With time to spare, on arriving in Bvumba, we thought we’d do a bit of exploring before finding a place to set up camp for the night.

Our first stop was the beautiful Leopard Rock Hotel. Standing majestically below Chinyakwaremba (Leopard Rock) this magnificent hotel was originally modelled on a classic French chateau.

The hotel was built of stone by Italian prisoners of war during World War II. It was later destroyed during the Second Chimurenga in 1978 but has since been superbly renovated.

Driving onto the hotel grounds was like stepping onto a different continent.

The views from the main terrace were breathtaking, with the spectacular hotel grounds giving way to the golf course and on to the mountains beyond.

Special mention has to be made of Lovemore, the hotel’s Food and Operations Manager, who stopped to welcome us to the hotel on his way down to the clubhouse. What an amazing guy!

He was a wealth of information on the area and all that Bvumba had to offer, and so helpful, friendly and professional. South African hospitality staff could definitely learn a thing or two from him. Lovemore – thanks for a great welcoming to your beautiful country; we’ll definitely be back again.

We enjoyed a welcome cold drink on the terrace, taking it for granted that we would be able to pay (but won't be charged) in US dollars. As it was a Sunday, the banks obviously weren’t open and we weren’t about to change money illegally on the side of the road with some dodgy person we didn’t know.

So when the bill for our drinks arrived (one Zambezi Lager and one rock shandy later) we asked if we could pay in US dollars? “Yes, of course,” came the reply, “that’ll be… mmm… US$18 please”. Excuse me?

There had to be a mistake; that over a hundred and fifty Rand! But no, there was no mistake. At Bob’s official exchange rate a local beer and a rock shandy did indeed cost eighteen American dollars (gulp). Thank the pope we didn’t order a hamburger (around R350)!

And so, on our first afternoon in Zim, we had our first Zim lesson: never pay for anything in US dollars; and secondly: find someone to exchange money with, pronto. At the unofficial rate our drinks would have come to less than R15.

Leaving Leopard Rock feeling a little cheated by the country’s current economic state, we headed off to find somewhere to spend the night.