Inortix

I think the largest note I ever held was a 100 trillion dollar note which was one of last ones produced before the Zimbabwean currency was formally done away with. By that point, however, the currency had been re-valued five or six times (when the numbers got too big to deal with the govt chopped all the zeroes off and started again with a new round of notes). So without the re-valuation that 100 trillion dollar note would have had another 27 zeros on it.

As for the black-market, it paid a major role in everyday purchases especially towards the end when inflation really went crazy. "Rand shops" started popping up that only dealt in foreign currencies (mostly the South African Rand). These typically operated out of someone's back yard. Operating only in foreign currencies was illegal until the Zim dollar officially collapsed

I'd really like to believe that some day things will get better. I don't think it'll be happening anytime soon though. With everything the country's been through its probably gonna take a good decade or two to reverse the damage to the infrastructure and economic recovery is going to require foreign investment which is never going to happen with politics as they are right now.

We've also recently sold our house back there having come to the same conclusion as your family.

I was born post-independence

Infrastructure collapse was mostly electricity supply, water supply and roads. Eight hour power cuts six days a week were common (load-shedding) and I still remember carting buckets of water from the swimming to pool to fill geysers/toilets. The roads are riddled with pot-holes and haven't been maintained in years. On that note, here's a Zimbabwean joke:

How do you spot a drunk driver in Zimbabwe?

He's the one driving straight.

Situation for whites still in Zimbabwe is tough, though everyone whose still there has generally found some way to make things work. Its not easy though.

As for relationships between black and white; strained to say the least. A lot of it depends on where you are. Better in urban areas, worse in rural areas

Pretty damn hot