Expo highlights Africa’s treasures
Away from the even tarred streets of the Zimbabwean capital of Harare, the meandering gravel roads that connects tourists to safari parks, game lodges and other attractions can sometimes be nauseating.
LIMPOPO – To get through the deep, dense forests in the valleys one would need a machete or an axe, as well as strength and courage.
It is apparent that when the economy of this country took a nosedive, part of the infrastructure also deteriorated.
The host country for the annual Sanganai-Hlanganani Travel and Tourism Expo is a landlocked country known for its dramatic landscape and diverse wildlife, much of it within parks, reserves and safari areas.
Limpopo Tourism Agency (LTA) Corporate Communications Manager, Mike Tauatsoala, said the LTA being part of the show will benefit the province in many ways.
It will be an opportunity for the province to resuscitate the Zambezi Destination that was signed during the 2007 Tourism Indaba in Durban.
“LTA sees this as a way of increasing travel into the province from other African countries, and Southern African Development Community (SADC) in particular.
Members of the Zambezi Destination included South Africa, through Limpopo, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia,” said Tauatsoala.
The first visit embarked by visitors to the expo was at the Chinhoyi Caves, located about 9 km north west of the small town of Chinhoyi, 120 km from Harare.
History records say the caves were discovered by Frederick Selous, the famous European hunter, during his wanderings in 1887.
Legend has it that prior to that, the caves were being used as a stronghold by an outlaw called Nyamakwere who murdered many people by throwing them into the Silent Pool.
The notorious Nyamakwere was eventually defeated and killed by a headman called Chinhoyi who became a Mashona chief, hence the name Chinhoyi given to the nearby town.
The excursion proceeded to Karibbea Bay Hotel where delegates toured on the Zambezi Trader Houseboat.
The Kariba Dam is a hydroelectric dam in the Kariba Gorge of the Zambezi River basin between Zambia and Zimbabwe where it forms Lake Kariba. After the breath-taking sight, the delegates took a flight to Victoria Falls International Airport to visit the epic Victoria Falls.
Victoria Falls is one of two World Heritage Sites on the Zambezi River which flows broad and placid to the brink of a 1 700 mm wide basalt lip before taking a 100 m headlong plunge into the thunderous, frothy chasm of the Batoka Gorge below. It is the world’s largest sheet of falling water.
Victoria Falls and Livingstone on either side of the fall, provide easy access to the national parks in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and South Africa.
On the tour, the delegates of this year’s expo enjoyed game drives, bush braais, sunset cruises and several sightseeing trips.
