Very few Zimbabweans know about the Bridal Veil Falls in Chimanimani
David Mungoshi Shelling the Nuts
Places like Victoria Falls remain exotic and unreachable for many of us. I believe that it is time to act on some of these things and do so decisively. But, of course, we need to educate and convince the populace of the benefits of patronising our own products.
Once in a while we can indulge ourselves in this column by introducing subjects that can, in the fullness of time, actually assume great importance.
Finding myself on a purple stretch of reflection in recent times, I could not resist looking at how this column, even if just in passing, can contribute to the welfare and cohesion of our nation.
Contrary to what many might say, national unity and cohesion do not necessarily derive from politics alone. We can attain the same things by other routes.
After a visit to Bristol a few weeks ago, and after seeing for myself the wonder of Brunel’s bridge across the River Severn I happened to mention this to fellow Zimbabweans living and working in the United Kingdom.
Invariably, the response was that I had probably seen more of the UK in a few days than they had seen in years.
The reasons for this are not far to seek. When you venture to a foreign land in pursuit of your dream of affluence, the dream becomes your driver and making more money becomes your consuming objective.
Many brothers and sisters in the Diaspora will testify to this. Many people hardly have any social life to speak of. Shifts and more shifts are what count.
Where am I going with all this? Actually the destination is amazingly familiar.
How many Zimbabweans know the wonders of their own country? I am now a senior citizen, but it took me years to finally go to Great Zimbabwe.
And believe it or not, there are hundreds if not thousands of people in Bulawayo who have never been to Matopos.
Places like Victoria Falls remain exotic and unreachable for many of us. I believe that it is time to act on some of these things and do so decisively.
Quite often we hear about the paucity of disposable incomes among our people.
Clearly, this means that such incomes as may be disposable can be made to impact on the country’s economy in telling ways. It also means that the spread and widening of the band where people have disposable incomes is a necessity.
What we are saying is that, properly managed, the combination of a well-paid worker population, a healthy supply and demand chain buoyed by production and amenable price regimes of goods and services can be catalysts of growth and innovation.
But, of course, we need to educate and convince the populace of the benefits of patronising our own products. We also need to create a sustainable appetite for fun and travel and Zimbabwean cuisine.
National FM radio, which broadcasts to the nation in many of the languages recognised in our Constitution, used to have what can only be described as a unique innovation so far as radio broadcasting in this country is concerned.
Its listeners regularly interacted through its programmes and as time passed, clubs were formed. The members of these clubs began to organise trips around the country.
Willy-nilly, National FM was feeding into domestic tourism!
This may not be as difficult as it may at first look. And believe me, trends on the market show that disposable incomes do exist. How would we, otherwise, explain the affluence of some of our performing artistes whose fate is closely tied to just this phenomenon of expendable dollars.
Week in and week out many of them play to full houses around the country, and the audiences never disappear as long as there are formidable products on the market.
A few years ago I did a concept paper on domestic tourism and how to generate it using our iconic musicians, including in particular, the likes of James Chimombe whose music remains relevant to this day.
James Chimombe was born in Mupatsi, in an area known as Sengwe.
I find Sengwe fascinating because it is home to many influential Zimbabweans: The first black mayor of Harare after independence, Dr Tizirai Gwata, is from here.
The Chimombes have a school named after them.
My idea was to advertise regular trips to James Chimombe’s countryside home area and organise weekend pilgrimages there with participants travelling on buses and being entertained all along the way with Chimombe songs.
Strategic stops can be made on the way and licensed vendors and other legitimate business people can do roaring business. There is already a sort of precedence for this.
The Chimanimani Arts Festival has had commendable success and also generated income for the residents of Chimanimani who were able to rent out rooms in their houses during the festival.
In addition to this, the festival was a veritable service centre for indigenous foods and recipes.
The waterfall they call the “Bridal Veil” is a magical experience that excites the imagination. But how many Zimbabweans outside Chimanimani know about it?
The last album that James Chimombe did was “Jemedza” where in the title song he seemed to be singing about his impending demise.
If you are looking for romance, myth and mystery, it’s all there! And there is no shortage of a sense of the numinous, that feeling of presences other than your own which makes your hair stand on end.
With a properly trained guide, the Jemedza Trip, as we might then call it, can generate memorable experiences.
When we get to the Dzidze River with the low-level bridge and the very steep rise in the road, the guide could stop and explain the meaning of “Mudzimundateura” (spirits of my people I have prayed).
There was a very real danger of creaky old buses careering back and possibly plunging into the river.
This is what made people throw coins into the water at the bridge as they prayed for safe passage. Some of the coins may still be visible today.
After Mudzimundateura we get to Jemedza the mountain with sacred caves. In his last moments on earth, James Chimombe sought solace from among his own people and found comfort in their myths and legends.
Chezumba, another of the mountains here, was rumoured to harbour lions. The lions could be the wild type or they could be what people call “mhondoro”, the highest spirit in the hierarchy of regional spirits.
On the banks of the Mwerahari River stands Gandachibvuva Mission, a Catholic mission station. Stories are told that in the early days of the settlement the holy fathers used to see the extra-human figures known as njuzu.
These days many people equate njuzu to mermaids (beings that are half-fish and half-human). That is a Western concept. Our njuzu look like human beings, but are endowed with extra-human powers.
It is also said if you are taking a bath in the Mwerahari near the mission and your bath soap somehow slides away, you should never try to follow it.
You might be gone a long a time if you do.
These are the things that Chimombe’s Jemedza evokes. Jemedza is a classic with an “other-world” feel to it.
The strength of the vocals and the poetry of the lyrics belies the fact that when he recorded the album he was very close to his point of departure from the world.
The same can be done for many other artistes and we can capitalise on what nature provides in each area. In Chikomba district near Daramombe there is a river called the Nyamuzara which is a tributary of the Mwerahari.
Somewhere on this river is a mystic waterfall known as Gadzi where some mysterious drownings have occurred.
If we do our research we will find that in each area there is something of interest that we could use to encourage domestic tourism.
Charles Mungoshi comes from Manyene on the outskirts of Chivhu. Two of his novels, “Waiting for the Rain” and “Makunun’unu Maodzamwoyo” use settings that are still recognisable.
The dangerous bridge where Mujubheki in “Makunun’unu Maodzamwoyo” meets his demise is still there and is still as dangerous as it ever was.
People always hold their breath when they cross this bridge, unless of course, they are walking.
So there it is, I am appealing to Zimbabweans to use their imagination and get to know their own country better. In the end the dividends from this will be quite considerable.
David Mungoshi, an applied linguist is also a poet, a short-story writer and an award-winning novelist.