In the Spotlight - Zimbabwe
Hazukashii
In the Spotlight – Zimbabwe
By Ed “Hazukashii” Howell
19 May 2023
Zimbabwe is one of sixteen landlocked countries on the continent of Africa. Surrounded by Zambia to the north, Mozambique to the east, South Africa to the south, and Botswana to the south-west, it also has a 4-corner angled touch with Namibia to the west. Zimbabwe has a population just over 15 million, and covers roughly 390,000 square kms according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Annexed in 1923, it was renamed South Rhodesia, and remained under control of the United Kingdom for more than 50 years. After several uprisings, independence in 1980 resulted in a name change to Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe led the primary uprising and became the first Prime Minister after independence. He eventually became President in 1987, and ruled until his forced resignation in 2017, according to the World Factbook.
The Zambezi River is one of the predominant features, that flows south from Zambia and creates half the border between Namibia and Zambia, then continues to flow as the entire border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The most commonly noted feature of the Zambezi occurs where is cascades down Victoria Falls, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the largest and most picturesque water falls of the world. The Zambezi then flows on along the border through Lake Kariba and then into Mozambique, eventually spilling into the Indian Ocean.
The countryside of Zimbabwe is adorned with grasslands, rain forests, and various patches of desert, with the capital being located in Harare. Speaking of Harare, the first exposure to the world of the Hash House Harriers occurred there on 12 March 1984, when Susan Morris Swain founded the Harare H3 after coming down from Nairobi, Kenya. They celebrated their 2000th Hash in February 2017, and as far as I can tell, the Harare H3 was active up until November 2020, having completed over 2200 trails. There is no further trace of them on the internet, but they may still be active on WhatsApp like many other hash clubs in the region.
The Harare H3 has had two spawns according to the HHH Genealogy, first being the Cackle H3 founded on 1 June 1999, by Colin John Liebenberg. The second was the Harare Full Moon H3 founded by Snowy ‘Colcom Kid’ Neves, with the assistance of Malcolm ‘PC Plod’ Smith and Donald ‘Dinosaur Don’ MacDonald, on 2 December 2009. Both of these clubs appear to be long since dead, with the last trace of either of them, the Full Moon Hash, in 2014.
Despite there being no trace of active hashing in Zimbabwe at the moment, a merry band of prelubers recently dashed around the countryside near Victoria Falls. Making their way to the Pan Africa hash being held in Malawi, these 18 hashers enjoyed the many sites of the region, as well as a shiggified trail along the back streets, elephant trails, and various other sandy paths in the desert, to find a sweet beer check a mere 1 km from the finish. Hared by Hazukashii, this 5 km trail in desert heat fulfilled at least three of the primary objectives of the hash . . . promoting physical fitness amongst its members, allowing them to acquire a good thirst and satisfy it with beer, as well as the possible off chance of persuading the older members (which was pretty much all of us) that we are not as old as we feel. The fourth objective was only tangently addressed by creating the after-trail hangovers that would have to be ridded by other means.
As you can tell from this mere shallow dive into the background of Zimbabwe, it is a land of enchantment with plenty of bucket-list level items to see and experience. I highly encourage anyone who wants great adventure, to plan a trip and go see all that Zimbabwe has to offer.
I may have made up a few words for this article, but if you want to see many more articles like this on the history of hashing, check out . . . http://gotothehash.net/history/inthespotlight.html