So because we had not over indulged in drinks as much last night as we did the night before we woke up this morning feeling much better. This was a good thing because we had arranged for me to play golf with one of Andy and Cecilias friends Tim. Tim had graduated from St. Andrews in the late 70s and when he found out we were both St. Andrews grads, and I played golf, he was keen for a round. We had a breakfast of toast and jam before driving into town to try and find an ATM. I had heard horror stories about trying to find cash from ATMs in Zimbabwe so we figured it was not going to be a simple task.
We set the sat nav to take us to an ATM which turned out not to exist; a great start I know. We the. Found an ATM at standard bank in which none of my four cards would work. So we set off to find another group of ATMs that were all being updated and none of the were working. Eventually we found our way across the street to an ATM that finally gave us the money we were after. We drew enough from this machine to ensure that we would not have to go on such a long search for the duration of our time in Zimbabwe.
Having secured the money that we needed we drove to find a gathering called 'Pimms and Paintings' that Jenny had found out about in a booklet that Cecilia gave us concerning things to do in and around Harare. The function was being held in someone's large garden just outside of the town centre and was a fundraiser where local artists could exhibit and sell their works. Jenny and I had a short look around and concluded that most of the paintings were horribly overpriced and so found our way to the drinks tent where Jenny bought a small Pimms that she enjoyed while we people watched. Shortly after Jenny finished her drink we decided we had enough of the function and drove back to the house to get ready for the golf in the afternoon.
When we arrived back Andy told us it was a good thing we had returned when we had because Tim was coming to pick us up in about one hours time. We had some of the left over Pizza from yesterday and a beer while we waited for Tim. I also checked that the golf bag I was using (Andy and Cecilia's sons) was stocked with everything I needed for my round. Andy also informed me that we were going to be playing Royal Harare, one of the best courses Zimbabwe has to offer. I only hoped my game, and the weather, would hold up.
Tim arrived just as a short spell of torrential rain had passed. We loaded my clubs into the back of his truck and set off for the golf course. When we got there we went inside to pay and the clerk asked I f I was a member of any other golf club. I pulled out my St. Andrews links ticket and he took $10 off my greens fee! We started on the tenth tee because the course was fairly busy and we were off. Jenny had come along to walk with me and was in charge of converting the distances from meters to yards using the converter on my phone. Much to my surprise I played very well on the front nine and only my putter let me down. I made the turn in 41 and we stopped at the bar for a drink before continuing our round. Jenny had a fanta and Tim and I both had a coke. We resumed our play on the first tee and I was determined to fix my putting on the second nine. Somehow this determination worked and I completed the back nine in 35 for an 18 hole total of 76! Not too bad for a 7,000 yard course I have never seen before.
Once we finished playing we stopped back in the bar for some more drinks and had a long chat with Tim about his time in St. Andrews, and about our time there. It seems that it has changed a little, notably the May dip only used to be a couple of hundred people whereas now it is a couple of thousand. We called it a day once we heard the second huge rumble of thunder, and she we walked out of the gates of the golf corse and back to Tim's car we saw a massive black cloud headed our way. The lightning that cloud threw out on our way home was insane, we were really glad to no longer be on the course.
It started raining just as we got back, and after a few minutes of conversation with the Engelbrecht's Tim left swiftly after dropping us off so as not to get stuck in the storm. Our plans to write and upload blog posts this evening were foiled when the Internet stopped working at the house, for some reason it would only work on two of their computers and no one else's. Instead we watched the Amazing Race, which Jenny is convinced we would win if we had the chance to participate, and America's got talent. Dinner included two lovely chicken and beef curries from a new place Andy and Cecelia were trying for the second time, some rice, salad and banana. Banana goes really well with curry! After I polished off most of the beef curry, we sat outside for a little while enjoying the rain before calling it a night and retiring to bed.
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