Fellas:
Received an email just now from Zim. Fuel jumped from 1.68/L to 3.31L in one jump. What have you experienced from those there. What mark will this make on the safari business? 3.31L is aobut 12+$ per US gallon.
Cal

Heard guys in Zim booth going off about fuel prices and lack of as well
So sorry to hear that

Sounds like 'round two' of hyper inflation. Maybe those Zim trillion dollar notes that I'm holding will be worth something! I remember paying 1 billion, 8 hundred million Zim dollars for a 12 inch pizza over there a few years back during 'round one'.

Wow! Guys will have to start smuggling it in from Zambia by boat on the Zambezi again.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Sounds like 'round two' of hyper inflation. Maybe those Zim trillion dollar notes that I'm holding will be worth something! I remember paying 1 billion, 8 hundred million Zim dollars for a 12 inch pizza over there a few years back during 'round one'.

I was hunting in Zim one year when the hyper inflation was going on. No fuel. No gas stations selling. A truck came into our camp one night and stole a drum of gas or diesel. We couldn’t hunt for a day until they resupplied from somewhere...

One of the trackers pulled out a 5 billion dollar bill out of his pocket in the field as he was looking for something else. I was close enough to read the note. I was astounded that such a bill existed. I asked my PH to ask him if I could buy it from him, and also asked what it could buy in Zim at that time. I will never forget the tracker’s answer: Coke. One can of soda! I gave him a yankee $1 bill and he was ecstatic.

On the road to Bulawayo, natives were selling bundled hay bale sizes of Zim money for $5 American, right by the road.

When I was leaving Zim waiting at Harare airport, I went into a gift shop and found a post card with a Sable on it for 15 cents. I handed the lady behind the counter a $1 bill American. She was panicked. She couldn’t make change. The counter was scattered with lots of Zim bills of all kinds of denominations: hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, etc. Maybe fifty such bills. I said Zim money was fine for my change. Her panicked face turned to the biggest smile you can imagine, and she shoved the entire counter of bills at me. I said “all of it???” She apologized it was not enough, but I had made an offer, and she had gladly accepted!!

I hope the Zimbos are not starting that tragedy all over again!

You could see it coming. The price was 1.something a liter and no gas, lines a couple blocks long.

If you got to pay for it in USD, and sell it in bond notes with a quarter of face value, what do you think is going to happen?

Either they will go back to the USD being legal tender, or it will be huge prices with no goods available.

I think they are better off using the USD, but then the government can’t pay salaries.

How he deals with it will determine how the crocodile is viewed historically.

. . . another good reason to tip . . . you get hard to obtain foreign currency into the hands of camp staff, trackers and others that can really use the money.

Hey

quote:

Originally posted by surefire7:

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Sounds like 'round two' of hyper inflation. Maybe those Zim trillion dollar notes that I'm holding will be worth something! I remember paying 1 billion, 8 hundred million Zim dollars for a 12 inch pizza over there a few years back during 'round one'.

I was hunting in Zim one year when the hyper inflation was going on. No fuel. No gas stations selling. A truck came into our camp one night and stole a drum of gas or diesel. We couldn’t hunt for a day until they resupplied from somewhere...

One of the trackers pulled out a 5 billion dollar bill out of his pocket in the field as he was looking for something else. I was close enough to read the note. I was astounded that such a bill existed. I asked my PH to ask him if I could buy it from him, and also asked what it could buy in Zim at that time. I will never forget the tracker’s answer: Coke. One can of soda! I gave him a yankee $1 bill and he was ecstatic.

On the road to Bulawayo, natives were selling bundled hay bale sizes of Zim money for $5 American, right by the road.

When I was leaving Zim waiting at Harare airport, I went into a gift shop and found a post card with a Sable on it for 15 cents. I handed the lady behind the counter a $1 bill American. She was panicked. She couldn’t make change. The counter was scattered with lots of Zim bills of all kinds of denominations: hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, etc. Maybe fifty such bills. I said Zim money was fine for my change. Her panicked face turned to the biggest smile you can imagine, and she shoved the entire counter of bills at me. I said “all of it???” She apologized it was not enough, but I had made an offer, and she had gladly accepted!!

I hope the Zimbos are not starting that tragedy all over again!

Given the lunacy going on, I am not surprised. To compare, on my first trip in the 80’s, I think the exchange rate was $3 Zim for each $1 US.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Hey

quote:

Originally posted by surefire7:

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Sounds like 'round two' of hyper inflation. Maybe those Zim trillion dollar notes that I'm holding will be worth something! I remember paying 1 billion, 8 hundred million Zim dollars for a 12 inch pizza over there a few years back during 'round one'.

I was hunting in Zim one year when the hyper inflation was going on. No fuel. No gas stations selling. A truck came into our camp one night and stole a drum of gas or diesel. We couldn’t hunt for a day until they resupplied from somewhere...

One of the trackers pulled out a 5 billion dollar bill out of his pocket in the field as he was looking for something else. I was close enough to read the note. I was astounded that such a bill existed. I asked my PH to ask him if I could buy it from him, and also asked what it could buy in Zim at that time. I will never forget the tracker’s answer: Coke. One can of soda! I gave him a yankee $1 bill and he was ecstatic.

On the road to Bulawayo, natives were selling bundled hay bale sizes of Zim money for $5 American, right by the road.

When I was leaving Zim waiting at Harare airport, I went into a gift shop and found a post card with a Sable on it for 15 cents. I handed the lady behind the counter a $1 bill American. She was panicked. She couldn’t make change. The counter was scattered with lots of Zim bills of all kinds of denominations: hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, etc. Maybe fifty such bills. I said Zim money was fine for my change. Her panicked face turned to the biggest smile you can imagine, and she shoved the entire counter of bills at me. I said “all of it???” She apologized it was not enough, but I had made an offer, and she had gladly accepted!!

I hope the Zimbos are not starting that tragedy all over again!

Given the lunacy going on, I am not surprised. To compare, on my first trip in the 80’s, I think the exchange rate was $3 Zim for each $1 US.

But that is when honest people - whites? - were running the country!

As soon as so called "freedom fighters" - better known as terrorists - took over, things went down the drain.

Just look at the rest of Africa.

Tribalism and self interest is bankrupting the whole continent!

True that one Saeed! True that one!

It’s a damn good thing mankind spread out and left Africa behind a long time ago. It’s the same corrupt shithole it was 1000 years ago and no change is in sight- unless it’s for the worse.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Hey

quote:

Originally posted by surefire7:

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Sounds like 'round two' of hyper inflation. Maybe those Zim trillion dollar notes that I'm holding will be worth something! I remember paying 1 billion, 8 hundred million Zim dollars for a 12 inch pizza over there a few years back during 'round one'.

I was hunting in Zim one year when the hyper inflation was going on. No fuel. No gas stations selling. A truck came into our camp one night and stole a drum of gas or diesel. We couldn’t hunt for a day until they resupplied from somewhere...

One of the trackers pulled out a 5 billion dollar bill out of his pocket in the field as he was looking for something else. I was close enough to read the note. I was astounded that such a bill existed. I asked my PH to ask him if I could buy it from him, and also asked what it could buy in Zim at that time. I will never forget the tracker’s answer: Coke. One can of soda! I gave him a yankee $1 bill and he was ecstatic.

On the road to Bulawayo, natives were selling bundled hay bale sizes of Zim money for $5 American, right by the road.

When I was leaving Zim waiting at Harare airport, I went into a gift shop and found a post card with a Sable on it for 15 cents. I handed the lady behind the counter a $1 bill American. She was panicked. She couldn’t make change. The counter was scattered with lots of Zim bills of all kinds of denominations: hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, etc. Maybe fifty such bills. I said Zim money was fine for my change. Her panicked face turned to the biggest smile you can imagine, and she shoved the entire counter of bills at me. I said “all of it???” She apologized it was not enough, but I had made an offer, and she had gladly accepted!!

I hope the Zimbos are not starting that tragedy all over again!

Given the lunacy going on, I am not surprised. To compare, on my first trip in the 80’s, I think the exchange rate was $3 Zim for each $1 US.

There was a time when the Zim dollar was MORE valuable than a US greenback. The exchange rate was $2 US for each $1 Zim. I happen to have one of those old Zim dollars a PH gave me.

Yes, those in power now, have never even taken econ 101. I doubt they could spell it...

Lots of rumours flying around, so to clarify:

(1) when the so-called "bond notes" were introduced a couple of years ago, they were supposedly just to provide a source of currency, most of the US dollars having mysteriously disappeared under Bob's watchful eye. They were listed at 1:1 against the US dollar, and the government faithfully promised they would stay at 1:1. In fact, for the last year they have been trading at a rate, which was +/- 3.5:1 at the end of last week. What has happened with the fuel price is that it has been brought into line with the real value of the government scrip. If you have bond or electronic money you pay the new price of $3+ per litre of fuel. If you have USD, nothing has changed. So it's not entirely correct to say that fuel is twelve bucks a gallon.

(2) The government has reintroduced foreign currency accounts, so USD transfers from account to account are possible, as long as the input has been in USD (e.g. the safari industry). How secure these will be in the long term is unknown; they weren't secure under Bob.

(3) It is ludicrous to speak of "hyperinflation". Back in 2008, when the one hundred trillion dollar bill was in circulation was hyperinflation. To put 3.5:1 into its proper perspective, the Rhodesian dollar was trading at 2:1 to the US when I came here in 1978 (although officially the RHD was stronger than the USD - it wasn't 2:1, but more like 1RHD: US0.80 - if you had a US dollar you could get two Rhodesian dollars). 3.5 is a fraction of nothing on a hyperinflationary scale.

(4) They are talking about reintroducing the Zimbabwe Dollar this year. Probably the wrong move.

Those of us here thought that ED's government would have gotten a little more support from the West, and a little investment would have gone a long way.

Cal, prices in USD cash are pretty much the same as before.

3.31L is for Bond note only. The useless currency they invented by printing Treasury Bills to fund the country.

Thanks, ilitshe and ill, for the clarification. I will be there in August and hope all is well in the country I cherish so much.
Cal