4/5/2013 Great Zimbabwe-A letter to my dad

Dear Dad,

                Great Zimbabwe has the largest ruins south of the pyramids.  Three major sites—a hilltop religious site, village walls, and the royal great enclosure.  The walls are over 11 meters high and 6 meters thick in spots and are over 700 years old.  And they’re all mortar-less.  Still standing tall with no glue to hold them together.  You would have loved it! And there is even a hostel at the camp grounds, so you could get a bed, rather than camping in the freezing cold on the ground, like we were.  Our campsite looked pretty foolish next to the South African family who were “glam-camping” around Zimbabwe for their holiday, with their custom kettle and refrigerator.  We boiled water for porridge and coffee in tin cans. You would have been proud.

                None of our food was stolen by monkeys, which was a legitimate concern, since they were everywhere.  Waking up at sunrise and hearing them waking up around us was very cool. 

                Back to the ruins-at the hilltop site there is the worship center/alter, which had 5 meter high walls with benches built in on one side, and in the front, there were progressive walls and benches built going up a granite rock face.  On the top of the face, accessible by stairs to the back, was where the head religious figure sat. They must have chosen this face carefully, because this boulder was flat on top, and anyone sitting there would be brilliantly illuminated at both sunrise and sunset.  It was breathtaking. You would have loved it. 

                We went down the hill to the royal compound.  There’s this huge monument, but what was way more impressive was the “parallel passage”—a huge hallway that had walls over 11 meters high, and there were tunnels through the walls for ventilation and drainage.  Looking through those, you could really see how thick the walls were. Super cool.

Anyway, dad, I was thinking about how much you would love it the whole time I was there!  Super old planks holding up the doorways… Reminded me of your driftwood.  I’m having a great time, and I miss you every day!

Love,

                Rae Lynn

Thieving Monkeys!

View of the Hilltop Complex from below

Taking the Ancient Pathway up to the Hilltop

The Western Entrance to the Complex

We made it to the top!

Everything was spectacularly built 

The view of the entrance of the Hilltop Complex from above

The Great Enclosure from above

The entrance to the Great Enclosure--the Royal Compound

Erika in the Parallel Passage

We were really cold in the morning!

The reconstructed village entrance