Friday-Saturday, 6-7 June 1986: Whew! I Made It through a Tough Border Crossing

June 16, 12:30 PM, Home of Steve & Beryl, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Before my second meeting at the University of Botswana Environmental Science Department on Friday, the 6^th, I decided to attend the Gaborone Rotary Club meeting.  I had some misgivings about even showing up given the cold shoulder I’d received on the phone from their president regarding accommodations in Gabs with a Rotary family.  

Other than the guy collecting the money at the entrance to the meeting room, the Gaborone Rotarians virtually ignored me.  They didn’t even have a club banner to exchange for my Summit County, Colorado club banner.  At lunch, the only guy who talked to me was a guest of one of the members.  They only have one black member, a strange imbalance in a non-racial democracy with 1 million African and only 10,000 white residents.  After lunch, I ducked out fast not feeling it was worth any more effort to meet people in a club where I was being ignored.  Should I get the University of Botswana job, I certainly won’t be joining their club!

That evening, I boarded the train for Zimbabwe.   When I had arrived in Gaborone on Monday, I had a 2^nd class car all to myself.  Now the situation was completely different.  There was a huge queue to get compartment assignments as hundreds of Batswana men were headed home for the weekend from jobs in Gaborone to smaller towns in the north of the country.  Dozens got off in the middle of the night in Francistown, the largest population center in northern Botswana.  The train was at the Gaborone station for about an hour before all the compartments were assigned.  I wound up in a compartment with three Batswana, a black Zimbabwean, and an Indian Zimbabwean.  Second class compartments hold up to six with three bunks on one side of the compartment and three on the other.  It’s a tight fit when the compartment is full especially with all our luggage.  Fortunately, the men were quiet, went to sleep early, and none snored. 

At first light on Saturday morning, we were crossing northern Botswana and nearing the border.  Customs and immigration at the first Zimbabwe town (Plumtree) were a hassle, especially for the black Zimbabwean who was bringing in a new radio, toiletries, and other items purchased in Botswana.  The customs guy gave him a hard time about the radio because all he had was a cash register receipt (plus a price tag on the box for the same amount), instead of an itemized receipt which was required.  The radio cost him only 20 pula (about US$10) in Botswana.  He told me the same radio would have cost him at least Z$80 (about US$50) in Zimbabwe if he could even have found it there. Fortunately, he was able to get back into his country with his new radio. 

The Zimbabwe border authorities insisted on the address of the Rotary family I would be staying with in Bulawayo.  Fortunately, there was a phone book in the booth next to the train station and I found my hosts’ address.  That evening, my hosts told me that a group of visiting Rotarians from South Africa had been turned back from the border not long ago because they didn’t know who they would be staying with in Bulawayo.  All they knew was that Rotarians were meeting them at the station and that wasn’t good enough.

Not only did the Zim border guys want to see my return ticket out of Zimbabwe and back to South Africa, but they insisted on seeing my return ticket from South Africa back to the States as well.  Fortunately, I had it with me.  They were also really picky about the amount of foreign currency I was bringing into the country and they’ll probably scrutinize my wallet even more when I leave. 

Between Plumtree and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe - view toward the rear of my train.

 

Once through Zimbabwean customs and immigration and back on the train, I had no worries.  During my last phone call to the Bulawayo South Rotary Club, I learned they were “fighting” over who would get to host the American.  They agreed to share me among three families.  The hospitality here has been fantastic.  When the train arrived in Bulawayo around 12:45 PM on Saturday, the 7^th, I was met by Steve, the secretary of the Bulawayo South Rotary Club, his wife Beryl, and Adrian and Penny who put me up that night.