Independant Travel in Zimbabwe

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So we've been in Zimbabwe for about 5 or 6 days now and I haven't figured out how this country works at all. 

In train Sleeper compartment - 17 hours

It used to be the 'bread basket' of Africa, but definitely not any more.  Zimbabwe was called Rhodesia (after the explorer and colonist Cecil John Rhodes), until 1980 when it gained it's independence from England.  The name Zimbabwe is actually formulated from the name of the ancient town ruins "dzimba dza mabwe" which means houses of stone.  The country adopted this name, and also the symbol of the bird found carved in soapstone at the site.
Robert Mugabe has been in power here since 1980 and probably far too long.  He will not relinquish his 'prime ministership/dictatorship' and has driven the country into the ground.  Recently, he has been quite ill, and possibly near death, but I'm sure there is someone just as bad waiting in wings.
This is what I deduce.   There were many whites living in Rhodesia, but had originally taken the land from the black locals.  I think most of the farms were successfully run by the whites, and Rhodesia was a prospering country.  Since Mugabe took power, there has been much violence, massacres, voter intimidation, and then the land reform program.  Although many whites had already left Zimbabwe (only possibly 20,000 remained), Mugabe was furious that the whites had backed the opposition party and not voted 'yes' for the referendum, so he began violently confiscating the land and redistributing it - not to black farmers, but to ministers, party faithful and foreign friends.  We actually have friends who had offered up two of their farms for redistribution previously, only to have forces arrive at their third and last farm, ordering them to leave within 8 hours, and to take no possessions that had to do with the farm.  Everything lost!!!  As you can imagine, the results of this would devastate the nation, and they have been trying to recover ever since. 
In 2005, an operation called Murambatsvina ("Clean out the trash") was started, that targeted the poor in towns, and basically was set up to drive them back to their rural homes.  Some think he was just trying to quash a possible revolution by separating the people.  Basically, it just drove most of the nations people deeper into poverty. 

Trillions of Zimbabwe Dollars

The money here is also a little strange.  The nation went through a period of excessive inflation, where they couldn't print money fast enough.  I have seen bills that actually have an expiry date on them, because by that time, they wouldn't be worth the paper they are printed on.  The situation became ridiculous, and they actually have printed the highest denomination bill of "ONE HUNDRED TRILLION ZIMBABWE DOLLARS".  As this couldn't possibly continue, they have now adopted the US dollar but the actual bills were probably quite hard to come by at the start.  Nowadays, the US dollar is in use, but they do not have any coins.  So, how do you buy something less than a dollar????  They try to give you change in South African Rand, and Botswanan Pula.  A messed up system, and most of the time nobody has change anyway.  So, most things end up costing at least $1 and sometimes considerably higher.  We have found Zimbabwe VERY expensive to travel in, and I think they are trying to make up for the previous 15 years.  We have flatly refused to pay some of the exorbitant fees asked for, but have then had trouble getting around.  $20 for a 12 km taxi ride - not sure if I would pay that back in Canada??!  But we have to get places, and they won't take much less.  i don't know how the locals can possibly manage with these prices!!  To me, instead of attracting more business and tourism, they are driving it away with overpricing!!

Typical local transport - Combi-van - notice freezer on roof

It's been a bit of a shame because we have wanted to visit certain sights in Zim, but just don't want to get ripped off, and have refused to pay the prices set, and move on to the next town.  To really experience Zimbabwe, I think you need your own vehicle, not relying on public transport.
So, this is a quick rundown on what we have done in the first 5 days.  First night after walking from Zambia to Zimbabwe, we spent in the town of Victoria Falls.  We had already done what we wanted at the Falls, and contemplated going to Hwange National Park.  It seemed difficult and very expensive to visit, so we decided to skip it seeing as though we had been to many wildlife parks and done many safaris already.  That night, we boarded a train to Bulawayo.  The train ride was great and relaxing (although a little hot at first), even with it being 17 hours instead of the 12 scheduled.  Arriving in Bulawayo, we struggled

Young boy at Bulawayo Youth Hostel

to get any information on getting to the two main Unesco sights nearby, and were lucky to find a cheap place to stay - the only one in town ($6 each for a pretty ratty looking hostel).
Since they wanted at least $80 each to visit the parks, we decided to skip these as well, and took a combi-van to Gweru.  This is where we encountered the $20 taxi ride to Antelope Park, but after much arguing and waiting (more than an hour), somebody finally caved down to $10 since he was heading home anyway.  An aside - this may seem like a low price to pay, but when you are trying to travel for 2 years on a budget, this is exorbitant given that our daily budget is only $33 each for food, accommodation, travel, etc.   Anyway, camping at Antelope Park was the only thing we wanted to afford, as everything else was out of our range.  So, we did relax in the tranquil area of Antelope Park for 2 nights before moving on.  Next attempt to do something in Zimbabwe will be near Masvingo, and the Great Zimbabwe Ruins.  *Stub