January 27

Some years ago, we had a visitor from Harare who came to Bulawayo to exhume his father's body so it could be cremated.  At the time of his father's death, the crematorium had not been working so he had to bury him, although his wish had been to be cremated.  The fact that his father's last wish was unfulfilled had obviously lain heavily on his heart as exhuming a body is no easy feat.  His brother and sister told him he was mad and just wasting money for 'Dad would have understood'.

Cremation has become something of a problem in Zimbabwe and many people have resorted to using the Hindu cremation facilities or driving a loved one's body hundreds of kilometres to the nearest working facility.

This man's father was in the RAF and I could see how his son might take after him: upright, in command, well-spoken and no-nonsense.  Today I get a phone call from him and straight away recognise the cheery 'tally-ho' voice.  He is coming to Bulawayo in February and would like to stay with us again.  He doesn't give me exact dates at the moment, but I hope we can accommodate him as February is getting quite busy.

In the evening, we have an inquiry from a lady in South Africa.  I feel sure she has stayed before as well. She would like to book for a week in March, but, unfortunately, we are full.

January 26

Our visitors and I finally meet when they come up to the house to ask if they can leave their bags here while they go into town.  The two younger women have been working in Gweru for five months with the Red Cross.  I can't think of a worse place to live in than Gweru.  They don't look too enthusiastic about it either. The two older women have come from Denmark to visit them.  Later today, they will go back to Gweru and then they want to go to Victoria Falls which doesn't seem to make sense as they will need to come back through Bulawayo. Their driver with whom they had the altercation on Friday is the brother of someone who knows someone they work with.  They say they are used to being charged 'murungu (white person) prices' and will probably still use this man to drive them to Victoria Falls.  Our suggestion about buses falls on deaf ears.

Later in the day, they come to say good-bye and ask if they can call us if something goes wrong.  The car, it seems, is not working as well as it should and they are afraid of breaking down.  It might be a good idea to get that sorted out before heading off to the Falls.  

January 25

I get up early and, as I am leaving the house, I notice that the curtains in one of the cottage bedrooms are exactly as they were yesterday evening - a little open.  My Agatha Christie mind immediately wonders whether anyone actually stayed last night.  Will we go in and find them all dead on the floor? Are they trying to trick someone into believing they are staying there when, in actual fact, they are miles away?

I go to my meditation class and once again find it very therapeutic.  In some ways, meditating is easy; in other ways, it is very hard.  A great amount of self-discipline is needed.

We have a new booking and it is quite a good one - two people for six days in March.  Our bookings have picked up considerably and I put this down to things: one, that I have been physically clearing clutter and getting rid of things; two, that I have been trying harder not to pick up on the negative and just 'let go' of worry. It is easy to become negative very quickly with things spiraling out of control.

In the evening, we have our monthly film night.  This time we watch 'This Beautiful Fantastic' which everyone enjoys.

As we go to bed, I notice the lights are on in the cottage so our guests must have come home.  I still haven't met them.

January 24

Today we are expecting visitors who booked a few weeks ago.  We send them a message to confirm that they are coming and ask what time we can expect them.  The answer is between five and six o'clock so we go off to watch Sian play waterpolo in the afternoon.

We have only just got there when the phone rings.  It is our guests.  They are waiting outside the gate. John goes back home to let them in and comes back with the story that two of the four guests have had their flight from Joburg cancelled and won't be arriving until tomorrow.  The two at the gate have just arrived from Gweru where they work for the Red Cross.  They hired a driver to drive them down and then take all four of them back on Sunday and agreed on a fee of US$90.  However, the driver now claims that he thought they were driving back that night.  Some heated negotiations take place and finally he agrees to come and fetch them all on Sunday. However, I think they have had to pay him extra.

At about six in the evening, I go down to the cottage to introduce myself and find no one there.  I go round the back and rather hesitantly peer through the window, but it seems deserted. About twenty minutes later, I notice that the light is on, yet I have not seen anyone return.  Perhaps they have been there the whole time and saw me looking gormlessly through the window.  No wonder they did not come out.

January 23

In the early evening, I get a message from Booking.com, announcing we have a last-minute booking for tonight.  Just as I am telling John about it, there is a hoot at the gate.

It is a Zimbabwean man married to a Dutch woman.  They have been living in the Netherlands for many years and would like to move back to Zimbabwe where they own a business.  Today they have driven up to Bulawayo from South Africa and are on their way to Harare.  The plan is to see whether moving back to Zimbabwe is a good idea or not.  I could have told them the answer over the phone and saved them a long trip, but there you go.  Some people need to see for themselves.

I am so glad that the cottage is ready.

January 22

Three years ago, I had a phone call from a couple in Victoria Falls who wanted to stay for the weekend.  Only when they had booked did they ask if they could bring their dog with them.  Rolo was not even a year old and he was a big handful.  I struggled to control him and John was away.  As much as I tried to assert myself, Rolo did not see me as Leader of the Pack.  I sent them a message to say that they could not bring their dog and received the reply that 'it's too late.  We are on our way.'

Rolo is not aggressive with other dogs; he only ever wants to play and this desire was ten times stronger when he was a puppy and he was the only dog.  He would not let this little dog go and whined constantly, scratching at the cottage door and then howling his little heart out.

It was the year we had very heavy, constant rain so everything was muddy and waterlogged.  I asked this couple not to let the dog on the bed, but the duvet cover was full of little pawprints.  On top of that, they smoked inside the cottage and took it upon themselves to put up a little piece of fencing where there is a gap between the wall and the door.  Altogether, they made themselves too much at home.

This afternoon, I receive a message from the same couple asking if we have a vacancy, which we do.

Them: Great!  See you in a couple of hours.
Me: However, I am afraid you cannot bring your dog.
Them: Then we will have to cancel.
Me: Sorry.

So once again, they were planning to turn up without mentioning the dog.  Surely that is something that you need to tell people about? I doubt we will see them again.

January 21

Our guests who booked to stay over Valentine's Day have cancelled.  Perhaps they have fallen out.

The neighbour's dog has returned.

The person who made me angry yesterday is nice to me today and I take this as an indirect apology. I am glad I did not respond to them yesterday as I think my silence made them think about their words.

The pool is looking particularly green.  We will need to replace the sand which is not available at the moment but we have been told it should be in next week.