My journey to Zimbabwe...
Jo Austin joined the first press group to be invited to Zimbabwe for several yeaers and received a very warm welcome
58 MY JOURNEY
zimbabwe
T
Have rucksack... will travel
Mind the dung beetles!
his was a full-on road trip around the country in a 19-seater
minibus covering over 2000km in just ten days.
Making headline news We were ‘ambushed’ on arrival at Harare
International Airport by news reporters and photographers and our presence made headline news in the following day’s Herald. Expectations were high! We were then whisked off to the city’s massive Rainbow Hotel and entertained by ZTA’s COO, Givemore Chidzidzi, at the legendary Meikles for dinner. Our packed itinerary
started the next
morning with a visit to the Media Commission where we proudly received our press cards (sadly never checked during our journey). Next stop was the supermarket to fi nd out what was on the menu for the average Zimbabwe resident. There was no shortage of meat and vegetables, and plenty of tasty-looking edible bugs as well!
Your licence please
on the Rupara was reminiscent of an old shooting lodge in Scotland with trout on the menu. When I asked if there were mosquitoes in the area, the reply was: “not quite”!
A fistful of dollars The tourist currency is US dollars and my pristine new
notes stood out amongst the grubby, torn handfuls I received in change! Money simply goes round and round and tourist dollars are in short supply. Change is given in South African rand and I recommend taking small denomination notes for bargaining on the roadside stalls.
Loyal staff help keep lodges open The outstanding Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge on the river
“The ancient
city was built with granite bricks and is in remarkably good condition”
The roads are generally good in Zimbabwe and tolls are being introduced to ensure they stay that way. Police checks punctuated our trip at regular intervals but our driver, Alec, knew what to expect and duly showed his papers again and again. Even our fi re extinquisher was checked to be in date.
Taking in a peak The Eastern
Highlands are home to Zimbabwe’s highest peak, Mount Nyangombe, and a magnifi cent
rock landscape. Lush vegetation, waterfalls and huge ferns are a feature of the region and our stay at the Inn
Save bordering Gonarezhou National Park, is an example of the pure determination that so many lodges in the private sector have had to show during a decade of tourism decline. Refl ects operations manager at Chilo, John Laing: “We turned some of our luxury accommodation into self- catering to attract local visitors and our loyal staff have sometimes worked unpaid.” This is not an uncommon story in an industry that is desperate for much-needed government investment. The red sandstone cliffs
of Gonarezhou ‘the place of elephants’ are a landmark of Zimbabwe’s second largest national park and it is here, under the watchful eye of Clive Stockil,
winner of the Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa for his work in Black Rhino conservation and with the help of the Frankfurt Zoological Society, that small inroads are being made into the preservation of this unique natural environment. Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, Kruger National Park in South Africa and the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique form part of the transfrontier park initiative aimed to encourage the natural animal migration across international boundaries. Chilo’s close involvement with the local community took us to Mahenye Clinic and School where we talked to patients and a hoard of youngsters on their sports day.
An ancient mystery The sheer stature of
he sheer stature of the stone city of Great Zimbabwe is often compared with the Pyramids of Giza, and its mystery remains. Historians to this day have yet to prove who built the great city some 700 years ago, although claims have been made from as far afi eld as Persia. The
Flying the flag for Zimbabwe
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My Magical Moments ZIMBABWE
Sighting a majestic male sable antelope on an early morning game drive in Hwange. Taking a helicopter fl ight over Vic Falls with Bonisair. Listening to Clive Stockil at Chilo talking about the benefi ts of his Campfi re Project for the community and conservation.
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