Hunting In Africa

Well that’s what western media would have you believe from their far removed, ideology driven seat in a London cafe…

Here’s my story, a girl who grew up on the land in Africa, was raised with the locals and best of friends with their kids, someone whose life was completely overturned by corrupt government officials using ‘race’ as vindication, someone forced to leave home and country with nothing but a suitcase and cherished childhood memories..

Three years on from slurping cold steins of beer while listening to traditional brass bands and continually cheering ‘prost’, we were again headed on an overseas adventure, but this time our destination was somewhere that is forever in my heart – Africa. After meeting Willie at Oktoberfest in Germany and finding out he was a real deal Kiwi bushman, I knew I would have to take him to experience my home country one day – Zimbabwe. The culture, the bush, the animals, they say everything in Africa bites, but the safari bug is worst of all.

“This is not your land – this is the new Zimbabwe – this is not Rhodesia shouted Senator Matanga. I wasn’t expecting a warm welcome, I just wanted to show Willie the farm where I spent my childhood. Nonetheless, the intimidating response we got when we returned to the farm for the first time since it was confiscated by the government in 2001, was still quite a shock and an emotional experience for me.