0:00 If you know anything about Zimbabwe, you

0:02 probably consider it a what not to do

0:03 guide on how to run a country, given

0:05 they went from printing five Zimbabwe

0:07 dollar notes in 2007 to 100 trillion

0:11 Zimbabwe dollars per note in 2008. But

0:15 it wasn't always like that. And

0:17 Zimbabwean history is probably one of

0:18 the most fascinating on earth being that

0:20 it was the only country during British

0:22 decolonization whose leaders decided to

0:25 say no and instead declare their own

0:28 independence as Rhdesia. The only other

0:31 country to do that from the British

0:32 Empire being the United States. So I

0:36 wanted to go and see what remains of

0:38 that history.

0:40 [Music]

0:55 [Music]

1:04 [Applause]

1:06 Heat. Heat.

1:09 Oh,

1:10 [Music]

1:32 psycho.

1:36 Foreign

1:38 [Music]

1:49 speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech.

1:58 Could

2:03 you go

2:06 to

2:14 the

2:22 Heat.

2:35 Heat.

2:36 [Music]

2:49 [Music]

2:54 Understanding Zimbabwe requires

2:56 understanding the ethnic makeup of the

2:58 country which the largest group the

3:00 majority being shown who are descendants

3:03 of migrants from the Bantau migration

3:05 from the north to the south of Africa

3:07 and the minority group being the

3:09 Matabili or Nibilis and they come as

3:12 migrants from the south of the country.

3:15 They were led here by a once great king

3:17 called Masilicatsi who was a lieutenant

3:20 under Shakazulu of the Zulu warriors.

3:23 And then the third group are the

3:25 Redesians who are the descendants of the

3:28 pioneers sent here to found Rodia and

3:31 the later British immigration from all

3:34 over the years that Rodia existed.

3:36 That's a simplified version, but trust

3:38 me, this needs simplifying because the

3:40 observant among you may have noticed

3:41 that if all these people are migrants,

3:43 where the hell are the natives? And for

3:45 them, we have to look to the Koisan or

3:48 sand people. Now, the sand people were

3:50 true hunter gatherers. A sand man would

3:53 need a spear, a knife, and that was

3:55 about it. He was pretty happy with that

3:57 until just about everyone else turned up

3:59 and bullied them off their land to the

4:01 point that only a thousand of them

4:02 remain in Zimbabwe and the rest were

4:04 pushed out to Bosswana on the desert.

4:06 And the British eventually came along

4:08 and insisted that the Sam people join

4:10 the agricultural revolution to which the

4:13 Sam people still pretty much reject it

4:16 and and carry on being hunter gatherers.

4:18 Absolute Chads. So why did I tell you

4:20 all that? Because it's going to come in

4:22 handy. Trust me. Because the history of

4:25 Zimbabwe for the British doesn't begin

4:26 in Zimbabwe, but instead with one man in

4:29 his dream to build a railway from Cape

4:32 Town all across Africa to Cairo and that

4:35 man being Ceil Roads. This was a huge

4:38 obsession of roads. He even had his own

4:40 flag symbolizing the railway. And all

4:43 that was standing in the way of him was

6:10 tells you whether or not a company is

6:12 still active and both of them are. The

6:14 East India Company is run by an Indian.

6:15 But Roads decided to send a pioneer

6:18 column north to start settling the land

6:20 of Zimbabwe to become Rhodesia and he

6:22 sent with them an armed guard of his own

6:25 police force from the company known as

6:26 the British South Africa Police Force

6:29 BSAP. And they founded the capital of

6:31 this land on Fort Ssbury. And after they

6:34 rose the British flag, everything looked

6:36 well except that King Lubenula didn't

6:40 really agree to the terms. He said he

6:42 couldn't read them. And once he found

6:44 out what was in them, he was pretty

6:45 angry. So the first Matabili war broke

6:48 out. The BSAP had 750 men and a thousand

6:52 African allies. King Lubenula and the

6:55 Matabili warriors had a 100,000 men,

6:58 20,000 of them armed with Henry Martini

7:01 rifles. So naturally, the Matabili got

7:04 wiped out by the British because we had

7:05 the Maxim gun and they did not, which is

7:07 a bit silly cuz the Matabili really

7:10 should have won that one with all of

7:12 those rifles, but they didn't really

7:13 know how to use them. Which kind of

7:14 reminds me of a funny story I've heard

7:16 from an African civil war. I can't

7:18 remember which one in which they

7:20 captured some prisoners from the other

7:22 side and wondered why they hadn't lost a

7:24 single man but wiped out the enemy. Uh,

7:26 turns out they got AKs and then got the

7:30 sights and turned the sights to maximum

7:34 thinking that would make the gun shoot

7:36 harder.

7:38 Naturally, it didn't work and so they

7:42 just didn't tell them. Let them keep

7:44 missing. Either way, the British decided

7:46 to march on the Nabili capital of

7:48 Bulaweo and burn it to the ground. 34

7:51 men under Alam Wilson were sent to track

7:53 down the king and get him to surrender

7:56 in a peace deal. However, when they

7:58 crossed the river to hunt him down, they

8:00 ran into 3,000 Nibili warriors. And they

8:03 fought until the last man was killed,

8:06 which was a hell of a sacrifice. And

8:08 they also achieved a 14 to1 KD ratio.

8:10 So, they became international heroes of

8:12 the British. Pretty soon after the king

8:15 got smallox and died, so the war was

8:17 ended. This didn't really last and

8:19 pretty soon the second Matabili war

8:21 broke out because a Matabili spiritual

8:23 leader was well spreading rumors that

8:26 the British were causing the droughts

8:27 and locusts that were plaguing the

8:29 country at that time and the Shona and

8:31 Matabili both rose up. Now, this went

8:33 about as wacky as you could expect

8:34 because the spiritual leader was

8:36 promising things like the British

8:37 bullets would turn to water and the

8:39 cannons would turn to eggs and King

8:42 Lubenula would just be reincarnated once

8:45 they took Bulo and question mark

8:48 question mark question mark profit.

8:50 So, it went about as well as you could

8:52 expect. They turned up in Bolo and began

8:54 massacring civilians. So a relief force

11:45 threatening rogue state which is kind of

11:48 hilarious when you think about it. I

11:49 mean this country had a tiny army. It

11:51 wasn't a physical threat to really any

11:53 of its neighbors in terms of actually

11:55 invading them, never mind the world's

11:57 global superpowers, but it was a moral

12:00 threat for the Rhodesians. The idea was

12:03 that the white minority would continue

12:04 to run the country until there were

12:06 enough educated blacks that they could

12:08 effectively take over the systems of

12:10 government. And the idea of whites

12:13 running a country because the locals

12:14 were still stuck in effectively the

12:16 stone age on the tech tree. In all of

12:19 their lifetime, that had been considered

12:21 the right thing to do. And all of a

12:23 sudden, it was no longer considered the

12:24 right thing to do. So for them, you can

12:27 understand why they were a bit confused.

12:29 Everyone expected this to utterly

12:30 collapse. But somehow it survived for

12:32 the next 14 years as an independent

12:35 nation known as Rhdesia. But with the

12:37 only friends it could garner being other

12:39 considered rogue states like Israel and

12:42 South Africa. And the white population

12:44 of Rodesia faced conscription

12:48 which the people they were fighting were

12:50 black

12:52 but weirdly enough they would call them

12:54 gooks.

12:56 The the reason for that being apparently

12:58 because they were trained by the

12:58 Chinese.

13:00 Still strange, I'll be honest. The

13:02 killing blow was made by the American

13:04 government providing so much pressure on

13:05 the South Africans to stop allowing the

13:07 supply of oil to the Redian government

13:09 at which point it collapsed and was

13:11 handed back over to the British for one

13:13 year to function as a colony so

13:15 elections could be organized and the

13:17 communist back Robert Mcgab won those

13:19 elections and renamed Ssbury to Harare.

13:23 But now there was a bit of political

13:24 tension between the Nibilis and the

13:27 Shoners because Robert Mcgab and Zanu

13:30 well they represented the Shoners and

13:32 Zapu represented the Matabilis. Uh the

13:35 logical solution to this from Robert

13:37 Mcgab was apparently genocide.

13:40 So the Zimbabwean fifth brigade who were

13:43 trained by North Korean military

13:44 advisers set up concentration camps.

13:46 Items on the menu included re-education,

13:50 uh, torture, killing over 20,000 people,

13:53 and never mind the various sexual crimes

13:56 and rapes, which also function as a way

13:58 of genociding a people, and they make

14:00 for very grim reading. The aftermath

14:02 being that Joshua and Ko would agree

14:05 that Zanu and Zapu would form together

14:07 under a unified banner of Zanu PF,

14:11 Patriotic Front. But what about the

14:13 Redesians? Well, they peaked in 1975

14:16 about 300,000 and by 2002 85% of them

14:20 had left the country. The remainder

14:22 making up 0.4% of the population of

14:25 Zimbabwe,

14:27 which the only reason they remained is

14:29 because they were highly productive

14:31 farmers and therefore had a reason to

14:33 remain. But they owned a

14:35 disproportionate amount of farmland in

14:37 the country compared to the black

14:39 population. So it was decided that they

14:41 should be forced off their land and the

14:43 land given to war veterans who were not

14:46 farmers. This did not cause the economy

14:48 to boom, but you know everything could

14:51 be fine if nothing bad happened. And

14:54 then 2008 happened. Zimbabwe went from a

14:57 food exporter to a food importer. And

15:00 with very little to export and well no

15:04 real credit because the world's

15:05 financial system had completely

15:06 collapsed. Pretty soon the country ran

15:09 into complete chaos and you ended up

15:11 having to draw in bread lines at uh well

15:14 over a hundred trillion for a loaf of

15:16 bread. Amazingly, Robert McGabby managed

15:18 to get 90% of the vote in the 2008

15:21 presidential elections.

15:23 Good job. At which point, well, even

15:27 though 95% of Redesians will have left

15:29 the country by 2017, Ian Smith's

15:32 Redesian government didn't look so bad

15:34 to the black population. And in 2017,

15:38 Ozanu PF had had enough and decided to

15:41 orchestrate a coup to get rid of Robin

15:43 McGab. Since then, President Munagua has

15:46 taken over and has won two elections. So

15:49 the question on my mind was what does

15:51 the country look like now, which meant

15:54 organizing a route which started at

15:57 Victoria Falls on the Zambzi River and

15:59 then going through the countryside and

16:01 the two biggest cities in Zimbabwe, Bulo

16:03 and Harare. So, first things first, get

16:07 on a staterun airline with censored

16:09 movies, fill in an immigration form that

16:11 no one will ever read, and then arrive

16:12 in Victoria Falls.

16:15 [Music]

16:45 Victoria Falls hasn't changed much, and

16:48 I can say that for sure because Lord

16:49 Miles came along for this one, and he

16:51 brought along a 1948 guide to visiting

16:55 this country, which when we looked at

16:58 the map was pretty much exactly the same

17:00 as the app to tell you where to go in

17:03 the town. And this is because Victoria

17:05 Falls is known for well the falls which

17:08 were discovered by a Scottish adventurer

17:10 David Livingston and named after Queen

17:12 Victoria. Once you get off the plane,

17:14 you're going to have to go and get

17:15 supplies. So you should go to Zimbabwe's

17:17 number one supermarket, okay,

17:21 which isn't the best branding in the

17:22 world, but they got some pretty stellar

17:24 products such as long soap.

17:26 Imagine you're in the shower. You got

17:28 some roommates. They're trying to see if

17:30 you're actually, you know, in the

17:31 shower. They open up the door. Are you

17:32 just like washing yourself like this?

17:34 You can imagine how bad that looks,

17:35 guys.

17:36 Well, it is the okay supermarket.

17:39 You know what? It's okay. Turns out that

17:41 stuff isn't just soap, by the way. Turns

17:42 out you can use it to clean the floor or

17:44 laundry detergent as well. I did hear

17:47 someone say that you could use it as

17:48 toothpaste, but I'm not sure I'd

17:49 recommend it. Also, when you leave a

17:51 store in Zimbabwe, you will need your

17:53 receipt because there are people who are

17:55 going to check that receipt and they

17:56 look like people dressed in the

17:58 military, but they're actually just

18:00 private security. What's funny about

18:02 these guys is the symbol of their

18:03 company is actually the flag of

18:05 Anapistan.

18:07 Not sure how to square that one, but

18:09 these places were actually quite posh.

18:10 If you wanted to go and see how Africans

18:12 got their food, well, our guide did show

18:14 us, and they're certainly far more

18:16 vibrant. Now, they used to have the

18:17 Zimbabwe dollar. Most people know that

18:20 got hyperinflated. So now it's just a

18:21 joke. And so they moved on to using oh

18:25 god lordy American money but which

18:28 everyone uses for everything. Now they

18:30 did bring in a new currency called zig

18:32 which is Zimbabwe dollars backed by

18:34 gold. And it seems that that's not

18:36 really used. I mean apparently it's used

18:38 in the capital. Not there yet but out

18:40 here in Victoria nobody [ __ ] us. No

18:43 point. In fact, we actually try to get

18:45 some at a bank and the national bank

18:47 said they don't have the national

18:48 currency. Yeah. So, you pay for

18:51 everything with dollars. Now, you need

18:54 small denominations because um things

18:57 have a small price here. And if you go

18:59 to the supermarket,

19:01 well, like I just did, you might buy,

19:03 you know, some Zimbabwean cookies for

19:06 dinner. And they don't cost that much.

19:07 It's like 30 p. So, you're going to pay

19:10 for a dollar for the item that's 30

19:12 cents, right? And so you might get.7

19:15 cents change, but the country is under

19:17 embargo. They're not actually allowed to

19:18 get American money. They have to get it

19:20 through tourism and such. So they don't

19:23 have any of the coins cuz there's no

19:24 bloody point. It's not really worth it.

19:25 But the notes are good enough for this.

19:29 So what happens to your 70 cents change?

19:33 Well, you don't get it at all. There's

19:35 no there's no coins like I mentioned. So

19:36 what happens? You get given sweets.

19:40 Didn't want them. Doesn't matter. So

19:42 what happens is that the person at the

19:44 cashier's desk is like, "Oh, have some

19:46 sweets and that'll make up the few cents

19:49 that's wrong." So then I got to the

21:12 based on something. It's based on

21:13 sweets. We did also check out an

21:16 African's bar, which naturally has bars

21:18 on the bar, but the cider was pretty

21:20 damn good, not going to lie. But with

21:22 that, we started to make our way towards

21:24 the falls. And as we got close, we ran

21:26 across the old train station, which has

21:29 been preserved just like it was with no

21:31 passenger trains running these days.

21:34 Nearby, you will find an old steam train

21:36 sitting there like a living museum.

21:39 Choo choo.

21:39 Choo choo. The train's 50 years later.

21:42 What's up, mate?

21:42 I just busy. All right, [ __ ] off. Even

21:44 this still moves.

21:47 Ah, there's still some coal

21:53 and someone is sleeping here. But one

21:56 day we were hanging around and a proper

21:58 living museum turned up as a steam

22:00 engine heading for Zambia was at the

22:02 station and the crew invited me on their

22:06 ancient machine to show it off.

22:08 It still works.

22:14 Oh [ __ ]

22:18 That's [ __ ] brilliant. Yeah.

22:21 Then you

22:24 only come from one

22:26 British.

22:27 Yes.

22:27 Say

22:29 our only

22:37 right next to the railway is the

22:38 Victoria Falls Hotel. And like all

22:41 places in Zimbabwe that are open to the

22:43 public, you will find a portrait of the

22:45 new deer leader. This place was dumb

22:47 expensive, so we decided just to pay for

22:49 lunch so we could snoop around. Although

22:51 lunch was a traditional Zimbabwean sadza

22:54 with a road runner, which of course you

22:56 can eat with your hands.

22:57 I feel like a child mentally.

23:00 I mean, it tastes pretty good,

23:01 but I really don't want to eat with my

23:03 hands,

23:03 especially with the best view on Earth

23:05 overlooking the bridge crossing the

23:07 falls. And the place is full to the brim

23:09 with old British stuff. There was even a

23:11 sign showing the distance between the

23:13 Cape and the Cairo from where you're

23:14 sitting. So, if you want to see British

23:17 imperial ruins in perfect condition,

23:19 this should definitely be on your list.

23:21 But as we head down to the bridge,

23:22 there's also some excellent game you can

23:24 find just walking around the town,

23:26 including the best game of all, American

23:30 tourists who will walk around a African

23:33 town in full safari gear in a group. So,

23:36 they stand out quite a bit. You can't

23:37 really miss them. Lovely people.

23:46 Oh, Miles is being into being the king

23:47 of the rock.

23:49 No, private island fail. Dirt cheap. Um,

23:54 good humidity.

23:56 Moved to upside potential tourism works.

23:58 Okay, I'll call Jeff Epste.

24:01 There's also a statue of David

24:02 Livingston by the falls. But I also

24:04 managed to find a man who made me a

24:06 billionaire. And if you'd like to be a

24:08 billionaire, well, please do subscribe

24:10 on Subscribe Star, and I will send you

24:13 well, one of these notes, which will

24:15 definitely make you a millionaire, if

24:16 not a billionaire. And uh the reason I'm

24:19 asking is because that's how I fund

24:20 these things. So, if you'd like to help

24:21 out, that's the way to do it, and you

24:23 get something in return. But for those

24:25 people who also want to throw more money

24:27 at me to do these things, I have brought

24:28 back things to sell such as these

24:31 Rhodesesian car flags which I found

24:34 which uh apparently were meant for a old

24:36 government car. I think they might be

24:38 the last ones in the country and uh well

24:40 I took them. And also this Zimbabwe

24:43 independence medal which I found u well

24:46 covered in dirt in Zimbabwe and I've

24:47 been polishing the bugger out of it. So

24:50 now looks pretty nice. and plenty of

24:51 other stuff which I'll mention as we go

24:53 along. But none of this compares to

24:57 Victoria Falls true number one tourist

24:59 attraction, the big tree.

25:02 He's a tree and he's big. There's

25:05 literally nothing special about the big

25:06 tree either. There's plenty of other

25:07 trees of the exact same type that are

25:09 just as big, but this one on Google Maps

25:11 is called the big tree cuz it's big.

25:14 He's a tree. But with that, it was time

25:15 to head to Bulaweo. And I thought, well,

25:18 it's only 250 mi. Most people fly it

25:20 apparently, but I thought why not drive

25:22 and then we can get a sense of the

25:23 countryside and how people really live.

25:27 This was a mistake. So, we decided to

25:29 fill up, which in Zimbabwe means someone

25:31 else fills up for you. But the price is

25:33 $6 a gallon for gas, which um to put it

25:36 into perspective, the average monthly

25:37 wage in Zimbabwe is $600. So, that's

25:40 like having $65 a gallon gas in the

25:43 United States for the average American,

25:45 which is incredibly expensive. It's time

25:47 to say goodbye to the deer leader and

25:49 his big posters and sit back and relax

25:51 and enjoy whatever crap Miles had on his

25:53 phone.

25:56 Let's go. Let's go.

26:00 I know damn well you can label jacking

26:02 off a sport. Think about it. What the

26:04 [ __ ] athletically are you really doing

26:06 in golf, my [ __ ]

26:09 Godamn club. So, we've been on this road

26:11 for like 5 hours now and there's still

26:13 another 2 and 1 half hours to go just to

26:15 drive to the city from Victoria Falls.

26:18 And it's not because it's a long ass

26:20 drive in terms of what it should be.

26:22 It's because of all the potholes, the

26:24 endless potholes, the endless goats in

26:26 the middle of the road,

26:28 cows, etc. At least the goats are cute.

26:33 But the the worst part is it's a toll

26:36 road. We paid a toll to go on a paved

26:38 road which is full of potholes. And the

26:42 way they fix the potholes is by filling

26:44 them with dirt. So we're riding on a

26:46 part dirt, part paved road.

26:49 So it takes 7 hours, 7 and 1/2 hours.

26:54 Anyway, time to get back on the road.

26:58 Train.

27:00 Train.

27:02 You know, I got the audio for this.

27:05 It's just us being [ __ ]

27:07 Look, even the train is voting for the

27:10 deer leader.

27:13 Ended up being a 9-hour drive, which

27:17 at least did give me time to get my own

27:18 back and show Miles my music.

27:25 [Applause]

27:33 Hallelujah.

27:35 Hallelujah.

27:39 [Music]

27:52 So the mighty king

27:58 [Music]

28:03 [Applause]

28:04 of

28:08 [Music]

28:13 your

28:19 for me.

28:23 [Music]

28:36 Arriving in Bulaweo, the first thing you

28:38 notice is Rhodesesian ruins in the form

28:41 of old shops before passing by the

28:43 Joshua and Ko statue. There used to be a

28:45 statue of Ceil Roads here, but was

28:47 replaced with a North Korean-made one,

28:48 which is a bit awkward because, you

28:51 know, the North Koreanbacked fifth

30:15 used to be a lady's toilet. In fact, if

30:18 you go around this uh back entrance,

30:21 you'll see

30:24 the men's toilet.

30:27 And the men's toilet is doubly funny

30:28 because I don't know if you can see it.

30:34 The men's toilet comes with a ashtray

30:36 because this is a gentleman's club for

30:38 men and um women were not allowed to

30:41 come in until very recently. So, there's

30:44 only one toilet. Didn't need no one.

30:46 Sometimes hot water does work, sometimes

30:49 it doesn't.

30:51 Such is life.

30:53 This story.

30:58 Why does the government lie?

31:01 Hey, look. Our central intelligence

31:02 agency is corrupt.

31:04 But that night, we decided to dine on

31:06 KFC because McDonald's is not in the

31:09 country. The KFC is also very cheap for

31:11 tourists, even with the 2% tourism tax.

31:14 And it also comes with brown dunked

31:16 chicken. Don't worry, we did dine on

31:18 more traditional foods later in the

31:20 staying there, such as fish and chips in

31:23 a landlocked country, which was

31:25 unbelievably good. But I wanted to find

31:27 out what happened to that statue of Ceil

31:30 Roads. And it turns out they didn't

31:31 destroy it. They moved it to the Natural

31:33 History Museum. Outside the museum, you

31:35 will find some ancient British machines.

31:39 Bro just puts a lock on there. Yeah. I

31:42 mean, it'll work. If it works, it works.

31:43 Inside, you will find everything from

31:46 the story of the pioneers, their maximum

31:48 gun, and the Nili warriors. And then,

31:51 for some reason, a comparison between

31:53 scientific medicine of the Europeans

31:55 versus the African medicine of

31:58 witchcraft. But in the garden, you will

32:00 find roads. He once stood on the high

32:02 street staring at the city he saved. He

32:05 now overlooks the ruins of a once nice

32:08 public park. The place is littered with

32:11 a couple more ancient British machines,

32:14 but most interestingly here once was a

32:16 miniature railway. These days, it's just

32:19 so neglected. It's beyond recognition or

32:22 restoration. Now, real ruins might

32:24 belong in a museum, but the thing about

32:26 Bulo is that the whole city is a

32:30 collection of ruins from the British and

32:33 Rhodesesian era. Walking around, you will

32:35 quickly find plenty of historic

32:36 buildings. Their beautiful tops compared

32:38 to the shops below covered in bars stick

32:40 out like a sore thumb. Some even have

32:43 the distance to Cairo painted on them.

32:44 Never mind the murals you can find that

32:46 are obviously English in origin,

32:48 including one of the city hall, which I

32:50 had to ask permission to film of Ceil

32:53 Roads negotiating peace with the

32:55 Matabilles in their camp, unarmed. There

32:58 was clearly another monument here, but

33:00 it had been removed. All that remained

33:02 were these battle axes with the year

33:04 Radia was founded. But there were two

33:06 Rhodesian ruins I definitely wanted to

33:08 hunt down. First being Ascot Racecourse,

33:11 which once upon a time was

33:13 well-maintained as any first world

33:15 raceourse, but now just sits in ruins.

33:17 But here we are. This is Ascot. Oh,

33:21 that's the odds.

33:24 They used to be up. Let's go have a look

33:26 what the last odds were.

33:29 So in the Google Maps images, this was

33:32 still up. So someone has broken this

33:34 recently.

33:36 says information.

33:40 Oh, Matabiland Turf Club horse number

33:44 jockey draw. Horse number jockey draw

33:45 and

33:47 all gone. Overweights and allowances

33:56 the other side.

33:59 It really is like being in Fallout. I

34:00 [ __ ] swear. I mean, I hate to be that

34:02 guy who's just like, "Oh my god, it's

34:03 just like Fallout, but it is." Here's

34:05 the track.

34:09 Look at it. I don't know how well the

34:11 camera's picking it up, but you can see

34:12 where people used to sit. This is

34:14 presumably the finishing line.

34:18 Yippee.

34:21 You know what's annoying is I have tried

34:23 in my mental state to be completely

34:24 positive and be like, I know the

34:26 history. I know what everyone thinks,

34:29 but

34:33 there is a modern Zimbabwe. There must

34:34 be, you know, there must be on the up in

36:09 the signage pointing out where to get

36:10 your COVID vaccine. The other side being

36:12 the abandoned train timetable. The

36:15 platform is unbelievably British in

36:17 design and even has traditional painted

36:19 on Coca-Cola advertisements. That's the

36:22 siren for stopping work. It's an air

36:23 raid siren. But okay.

36:26 Yeah, that's the front.

36:28 There were some carriages that should be

36:30 used for freight and mail in operation,

36:33 but when I noticed the passenger

36:35 carriages in the back, I decided to jump

36:37 on board, only to notice every single

36:41 one was in a complete state of

36:44 abandonment. They had not been stripped,

36:46 but rather left decay.

37:03 Someone living in here.

37:06 1950

37:08 Metro Campbell, England.

37:10 [Music]

37:16 Little nozzle for water.

37:35 This is creepy.

37:59 These carriages truly went back to

38:01 ancient times in Rhodesia. One of them

38:03 even had a wooden seating carriage for

38:06 fourthass passengers. And as we were

38:09 filming, our guide, who was a policeman

38:11 from the Bullaway Police Force, who we'd

38:13 hired to keep us safe, perked up and

38:16 proudly said, as if boasting that his

38:19 father used to ride trains like these,

38:23 which is doubly sad because that guy has

38:26 kids and his kids are definitely not

38:27 going to be able to ride trains if uh

38:30 this continues. When back in the Bulao

38:33 Club, a roadie managed to get a hold of

38:34 the key to the club library. average

38:36 British man and his woman. And whilst in

38:39 there, I found some old copies of the

38:41 Redesian Railway magazine, which had

38:44 images of what Bullo used to look like.

38:46 Texan cigarettes, the best cigarettes

38:48 around.

38:48 Tix [ __ ] a long time. I used to smoke

38:51 those.

38:52 Come look at this. 1949.

38:55 It's a comparison between the Ssbury and

38:57 Bullware clubs on if you spent 100 quid,

39:00 how much would you be spent on food? So

39:02 in Ssbury it was 84%. Here it was 96%.

39:07 And they're complaining about this. But

39:08 it was time to move on. And I wanted to

39:10 see the Mtopos Hills. And Mattopos just

39:13 means hills in Nibili apparently. And up

39:16 here there are two great men who are

39:18 buried. Misilicatsi and Ceil roads.

39:21 First Misilicatsi which means driving on

39:24 dirt roads to get to him. And vote

39:27 Zapu out here. Even the rocks vote for

39:30 the big man. But before you arrive at

39:32 the grave, there is a memorial built to

39:35 Masilicati in honor of him and the

39:38 Nabili warriors, complete with Nabili

39:41 warrior symbolism and noted at the end

39:44 erected by European subscription 1941.

39:49 The Rodesians built this monument to

39:52 honor the African king. And every single

39:55 year since then, Nibilis come here. They

39:58 build a wooden hut, eat around a

40:01 campfire, and recharge their spiritual

40:03 energy. Because you see, Misilicatsi

40:05 isn't just a king from the old times.

40:08 Under local belief, he's also some kind

40:10 of spiritual figure who's a king in the

40:13 spirit world with the ancestors and

40:15 therefore is always watching over you.

40:17 So when we arrived at the grave, it was

40:19 protected by their custodians living in

40:21 huts along with their livestock and some

40:23 dogs, including a traditional witch who

40:26 contacts the spirits. Whilst we were

40:28 waiting, she contacted the water spirits

40:31 for some visiting Africans. After

40:34 talking to the custodians, a direct

40:36 descendant of Misilicatsi, was permitted

40:38 to show us the way to the grave, but

40:41 being a woman, she had to stop at the

40:43 last 100 meters and tell us the

40:45 directions and couldn't come with us.

40:47 which means she's spending her life as a

40:49 custodian of her great ancestors grave

40:53 and she's not allowed to see it.

40:56 Okie dokie. We could, but that also

40:58 meant taking off our shoes and socks and

41:00 walking barefoot, which I was not a fan

41:02 of, I'll be honest. When you get to the

41:04 grave, it's a giant pile of rocks

41:06 protected by a stone wall and iron bars.

41:09 At the foot of the bars, Africans pour

41:11 beer in honor of the king. We returned

41:14 to interview the witch and she placed

41:16 the blame of the decline of the country

41:18 on those leaving traditional beliefs and

41:21 turning to Christianity.

41:24 Okie dokie. She did say she was very

41:26 appreciative of the European monument to

41:28 Masilicotti but didn't know what was

41:30 written on it because she can't read.

41:33 And pretty soon we had to end the

41:35 interview because the spirits had

41:37 visited her. So the spirits are now

41:40 coming to go now. So I could she's

41:43 saying stop this right now

41:52 which was a good time to go and visit

41:53 the Englishman roads and when you drive

41:55 towards him you'll actually get paved

41:56 roads and whilst getting up to the top

42:00 of the hills there is actually another

42:01 monument to see which is a monument to

42:05 those who gave their lives in the great

42:07 wars the moth memorial or my memorable

42:11 order of the tin hats named after the

42:14 tin hats that were issued to the

42:15 soldiers in the first and second world

42:17 war. In the same way that the Matabili

42:19 monument had Matabili weapons on the

42:21 front, the moth memorial has British

42:23 rifles on the front. As you travel up

42:25 the hills, you will also find cave

42:27 paintings from 5,000 years ago left by

42:29 stone age hunter gatherers depicting

42:31 themselves and the animals of this land.

42:34 But as you reach the top, you will find

42:35 where Cecile Rose instructed he should

42:38 be intombed so that he could watch over

42:41 his land. His grave is inscribed in

42:44 stone and surrounded by giant boulders.

42:47 And next to him was erected the Shangani

42:49 Patrol Memorial with Alan Wilson and his

42:52 men depicted. I did do some pieces to

42:54 camera here, but the audio was

42:55 completely unusable. But we did manage

42:58 to run into the local police who patrol

42:59 this land for poachers. And our police

43:02 sergeant even tried on my red coat. This

43:04 place is called World's View. And if you

43:07 go, it certainly is worth the view. But

43:09 after a while, it was time to head back

43:11 where you will find a portrait of the

43:12 deer leader and some history about

43:14 roads. I handed the policeman a Fredo,

43:16 which he seemed to be very happy with.

43:18 Man, I'm out here solving Anglo-Sim

43:20 relations and ending racism. And Cadbury

43:22 still hasn't sponsored me. Cringe. And

43:25 then we went out for a fancy dinner,

43:27 which was Nando, which I found out was a

43:29 South African company. Basically,

43:31 Zimbabwe doesn't have any western style

43:34 fast food. They do have KFC and that's

43:37 pretty much it. When it comes to local

43:39 fast food, chicken in, pizza in, and

43:42 creamy in. What more could you want?

43:44 After that, I had to meet back up with

43:45 Miles because Miles actually wasn't with

43:47 me in Bulawo. instead. Well, he found

43:50 out that there was a local town nearby

43:52 that was being haunted by goblins to the

43:55 point that the police force of this town

43:57 had actually abandoned the town because

43:59 they were scared of the goblins. Now,

44:01 this might sound strange to us, but in

44:04 Zimbabwe, everyone I met believes in

44:06 goblins and the powers they have,

44:08 including the power to kill you. So,

44:11 Mars was off goblin hunting the whole

44:13 time. And if you want to find the truth

44:14 about the goblins, I I'm sure he has it

44:16 for you. I'll let you guess. You done

44:19 guessing? Yeah. All right. Well, for us

44:22 it was time to head over to Harrari,

44:24 which was once called Ssbury.

44:30 [Music]

44:57 [Music]

45:12 So, we got on the road between Bolo in

45:14 Harare. And uh this time the toll road

45:17 well actually worked and we had paved

45:18 roads the whole time. But as we got

45:20 close, we stopped off at a petrol

45:21 station so our driver could take a piss.

45:23 And uh me and Miles noticed more trains.

45:25 My god. Train.

45:28 Big train. Train. Train. Train.

45:33 Like most autistic people, I have a love

45:37 even sexual for trains.

45:44 Glory to my CC pit. Oh no, that's the

45:47 the wrong one. Now, the plan was to drop

45:49 Miles off at the Harrari Club, which is

45:51 the sister to the Bulawa Club. So, we

45:53 thought it'd be just as nice and I was

45:55 going to go and spend a night with some

45:57 Redesians and then come and pick him up

45:59 the next day. So, after we dropped him

46:02 off, we started driving and we ran into

46:04 some soldiers. The road we were going to

46:06 take was now cornered off with armed

46:09 military men and and spikes.

46:12 Naturally, they came up to us and asked

46:13 us what we were doing and our driver

46:15 spoke to them in shona whilst I tried to

46:17 tell the English directions to him at

46:20 which point the guards became angry that

46:22 I wasn't speaking to them even though I

46:24 don't speak their language and then

46:26 started demanding what we were going to

46:28 give them. At which point we well said

46:32 sorry and got the hell out of there and

46:35 found a long way round. It turns out we

46:37 were actually trying to drive down the

46:39 road which has state house which is

46:41 where the president lives. Uh which I

46:44 was told filming that was a big big no

46:46 no. The biggest no no you could commit.

46:49 But I was then informed by our Rohesian

46:51 host that the uh Harrari Club is not

46:54 like the Bulawa Club. It's it's more of

46:55 the prostitute kind of hotel. And upon

46:59 visiting miles I could see why.

47:03 [Music]

47:05 That's a good noise.

47:07 Zimbabwe an elevator. Do I really want

47:09 to be in here?

47:10 What's the view like?

47:11 Comes with spare batteries for remotes.

47:15 Like I said, luxury

47:18 and a view to rival the hotels of Paris.

47:22 Get over.

47:24 Wow, that's a wonderful view.

47:25 It is.

47:26 Uh to be honest, you can see the the

47:28 Parliament of Zimbabwe. We drove past

47:30 it.

47:31 Apparently, if we take photos of that

47:32 [ __ ] the secret police are going to

47:34 start following us. So don't ever do

47:35 that.

47:35 That's why it's a highly esteemed uh

47:37 organization.

47:38 Yeah, of course. I mean,

47:39 the human rights bureau,

47:40 you know, they debate what the president

47:42 has said and then they say, "Good idea.

47:44 You mind if I check the bathroom?"

47:45 Yeah, of course. So, the toilet came

47:47 with skid marks. I think they're

47:49 permanent on there. That wasn't me.

47:51 Trust me.

47:51 That's the advertisement. The water

47:53 doesn't get hot and cold. It just It's

47:56 sometimes lukewarm. I left cold for like

47:58 20 minutes when you came.

48:00 Yeah, that is just Yeah, that's just

48:02 weird. Uh,

48:03 you tell me. Don't tell me you drank

48:05 any.

48:06 I may have gone desperate. Okay. Yeah.

48:08 There's no bottle of water here. I can't

48:10 bo 2 minutes. So, I'd rather get Yeah.

48:12 water poisoning.

48:15 Nothing.

48:16 Nothing. Nothing. Yes.

48:19 Oh, it's cold.

48:21 Yes.

48:21 The hot tap gives you cold. Good. Let me

48:24 guess. The cold tap also gives you cold,

48:26 perhaps.

48:28 Think is true. Let's see here. Wait.

48:30 What the [ __ ] is this? Is that where

48:32 your toilet paper's supposed to go?

48:33 I think so.

48:35 I didn't even question. I was like, it's

48:36 just a similar,

48:38 you know, when you're the toilet and you

48:39 have the brick so you can play the

48:41 brick.

48:41 Why not?

48:42 Ladies powder room.

48:45 Wait.

48:47 Why are the female bathrooms so good?

48:49 Like look at this. What the hell?

48:52 Just in case you need four mirrors plus

48:54 another

48:55 little gold tots.

48:56 It's real gold, by the way.

48:59 And toilets are not as good, but at

49:00 least they have like little rooms where

49:01 they can sit after [ __ ]

49:02 You know the new uh you know the new

49:04 Zimbabwe currency that's backed by gold?

49:06 It's actually on top.

49:08 [Music]

49:10 The chair. It's the cup chair.

49:12 Oh, they have a snooker room as well,

49:14 but the the handle is gone.

49:17 Yeah, they lost him a bit.

49:18 So, we ended up staying with the

49:20 Rodesians for the rest of the trip. And

49:21 these people are unbelievably wholesome

49:23 and just the best. In fact, these people

49:26 had been through losing everything

49:28 twice.

49:29 Once because they were farmers, so

49:32 naturally that was taken from them.

49:34 They're still holding on to the land

49:35 deed in the hope to get their money back

49:36 one day. And the second time was in 2008

49:40 when well everything was taken and uh

49:44 they had to join the bread lines if

49:46 there was bread.

49:48 So, they picked themselves up, dusted

49:50 themselves down, and have now been able

49:52 to bring themselves to a point in life

49:53 where they can live in a gated community

49:55 with some pretty posh shops nearby.

49:57 However, this doesn't mean that roadies

49:59 are insulated from life. They still wake

50:02 up and have to deal with the fact that

50:04 even though they've paid for their own

50:05 solar panels to try and mitigate this,

50:07 they regularly don't have hot water in

50:09 the morning or electricity. And when you

50:12 go to bed, you can smell smoke every

50:14 night because the locals don't have

50:16 proper garbage collection, so are just

50:19 burning their rubbish on mass, which

50:22 means during the night you're just

50:24 smelling well, everything being

50:27 incinerated you could think of. Even in

50:29 Zimbabwe,

50:31 [ __ ] EU still gets to me. I thought

50:34 Brexit meant Brexit. Not to mention,

50:36 Americans rightly mock the British for

50:39 having a TV license.

50:41 Now, in Zimbabwe, you've also got to get

50:43 a radio license for your car's radio,

50:46 which is $200 a year, which is quite a

52:02 food.

52:04 Anyway, the suburbs are not reality, of

52:06 course. So, we decided to uh venture out

52:08 and see reality, which included many

52:11 historic buildings, some of which look

52:14 straight out of the Wild West, but the

52:15 inhabitants are now your typical London

52:17 residents with foam repair shops or vape

52:19 shops. There was also an 80s style

52:22 concrete jungle building with a food

52:24 court. The signs advertise Chinese food,

52:26 Italian food, etc., but every single

52:29 stand just sold Zimbabwean food. There

52:31 was also a park known as Pioneer Park on

52:33 Google Maps, which would have been a

52:35 nice ruin to visit. But sadly, the area

52:38 is now so bad even our tour guide didn't

52:40 want to be there and was warning us that

52:42 the place was for kidnappers. Once we

52:44 got to the park entrance, we were told

52:47 to leave because the military now used

52:49 that land. So, that was off the table.

52:52 So, I was I thought, screw it. I know

52:55 where Zanopf's headquarters is. That's

52:57 kind of interesting. let's go there and

52:59 film that and maybe go inside and say

53:02 hello. To which the African driver

53:04 looked at us like we were mental, pulled

53:07 us over in a car park and said, "Okay,

53:09 wait here." Went and got a friend of

53:11 his. At which point we were allowed into

53:13 Zanopf's headquarters. So, we went and

53:16 brought some very nice berries and some

53:18 very nice clothes, flags, etc. and then

53:21 went and had lunch in the building in

53:23 the basement, which meant that we ended

53:25 up buying lunch for our new guests, the

53:28 security guys asking us questions and

53:30 our new party friend, and then random

53:32 passes by for some reason.

53:35 And uh whilst we ate lunch, the security

53:37 guys asked us who the hell we were, what

53:39 we were doing here, being a bit

53:42 suspicious, which is pretty normal. But

53:44 upon finishing that, our new party

53:46 friend said to us that uh we should head

53:49 out and go and see the African

53:50 liberation monument or the hero's ark as

53:53 it's called. And the hero's ark is a

53:55 monument to Zanu and Zapu fighters who

53:58 gave the country its independence under

54:00 a black majority. There is a golden

54:02 statue in the middle which is of North

54:04 Korean origin. Upon arrival, it was

54:07 recommended that we should bow to it the

54:09 same way one does in Korea. And the side

54:11 murals are incredibly Soviet. Murals

54:14 like this tell a story. And the one here

54:17 is that of oppressed Africans, oppressed

54:19 by the Redesians, black and white, until

54:22 the people were educated and armed

54:25 themselves, fighting back, and

54:26 eventually the dear leader Robert Mugab

54:29 led them into a bright new future. After

54:31 this, we headed over to Chinatown for

54:34 lunch, which is the first Chinatown

54:37 without any Chinese people I've ever

54:38 been to. Naturally, the sweet and sour

54:41 is um suffered a little bit. We did see

56:00 white guy and starts asking for money

56:02 and in the middle of asking for money

56:03 stops, looks up and then just looks away

56:06 and disappears.

56:09 So I asked our driver, "Are these quite

56:12 rare?" And he said, "Yeah, whilst we're

56:15 wearing these, nobody's going to bother

56:16 us."

56:18 Which was definitely true. As we started

56:20 to walk to our location, definitely

56:22 people seem to be getting out the way of

56:23 us. Even when we crossed the road, it

56:25 seemed like traffic was stopping for us.

56:28 That's power. So, it was definitely time

56:31 to keep a low profile. So, I decided to

56:34 head out and do some small touristy

56:35 things such as find the rocks on the

56:37 Zigg notes. Hunted down some more cave

56:40 paintings. This site is protected by the

56:42 National Museums and Monuments Act, CAP

56:45 131. Treat it with respect. H, not so

56:48 much. Technically, you can argue this is

56:50 adding to the art. I mean, in 10,000

56:51 years, this will be the same thing. An

56:53 endless list of names and who's [ __ ]

56:54 who. It's probably not as interesting.

57:01 So, they're not using cones here.

57:02 They're using rocks. People will steal

57:04 the cones.

57:05 They steal them or they damage them. And

57:08 lastly went to the Monomatapa Hotel cuz

57:10 I kept getting told the same story from

57:12 the roadies who were still in country

57:14 which is that some guys who were on

57:16 patrol came back decided to go out have

57:19 drinks with the lads and one of them

57:21 wanted to show off how manly he was. So

57:23 pulled out a revolver put one bullet in

57:25 spun it and said guys let's play Russian

57:28 roulette.

57:30 Everyone else thought he was a [ __ ]

57:31 idiot and just said no. So to show off

57:34 how easy I guess it was and how you play

57:37 it, he put the revolver in his mouth,

57:39 pulled the trigger, and blew his brains

57:41 all over the Monatapa bar,

57:46 which is pretty dumb. So I went to the

57:48 Monatapa hotel to ask about this story,

57:51 and sadly the African staff who were

57:53 there didn't seem to know anything about

57:55 it. I don't know if it's because they're

57:57 not old enough to remember that time,

57:59 but

58:00 if it's a rumor, it's a good rumor. But

58:02 the last thing I wanted to do was go and

58:04 see how the best and worst live in

58:05 society. Because if you check the travel

58:07 advice for Zimbabwe, you'll notice that

58:09 there's a warning for cholera, never

58:12 mind polio. So I asked to be taken to a

58:14 place called Umbar. I was told Umbar was

58:18 designated as a black district in

58:20 Redesia by the Redesian government and

58:23 they built some apartment blocks to try

58:24 and house the Africans. But after

58:26 independence, Mgab needed more support

58:28 in the cities. So more Africans were

58:30 brought into the cities and placed in

58:32 Umbar. The result was the place is now

58:35 overcrowded, full of trash. The roads

58:38 mix with sewage and people survive

58:40 selling from shacks. I was also told to

58:43 survive here it was practically

58:45 mandatory to support Zanupf and doing

58:48 otherwise was really not a good idea.

58:51 Say no to drugs and say yes to music.

58:54 Good advice. You might think the

58:55 roadies, the ones living the incredibly

58:57 rich lifestyle, but no. If you want to

58:59 go and see the actual rich people, you

59:00 can, but filming was not advised of the

59:04 of the big houses. We do, however, have

59:06 Google Street View. So, I can show off

59:08 at least two examples. The first being

59:11 Grace Mugab's house, or at least one of

59:13 them, whose walls are so tall that when

59:15 you're there, you can't even see the

59:17 roof of the mansion. It seems in this

59:19 country, hiding your wealth is kind of

59:21 mandatory. And as uh my friend put it,

59:25 they like to decorate the outsides of

59:27 their places with various different

59:29 things such as barbed wire, razor wire,

59:32 um pieces of glass just sticking up out

59:34 of the wall, electric fencing, and uh

59:36 various other decorations. But there is

59:38 one more place that stood out like a

59:40 sore thumb, which has got to be the

59:41 biggest mansion I saw in the entire

59:43 country, probably in my life as well,

59:46 which is the prophet. There's a guy in

59:49 Zimbabwe who claims to be a prophet and

59:52 um has done quite well for himself

59:54 because he has this huge place which I

59:57 was I was told some guys who worked

59:59 there. He doesn't have a fridge. The

1:00:02 dude has a cold room.

1:00:05 He has an entire room just dedicated to

1:00:07 being cold so it so it can house the

1:00:09 stuff that you'd put in a fridge. That

1:00:11 wasn't even the weirdest thing though.

1:00:12 When we were driving past, there was a

1:00:14 guy stood out the front in all black who

1:00:17 was armed and staring at us. When you

1:00:20 got your own mercenaries to protect your

1:00:21 house, that's that. Yeah. Yeah. You're

1:00:23 doing all right. So, the last thing I

1:00:24 did in country was go and find the last

1:00:26 antique dealer that seemingly exists and

1:00:29 buy quite a few Rhodesian things from

1:00:31 the old days. And then it was time to

1:00:32 fly out. But I wasn't done with Africa.

1:00:35 In fact, I was going to South Africa

1:00:37 next because I wanted to meet up with an

1:00:39 old Rodesian rockstar, John Edmund, and

1:00:42 ask him about how life used to be.

1:00:46 [Music]

1:00:50 [Applause]

1:00:52 [Music]

1:01:01 [Applause]

1:01:02 [Music]

1:01:06 John makes all kinds of music, but his

1:01:08 folk music about Redia has seen a

1:01:10 massive resurgence online for people

1:01:12 interested in Redesia because online

1:01:15 world, that's how it goes. So, I thought

1:01:16 I'd go and ask him a few questions. So,

1:01:18 arrived in South Africa, met up with an

1:01:20 African's friend, and now we're heading

1:01:22 to see John Edmund. And I promised I'd

1:01:24 wear the red coat for him. So, here we

1:01:26 are. I was born in Luancha in the Ron

1:01:30 Antelopee Mine Hospital

1:01:32 and I grew up there and then uh my

1:01:35 parents moved to Scotland for a couple

1:01:37 of years. We went to Edinburgh and I

1:01:40 went to school in Edinburgh for 2 years

1:01:44 and when she was better we returned back

1:01:46 to northern Rhodesia. So when my

1:01:49 boarding school days started, they put

1:01:52 us on a train. used to take four days

1:01:54 from Indola down to Johannesburg or

1:01:57 wherever the school or Ptoria wherever

1:01:59 the school was and then I returned back

1:02:02 to Rhdesia

1:02:04 and uh of course then I was eligible for

1:02:07 callup and I was called up to the

1:02:10 redesian army and I spent six years in

1:02:12 the territorial

1:02:14 uh redesia regiment 11 platoon sea

1:02:18 company

1:02:19 Bulwayo 1956

1:02:22 1957 seven. And that's me there. That

1:02:26 hell of a good-looking bloke there. The

1:02:28 best looking guy. And we served in

1:02:32 many sort of conflicts there. A lot of

1:02:35 riots,

1:02:37 border patrols on the Congo. I was

1:02:38 stationed on the Congo border. When the

1:02:41 Congo blew up, uh we rescued a lot of

1:02:44 refugees coming over from the Belgian

1:02:46 Congo. And of course, we were expecting

1:02:49 possibly uh uh an invasion

1:02:54 by the force public who were the rebels

1:02:58 in the conga that took over. And maybe

1:03:00 we thought they would get clever and try

1:03:02 and take Northern Rhodesia, which they

1:03:03 didn't. after I'd been in the

1:03:05 operational area, they' inspired me to

1:03:08 write those trippy songs because uh they

1:03:11 made deep impressions on me, all the

1:03:14 different facets, the funny parts, the

1:03:16 tragic parts, and that's where Troopy

1:03:19 songs actually were born out of true

1:03:22 life experiences. And uh they're

1:03:25 probably the songs that will go on

1:03:27 forever because they play Troopy songs.

1:03:30 I get letters from Croatia,

1:03:33 uh, Israel, soldiers from Israel,

1:03:36 soldiers from all over the world. It

1:03:38 doesn't matter who the enemy is, but I

1:03:40 think being a soldier, you've got the

1:03:42 same hardships. You've got the same, you

1:03:44 still got to polish your uniform or,

1:03:46 you know, clean your rifle or go into into a

1:03:51 skirmish. So, it doesn't matter which

1:03:53 army you're in. So, for some reason, the

1:03:55 Troopy songs have lived on and uh I'm

1:04:00 I'm very chuffed about that.

1:04:02 Would you be allowed to go back and

1:04:03 visit Zimbabwe because you're so famous

1:04:05 from the Troopy songs and such? Would

1:04:07 that be a problem politically?

1:04:08 No, no, not a problem. As a matter of

1:04:10 fact, I have I did a couple of uh shall

1:04:13 we say covert tours to to to Redesia

1:04:18 to Zimbabwe and I played in farmers

1:04:21 halls. I played in secret places and uh

1:04:26 a lot of the waiters were given the

1:04:27 night off

1:04:29 and I played at a place called Quiquay

1:04:31 one night and all the waiters had gotten

1:04:34 the night off

1:04:36 and one of the songs that I

1:04:39 always used to sing was sweet banana

1:04:42 and it's in Shauna and it's in Indelly

1:04:45 as well there's there's a verse in

1:04:46 Shauna and one in Indelly and one in

1:04:48 English and uh I started singing the

1:04:51 song and suddenly out of the woodwork

1:04:53 came these black guys. They didn't want

1:04:55 to have the night off. They were ex-

1:04:57 waiters. They came and they joined in

1:04:59 and they sang Sweet Banana with me and

1:05:01 it was so rewarding

1:05:04 and uh there was no bad feeling at all

1:05:06 there. Not at all. I played in a place

1:05:09 called um

1:05:12 Isodini

1:05:14 and uh right next door was a Shabin

1:05:19 a bear hall where they play loud music

1:05:22 and the next building was the police

1:05:24 station.

1:05:26 So I said to the organizer, listen, I'm

1:05:28 a bit scared to sing troopy songs here.

1:05:31 They said no the police will never hear

1:05:33 it cuz there's a shabine in between. So

1:05:35 you just play what you like. So I played

1:05:38 all the Troopy songs at Isigodini

1:05:40 in their little town hall. It was a

1:05:42 wonderful, wonderful evening.

1:05:44 I will be releasing the full thing soon

1:05:45 enough as a separate video. But there is

1:05:47 one more thing I wanted to see in South

1:05:48 Africa. After Resia fell and became

1:05:51 Zimbabwe, a lot of people in South

1:05:53 Africa were quite worried that they

1:05:56 might go through a similar thing because

1:05:57 ethnic separation continued right up to

1:05:59 the 1990s. South Africa then focused on

1:06:02 more of a reconciliation narrative, but

1:06:05 most international observers can tell

1:08:52 crowdfunded by their community, and

1:08:55 started building it. This isn't to say

1:08:56 that South Africa isn't a [ __ ] up

1:08:58 place. It certainly is. I mean, even in

1:09:01 Zimbabwe, we didn't have to deal with

1:09:02 bandits on the highways who who just

1:09:05 carjack you and kill you. So, there's

1:09:08 that. But it does mean these people now

1:09:09 have some defense in a network of

1:09:12 institutions in case the government

1:09:14 tries to come for their land. In fact,

1:09:16 it's probably because the Africanas

1:09:18 recognize for them there's nowhere they

1:09:20 can flee to. They can't go back to the

1:09:22 Netherlands. They're just not the same

1:09:24 as the Dutch anymore. They're Africanas

1:09:27 and their home is in Africa. As for

1:09:28 Zimbabwe, well, I'd certainly recommend

1:09:30 a visit, especially if you want to see

1:09:32 ruins of the British Empire. As for the

1:09:34 people of Zimbabwe, well, to be honest,

1:09:38 they're kind of amazing. I mean,

1:09:39 everyone we met had multiple trades

1:09:41 because you need that. I mean, if one of

1:09:43 your trades falls through, you need to

1:09:44 be able to find something else to find

1:09:47 food essentially through work. Everyone

1:09:49 who you see begging on the street, well,

1:09:52 they're not really begging, they're

1:09:53 selling something, which means they're

1:09:54 all entrepreneurs trying to get by. The

1:09:57 people who just, well, are waiting for

1:10:00 someone else to feed them, well, they

1:10:02 starve. But sometimes reminiscing about

1:10:04 the past isn't nostalgia, especially

1:10:07 when there's video evidence of that past

1:10:10 being better than now. I just hope one

1:10:12 day that Zimbabwe can eclipse it for the

1:10:15 average person.

1:10:17 Either way, I hope you enjoyed this and

1:10:20 uh well, if you'd like to see more, go

1:10:23 over to Subscribe Star and and help fund

1:10:24 it. Otherwise, liking and subscribing

1:10:27 does definitely help and please do it.

1:10:29 And I still do read every single

1:10:31 comment. Thank you and goodbye.

1:10:35 [Music]

1:10:49 [Applause]

1:10:52 Oh,

1:10:58 [Music]

1:11:14 [Applause]

1:11:15 [Music]

1:11:16 [Applause]

1:11:19 heat.

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