Once in the country, do not discuss politics at all, even with your PH if others are listening. Avoid public gatherings and try to arrange to be met at your arrival airport. A new wrinkle in the warnings emanating from the US Embassy in Harare is to be careful taking photos of anything that could be interpreted as controversial. Your best bet may be to keep your camera hidden in urban areas. The value of this warning about photographic equipment was borne out by a note we received from a subscriber last month who said the individual he brought with him to film his safari was held up at the airport. You can expect that if you are traveling with equipment that could be used for shooting news footage. The current government is extraordinarily sensitive to negative news coverage. Don't do anything that would result in your activities being viewed as surreptitious news coverage. You could be jailed for that.
The situation in Zimbabwe is murky indeed, but it is worth keeping in mind that to date (April 21) the US State Department has not issued a formal Travel Warning. You can see if that has changed by going to our web site and clicking on Recent Travel Warnings. While you are there, you may want to click your way to that part of the web site where the latest information on Zimbabwe is available. In particular, look for........(continued)
