Got up way to early to take my packages to the post office. Minor pain, but in under an hour they were on their way - hopefully they'll make it. The last couple days I've been hoarding Zim Dollars from the ATM so I could buy some American Dollars for Tanzania. When I tried to change money I discovered an interesting catch-22 for Zimbabwe. It's technically illegal to leave the country with more than 500 Z$ (< US$1), but it's also illegal for non-residents to buy foreign currency with Z$! The third foreign exchange bureau I tried was willing to exchange for me, but only up to the amount I had receipts (ATM slips) for. I only had enough slips for half my currency - but they gave me the receipts back! Two more bureau and I found a similar situation - only three hours to exchange all my money - nothing is ever easy!
Checked my email - didn't answer since I thought I'd spend tomorrow morning doing that. Picked up my photos - I'm a little disappointed there are no shots that really grab me. I'm starting to get desperate for a new day pack - the zipper on mine is starting to get flaky and mine's not really big enough if I want to carry my SLR camera - so I shopped around. I found one that was almost what I wanted but I added that to my To Do list for tomorrow morning in town before heading to the airport.
Back at the hostel I had a message from Air Zimbabwe. My nice civilized three-thirty P.M. flight has been changed to eight A.M. - which means laving the hostel at five thirty. So much for my tomorrow morning in Harare.
Hung out at the hostel, drank beer, played cards. Packed. Packing was remarkably easy considering it's been seven months since I last had to do it. And I've added a tent, sleeping bag, and camera bag since then - guess I sent enough stuff home. Predictably ended up being a late night...
[Entry written from notes 7/12/99]
