Journey through Zimbabwe By Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, Brian Tetley
Journey through Zimbabwe By Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, Brian Tetley
Hardcover
ISBN 1868122522
Publisher: Southern Book Publishers Ltd 1990
Used – Very Good. This book is in mint condition. The Dust Jacket has some very limited signs of wear and the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. The book is protected with a Cellophane cover.
This large book was first published in 1990 in Nairobi, has 191 pages, 7 chapters, numerous large colour beautiful photos. BRIAN TETLEY was born in Birmingham, England in 1934 and became a Kenyan citizen and since 1970 worked with MOHAMED AMIN, who was born on 29.8.1943, in Eastleigh, Nairobi. Amin formed the Camerapix company in 1963 in Dar-es-Salaam and 3 years later moved it to Nairobi. he was a well known photographer and lost his (L) arm in 1991 in an ammunition explosion in Ethiopia. On 23.11.1996, Amin (53) and Tetley (61) were killed when their hijacked Ethiopian Airline flight 961 broke into pieces off the coast of Comoros Islands over the Indian Ocean.
On the Zambezi River, nature has cut 8 fissures to form Victoria falls (Mosi-oa-Tunya -the smoke that thunders) and man has created the 300km long Kariba Lake. The name of the country was changed from Matabeleland to Southern Rhodesia to Zimbabwe in 1980, the name taken from 'dzimba-dzemagwe' - big houses of stone. This country has 11 national Parks and 17 safari areas. The book narrates the history of Zambezi since 1855 when Dr Livingstone saw it first. First sketches of Victoria falls were made in 1862 by Thomas Baines. At peak flow of water, there are 6 Falls in Victoria Falls and a new 9th fissure is now being created.
Further south, Hwange NP holds the largest elephant population. Further, is the 2nd city Bulawayo and the railway station and museum. Both Mzilikazi chief and Cecil Rhodes have their tombs on the Matobo Granite Hills. With 95 steam locomotives, Zimbabwe was steam trains paradise at one time. Steam safaris used to go to Victoria Falls from Bulawayo. The pre-historic cave paintings go back 30,000 years. The Ndebele walls and the Khami ruins are also as important as the Great Zimbabwe ruins. Between Harare (Salisbury) and Gweru, 48 minerals have been extracted including Gold. The arrival of rail in 1902, brought prosperity. Today, the rail is in poor state.
Harare is surrounded by old gold mines and tobacco and cotton farms. There are wild roads with jacaranda trees. To the south-east is the famous Gonorezhou NP. Lake Kyle is the 2nd largest water in Zimbabwe. Here, sugarcane is the main crop. After Zambezi River, Save River is the longest in Zimbabwe. In the east, the tea and coffee are the main products. The Mutare (Umtali) and Chimanimani regions are some of the most beautiful in the country and their wonderful birds. Another beautiful place is Nyanga (witchdoctor) NP with its mountain wildlife and waterfalls. The 1/2km wide and 420ft high Kariba Dam creates 5,000sqkm of lake on the Zambezi river. Here, you can enjoy water wilderness and take safaris.
Today, Zimbabwe is in crisis and in a mess. It uses any currency (after its trillion trillion dollar notes failed) including oversea US dollars. Even British Airways have stopped flights.
Some other books of interest are:-
(1) Animal Dunkirk, Eric Robins, 1959
(2) Zimbabwe, Richard Vaughan, 1991
(3) Zimbabwe, Peter Joyce, 1995
(4) Hwange, Nick Greaves, 1997
(5) A Wildlife, Dick Pitman, 2006
(6) When the Crocodile eats the Sun, Peter Godwin, 2007
(7) Rhodesia, Ron Morkel, 2011
(8) History of Zimbabwe, Mlambo, 2014
(9) Great Zimbabwe, Charles River, 2017
(10)Elephant dawn, Sharon Pincott, 2017
