Coming to Zimbabwe (Harare)

Hi all

Nice to meet you, I'm new here!

I have just started a PhD at the University of Leeds, in the UK and will be heading out to Zimbabwe over the next few years to conduct my research. I'll be coming initially in the spring/summer Protected content a scoping study to try and figure out where my case study sites will be and then I will be moving out there for at least 6 months in Protected content .

At the moment I have to put in a funding application for the fieldwork and am trying to figure out costs and logistics, and would very much appreciate your help with a few initial questions and queries:

1) What is the rural transport system like? I will be researching rural communities and will need to travel around. And thus,
2) Should I hire/buy a car?
3) I will be doing most of this alone (and with a field assistant/translator perhaps) and thus is that safe?
4) How much does it cost to rent a cheap apartment in Harare/other main cities?
5) What is accommodation like in rural areas (unfortunately I cannot be more specific as to where at the moment)? Will there be places I can rent for medium lengths of time or am I looking at hotels or not at all?
6) How much should I budget per week for subsistence?
7) If anyone is knowledgeable about CAMPFIRE and/or carbon sequestration/REDD/PES schemes in Zimbabwe, please get in touch!!

Thanks a lot. Any advice you have will be much appreciated.

Beth