

Aquilina Mawadza is a lecturer in the Department of African languages and Literature at the University of Zimbabwe. She obtained a master’s degree in linguistics form the University of Florida, Gainesville, where she taught Shona for two years.

UK
Beginner’s Shona on Amazon.co.uk

USA

Beginner’s Shona on Amazon.com

Shona-English/English-Shona: Dictionary and Phrasebook
Shona, or ChiShona, a Bantu language spoken by eight million people in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, is the official and most widely-spoken language of Zimbabwe. Designed for the traveler, this compact guide provides the means for basic communication in Shona, featuring a two-way dictionary and phrasebook with practical and cultural information. –1,400 dictionary entries –Pronunciation guide –A basic grammar – Essential phrases – Ideal for the traveler and student.

UK
Shona-English: Dictionary and Phrasebook on Amazon.co.uk

USA

Shona-English: Dictionary and Phrasebookon Amazon.com