The owners, Pat and Mandy Retzlaff, both born in Africa – second-generation white Africans – had been large-scale farmers in Zimbabwe for much of their lives. In 2000, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe began the land invasions, the violent takeover of white-owned property by war vets, or wovits, as they are known colloquially. A sign of the corruption of the time, the farms were illegally given to members of Mugabe’s government, who were generally disinterested and unskilled in agricultural practices, rather than to experienced black farm workers. For twenty years after independence in 1980, Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) was the breadbasket of Africa, with a thriving economy. By 2008, however, inflation soared to more than 11 million percent. Unable to afford the costs of printing additional currency, the government dollarized – converted to the U.S. dollar – in 2009.
In 2002, the Retzlaff’s were given four hours notice of eviction, on threat of death, from the farm they’d lived on for decades, along with their four-hundred-person labor force. Eventually evicted from six farms where they had been taken in, their investment and life savings disappeared into the skyrocketing inflation.
After their new agricultural project in their adopted country didn’t take hold, Pat and Mandy decided to take the horses to the coast of Mozambique to the tourist area of Vilanculos, a world-renowned dive destination. Rather than have the horses become victims of their traumatic pasts, they founded the riding safari business as a way for the horses to support themselves, to earn their keep.
The property is modest, exotic even. After the calamitous cyclone Favio struck, Mandy dryly commented, “I never dreamed I’d be living in a shack on the beach!” The small thatch shelter I remember so well serves as the dining area for the volunteers and a gathering spot for evening storytelling. Mandy often keeps her guests in stitches with her hilarious tales about the incredibly challenging conditions in Africa.
At the end of last year, Mozambique Horse Safari experienced another tragic turn of events: over the course of a few months, younger horses had been mysteriously dying, along with some of the mature riding horses. Devastating and incredibly frustrating, the mysterious ailment killed upwards of twenty-five beloved horses. At one point, a tissue sample, illegal to transport, had to be sent to South Africa for analysis. Mandy, ever resourceful, actually made it into a sandwich and sent it off in someone’s handbag! Finally, around the New Year, the cause was tracked to a toxic flowering weed in their new grazing grounds.
Now, in summer 2011, I have just spent a week back with the Retzlaff’s. Being with them and with these lovely horses again is truly heart-warming; the beach riding is as glorious as ever, and business is beginning to thrive as word of mouth from happy clients and feature travel stories in two major international newspapers entice riders with the very same promise of beauty that brought me to Mozambique those many months ago.
For more information on this wonderful program, please visit Mozambique Horse Safari.
Photos are copyright protected and may not be reproduced without permission. Photos are used with the permission of Oriane Lee Johnston.