Zimbabwe: the sad demise of a nation...

In October - at the start of summer here - Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, looks at its very best. 

The lilac-flowered jacarandas are in full bloom. So too are the purple bougainvillea and the red flamboyants. 

The tree-lined avenues are a riot of colour. There is no finer sight anywhere in southern Africa right now. 

It all seems idyllic. The suburbs laid out by the British more than half a century ago are spacious. 

On the well-watered playing fields of the city's private schools, young boys play games of cricket, while the nearby golf course is also beautifully maintained, and here, too, the sprinklers are turning. 

But it is all rather incongruous because as I drive around Harare, probing the city's facade, I can see the decay and degradation. 

Some houses have not had water for many months. More...

See also:

1. Kristen Ashburn and AIDS in Zimbabwe...
2. Zimbabwe is dying...
3. Zimbabwe: the education system breaks down...
4. Zimbabwe: children eating toxic roots, rats...