Hoping for some help with a research question: was shown this lonely grave today in southern Zimbabwe. Charles Theodore West, Hermitage, Newbury England, died 22 February 1919. How could I find out more about him and his family? Thank you

Bones, bones and more bones. Happily brushing up on my zoology this week, part of a training course in Zimbabwe.

Church.

OTD in 2009, illegal forex dealers at Ximex Mall, Harare were buying US$1 for a Z$10 trln note or Z$2 trln in Z$50 bln notes. Some were willing to exchange Z$2 trln in $50 bln notes for a $10 trln note. Shops in the CBD pegged most of their goods at a $10 trln or $20 trln to avoid change problems.

Delighted that this article on one of my favourite places-the Bulawayo Public Library-has been accepted for publication. I take the story to 2025. Two crucial themes are a constant lack of funds & the the dedication & hard work of the incredible staff who serve "The Castle" every day.

My original source work on Edson Sithole, coupled with analysis and biographical narrative is apparently now out!

Writing a new article and got so annoyed, and then resigned, when I realised the truth of this comic!

This is a defining image of our times. Aside from its neat encapsulation of vice & virtue (L: pride, greed, envy; R: humility, selflessness), it’ll be used by historians to illustrate the disproportionate effects on geopolitics of one man’s narcissism during the 2020s.

A crashing procession. A rare sight anywhere in Zimbabwe nowadays. Taken last year.

So very happy to have put this article to bed At 15,000 words it's a big 'un but based on a recent awful article on the same topic, no one else has done the legwork in the archives & on the ground to delve into the myriad histories of a single obelisk on a blood-soaked patch of the Matabeleland bush

Bronze Mannikins at the bird bath. A gorgeous visitor, especially in-between the storms

Miss the days when our newspapers used to cover fun little stories. Meaningful at the time and still, years later, and never part of the official "big picture" record.

New life in the Matobo Hills.

Found this while clearing some papers. The bill to cremate my father in 2008 in 🇿🇼 We had to supply our own firewood for the crematorium as they'd run out; friends helped gather it. We had to borrow the Z$4.2bln as we paid our savings for the ambulance which arrived late - no fuel. A different world.

Fabulous article this, grappling with recurring questions of heritage, meaning, financial liability and the importance of symbols in the face of malicious vandalism.Motivations to destroy icons are incomprehensible to most people but cf. ending of the movie Glass Onion. harpers.org/archive/2026...

@mininghistory.bsky.social the spirit of El Nasir lives on! londondaily.com/trader-buys-...

Home is a happy place.

Once again the best summary of the year as done by the incomparable @ordinarythings.bsky.social has landed: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEob...

Exactly, anthropology, history, and archaeology confirms it. The human experience is incredibly diverse, and that applies to how people across time and different cultures have thought about kinship/consanguinity, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, status/role, affinity and marriage/sexual union.

Trans people exist. In every culture and every society on the planet, and have done throughout recorded history. They are a natural part of the human condition and always will be because (spoiler alert!) they are born every day. They aren't an ideology, they are people. Hate is an ideology though!

Whatever make it 10 factor authentication.. I don't want to be able to sign into anything ever again

1) Have been working on several corporate histories in Bulawayo. It horrifies me how few companies keep historical records beyond the basic financial reports required by law.

The confidence with which people write and publish such drivel astounds me. Inaccuracies abound as well as a marked lack of on the ground experience. www.heraldonline.co.zw/the-njelele-...

One of the oldest standing buildings on the periphery of Bulawayo. Once known as the "Honeymoon hotel", this is now the home of a family who have just won one of the most important court cases in Zimbabwe's history

While searching for a known grave, I came across a random archaeological find of rough stone-walling in the Mbembesi district, not recorded in the national database. Will have to go back and for proper documentation one day next year.

Hitching a ride while the beetles work hard

A sunny pause in between the welcome rains in Matobo Hills

Hunting mixed heritage in Bulawayo and correcting some enduring errors through fieldwork. All part of my forthcoming book on King Lobengula

Happy to see the new life in the garden after the recent rains

Life meets art in a Bulawayo garden

Went to visit eGodade battlefield of the Anglo-Ndebele War of 1893. Horrified & devastated to see how it has been thoroughly destroyed thanks to the activities of illegal miners & those quarrying for gravel. Over 2000 people died here & were buried on site so their last resting place is desecrated!

For years, but especially for the past year, Democrats have been in thrall to the idea that they need to chase an imagined median voter, and adopt that voter’s positions. Mamdani’s victory shows another way: hold principles, and persuade people to share them.

Obsessed with this image from a catalogue showing various gifts given to the leaders of North Korea Robert Mugabe could not have chosen a cheaper gift but he had every reason to be grateful to the DPRK in 1987: the Gukurahundi genocide was winding down & the one party state was within his grasp.

Any time the primary thrust of a political campaign's media strategy is "experience," they're an asshole. "Experience" isn't a policy.

Owing to popular demand after my trio of sold-out talks in Bulawayo, we have added just one more this week on a topic close to my heart Just why does the grave endure? And does it have a future? If, so, should it? Can it be rehabilitated as an inclusive monument for modern Zimbabwe? All this & more!

Anyone know of an online book review blog/website/email list that focuses on online books from southern Africa? I'm on H-Net's Africa and their other various lists but they rarely cover southern Africa.

Just finished writing up draft one of a short note about a missing painting, the most famous depiction of the final moments of Major Allan Wilson and his men as they faced the Ndebele Army on 4 December 1893. Stolen from the Bulawayo museum in 1983, I am keen to find it if possible.

Happy that this article has been accepted for publication. Now to finalise the edits and corrections!

Today's talk is 99% done. A rarity for me as I like to tinker under 15 minutes before we start!

The Consumer Price Index was released by ZimStats today shows a massive inflation rate in both US$ and ZiG. This is driven mainly by rising costs in food and (soft) beverages which is a consequence of high import duties & myriad taxes on everything. And we are told Zimbabwe open for business!

The UK has certainly lost the plot on immigration and keeps on imposing more and more restrictions on African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries that can only be called racist.

12,500 words in on this article. Very excited to see it nearly done.

Flamboyants make Bulawayo feel wholly alive this time of year

That would be absolutely incredible.

We need community notes here stat

Quite pleased to see the article written by my beloved and I on the stone cities of Zimbabwe will be out next month. We highlight various sites not generally known and appreciated by many owing to the shadow of Great Zimbabwe. travelafricamag.com/product/trav...