Going to Aberfoyle.

I have never thought tea much of a beverage I far prefer coffee, but I must say after a visit to Aberfoyle Tea Estates in the Honde Valley, I am looking at it in a different light. The wonderful thing about Mutare is that there are so many amazing places accessible and Aberfoyle is one of them. It recently made sad news as it was the scene of a terrible murder. The Aberfoyle wages were stolen and some of the staff were forced to drink pool acid and then marched into the bush where they were tied up and left. An absolutely heinous crime and some people suspect politically motivated as it is a privately owned company. With this dark cloud over us we wound our way past massive pine tree plantations, through huge rocky mountains, swirling mist and a rural area I thought would go on forever. We passed donkeys, cattle, chickens, goats and masses of people travelling on the road. It seemed to me as though it was one of the most densely populated places in Zimbabwe. It was hot and humid but strangely fascinating. Then just as I thought I would expire if I saw another donkey we rounded a corner and arrived in a little part of paradise. 

Neatly pruned tea bushes stretched for miles around us, water cascaded down rock faces, and we passed crystal streams bubbling over rocks. It was absolutely breathtaking. In the distance were the rock pinnacles known as God's fingers and he certainly must have put a finger on this most enchanting place. We drove into the Aberfoyle Club, disembarked and looked around in wonder. It was unbelievably amazing. It seems to have been stuck in a time warp circa 1950. It is a 50's collector's dream. We were booked into a family room which was so quaint. I had never seen such hideous vases or china in my life but by the end of the weekend they were growing on me. Flocks of china birds lined the walls, with china shoes and some of the most dreadful paintings I had ever seen but they grew on you too. There were some extremely interesting books one in particular caught my eye. A reference guide of life in Africa in the fifties, all sorts of chapters on how to behave. I read with great interest a section on men's clothing, where Khaki shorts were the de rigueur dress. It described the material to be used as thick khaki drill and the shorts had to be baggy for comfort and of course coolness. That meant your underpants were probably pretty baggy as well. It mentioned that one had to sit correctly, giving careful consideration to how you position your legs unless you unwittingly revealed an unforgivable sight to the poor people who might be sitting opposite you. I imagine that many a pink gin must have been accidentally sloshed and spilt as they caught an unfavourable glimpse of someone's privates. I closed the book in a hurry before the chapter on sex in East Africa. Surely they didn't have guidelines for that as well. 

The highlight of Aberfoyle was the Birding, now I have only recently taken an interest in this amazing hobby. Fortunately we were in the very best of company and I was honoured to be with such renowned birders. Our guide on the birding walks was called Never, he proudly showed me his Newman's Bird Book which appeared well used and dog-eared. I was astounded to read a hand written inscription in the cover from a guest. It said you are undoubtedly the worst birder I have ever come across. I frowned and drew Never's attention to this criticism but he laughed delightedly and seemed totally unfazed. I later found out that he was a caddy on the Golf Course and was a Birder in training like myself. Now I don't profess to know much about birds but we set of the next morning to see if we could find the Masked Shagger. (Well that's what it sounded like) and not wanting to show my ignorance I didn't ask them to repeat the name, it was only later I discovered we were actually looking for the Marsh Tchagra. This poor little bird is very rare indeed and I believe on the best authority that there are only about six left and can only be seen at Aberfoyle. 

I was tense with excitement as you can imagine. We leapt in the vehicle and sped off full of enthusiasm. Never was squashed in with us, clutching his Newmans, to show us the way and we headed for the dam. To my absolute amazement and most people's astonishment we didn't even have to get out of the Landrover. Believe it or not, one of the six shaggers appeared as if out of nowhere and gave as a wonderful display right in front of our noses. Our other birding highlight was the Pine Nut Vulture well that's what I called it in my haste to fix it in the sights of my binoculars. (I had to be gently and patiently reminded that it was in fact the Date Palm Vulture). My binoculars unfortunately are not up to scratch, I was inadequately equipped for a birder but I borrowed George Lock's (he has designer ones with all the trimmings)and had a wonderful sighting of this very beautiful bird. How very privileged we were to be in this very special place. Peering at birds through sun dappled leaves, surrounded by such lovely, knowledgeable people in this most perfect part of Africa. A place definitely touched by God's fingers. So for those of you who are still here and have never been to Aberfoyle what are you waiting for. 

Mandy Retzlaff
Bvumba
Zimbabwe