Travel in the Key of Tuku on the Zimbabwe Border

We were crawling toward the Zimbabwean frontier—jet-lagged, half delirious, in a beat-up car straining under Africa’s heat. From the cassette deck floated the voice of Oliver Mtukudzi: joyous, sorrowful, unmistakably Zimbabwean.

That music—lyrics I didn’t understand—spoke louder than passports or polite greetings. It wove us through checkpoint inspections, softened a policeman’s suspicion, and whispered stories of grief, resistance, and dignity that textbooks never tell.

In “Travel in the Key of Tuku on the Zimbabwe Border”, I explore how Mtukudzi’s voice became more than soundtrack—it became guide, translator, companion. It’s a travel piece about crossing borders, not just between countries, but between outsider and witness.

If you believe travel is more than ticking maps, if you’ve ever wondered how music can carry a land’s soul, come along with me on that hot, dusty road to the Zimbabwe border.
👉 Read the full piece on Perceptive Travel