Zimbabwe

For most of Romesh's adult life, the only news coming out of Zimbabwe has been bad news. Robert Mugabe, the eviction of the white farmers and a general aura of danger have combined to make Zimbabwe a no-go zone in the eyes of the world. Now, with Mugabe finally gone, Rom is travelling around the country to find out if Brits should be holidaying here once more.

Rom is met by Chipo, a teacher who was born and raised in Harare under Mugabe’s rule. She explains that although people have been coming to the country, few venture beyond Victoria Falls. She wants to show Rom what they are missing on a grand, epic road trip that takes in stunning National Parks and close-up encounters with rhinos, elephants and the ‘cheetah ambassador’. Along the way he gets caught in biblical lightning storms, re-enacts the film Titanic on a Lake Kariba houseboat and tries the home-brewed beer he made in a bathtub in Bulawayo.

But safe as the country feels, Rom is visiting at a time of undeniable turmoil. Mile-long petrol queues form at every station - the fallout of the country’s latest economic crisis. Rom learns about the origins of the conflict - from the denial of black culture in the Rhodesian era to the legacy of Cecil Rhodes - and finds out why this generation of Zimbabweans are so desperate for people to visit.