I have lived in Zimbabwe for almost my whole life and until recently I had never been to the Honde Valley. I have no idea why, except that no one I knew had been there and it was a whole day’s drive from where I lived, so we tended to go to closer tourist spots when on holiday. Having now been to the Honde Valley I regret waiting so long to see that side of our beautiful country!
Woody and I made an appointment to stay at Aberfoyle Lodge and then go onto Far and Wide near Nyanga. The first surprise was the lovely drive to Aberfoyle, the scenery was stunningly majestic and so very different from the rest of Zim. We felt like we were in another country. The lodge is at an altitude of 800 metres and is 350kms from Harare but due to the gradients and sharp turns towards the end of the trip, the journey takes about 4hr30m-5hrs.
We passed over rolling hills, through avocado and banana plantations, and then past the beautifully green Eastern Highlands Tea Plantation. We had our usual picnic lunch on the side of the road near a delightful flowing river and what really made an impression was the size of the mature forest trees – our high clearance 4×4 looked like a dinky car in comparison!
We were met upon arrival by the new managers Blaze and Clemmie, who ensured we had a beautiful room overlooking the golf course. The weather had turned a bit misty, but this didn’t bother us, as it gave us an excuse to find one of the many comfortable reading nooks around the lodge to curl up in with a good book and a nice cup of the estate grown tea. We had sundowners on the verandah off the bar, where we hoped to catch a glimpse of the endangered and rare Palm Nut Vulture, which apparently roosts in a tree at the top of the golf course. Sadly due to the bad weather, the mist had come down, so we were not able to spot it. A good excuse to go back.
Aberfoyle has SO many activities on offer that we were very hard pressed to choose which ones to do in the very limited time we had at the lodge. Initially, we were keen to do the guided bird walks and visit Mermaid’s Pool but once again the weather was a deciding factor, so we chose the Tea Factory Tour instead. This was really interesting and we learned a lot from our very knowledgeable guide, Solo. I had no idea that the tea bushes we had seen when we drove in had been planted as far back as 1960! It made my heart burst with pride to see the end product of the tea process branded “product of Zimbabwe”. I wonder where the tea we saw being processed will end up in the world?
Both Woody and I were very impressed with Aberfoyle and Far & Wide. They are both family owned and run businesses and you get the sense that a lot of love and attention goes into making them run as smoothly and efficiently as they do. Guests are guaranteed to leave with many happy memories and new experiences. We can’t wait to go back.
My Personal Rating of:
*Best lodge with the most activities on offer.
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