Transportation round Chatsworth

The main mode of transport is walking. People walk for miles upon miles and think nothing of it. There are some types of mechanised transport system but they are for a privileges few who can afford it. The roads are not maintained  and can be dangerous, especially in the rainy season like October to March, when rivers are flowing.

Buses
Here we will discuss some modes of transport and their impact on our community. The first are buses.

This bus is going north to Harare 250 km away.

Buses come from the rural areas around Chatsworth and pass through en route to some or other destination far away. This road is considered very good within Chatsworth itself. Just on the outskirts of Chatsworth, the road is very poorly maintained causing bus maintenance to be costly and fares to be high. Sometimes a route may not have a bus for days or weeks while parts are being sourced. 

By transport law, a passenger vehicle is not allowed to mix people and their goods. This means a bus must either have a roof rack or a trailer. Towing a trailer on these roads is near impossible, so best option is to use a roof rack. You can see a pile of goods on the bus. Getting these items on to such a height is an art in itself. Tourists find it fascinating to watch. 

Some of these buses are older than the country, that is they are from the pre-independence era. Others have been imported to Zimbabwe since 1980 but come from countries where they had come to the end of their economic service life. The main suppliers of buses are the UK, Europe, Japan, and South Africa. 

This bus was seen at Njiva Village on its way to Chatsworth 9 km north.
Driver was told off for speeding
Here they are loading items on the roof rack. 

The Train: 

These train carriages are as old as time itself. 

The train passes Chatsworth going from Gweru to Masvingo and back twice per week. The carriages were made in the 1940s and have not been refurbished since. Its a real life experience riding on the train on this line. If you have a good bicycle, you can ride it much faster than this train. It take 12 hours to travel from Gweru to Mazvingo on a good day. The distance is 184 km/115 miles. Its 2.5 hours by car on a bad day. 

Gweru to Mavingo by train.

By Car:

Till recently you could catch a lift from drivers and be able to travel to almost anywhere where cars go regularly, but the police have clamped down on the practice because of poor driving by motorists. This was claiming many lives from what police describe as accidents. They are not real accidents. They are just results of incompetent driving, which the government is not too bothered about. It is possible to drive for many years without having taken an official driving test. This puts many drivers and their passengers at risk of death. Chatsworth has had its fair share of grief from these events. Its not advisable to catch a lift from car drivers unless you know them well.

This car is for sale. Of you want it, Email us pronto. We will arrange shipping. Most of its parts are there.
Put this magnificent machine in the hands of a young driver and you have chaos in the community. 

Some cars are several times older than their drivers. Other cars are left parked for decades and are assigned other duties while the owners are looking for parts

This pickup is currently serving as a chicken run, but if a few months you may hitch a lift on it on the road. 

Once a vehicle reaches this well known tropical state of Zimbabwe, it stops deteriorating and the only items on it we worry about are the paint, the moving parts, and any part affected by accidents. We can look after most other items and keep the vehicle on the roads. Rusting takes place very slowly here.

Traffic Police making sure drivers comply with Road Safety Guidelines and Rules
At Chatsworth Turn-off  8 km from Chatsworth itself.  Thank you police from Chatsworth. 

We have shown old cars only. We will put pictures of much newer cars later. Sometimes we see newer cars passing through and we don't know where they are coming from or going to. That is much like where you live, is it not? Strangers drive through your village and all you remember about them is their fancy cars. Some do not think Chatsworth is worthy of their stopping. We need to change that.

Ox Drawn carts:

Its common to see ox drawn carts with people in them. This is a fairly risky means of travel as the animals can be easily frightened and go out of control. However, risk is only worth a thought if there are options to choose from. In most cases the choice is between walking and riding a cart. If the distance is considerable, then riding a cart seems a fair choice.

We will bring you pictures of such carts but only those that pass by our Chatsworth.  We are just playing a waiting game at the moment.

Bicycles:
In days gone by each household could afford a bicycle. These days bicycles peddle at USD100 or more. That is way above an acceptable level of expenditure for one item for someone living here. So you find fewer and fewer households can afford bicycles. We also used to be able to go next door and borrow one for an immediate journey. Because of the economic climate, the bicycle owner now know that if something goes wrong with their bicycle, it will cost money to repair. For that reason you go next door to beg the owner to let you borrow it but pay him for allowing you. Now if you damaged it in any way before, you will not not be allowed to borrow again.

Again we will bring you some pictures of local bicycles. Its not because you have not seen a picture of a bicycle before, but you have not seen one of a bicycle from Chatsworth. They are special in that they belong to members of our community.

We shall update these pages as we get pictures for you