My Expereince in Zimbabwe
by Gary Murtagh, ElderTreks' President
During my recent 8 country trip to southern Africa in January and February 2010, I confess I had a touch of trepidation regarding my visit to Zimbabwe. It took little time for this to change to a feeling of excitement and anticipation and with good reasons. Victoria Falls, some of Africa's best game parks, including Hwange, Matopo and matusadona, the impressive Great Zimbabwe ruins, the Eastern Highlands and Lake Karibe are just some of the highlights. There is plenty of draw for the adventure traveler, but is it safe?
Despite Zimbabwe's travel gems, it has had more than it's fair share of problems which in the past has made travel to Zimbabwe a little too risky. My purpose for going to Zimbabwe was to explore it's wonders and attractions, determine traveler safety and to understand the political and economic stability, and what is the percieved risk from the general population towards visiting tourists. I can say that I felt completely safe during my recent trip to Zimbabwe. Some basic questions for me included why was it unsafe before, and why is it safe now. Of course, one should always be aware of potential problems traveling to any 3rd world country. I would like to give a short explanantion of my personal views.
The majority of the problems, seem to stem from Zimbabwe's current president, Robert Mugabe; a politically motivated but disastrous land re-distribution scheme; food and fuel shortages; unprecedented inflations, the introduction of new stable currencies, and the return of fuel, food and other supplies.
Robert Mugabe has been Zimbabwe's president for 3 decades and his reckless leadership and corruption have taken one of Africa's most prosperous countries, into a country that could not even feed it's own people. Zimbabwe has experienced the most unprecedented inflation the world has ever seen. One US dollar was worth as much as 100 trillion Zimbabwe dollars. In other words, it was worthless. As the country moved from a net exporter, to a country that needed to import, a worthless currency meant they could not even purchase the much needed goods for import. Things became so bad that travel became far too dangerous as theft and muggings were a constant risk, even from normally good Zimbabwians who simply wanted to feed themselves and their families. The domestic situation was dire and sad, with Mugabe at the helm.
Elections 2 years ago saw further corruption and election fraud as Morgan Tsvangirai had the election virtually stollen from him. Instead of challenging a power hunger Mugabe which could have easily lead to civil war, Tsvangirai settled for a coalition government where he became Prime minister.Tsvangirai was the driving force behind adopting the South African Rand and the US dollar as the official currencies. This was essential in giving the economy some stability. Fuel and essential goods have returned to the country. It would be irresponible to say the country is thriving but there is a vast improvement compared to even just one or two years ago. There is certainly cautious optimism lingering in this recently battered country. We will certainly be keeping a close eye on this fragile stability and optimism but I feel confident that the country will likely continue on it's present path.
Two years ago, I would not have even considered visiting Zimbabwe. After my recent visit, Zimbabwe is not only a destination I truly enjoyed, but a destination I would love to return to. I feel comfortable offering this adventure to our many past travelers as well as new travelers. Zimbabwe is starting to appear in Travel shows, travel magazines and will now be offer in Eldertreks' website and catalogue. A renewed tourist industry will also certainly help the country immensely. The country's infracture has slipped in recent years but was superior to most neighbouring countries with good, paved roads, excellent and unique accomodations and some of the best guides anywhere.
If you want to be among the first to explore all that Zimbabwe has to offer, view the detailed itinerary from our website, or contact our office for a mailed/emailed copy. You can speak to one of our travel specialists or even ask to speak to me, ElderTreks' president.
As always,
You're Invited,
Gary Murtagh
President,
ElderTreks
