Tsindi Ruins and Blueberries with the Orrs

 "EAT LITTLE AND WALK MUCH." quote from Bernard Mizeki

There are over 150 cultural ruin sites in the country of Zimbabwe. Last Friday, October 20th, we were able to hike one of these with another senior couple the Orrs. We've also been to "The Great Zimbabwe" and Matobo National Monument last May on a senior road trip. Tsindi, meaning "squirrel" in Shona was one of Mangwende's headmen that lived on the hill in the 19th century. The Vanhowe tribe occupied the ruins as early as the 1500-1600's. The Vanhowes are known to have martyred a Christian missionary, Bernard Mizeki, back in 1896. After his conversion, he became a missionary and learned several languages teaching Christianity in South Africa. He brought Anglicanism and Christianity to the area and they were very superstitious of the new religion. We visited the shrine in which hundreds of pilgrims come to pay respect to the martyr buried there annually. He was the first Christian martyr in all of Zimbabwe.

Sister Nony Orr, yoga pose at Tsindi Ruins, 2023.10.20

"Gee mister, you are really STRONG!" Nony and David Orr, Humanitarian missionaries, who arrived in Zimbabwe last week. Hiking Tsindi Ruins on Friday afternoon. 2023.10.20

Our guide, Orbert, showed us some interesting ancient tools found on the Tsindi Ruin Site. He hiked us to the top. We taught him about the Book of Mormon, another ancient civilization, and shared the gospel with him. We always keep a case to give out in our truck.

Photo of Bernard Mizeki below, African huts in the rural area by Tsindi Ruins.

Shrine of Bernard Mizenki in Marondera in which Anglicans do a pilgrimage annually.

Osbert our guide and David Orr get great views of the Duncan's blueberry farm below.

We enjoyed handing out some more toy wooden cars to the school children walking home on the way to the blueberry farm. They were each delighted to have a stranger's car stop and hand them a surprise gift!

We decided to call Rachel Nield-Geranios to see if we could stop and see the blueberries at the Duncan Farm. They had told us about the Tsindi Ruins on our last visit. Rachel and Paul Duncan met us with little notice at the farm. Nony Orr, said she'd always wanted to pick a blueberry from the actual bush.

We drove up to the boom gate and explained we were Duncan's friends. We had to sign a few forms before the guard would let us in. After stopping at the office we drove down to the fields. The blueberry harvest is almost over. They harvest them from about May to October. Rachel and Paul drove up shortly after and welcomed us with open arms. Rachel said in Zimbabwe, you can always stop by on the "fly" and even have dinner and stay the night. She took us to the refrigerated-picked storage section and gave us a crateful of cold delicious blueberries. Rachel had us try the two different varieties and I never knew blueberries could taste so good! They came in handy for lunch and breakfast on our road trip. Especially on Sunday after the Stake conference in Mutare and a long drive home.

Lottie, Rachel Niel-Geranios, and Nony Orr visit the blueberry farm and enjoy eating some too!

We only stayed for an hour because we were anxious to get to Nyganda Valley and our lodging before dark. We were also meeting Sister Turley, Warne, and Salazar for dinner at our Inn at 5:30 p.m. We had a nice side adventure on the way there!