A little bit of what you fancy does you good

But these days, even if you’re packing greenbacks, there’s no guarantee you’ll find what you’re looking for, particularly if you leave the great metropolis of Harare and visit the rural areas.
On Boxing Day, George and I packed a suitcase with a change of clothes, put a few basic provisions into a cooler box, and set off for Blue Swallow Timeshares, adjacent to Troutbeck at Nyanga.
First stop was at Froggy Farm’s roadside stall, where we hoped to buy fruit and vegetables, but came away instead with a pretty bunch of proteas.
At the Claremont fruit and trout stall, we bought sweet and juicy red plums for US$5 a box, but resisted a small pack of frozen trout for US$15.
Onwards and upwards to the store opposite Troutbeck Hotel, once a busy hub and meeting place for locals, landed gentry, happy campers and accountants on holiday from Harare.
In happier days, when this store proudly boasted the Spar logo, a great variety of foodstuffs was available.
Hordes of campers, self-catering holidaymakers and locals would meet daily to make their purchases, discuss the weather, debate the fine art of fly-fishing and ponder the state of the nation.
 But within the dark interior at the tail end of last year, most shelves were empty, save for a large number of two litre bottles of Mazoe orange crush, several loaves of bread and some unusual looking cakes of bath soap.
 Several cashiers sat disconsolately at their tills, chatting quietly to each other. We wished each other a happy New Year, and George and I tiptoed out of the store.
Next port of call was Nyamoro Dairy Farm and Tea Room, well known for blue berry tart, milkshakes, ice cream and a variety of dairy products.
Almost missing the turn off to Nyamoro, the sign having mysteriously been removed, we eventually arrived to find the tearoom closed, and the garden overgrown.
 The dairymaids, identical twins in tartan skirts, sequinned tee shirts and gumboots, arrived from their tea break in time to inform us that the tearoom would re-open in April, and that we could still buy milk, cream and jam from the shop.
The next day we drove past Barwon Downs and down a steep winding road to the fertile area of Matema, where farmers terrace the hillsides and grow mealies and bananas.
The maize plants looked green and lively.
Just outside Tombo One business centre, a young man sold us a handsome green cabbage for US$2.
His school having been closed for most of 2008, he was hoping to eke out a living selling vegetables.
Returning to our lodge, we considered different ways of cutting up and cooking this prize-winning specimen.
We decided simply to admire it for a day and to photograph it.
The next day, as friends staying in Juliasdale were joining us for a braai, we would make a cabbage salad, and take the rest home with us to Harare on New Year’s Eve.
A visit to Nyanga would be incomplete without enjoying a cream tea in Troutbeck Hotel’s sun lounge. This is possible only if you have greenbacks, rands or pula.
 Service tends to be slow, as waiters rush hither and thither searching for elusive US one dollar bills in order to give the correct change to patrons.
On the way back to Harare on New Year’s Eve, we made a pit stop at Malwatte tearoom, just outside Marondera.
The lawns were tended and the herb and rose gardens flourishing. The lunch menu was tempting and well priced, but we were in haste to prepare to usher out the Old Year at Meikles Hotel later in the evening, and continued on our way.
George and I, both in the mood for celebrating the arrival of 2009, hoped that Meikles’ renowned hospitality would provide exactly what we fancied, and lots of it.
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