There is a tiny, tiny chance that I will be asked to fly to South Africa, then on to Zimbabwe. I’ve read the u.s. govt. warnings and reports. It seems that there isn’t a specific great chance of a terrorist event; but there is concern over corruption and general “thuggery” with govt. troops, police forces, or perhaps local criminals. European/american people are considered automatically rich and may be targets for muggings or thievery.
Yet the South African I would be going with, tells me he has been going into Zimbabwe for 20 years without a problem.
I’d like to entertain humble opinions on the situation in Zimbabwe, and if I should go; given the opportunity. I’d likely be there for 2-3 days, be working with professional science types in a factory, and I assume would be in a fairly nice (for the area) hotel.
I was there for about a month a couple years ago. I found it, obvious problems aside, a really nice place. Unlike many African capitals, I felt quite comfortable and reasonably safe on the streets in Harare. I travelled around the country, on local transport and often solo, fairly freely (but I did make sure to get the local rundown on what was and wasn’t safe.). The people I met were universally very nice, and Harare has some really great night spots.
Zimbabwe used to see quite a bit of tourist trade, and that’s obviously dropped off a lot, so people are generally fairly happy to see you. That said, there are tourists and backpackers, and there are establishments catering to them. Locally, everyone is a little baffled as to why the US in particular has such a hard on for Zimbabwe. Everyone knows their situation obviously isn’t ideal, but there is lots of bad stuff in the region that we don’t give half as much attention to.
It is true that politics is deadly serious, but it’s not something that is going to affect a traveler. Keep your mouth shut about anything political, don’t wear flashy stuff, pay attention to your surroundings and listen to what locals say is and is not safe. You really shouldn’t run in to any problems.
Have fun! Harare, despite being fairly rundown, is still a very charming city. Try to make it to Victoria Falls if you can!