“My story begins in Africa!” Fireside chat with Meredith Anne Fischer – Owner and Host of 528 Victoria Falls Guest House
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orn in the harbour town of Mossel Bay, South Africa on the 27th of January 1971, Meredith Anne Fischer is the third of four daughters: the children of an engineer and home maker. She carries fond memories of growing up on the road, travelling around South Africa as her father followed work opportunities. “Each one of us were born in a different town where my father’s profession took us, and we truly enjoyed a life of privilege in a middle-class family, with the opportunity to grow up free in Africa,” shares Meredith. She cites the spectre of apartheid having coloured her parents’ view, and so in no time, they took the opportunity to emigrate to Australia in 1980, where Meredith’s father was transferred to work on civil projects. “We settled in Sydney, living on the North Shore where I completed my schooling. We kept in contact with family but did not often return to South Africa during these years, with focus on work and family life, the norm for a busy family of 6. I would later attend the University of Sydney – School of Health Sciences where I graduated as an Occupational Therapist in 1993,” shares Meredith. It was during a trip to the UK that Africa touched a part of her heart again. Chance would have her meet her future husband Paul, who was on a working holiday in the UK. He was from Zimbabwe, and a farmer by trade.
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“We made plans to return to Zimbabwe once I had finished my degree, to begin a life on a farm in Headlands, which was adjacent to the farm Paul grew up on. We married in 1994 and so life in Africa grew on me again. We had 3 children and enjoyed building a life on our farm and supporting the extended community that grew around our agricultural enterprise,” reminisces Meredith. But the political unrest that was the reincarnation of Zimbabwe’s checkered past would be the beginning of a significant shift in their lives. “It was an extremely difficult time, one of great uncertainty for the farming community in Zimbatravelessencemag.com
