My grandmother went to South Africa and Rhodesia (as it was then) in 1925. She travelled there from England by boat to South Africa then overland. I also travelled in Zimbabwe overland, but from Zambia as part of an Africa Overland trip that I did in 1998.

We both went up to the Matopo Hills and saw the grave of Cecil Rhodes (chairman of De Beers and founder of the state Rhodesia) and also the monument to 34 soldiers of the Shangani Patrol killed by Matabele warriors in an ambush in 1893.

Cecil Rhodes’ Grave

My Grandmother and Me at Rhodes’ Grave in the Matopos Hills

Shangani Memorial near Rhodes’ grave