Christmas in Zimbabwe is the time of soft sweet litchis, plums, mangoes and peaches. It's the time to eat small, sweet purple grapes straight from the vines and to take turns with the birds for pawpaws and figs. It's the time when its hazardous to sit, stand or put anything under avocado trees as the high up, unreachable fruits ripen and crash to the ground at the most unexpected times. Christmas in Zimbabwe means towering purple rain clouds, sausage flies and flying ants. It means rhino beetles and chongololos, large spiders and even larger snakes. Christmas is that alluring time when flashes of red, crimson and scarlet tempt you into the ever thickening bush to discover wild and beautiful flame lilies? It's the time of year for mahobohobo fruits: sweet, juicy and oh so more-ish and for mushrooms of all shapes and sizes - so tempting to pick but so lethal to eat. Christmas in Zimbabwe is that first green maize cob scalding hot from the pot: soft, tender and swe
