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Victoria Falls Destination E-Guide |
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Victoria Falls
Bush Telegraph | April
2011 |
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Hi there everyone
Thanks for subscribing to our
newsletter! We have had lots
and lots of new subscribers
since our last newsletter, so if
this is your first issue we
sincerely hope that
you like it
and if you are a regular we thank
you for hanging in there and
trust that you like it too.
We have just returned from
another tour around Zimbabwe
this time we visited Great
Zimbabwe Ruins and Kariba. Incredible
places both worthy of a detailed
report when time permits.
Zimbabwe is just the most
incredible country. So diverse
with so many amazing attractions, it
is just such a sin that visitors
from around the world are being
robbed of the opportunity to
visit us because of political
uncertainty. Its resources are
so bountiful, there is more than
enough to go around twice, if
only those in control could see
this.
We are excited to announce that
Pete Roberts a local
conservation researcher and writer in Victoria Falls
has agreed to write several
exclusive articles for us, which
we feel will add real interest
to our website and this
newsletter.
Please interact with us by
letting us know, what you would
like to see and also what you
don't like, and of course share
with us any stories you have
that our readers will enjoy -
Its easy
click here
and submit your
story.
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Destination Update
This latest update from the Victoria Falls comes to you as the rains are coming to and end. In fact this morning’s rain
may well turn out to be the last for a while. Evening temperatures are beginning to drop a little, and the green of the bush beginning to look a bit tatty and tired as leaves begin to drop and the grasses die back.
The river is swollen and in full flood, and the Falls thunder away with a presence which dominates the town. In the early mornings the spray cloud is spectacular, and even in the gardens up in town you can feel the spray from the Falls on your face. As ever the talk is of record breaking floods, but as our article (Click here) explains, accurate prediction of the river flow is a challenging task.
The spray from the Falls, and the rainforest it supports, explains why this area has always been a favoured feeding area for elephants, buffalo and other herbivores. Whilst the rainforest itself remains fenced off to these larger animals, elephants in
particular are still to be found throwing their weight around town (see our article here).
Summer migrant birds, such as the Yellow-billed Kite, which appear so characteristic of the area during their stay, all but disappeared about a month ago. Soon all our European migrants, such as the Barn Swallow, will be well on their way back to their summer breeding haunts. Not traditionally known for such long migrations, even resident birds such as vultures can move big distances within their home ranges. Recently two tagged vultures from South Africa were found frequenting the town’s ‘Vulture Restaurants’, a story which is investigated (see our article here).
Traditionally not the best time of year for a bush safari, which are promoted mainly during the dry months when animals gather near water sources and the bush gives better
opportunities for game viewing, summer is however a great time to experience the African bush. Bird-life abounds, trees, bushes and shrubs are in flower, and for those who still venture into the bush the possibility is always there for seeing something special. For example a recent quick trip to Sikumi Tree Lodge (see report here) rewarded the writer with cheetah and lion sightings, as well as many other species of mammal and bird.
The first three months of the year have, in keeping with recent years, been quite quiet on the tourism front. After the highs of new year
(see write up on the Falls Fest here), the town has rested - ready for the next tourism wave. Easter this year is late and tourism operators have had to wait patiently for trade to pick up.
There is always something going on however, with a good traffic of independent travellers
coming through and looking to explore the country. Hotels, as always, have clients, and it’s not surprising when one compares their cost with that of a few nights on the Zambian side.
Zimbabwe remains best value for money, not only in terms of holiday experience, but also on the cost in your wallet. Hopefully we’ll see you soon!
Thanks Tony and Boo
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News And Events
Rations for Victoria Falls Anti
Poaching Unit:-
 In
our last issue we announced the
launch of our
Victoria
Falls Destination E-guide.
Initial sales have been very
good, so thank you to all those
who have purchased it, we have
had very positive feedback.
20% of the proceeds from the sale of
our E-Guide are donated to VFAPU
(Vic Falls Anti Poaching Unit).
This money has been used to buy
food rations for Game Scouts
going on 7 day extended patrols
into the Zambezi
National Park.
Picture left is of our son Dan handing out the rations to two
of the scouts.
To find out more
or to purchase the
E-Guide click
on the Guide book pictured in
the left hand column.
FaceBook:-
Facebook
is a phenomenon that has gripped
the world. Now with over 600
million users it is bigger than
Google. As we try to stay
abreast with this fast changing
world we too have launched our
own Facebook page, which you can
see here
Victoria Falls Guide Facebook.
We
are now getting into the swing
of things so please join us and
become a fan, if you are a
facebook member simply click on
this link
Facebook and then click on
the Like button at the top of
the page. If your are not a
member of facebook yet, it's
simple to register and become
part of this fast growing
community.
Our success relies on fan
participation, so please join
in. On the left hand side of our
facebook page there
are links for adding reviews,
discussions, photos and
videos.... Go wild the more the
merrier!!
We will very soon be introducing
some competitions, where just by
being a fan you can win some
really fantastic prizes, so don't be
shy join us now.
Record Floods Predicted
Earlier
this year five countries in southern Africa issued flood warnings following heavy rains in the region. Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe issued alerts predicting that serious flooding could affect tens of thousands of people.
However predicting the nature of the Zambezi River is not easy, with a catchment basin of 1,390,000 km² (537,000 miles²), monitoring rainfall and modelling river flow is a difficult job. Locals with a knowledge of the river often predict high floods, confident that when they do come they can say “told you so”! But rarely do these major floods materialise here at the Falls.
At the Victoria Falls records have been kept since 1906 of the level of the river at the measuring post, just over one mile above the Falls (close to the Big Tree). At this
point the river is at its widest, inclusive of islands, a distance of over one and a quarter miles from bank to bank.
These records show that the Zambezi normally reaches its highest level here from about the end of March to the end of April in each year.
Read our exclusive full story
here...
The Boys ( Elephants ) are Back
in Town
Three o’clock in the morning and I’m awoken by the crashing and thumping of vegetation onto the roof of the
backpackers room I’m staying in. After a few seconds of confusion as I try to identify the sounds, and after quickly dismissing drunk baboons falling out of trees, I realise it can only be one thing – the elephants are back in town.
Read our exclusive full story
here...
New Years Eve - Falls Fun Fest
Update
The New Year was celebrated in
Victoria Falls in grand style
with the second annual Falls
Fest, held at the Victoria Falls
Rest Camp. The town has not been
so busy for many years, with
over 4,000 people attending and
bringing a welcome end of year
boost to tourist operators.
Rafting on the Zimbabwe side saw
its biggest day in 10 years with
400 people running the rapids in
one day.
The festival firmly established
itself on the map this year,
with a great line up, including
Ghapi, Evicted, Mann Friday,
Kazz Douie and lead act The
Parlotones, delivering two
evenings of entertainment.
Local photographer Tom Varley
recorded the event and posted
many of his images free online
for everyone to enjoy. Check
out Tom’s photo’s on
this
Falls Fests’ Facebook group
And there are even bigger and
better plans for 2011… Don’t forget to book your
accommodation well in advance!
We
are putting together some great
deals on accommodation and
activities so
contact us
Victoria Falls Rainforest
Restaurant Update
Following our article in the
last issue of our newsletter, the development at the Victoria Falls Rainforest is still polarising local opinion in the town. Whilst many welcomed the development as a much needed improvement to the visitor facilities at the Falls, many local individuals objected to the development - which included a souvenir shop and café as well as a redesigned interpretation area – although their grounds for doing so were somewhat confused.
Complaints originally focussed on the environmental impact of the development and the potential threat to the UNESCO World Heritage status of the Falls. However once it became apparent that the development had been within the established footprint of the existing areas developed for tourist facilities at the rainforest entrance, and
that there was no threat to the UNESCO status of the area, the real arguments against the development became clearer.
Curio traders who rent stalls in the car park area were concerned that the shop would affect their sales. However, as had been clarified previously, the shop does not stock curio items and offers no direct competition to their businesses.
Despite attempts to close the shop, matters have now been resolved and the shop is open daily for business.
Attention is now focussed on the Rainforest Café, which remains closed as negotiations between concerned parties continue. It is hoped that the Café will soon open again for business and provide visitors to the Falls with much needed refreshments.
Victoria Falls Bridge Toll
Emerged Railway Properties (ERP), the body responsible for the Victoria Falls Bridge has announced that it is currently engaged in consultations with the governments of Zimbabwe and Zambia to commence tolling at the Victoria Falls Bridge as it moves to raise funds to maintain the bridge.
Read the full facts and figures
here
It is understood that the
proposals currently under
consideration involve a toll
only for heavy vehicles using
the bridge. Smaller vehicles and
pedestrians will remain toll
free. This move has been
welcomed by many residents of
Victoria Falls who see the heavy
vehicles that pass through the
town centre and across the
bridge as an unsightly nuisance.
If they want to use the bridge
it seems right that they should
pay towards its maintenance.
Shearwater Adventures who
operates the Bunjee jumping
activity off The Victoria Falls
Bridge pay a levy on every
customer they have to the
Railways of Zimbabwe. This goes
a long way towards the current
maintenance of the bridge.
When the bridge was first
opened, in 1905, it was designed
for rail traffic only and
carried two lines of rails. A
toll of one shilling was
introduced for foot passengers
who were keen to view the Falls
from the new vantage point of
the bridge. A complete
reconstruction of the top deck
was undertaken in 1930, and
involved the replacement of one
of the rail lines with a tar
road and pedestrian footways.
The current proposals again
include a complete replacement
of the top deck, a move which
will hopefully see the bridge
extend its
lifespan by another
100 years.
Controversial
New Airport Tax
Zimbabwe's Civil Aviation Authority announced on 9th March 2011 that all outgoing airlines will be required from 1st April 2011, to charge a new "Aviation Infrastructural Development Fee" (AIDEF) on all departures. Passengers will have to pay an extra US$30 if they are departing on an international flight, and an extra US$10 for domestic departures.
The announcement makes it clear that that these new fees are to be levied
in addition to previous taxes charged. This means that the total departure tax (passenger service charge and the new AIDEF fees) will be:
International Departing Passengers: US$65
Domestic Departing Passengers: US$20
Exempt from AIDEF levies will be children aged 2 years and below; diplomats; visiting Heads of State and Government and their spouses; passengers in direct transit who do not leave the transit area and all Airline Crew on duty.
Pilots of non-scheduled and private flights are required to collect AIDEF fees from their non-exempt passengers and pay at the airport payment office before departure.
The introduction of this additional tax is extremely controversial.
The travel industry objects to the fact that it will deter tourism to Zimbabwe because airline taxes in Zimbabwe will now be much more expensive than elsewhere in the region. The General and Commercial Aviation Association of Zimbabwe and the private air charter companies are fighting it.
However, a technical glitch appears to have delayed the proposed start date for this new tax. In the meantime, for more details, or to voice your opinion on this new tax, contact the CEO of the Zimbabwe Civil Aviation Authority, Mr David Chawota at ais@caaz.co.zw Tel: +263 4 585018; +263 4 585073-88; Fax: +263 4 585100
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New
Activities
Sikumi Tree Lodge - under new
managers
Sikumi Tree Lodge is a well known name in Zimbabwean tourism circles. Part of the Touch the Wild group, the lodge has been operating on its private estate on the Dete Vlei, just outside Hwange National Park Main Camp, for many years. In recent years the Lodge has been forgotten and its secrets witnessed only by a lucky few, but it is now enjoying a renaissance under new managers Brian and Marleen Sabeta-Post. In the year since they arrived at Sikumi the couple have gone about reinventing the Sikumi experience. Welcomed with a
friendship that really makes you feel one of the family, Sikumi is that rare example of a safari lodge where you really do feel at home.
Read our full exclusive story
here
If
you would like to make an
booking enquiry
Click Here
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Coming of the Railways
-
By Pete Roberts (courtesy of the Victoria Falls Bridge Company)
We
will feature in this and upcoming Newsletters a
series of articles on how and
why the Railway line reached
Victoria Falls.
 The
main credit for designing the
Victoria Falls Bridge must go to
George Andrew Hobson
of London based consultants
Sir Douglas Fox and
Partners (later to
become Freeman, Fox and
Partners), not as is often
stated, Sir Ralph
Freeman, the engineer
who would later design of the
famous Sydney Harbour Bridge in
1932 (and also the Birchenough
Bridge across the Save River in
1935). At the time of the design
of the Victoria Falls Bridge,
Freeman was still only an
assistant in the firm
Several leading firms tendered
for the construction of
the
bridge but most were daunted by
the task and in the end, only
two firms, Dorman, Long & Co.
and the Cleveland Bridge &
Engineering Company of
Darlington, were in the running.
In May 1903 both parts of the
contract were awarded to
The Cleveland Bridge Company,
to construct and erect the
Victoria Falls Bridge for a
price of £72,000.
The bridge was made, and
assembled in sections to ensure
accuracy, at the steel works in
Darlington, England, and shipped
in knocked down pieces to Beira
on the S.S. Cromwell and then
put on the Beira and Mashonaland
Railway to Bulawayo, and on to
the Victoria
Falls on the new
rail-line.
Read
the full story about the bridges
construction
here
Please visit Pete Roberts's very
informative website about
Victoria Falls..
Click here
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Conservation
Victoria Falls Anti-Poaching Unit ( VFAPU )
2010 report
By Charles Brightman
Dear VFAPU Supporters and potential Supporters
Firstly, on behalf of all of us VFAPU, I would like to thank you all for your continued support, which is so vital to our operations against the menace of poaching in our region. You are all playing a vital role in this challenge that faces us. The role that VFAPU is playing is crucial – the poaching situation would be far worse without all of our joint efforts to fight the crime of poaching.
It is very encouraging to report that there has been a
marked improvement in game sightings in the region, with good
sightings of sizable herds of elephant and buffalo, giraffe, zebra, kudu, eland, waterbuck as well as other plains game including sable. There have also been sightings of lion, leopard and wild dog recently.
VFAPU would also like to express our gratitude to the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, the Zimbabwe Republic Police, the Victoria Falls Municipal Police and the Tourism Police for this opportunity to work together in a combined effort to conserve Zimbabwe wildlife for everyone’s benefit, present and future.
Please refer to our report below for details for our operations during the year 2010. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further information.
SUMMARY OF STATISTICS FOR 2010:
•
Snares located: 443
• Persons apprehended within National Park estate: 328 (5 x mammal poachers, 20 x illegal miners, 256 x wood poachers, 19 x Illegal vendors, 10 x Illegal entry into parks estate, 2 x drug dealers, 2 x thieves, 9 x fish poachers, 4 x border jumpers and 2 x smugglers)
• Mammals darted: 14 (4 x buffalo, 5 x warthog, 1 x elephant, 2 x kudu, 2 x impala)
• Mammals poached: 44 (12 x buffalo, 12 x impala, 2 x elephant, 2 x kudu, 2 x eland, 3 x waterbuck, 8 x warthog, 1 x sable, 2 x spotted hyena and 1 x wild dog).
Please support
VFAPU - Support Wildlife
Conservation!
Victoria Falls Anti-Poaching Unit ( VFAPU )
Jan to March
2011 report
SUMMARY OF STATISTICS
- Jan to March 2011:
Snares located: 51
Persons apprehended within National Park estate: 97 (3 x mammal poachers, 14 x illegal miners, 51 x wood poachers, 18 x Illegal vendors, 2 x Illegal entry into parks estate, 1 x drug dealers)
Mammals darted: 2 (1 x warthog, 1 x elephant)
Mammals poached: 3 (1x kudu, 1 x elephant, 1 x hippo)
Victoria
Falls Vulture Restaurants
Attract South African Clientele
By Pete Roberts
In a story first published in the Zambezi Traveller, staff at the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge were very interested to discover that two of the White-backed Vultures (Gyps africanus) feeding at its Vulture feeding restaurant had been tagged by researchers in the Pilanesberg Northern Province in South Africa, 900 km south of the Falls.
One had been tagged with a GPS tracking device, allowing researchers to pin-point its location at the Lodge’s waterhole. Staff at the Lodge had recorded sightings of this vulture, with two noticeable yellow tags on its wings, and another vulture with a non-GPS tag, during June and July last year. The researchers did not realise that the Lodge ran a Vulture
restaurant, and so this was important additional information for their research on the habits of this species. Tagged birds were also seen at a second Vulture feeding restaurant on the nearby Victoria Falls Private Game Reserve.
Read the very interesting full story
here
International Anti-Poaching
Foundation - IAPF
Damien Mander sold just about everything he owned and invested $250,000 to create the International Anti Poaching Foundation. His plans for an anti-poaching army might sound ambitious, but nowhere is it more needed than strife-torn Zimbabwe.
Back in
September last year the International Anti-Poaching Foundation (IAPF) led an operation on the Victoria Falls Private Game Reserve to de-horn five critically endangered black rhino....
Read our exclusive full story here
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Interesting Facts
On
16th November 1855, Livingstone
was paddled by canoe to what is
now known as Livingstone's
Island, on the
lip of the
Victoria Falls. His own words
best describe his moment of
discovery:
"No-one could perceive where the
vast body of water went, it
seemed to lose itself into the
earth, the opposite lip of the
fissure into which it
disappeared being only eight
feet distant... Creeping with
awe to the verge, I peered down
into a large rent which had been
made from bank to bank of the
broad Zambezi and saw that a
stream of a thousand yards broad
leaped down a hundred feet, and
then suddenly compressed into a
space of fifteen or twenty
yards... the most wonderful
sight I had witnessed in Africa"
Feel free to
contact us
with any questions, queries, ideas or
criticisms.
We're here to help you!
Bye for now
Tony and Boo Peel
www.victoriafalls-guide.net
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How
the Ostrich Got His Long Neck
Mr. Ostrich was a sober minded, serious husband, who was always willing to assist his wife in her family duties. "My Dear", he said to her one evening, when their large clutch of eggs seemed almost ready to hatch, "my black feathers can not be seen in the darkness, so I will guard our eggs by night, and at the same time keep them warm for you. That will leave you free to relax and enjoy yourself until daybreak each morning."
He settled down clumsily to his unaccustomed task, while his flighty wife was more than thankful to be relieved of a duty which she already found a trial. She fluffed up her feathers and, to show how pleased she was, she set off in a joyful high-stepping dance among the low termite-mounds that surrounded their nest.
To read the full tale
"Click Here" |
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See our range of Gifts from T-shirts to
Posters all focused on
Victoria Falls. They are available for easy
purchase online and are shipped worldwide.
You can even design you own stuff...
"Click
Here" or on the image below
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How young birds breeding for the first time know how to built their often complex nests?
Research has shown that nest building skills
seems to be largely instinctive. For
example, male village weavers hand-raised in
totally artificial conditions, and without
ever having seen a nest, are still able to
build a passable nest.
However it is thought that the skill is
refined and improved through experience.
While a young birds first attempt is often
unskilled, its efforts improve greatly with
practice, becoming more skilled at choosing
the right materials and perfecting its
weaving technique with each attempt.
In many species young chicks imprint on the
position of their nest site, as well as the
materials used to construct the nest, and
they are thought to draw on this knowledge
when they reach maturity and start nesting
themselves. |
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The Fear
Peter Godwin |
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
In mid-2008, after thirty years of increasingly tyrannical rule, Robert
Mugabe, the eighty-four-year-old ruler of Zimbabwe, met his politburo. He had just lost
an election. But instead of conceding power, he was persuaded to launch a brutal campaign of terror to cower his citizens. Journalist and author Peter Godwin was one of the few observers to slip into the country and bear witness to the terrifying period that Zimbabweans call, simply, the Fear.
This is a personal journey through the country Peter Godwin grew up in and knows so well - a landscape and a people, grotesquely altered, laid waste by a raging despot. At considerable risk, he travels widely to see the torture bases, the burned villages, the death squads, the opposition leaders in hiding, the last white farmers, the churchmen and the diplomats putting their own lives on the line to stop the carnage.
Brilliant book exposing the horrific
details to which many of us were
oblivious too. Many people state
that
the Zimbabwe people (especially the
Shona) are cowards for doing nothing to
stand up against this mad despot. I feel
their views might change after reading
this book.....
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