Thursday December 11, 1980 – Inyanga and the Vumba
We were up
bright and early as we intended leaving soon after 07.00 for Inyanga and the
Vumba. We were first in for breakfast soon after 06.30 and did get away soon
after 07.00 despite a small delay at the cashier as they took a bit of time to
sort out the account.
It was
overcast and drizzling but we made our way through Salisbury’s morning rush hour without too
much trouble and were soon belting along the open road. (Duncan McBean had warned us about the rush hour, but it was only two
or three blocks long – not quite what we were used to in Cape
Town). There was very little traffic outside of the city limits and the car went
well. the countryside was lovely and green and there were lots of fat cattle to
be seen – but not much else, apart from the massive anthills that are a feature
of the countryside (actually built by
termites rather than ants they can be up to 25 feet high) and many crows
snacking off the road kill from the previous night.
We turned
off the main road to Umtali (now Mutare)
at Rusape and made for Inyanga. After calling at the Warden’s office to check
on the state of the roads, we went to Mare Dam. We had stayed there soon after
the dam was built and the chalets were still there. Rab rather liked the look
of them. There are boats for hire and a number of people were rowing about the
lake and fishing – the rivers are stocked with trout.
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| Mare Dam, Inyanga - a peaceful spot with happy memories |
High on the
hill above Mare Dam is one of the many ‘forts’ that, together with the
so-called ‘slave-pits’ dot the Inyanga countryside. These structures are dry
stone, as are the terraces on some of the hills, but there is no verbal history
as to who built them, when – or why in the case of the ‘slave pits' in
particular.
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| Part of the 'fort' above the dam. |
The forts have what appear to be embrasures suitable for firearms,
which is odd, given their apparent age. The occur throughout this region, all
within sight of each other on hilltops, so presumably served some messaging
function. The current theory on the ‘slave-pits’ is that the animals – goats
and small cattle were herded into these pits with the owners living in a hut
built over the pit.
From the
fort we headed for Inyanga
Village to get a drink
and then went on to Troutbeck Inn, one of the hotels in the region. I didn’t
think much of it, but Rab thought it was quite nice. There have been many
changes since I was last in Inyanga especially the roads which are now all
tarred. Most were dirt when we used to come up here – making for difficult
driving in the wet season. Having said that, we decided to head for Umtali
along the Scenic Drive,
which is still a dirt road, although it is in good condition. The views were
terrific and although it continued to rain on and off, we still saw a good deal
of the countryside.
We got to
Umtali just before 13.00 and filled up the car. We had a brief look around and
saw plenty of old military vehicles – there was a lot of fighting in this area
during the war as it is close to Mozambique – but not much else so we pushed on
to the Vumba and Leopard Rock Hotel. The hotel was a pleasant surprise for us.
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| First sight of Leopard Rock Hotel |
As we rounded a bend at the
bottom of a valley there it was, looking like a French Chateau – almost. The
hotel was built during and after World War II by Italian prisoners of war. It
is laid out in an unusual way – somewhat higgledy piggledy – but has some
unusual and beautiful woodwork, including some inlaid ebony. Don’t know how
they managed to work that – it is such hard wood.
 |
| Rab relaxes in the hotel lounge |
The
children’s playroom looked a lot of fun with a slide out of a castle and
incorporating a very large boulder with a cave to hide in – and so on. The
grounds are beautiful and there are flowers everywhere. The views are great too
– looking across to the mountains which are the border between Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
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| The view from the hotel across to the border |
Many of the windows of
the hotel still have grenade screens on them and there are still some unpatched
bullet holes from the night attacks launched during the war, a stark reminder
of how dangerous it was here at that time.
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| Rab and the 'friendly' geese |
After we had
unpacked we had a stroll around and visited the geese in their pond. Rab was a bit
wary of them, but they were very friendly.
In the fullness of time, a beaten
drum summoned us to dinner, which was excellent and which included guinea fowl.
With nothing much to do in the evening we had an early night. It was pretty
nippy but we unearthed a heater which warmed up the room for Rab. The Queen
Mother and Princess Margaret stayed here during the Royal Visit in 1953 and we
think we might have got their suite – it is certainly a very posh one.
We have
decided that the move to Zimbabwe is on.
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