The first breaking news of the day were the demise of Robert G. Mugabe, former President of Zimbabwe, former liberator of Zimbabwe, former potentate, ousted in 2017 after 37 years of reign.

The news took me back to 2008 to a visit of the Bulawayo Railway Museum in the West of the country. And of course it reminded of the sad economic condition the country is in and the hardship for the people of Zimbabwe, a hardship lasting for almost 20 years.

The museum is an island of calm, it felt less like a museum than more like a last and final resting place for the extinct dinosaurs of the glorious steam era. An old Garratt engine, and a Pullman style wagon once used by Cecil Rhodes are the highlight of the museum. It was amazing to see how Zimbabweans maintained it under the direst conditions.

Ten years on, the country is still in economic troubles, some say the worst ever. Clearly, maintaining a railway museum would not be priority number one for the people, searching for food, petrol, or other essentials.

When Zimbabweans today remember the good and not so good times they had during the last 30 years, I wonder how many think of the once proud and performing NRZ (National Railway of Zimbabwe) and I am sure some will dream of a future in which trains will take them across the country again.