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Ultimate Africa travel and wildlife news archive November 1997 Zimbabwe Dollar Falls 76% Against US Currency, November 16 1997 Late heavy central bank intervention helped rescue the Zimbabwe dollar from a 76 percent plunge against the U.S. dollar last Friday. Traders said at one point the Zimbabwean dollar fell to a low of Z$25 to the U.S. currency, compared with Thursday's closing Z$14.25, before recovering to around Z$17. Kenyan Presidential Election Date Set, November 16 1997 Kenyans will go to the polls on December 29, 1997 to elect their president, parliamentary and civic representatives, the Electoral Commission announced last Wednesday. The current president, Daniel Arap Moi, is almost certain to win Kenya's lopsided election which will be held during the Christmas holidays when large numbers of city dwellers, who tend to favor the opposition parties, will be relaxing in their home villages where they are not registered to vote. This is the same trick he used five years ago. Kenya's president has been in power for 18 years. New Visa Requirement for Britons Entering Kenya, November 16 1997 British nationals entering Kenya have to comply with new visa requirements. A single entry visa will cost US $60, while a multiple entry visa valid for one year will cost US $160. The visas will be available at Kenyan missions abroad or at the port of entry. Kenya immigration officials said the move was reciprocal to Britain's decision to charge Kenyans for visas since March 1996. Northwest Airlines Service to South Africa, November 16 1997 Northwest Airlines, together with Dutch national carrier KLM, won a three-year battle to offer a codesharing service from Cape Town and Johannesburg to the United States. This means that Cape Town and Johannesburg have now been added to the list of destinations offered to Northwest's US passengers. Until this year, American Airlines, which has South African Airways as its codeshare partner, was the only airline to be allowed codesharing between South Africa and the states. South African Airways is still the only airline offering direct flights between South Africa and USA. More Cape Town Flights for British Airways, November 16 1997 On Friday, 31 October 1997, aviation authorities accepted British Airways' case for the need for an additional non-stop London, Cape Town service. British Airways will start operating the service immediately. Botswana's President to Retire in 1998, November 16 1997 President Ketumile Masire of Botswana has announced he would retire as head of state on March 31, 1998. Under Botswana's revised constitution, the vice president will automatically assume leadership. Masire assumed the presidency in 1980 following the death of the first president of Botswana, Seretse Khama. Zambia Coup Update, November 16 1997 The following press release was received from the Zambia Tourist Board on October 29, 1997: "Further to reports of an attempted military coup in Zambia on 28 October 1997, we wish to advise that the situation in Lusaka and Zambia as a whole is back to normal and the government is still in full control of the situation. Any would-be travelers are assured of their complete safety and continued Zambian hospitality." Lightning Kills Kruger Elephants, November 23 1997 Six elephants were killed by lightning in South Africa's Kruger National Park earlier this month, apparently while they were huddled together seeking shelter from a sudden storm. Park spokesman Chris van der Linde said it happened about 9 km from the Lower Sabie tourist camp. "This type of occurrence is very rare and has seldom happened in the park," he said. Ranger Flip Nel found the dead elephants, three cows and three calves, some distance from the nearest tourist road after spotting a large concentration of vultures in the area. Burn marks indicated the lightning was conducted through all six while they were evidently standing against each other. The only similar incident recorded in the park was several years ago near Punda Maria, Mr van der Linde said, when ranger Ben Pretorius came across a group of dead zebras killed by lightning while huddled together in a storm. Courtesy of the Pretoria News. New Hotel For Okavango Delta, November 23 1997 The Cresta Hotel chain is proceeding with an environmental impact survey for a planned five-star hotel within the environmentally sensitive Okavango Delta. The hotel is part of a strategy to tie up the top-end international tourist market for destinations in Zimbabwe's Victoria Falls, Botswana's Chobe National Park and the Delta. Cresta has already established the upmarket 100-bedroom Mowana Lodge in the Chobe National Park, and is awaiting a decision from the Zimbabwean authorities for a site in Victoria Falls. Barry Pickett, the Gaborone-based managing director of Cresta lodges, conceded that the Okavango project was environmentally sensitive and declined to confirm the projected costs and bedroom numbers. Although Pickett was guarded about the planned Okavango hotel and acknowledged the possible wrath of environmentalists, he said it would be aimed at the same clientele the company services at Mowana Lodge and hopes to service at Victoria Falls. One of the main objections to the Victoria Falls development concerns additional strain to existing infrastructure. Should the application be approved the development could start before the end of the year. Join the Amboseli Elephant Research Project, November 23 1997 Kenya's Amboseli National Park is home to the longest running study of elephants ever conducted in the wild. Since 1972 Cynthia Moss has identified and recorded more than 1400 elephants. Today the Amboseli Project regularly collects, analyzes, and disseminates invaluable data on the 900 elephants presently living in and around Kenya's Amboseli National Park. Each day Cynthia or her 3 research assistants, Soila Sayialel, Katito Sayialel, and Norah Njiraini, criss cross the park to monitor the various elephant family groups and independent males. Between 1973 and 1989, 85% of Kenya's elephants were poached for their ivory. Thanks to the presence of the African Wildlife Foundation researchers, tourists, and the local Masai people the elephants of Amboseli were spared the slaughter. The animals thus represent an intact social structure that reveals invaluable information on elephant behavior, reproductive patterns, intelligence, family life and communications. To sponsor the Amboseli Elephant Research Project or become a research partner please visit http://www.awf.org. It is also possible to select a name for one of the numerous calves yet to be given a name. This name will be recorded in the project ledger and remain for the life of the animal - elephants can live 60 years or more. Project director Cynthia Moss will send you a personal history of the elephant's family along with a photograph of the calf and a birth certificate bearing the name you have chosen. Over the course of the year project staff will send you an update on the elephant and its family. For those of you wishing to visit Kenya's Amboseli National Park and meet with Cynthia Moss (scheduled lecture), Ultimate Africa's consultants would be happy to help you with your African travel plans. Ultimate Africa recommends that elephant lovers stay at Amboseli's Tortilis Camp which is frequented by not only Cynthia Moss, but famed elephant researcher Iain Douglas-Hamilton. Phone Ultimate Africa toll free within the United States on 1 800 461 0682 to find out more! Kenya Airways to Purchase Three Boeing 737s, November 30 1997 Kenya Airways said last Thursday it would purchase three Boeing 737 aircraft by May next year while a fourth, B737-300, would be delivered by March 1999. Kenya Airways said it would phase out its three Fokker 50 airplanes in three months and increase flights to Europe, the Middle East and African destinations in the coming months. ``Together with its partner KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines), Kenya Airways will be operating eight flights a week to London and 11 flights a week to Amsterdam ... Flights to Paris and Rome will be phased out,'' Kenya Airways said in a statement. Kenya Airways said it would serve Mombasa, Kenya's second biggest city, with an all-jet fleet ``in the next few months,'' to cut flight times and increase levels of comfort. Mombasa is served mainly by the Fokker 50 planes. Kenya Airways said its new measures were partly aimed at developing Nairobi as the premier aviation hub in Africa. On Wednesday, Kenya Airways posted a net profit of 539 million shillings ($8.488 million) in the six months to September 1997 compared to 369 million shillings in the same period in 1996. Radio Units Offered to Track Rhinos in Tanzania, November 30 1997 Tanzania's Mkomazi Reserve received 29 two-way radio systems early this month to track newly acquired black rhino. The GP-900 Motorola radio systems would enable game wardens to respond quickly if the rhinos are found in a difficult situation. Mkomazi Reserve is located in a remote and largely inaccessible area, covering 3,500 square kilometers. The four black rhinos at Mkomazi are the first of a total of 10 expected to be transferred from South Africa to Tanzania in the coming six months. Tanzania has between 20 and 25 black rhinos left. Malawi's First President Dead, November 30 1997 Former Malawian President Kamuzu Banda died in Johannesburg, South Africa, late last Tuesday after suffering from pneumonia. Banda, who declared himself Malawi's president for life in 1971, was a hero of African independence who went on to become a symbol of brutal dictatorship and eccentric autocracy. Banda ruled Malawi for 30 years before losing his position in the country's first post-independence multiparty general election in 1994. Though his official birthday was given as May 14, 1906, long before birth records were kept in the former British colony of Nyasaland, Banda was believed to be in his late 90s. Banda's death ends an extraordinary era in the history of this small, impoverished land of 8 million people. For most of his quirky rule, men were not permitted to wear bell bottom trousers and women were not allowed to wear skirts above the knee or pants. The bans were extended to foreign tourists. Male visitors with long hair were denied entry unless they allowed themselves to be shorn by airport barbers. Banda forbade the introduction of television, which he considered a corrupting influence, though he regularly watched foreign programs from satellite broadcasts. Banda also banned the broadcasting of the Simon and Garfunkel song "Cecilia" on state radio. Under Banda, Malawi was the only independent African nation to maintain open and formal ties with apartheid-ruled South Africa and Israel. Return to Weekly Update Archive |
