Back on the Map – Zimbabwe
3 11 2009
Source: Travel Africa Magazine, Edition 48 Autumn 2009-11-03
Written by: Frank Glettenberg
While being a firm favourite for thousands of travellers until the 1990’s, Zimbabwe has all but dropped off the tourism map in recent years. With the formation of the coalition government and the American Dollarisation of the economy, I thought now was the right time to rate the country’s current tourism potential. How had the tourism infrastructure survived its dormancy? Were there still animals in the national parks? Would people be happy to see tourists? And most importantly, would I feel safe?
This July and August I travelled across Zimbabwe, 1600km of it by road, the remainder covered by two internal flights. I found the main roads tarred and in a better condition than some of those I’ve experienced in the UK. International car-hire companies are well represented and offer a solid network – the selection, however, is understandably limited. Roadblocks are frequent, which adds a bit of travelling time, but police are courteous and anything but intimidation. Once they realised that we were on holiday the officers all wished us a safe journey, asking us to spread the news at home that Zimbabwe is back.
Forgotten are the days of empty supermarkets and a lack of petrol and diesel. The dollarisation in April 2009 has ensured that the shops’ shelves are filled with everyday and luxury goods, and every fuel station is well stoked. A common expression of waiters during the trip was “… and I’m proud to say that everything is available on the main menu tonight!” Some South African chain stores have already opened their doors, and Visa credit cards are again bein accepted as payment. Besides US currency, the South African rand is also widely circulated – the Zim dollar has been suspended.
Hotels and lodges have miraculously survived the last couple of years. Some need a bit of investment and refurbishment, but all were kept up to international standards by dedicated staff and management. The hospitality industry offers a wide range of products; from 3-star hotels geared towards the tour market to intimate lodges in the wild for the upmarket independent traveller. International hotel chains are already investing in their properties again to bring them back to their former glary.
While the damages to Zimbabwe’s wildlife from poaching have been considerable, the game reserves are well managed and I was able to see an abundance of animals including the Big Five. And whoever thinks that these animals will be skittish, thinks wrong.
Overall Zimbabwe today presents itself as a stunningly diverse destination for escorted groups, escorted independent travellers and self-drive visitors. While the Zimbabweans are rebuilding their country and their tourism industry, the only ingredient now missing is the international traveller. We hope to change this soon with some exciting new offers.
Source: Travel Africa Magazine, Edition 48 Autumn 2009-11-03
Written by: Frank Glettenberg
I totally agree with this article and what Frank experienced. We at Jenman decided to go and have a look around Zimbabwe in July this year. Wayne (our Ops Manager) and myself took a flight up to Victoria Falls and then we spent a few weeks driving one of our land cruisers around Zim taking in all the highlights. We weren’t disappointed – things have changed for the better. Roads are in good condition (probably due to the fact the country hasn’t had too many trucks on the road recently), the shops had full shelves of food, we could buy fuel throughout the country and the most NB part were the people, they were just as friendly as always, even the police at the few road blocks we came across were friendly. We also had some great game viewing in the different parks. My opinion – Zimbabwe is Africa best kept safari secret at the moment –
get there before the crowds come again -)
Agree with Frank’s write up and Garth’s comments – Zimbabwe is an incredibly diverse country with good infrastructure which is more geared for tourism than many of the neighbouring countries. Our people are friendly and non confrontational especially in the tourist areas where they welcome tourists with open arms, as they have been affected negatively by the drop off in tourism. In fact in some national parks in some instances there is a good chance that you will not see other people so as Garth says – this is the time to visit and have it all to yourselves! Besides the geographical diversity, there is so much on offer ranging from wildlife (and canoeing / walking / fishing amongst the wildlife!), very knowledgeable guides waiting to impart their skills and knowledge, world heritage sites, the Amazing Victoria Falls set in the adventure capital of southern Africa with a myriad of activities available, the mighty Zambezi River, Lake Kariba, history, culture and even fossils / dinosaur remains in some parts for those interested in that sort of thing – and much more!! Something for all tastes!! Look forward to welcoming you to our stunning country!
I agree with all the above. I have had many self-drive 4×4 clients through this year and, with the exception of the notorious Beit Bridge border post, some isolated incidents at roadblocks & one or two exchange-rate ripoffs, comments have been universally enthusiastic. Also, we’ve still got plenty of wildlife, & Park staff have been doing an amazing job in the circumstances, but it’s almost totally dependent on income from tourism & the past few years haven’t been too helpful in this respect.
Ditto to all the above and a further comment on Beitbridge.
When I last travelled through this border post, it was in mid August, just after the relaxation of the visa rules into SA, it was a shocker and beyond anything I have experienced at this border post, but for once, the problems and delays weren’t on the Zim side
Leaving Zim was quick and painless, but the delays in getting through the SA side were easily 12-18 hours, although we were lucky enough to have been allowed to move to the front of the queue along with other folk with young children and I think we were only there for 3 hours.
Needless to say I was somewhat apprehensive a couple of weeks ago when we were due to travel via this route again and to my amazement it was quick and painless. I think exiting Zim was about 15min worth and entering SA took slightly longer, but no more than an hour out of our journey. So a pleasant surprise.
On our return at the end of October, we were prepared for the worst, but again it was very quick and not a problem at all. The SA side was about 15min, although we didn’t stop to do the VAT refund which would have a probably added another 30-45min to the process. The Zim side was about 25min, and this included paying duties , which can at times be a lengthy process!
I think that the officials on both sides have started streamlining the process and amongst other things have set up separate counters for bus travellers going south on the SA side and vehicle imports coming north on the Zim side, both of which take up a fair amount of time to process. So I hope this continues and that Beitbridge will not continue to be the problem it has been for so long. Although one must also take into consideration that this border post is the busiest in Southern Africa, being the gateway to the region, so it is only logical that this border will have its’ issues!!
During holiday periods this border post will obviously become hectic with holiday makers in addition to the normal day to day traffic and thus one could also consider coming into Zim via Botswana as an alternative. In terms of the touts that have been pretty common sight in the past few years, be very careful if approached by these people and my suggestion is to avoid using their services, which are technically illegal. Whilst some people have been lucky and have been shuttled through quickly without any problems, others not so. People have parted with small and large sums of money in order to be processed more quickly only to find that they haven’t been cleared correctly when trying to exit the border post or when stopped at the police roadblocks. In some cases they have been found to have not declared dutiable type goods and these have been confiscated or penalties levied. The ZIMRA (customs) officers are very approachable if you need assistance or if you feel that touts are jumping the queue in front of you. If a senior ZIMRA officer isn’t readily available, then you can always approach the police officers that are now posted within the customs yard and they will clear the touts from the customs hall.
Even though Beitbridge is a potential problem for travellers, I don’t think this should dissuade people from visiting our wonderful part of the world on a self drive basis – one should look at as being part of the experience and adventure. At the end of the day there are numerous other border posts within the region that are just as difficult and problematic at Beitbridge, although maybe not as busy, and this hasn’t stopped people travelling to those countries. And with a renewed interest by the various airlines in Zimbabwe as a destination, I think that flying into the country will soon be very easy and flight costs will start coming down.
In closing it can’t be emphasised enough how import a roll tourism plays in the economy and every visitor that comes to Zimbabwe is assisting local communities to rebuild and get through the turmoil we’ve had over the past few years.
PS – at least now the exchange rate complications and associated ripoffs that occasionally occurred are now a thing of the past…