By Burzil Dube
ZIMBABWE is endowed with various tourist attraction sites and those that immediately come to mind is Lake Kariba, Eastern Highlands, Victoria Falls and Great Zimbabwe Monuments and are considered to be the country’s prime holiday resorts.
To the uninitiated, Lake Kariba is considered to be the world’s largest man-made water reservoir whose dam wall complements Zambezi River to act as a barrier between Zimbabwe and Zambia. The famous tiger fish competition that also draws international contestants is held in Kariba on an annual basis amid pomp and fanfare.
The lake is also home to all types of houseboats especially designed for holiday makers with particular emphasis to families and groups whose pastime is nights out in this spectacular lake.
The list is endless.
Eastern Highlands is predominantly known in tourism circles for its scenic mountainous surroundings whose weather patterns are considered to be at times similar to European climatic conditions.
The region is also home to Mount Inyangani, the country’s tallest and mystical mountain whose flora and fauna is second to none.
The world’s famous Rhodes Estate as well as Troutbeck Resort and Mutarazi Falls are all domiciled in the Eastern Highlands.
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Some of the activities offered at Mutarazi include high adrenalin zipline, giant swing, skywalk and canoeing.
Great Zimbabwe Monuments is predominantly known for its massive stonework structures whose construction was completed without any form of mortar or cement and in the process has baffled architectural
enthusiasts.
Even Queen Elizabeth II toured this wondrous spectacle that found its way in the UNESCO World Heritage status.
Queen Elizabeth visited the country in 1991 during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that was held in Victoria Falls from October 10 to 15, 1991. This was her second visit to Zimbabwe.
Victoria Falls is considered to be the country’s prime tourist city ideal for business meetings, workshops, retreats and outdoor sports such as golf among other related issues.
It is home to the magnificent Victoria Falls whose name was made possible by David Livingstone after his exploring antics saw him traversing a couple of countries in Central and Southern Africa. The place christened Mosi-oa-Tunya was renamed Victoria Falls after the reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria during this particular period.
The Falls are considered to be a significant natural geographical feature of the Zambezi River, and one of the world’s most famous as well as arguably most beautiful waterfall formations.
Yours Truly is not going to dwell much about the nitty-gritty’s some of the spectacular features associated with this world wonder but briefly focus on viewing of the waterfalls during odd hours and establish if it is ‘still’ acceptable compared to yesteryears.
During the Easter Holiday weekend of 1947, Their Majesties King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and their two daughters, Their Royal Highnesses the Princess Elizabeth (now the reigning monarch, Queen
Elizabeth II) and Princess Margaret, were all staying at the Falls Hotel, which was reserved entirely for their use during their escapade in Victoria Falls.
It was during this period that the Royal Family made repeated visits to the Falls during daytime and at night, they saw (the Falls) under the sun and under moonlight.
After a walk in the rainforest, King George IV is said to have remarked that “for the first time in his life he had been soaked even through his hat.”
At the time of writing this column, Yours Truly’s colleague and fellow member of The Fourth Estate, Tinashe Farawo, who is the spokesperson of Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife (ZNPW) confirmed the Falls nocturnal viewing. The ZNPW are custodians of the Victoria Falls entire cauldron and its environs.
Yours Truly was at sea as far as this type of activity was concerned and imploring tour operators to fully utilize such an activity that is more or less similar to “night eyes”, a preserve for game viewing at odd hours.
Yours Truly, will certainly make a date to watch The Falls under moonlight and might personally dubbed “Falls’ Royal View”.
Watch this space.
Yours Truly wishes you an enjoyable Christmas full of adventures and other related activities.
Till we meet again in the next column.
- Comments always welcome on: [email protected] or Twitter@DubeBurzil
