Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #168194 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 242 pages

Synopsis
Presenting an account of life in Rhodesia, this book tells a story of the spirited people who live there, while tourists and terrorists present an unnerving mix.

Customer Reviews

Goodbye Rhodesia - a true story
"Goodbye Rhodesia" is the true story of the Mears family who spent 25 years living in the remarkable and beautiful land that was Rhodesia.

The author arrived in Southern Rhodesia in 1952, having applied to an advertisement in the Daily Herald for young people to work in government offices in Rhodesia, all expenses paid. She started life in this "Land of Kusasa and Kabanga" (tomorrow and maybe) with other immigrants living in an abandoned RAF camp. They used the disused airstrip as a training ground for their hockey team, preferable to the football pitch which was full of termite holes!

After marrying a young tobacco farmer, her life centred on the farm and the unpredictable business of tobacco farming - tobacco was Rhodesia's biggest export in the 50's and 60's.
The Mears family grew - two daughters were born and started life in the heat and dust of the African bush, taking for granted the daily uncertainties and dangers on the isolated farm. Bush fires were common, and in the early 60's terrorists started to attack "white" farms.

After 16 years of tobacco farming, the family (+two dogs) moved 600 miles to Victoria Falls taking jobs as couriers in the rapidly expanding tourist industry there. The author writes movingly about the grandeur of the Falls:"Anyone who doesn't believe in a God, or in other worlds, or in himself, must go to Victoria Falls, because he will begin to believe in beauty, or splendour, or power or glory - something that may pass for divinity". She also writes amusingly about the problems of communicating and organising tourists from different nations: "At the sight of twenty or more haggard, mistakenly-dressed, noisy tourists sitting in the foyer writing postcards, a courier would take a deep breath and put on a big, brave smile before approaching". And there was the Yorkshireman who was put in charge of the Rain Forest, and who promptly built a dry-stone wall so he'd feel more at home!

Following a shooting incident at the Falls in which two young tourists were shot, the Falls tourist industry went into decline. Shortly afterwards, the Mears were once again on the move, this time 450 miles south to Fort Victoria where they were to take charge of an area known as the Zimbabwe Ruins and build it up into a tourist attraction. There are numerous myths and stories about the origins of the Ruins which were described as the "largest man-made construction in Africa south of the Sahara". It seems likely they were built by African tribesmen, although one of the more fanciful theories suggests that they were the lost King Solomon's Mines!

The author describes riding through the game reserve on horseback: "We saw zebra eye to eye with our horses, giraffe like trees, inquisitive kudu that merely stared, ears big, eyes pensive, and tsessebe that ran so fast with shoulders hunched. It was one of the most tremendous experiences in life."
By April 1976 the terror war had escalated. People from all walks of life were attacked indiscriminately, farmers lived in fear of being ambushed and shot. But the Mears stayed on at Zimbabwe Ruins, hopeful that more prosperous times would arrive.

Then, with the tourism industry in decline and the "war" for black independence intensifying, the Mears made their decision to say "Goodbye Rhodesia" and return to England.

Chris Mears' account of 25 years in the Rhodesian bush is written lovingly and colourfully and with great humour. She writes vividly about the animals who shared their home from time to time, such as the leguaan, similar in size and appearance to a crocodile, who took up residence in the roof: "We used to hear him dragging himself above the ceiling board in the sitting room, creating a loud slushing and sliding noise that resounded through the roof space." Other housemates included the abandoned bush-baby reared by them who developed a taste for alcohol, and the praying mantis who lived in a mosquito net over their bed.

"Goodbye Rhodesia" keeps the reader well entertained while offering an insight into a way of life that is most certainly gone forever.

Not three bad
A very interesting account of what life was like for a family of ordinary Rhodesians. A bit too much vegetarian banter for my liking, and waffled on a bit about the author's own opinions on various issues unrelated to Rhodesia. However, I really did enjoy discovering not only what the white Rhodesian experience was like, but also how the author now reflected on the past decades of decline and tragedy in modern Zimbabwe.

I'm grateful that this book has been written.
I'm grateful that this book has been written because I don't think that enough books have been written which record what Rhodesia was like.
I shall have to read the book again because I was often too eager to read the next paragraph. A most enjoyable book; it shall stay in my bookcase.