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Ultimate Africa travel and wildlife news archive

September 1999

Last Sunset / First Sunrise of the Millennium on Cape Town’s Table Mountain, September 5 1999

The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Co. has announced that Table Mountain's cableway will be operational over New Year's Eve, weather permitting. The company has also released the times of the last sunset of 1999 (8:01 PM on December 31, 1999) and the first sunrise of the new millennium (5:38 AM on January 1, 2000) as they would be seen from the cableway, for people wanting to specifically book a ride over this time. Tickets for millennium rides will be the standard summer rate of R65 per adult.

Cape Cableway Celebrates 70 Years, September 5 1999

Table Mountain's cableway will be celebrating its 70th birthday this year. To mark the event, the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Co. will be hosting an adrenaline-packed Scream Extreme Event from October 1 to 3, which will include the first-ever bungi jump from a cableway car in the southern hemisphere. During the weekend, the cableway's lower cable station will be converted into a 'base camp' from which a host of adventure activities will be operated. These will include rides on top of cableway cars; a mountain bike race along the lower slopes of Table Mountain and Devils Peak; an 8km road run; an extreme team challenge involving a run up Platteklip Gorge, an abseil exercise and a downhill mountain bike race; the National Speed Climbing Championships, which comprises a race to the top of a 14m high climbing wall and a 'whipper' (long abseil fall) back down; and cableway bungi jumping. More relaxed activities like flower walks through the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and 'meal and music' packages (breakfast with classical music, lunch with mountain melodies and dinner with a jazz performance) are also available.

While the cableway will be open throughout the weekend, operations will be suspended between 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM on all three days to accommodate the bungi jumping activities. Tickets will cost R45 for adults and R20 for students and pensioners.

Zimbabwe Express Secures Plane, September 5 1999

Zimbabwe Express Airlines (ZEA), which suspended daily flights on the Harare-Bulawayo route and its morning service to Johannesburg last month, said this week it has secured an aircraft and that it is expected to be delivered next week to enable the company to immediately resume servicing these routes.

The company, which has been servicing domestic and regional routes for four years, suspended some of its flights two weeks ago following the collapse of South African airline Sun Air, which was leasing two aircraft to ZEA. Sun Air's new majority shareholder, South African Airways, began liquidation proceedings against the airline two weeks back and all its aircraft were grounded, forcing ZEA to suspend its service to Bulawayo and its morning flight to Johannesburg.

However, in a letter to travel agents this week, ZEA chief commercial officer Patrick Mangwiro said the local airline had secured an aircraft that would enable it to service the suspended routes. "This serves to inform that ZEA has now found the aircraft to operate Harare – Bulawayo mornings and evenings and Harare – Johannesburg mornings and evenings, which had been suspended temporarily following the closure of Sun Air," Man-gwiro said in the letter.

Plane Carrying 10 American Tourists Crashes in Tanzania, September 5 1999

Ten U.S. tourists died instantly when their aircraft smashed into the side of a densely-forested mountain slope in Tanzania after a visit to one of the world's great safari parks, officials said last Thursday.

The Cessna light aircraft belonging to Northern Air went down in bad weather at about 11 AM local time last Wednesday as it took the tourists from Serengeti National Park to an airport near Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain.

The mood in Arusha was one of great surprise and there was speculation that the pilot's instruments could have misled the him. "We are all flabbergasted it was him," said one official. "This is the best pilot in Tanzania if not in East Africa."

The tourists, three couples and a group of four came from Florida, Massachusetts, Connecticut, California and New Jersey were on a tour booked through Abercrombie and Kent. Seven other American tourists from the same group but on a different plane arrived safely at Kilimanjaro airport from the Serengeti.

Kilimanjaro, although close to the equator, is permanently snow-capped and both it and the smaller Mount Meru are frequently shrouded in heavy cloud. The Serengeti draws tens of thousands of tourists every year who come to see its wide range of big game animals and the annual migration of millions of wildebeest.

South Africa’s Western Cape Wants to Be African California, September 12 1999

Wine, beaches, sunshine, a literate population and modern infrastructure are all part of the Western Cape's masterplan to brand itself as Africa's Silicon Valley and enter the new millennium as a high-tech hub. Nestling at the southern tip of the continent, the Western Cape sees itself as a gateway into Africa for business in general and high-tech industry in particular.

The Western Cape is the jewel in South Africa's crown, boasting a Mediterranean climate, towering mountains, long white beaches, picturesque vineyards and fruit farms. But while promoting its physical beauty, the region is also keen to advertise its human capital and infrastructure. The province has three universities, two technical colleges and a far higher general level of education and literacy than the rest of the country as well as much lower unemployment. The region has the most entrepreneurs in the country, 50 percent of all A-rated scientists and a high percentage of engineering awards and medical research projects. All undersea telecommunications cabling linking Africa to Europe and America enters the continent just north of Cape Town and the city is already home to the lion's share of South Africa's flourishing Internet companies.

British Airways Mulls More Zimbabwe Flights, September 12 1999

British Airways is considering increasing flights to Zimbabwe, a senior company official said last Thursday. British Airways currently operates four flights a week to Harare, Zimbabwe's capital.

South Africa Ranks 22nd Healthy Tourist Destination, September 12 1999

South Africa, out of a total of 51 tourist destinations surveyed, ranks 22nd according to the number of sicknesses reported. The latest statistics by the influential British Consumer's Association show that about 16% of visitors to South Africa reported one or more travel related illnesses when returning home.

This is against 5% in Belgium,18% in Australia, 20% in Zimbabwe, 27% in Kenya, 32% in the Republic of Maldives, 40% in India, 58% in Mexico. South Africa falls into the same risk group as the Caribbean, Israel, Greece and New Zealand. It is by far the best-rated African country.

The three highest risk countries are Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Egypt, while the three lowest risk ones are Britain, Croatia and Belgium.

Parks "Must Cull Elephants to Survive", September 19 1999

To have a sustainable and profitable national parks system across southern Africa, elephant numbers "simply have to be controlled." The words are those of Ron Thomson, a university-trained ecologist and a man whose knowledge of Africa's largest mammal was gained over 28 years of working with wildlife in parks across the African sub-continent. . He was also director of the then Bophuthatswana's National Parks and Wildlife Management Board. He is now retired. "There's no way out - for the African sub-continent's national parks to remain as tourist attractions - elephant numbers have to be controlled," he said, adding in Botswana his personal estimate was that "at least" 40,000 elephants have to be removed from the national herd.

The man whose book The Wildlife Game is required for nature conservation students at South African technikons, backs his thoughts on culling by saying elephants, apart for fire, are the greatest natural threat to the natural environment. "In terms of changing habitats elephants are hugely destructive and once a habitat has been changed there is loss of natural resource - soil - which cannot be renewed, except over thousands of years. "Loss of soil means not only loss of flora but loss of species and what tourists are going to pay money to see a largely lifeless desert?" he asked. His outspoken views on elephant culling are unlikely to gain him many friends in the animal rights and welfare fraternities, something he readily acknowledged. "I have spoken to representatives and organizations form both here in Africa and in countries overseas and my feeling is they are out of touch with the realities. "The reality is that elephant numbers have to be controlled or the sub-continent will, in time, lose all its national parks no matter what the rightists, welfarists and 'bunny huggers' say."

Cresta Mowana to Build Golf Course, September 19 1999

The Cresta Mowana Lodge near Chobe National Park in northern Botswana has announced plans to construct a nine-hole golf course and clubhouse. The course is expected to open in June of 2000.

Tanzanian Hunting Policies under Criticism, September 19 1999

The Tanzania Wildlife Department and the Tanzania Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism has come under severe criticism for allowing haphazard hunting at the expense of local people living around the country's national parks.

Academics and indigenous tour operators dealing with hunting share the view of villagers around the national parks that the revenue, which the government collects from wildlife-related activities, does little to offset the harm done to the locals. According to Professor Majorie Mbilinyi of the University of Dar es Salaam, commercial hunting tourism has caused loss of people's livelihoods through loss of land, and deaths through shooting accidents, and the government has never thought of compensating the victims. She says the time has come for the government to develop hunting tourism that does not deprive the surrounding community's rights to land ownership.

The Wahadzabe people who inhabit the area near the Lake Eyasi in Arusha, Shinyanga and Singida regions are among the victims. The tribe is a hunting and gathering community which depends on wildlife and other forest resources, but has been forced out of its area. Ceith Chachage, a sociologist, agrees with his colleague's argument that the government has displaced the tribe by granting a hunting license to Tanzania Game Trackers, which owns about 20 hunting blocks in various parks of Tanzania under three different companies. The Wahadzabe were forced out of their area and resettled elsewhere and the land is now used for professional hunting. According to the 1974 Wildlife Conservation Act, the Wahadzabe, like any other Tanzanians, can hunt, but only after obtaining a hunting license. "Therefore, for a fee of US$7,500 per block and trophy fees per year to the government, the whole community is being sacrificed," Chachage said.

The Mkomanzi Game Reserve, which was established in 1951 on 3,736 sq. km near the famed Mount Kilimanjaro, shares a 100km boundary with Kenya's Tsavo National Park into which herds of elephant, zebra, buffalo and lion migrate. The park borders over 30 villages in the western part of Tanzania, which are mainly inhabited by the Wapare and Wamaasai peoples, who have had boundary disputes with the wildlife department since 1990. Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism Philemon L Luhanjo says his ministry has recognized the problems facing the wildlife department, as well as the entire tourism industry, and said that corrective measures have been put in place.

The measures embodied in a strategy called "Tourism with a Human Face" involve communities in the protection of national parks against poachers. Under a 10-year program, communities surrounding national parks will benefit from funds derived from tourism earnings, through the provision of medical care and school facilities in the nearby villages.

Luhanjo also says the government recognizes the importance of abandoning the old method of guarding the national parks using guns, and it will instead start mobilizing surrounding villagers to guard and protect their own natural resources against poachers and the haphazard burning of forests.

But Fred Ringo of the University of Dar es Salaam's legal aid committee says that the relationship between hunting tourism and the national parks administration with the surrounding societies is inadequate. He says that the villagers have continued to protest against their removal and, with assistance from the legal aid committee, filed a case in court to demand their rights, in vain. The villagers say they do not see why they should be prevented from grazing in the reserve when some foreigners are allowed to hunt. What makes them bitter is the fact that they are often arrested by the game wardens and fined US$150 or have their cattle impounded.

In recent years, Tanzania has placed emphasis on developing quality tourism to attract 500,000 tourists by 2002, making it the leading source of government revenue. According to the 1999 World Tourism Organization Report, Tanzania is fifth in the list of top 20 tourism earners in Africa, earning US$431 million.

Further Development at Victoria Falls, September 19 1999

Victoria Falls will be the scene of further tourism development when the refurbishment of Safari Par Excellence’s MV Makubi is completed around mid-October and she slips her moorings to take 150 passengers at a time on river cruises above the Falls. Safari Par Excellence’s new Waterfront complex on the Zambian side of the Victoria Falls includes a pool deck, entertainment center and adventure village. The complex offers three types of camping - bring your own gear, tents with stretchers and mattresses supplied but bring your own sleeping bags, and tents with beds, mattresses & linen. The Waterfront's final phase is due to be completed in late November 1999.

Moratorium on Zimbabwe’s Increased Park Fees, September 19 1999

The Zimbabwe's Department of Mines, Environment and Tourism has agreed to suspend the 300% hike in National Park fees, gazetted on July 2 1999. Effective September 11 1999, all parks fees will revert to what they were prior to the July 2 1999 increase.

A new fee structure will be finalized by October 15 1999 for implementation on January 1 2000.

Zimbabwe’s Camp Amalinda Mourns Loss of Elephant, September 19 1999

Ishe, one of Camp Amalinda’s beautiful elephant friends died suddenly this past week. Like so many others who were drawn to Ishe by his charm, courage and warmth, everyone is deeply grieved and bewildered by his death. For now we can only try to find comfort in the many special memories and the thoughts of the happy years we shared. Growing up with three baby elephants will always be an important part of Linda and Sharon’s childhood memories. And Benji the guide, who has devoted the last 15 years of his life to Ishe; well he could fill a book with some truly amazing stories. For the other two elephants, Duma and Tusker, they are clearly devastated at the loss of their brother. As has been observed in the wild, Duma tried repeatedly to lift Ishe’s lifeless body, his temporal glands are streaming and he has been continually calling for his lost brother, and they are both showing obvious signs of stress. Camp Amalinda’s attention is focused on the elephants and they are trying to help them through this difficult time. As a result they feel that all elephant rides at Amalinda should be temporarily suspended. Anyone who is booked at Amalinda primarily for the elephant rides may request a full refund if they wish to cancel.

New Balloon Safaris over Victoria Falls, September 19 1999

A fixed helium balloon may be approved take to the skies over Victoria Falls as early as December 1999.

Brett McDonald, owner of Harare Safari Lodge is one partner in the project. He said the project which has cost Z$35 million (nearly US $1 million) was a partnership venture between Mazuka Safaris, which holds the license, Bambazonke Balloon Company and an-other shareholder who cannot be named. "The project has had tremendous support from key operators in Victoria Falls said McDonald, citing letters of support from Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, Zimbabwe Sun, the Zimbabwe Council for Tourism, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, Environment 2000 and the Civil Aviation Authority among others.

"Only the gondola and the balloon will be visible above ground" said Chikasha. The balloon will have capacity for 30 people and rates for internationals have been pegged at US$20 per adult. "The concept is entirely, 100% environmentally friendly, using helium and powered by electricity. Riders will enjoy a 360-degree panoramic view 500 feet above ground. Only a few of these £434,000 gizmos are in operation around the world – two are in London, one in Las Vegas, Barcelona, Pompeii and at Niagara Falls, among other places", said McDonald.

The will be four trips an hour each day.

New airstrip for Zimbabwe’s Hwange, September 26 1999

The Gwayi Valley conservancy , bordering Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, is a haven for big game, and is the site of a number of safari camps and lodges. Access to this area has traditionally been by air into the Hwange Airport, followed by a lengthy road transfer. A new airstrip has now been completed opening the valley up for direct flights. The airstrip has a graveled 900 meter runway and is capable of handling aircraft up to Cessna Caravan size.

To service the camps in the area, a local air charter company, Southern Cross Aviation, is offering a seat rate service from Victoria Falls to Hwange on a daily basis. This service is provided utilizing their Cessna 206 and 207’s, operating out of their Victoria Falls and Hwange bases, and timed to connect with the existing regional and international flights into the area.

Mr. Stuart Shaw, manager of Chimwara Tented Camp, stated that the airstrip would save him a one and a half hour round trip when collecting clients. "Accessibility has always been the biggest problem for operators in the Gwayi conservancy. Now we can fly clients in directly from Victoria Falls at the same cost as a commercial flight to Hwange plus a road transfer. It is going to make it far easier for travelers to reach the Gwayi area" said Mr. Shaw. Other well known camps in the area include Jijima, The Hide, Kumuna, Camp Selous and Simba. All of these camps take advantage of the excellent game-viewing offered by the Kennedy Pan area of Hwange National Park.

"People who have come on holiday want to spend their time at the lodges, not at the airport. We are responding to pressure from the market to provide this service."

Rafting Fee Increase at Victoria Falls, September 26 1999

The river usage fee payable upon check in for white water rafting at Victoria Falls is now US $5 per person and will not return to its previous level of US $2.50 per person.

Helicopter added to Victoria Falls Fleet, September 26 1999

The Zambezi Helicopter Company has taken delivery of a third aircraft – a 6-seater Bell Longranger - in Victoria Falls. This gives the company two operational aircraft at all times and one on stand-by for filling in while the other machines undergo routine maintenance.

Helicopter trips remain unchanged with a 13-minute trip over the falls and a half-hour flight over the falls and the Zambezi National Park. ZHC emphasized that the new aircraft would not increase the number of flights undertaken by the company. The new helicopter had been procured in order to ensure service continuity.

Kingdom Hotel at Victoria Falls is Sore Point with Locals, September 26 1999

For tourists, The Kingdom, a new hotel in Victoria Falls, is a delight. For locals, it is a sore point. In question are the hiring policies of The Kingdom. Locals complain the bulk of the workforce comes from other provinces in Zimbabwe and that residents are discriminated against.

Zimbabwe Sun, which owns the hotel, denies the charges. Zim Sun representative Ray Mawerera says it is "ludicrous" to say managers employ their relatives or people from their area, although he concedes that none of the managers of the company's hotel in Victoria Falls are from Matabeleland. Zim Sun employs 146 staff, of whom roughly 100 worked at the old Makasa Sun, now The Kingdom.

The problem is not new. A 1996 study on tourism in Victoria Falls by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recommended building "a sense of partnership and responsibility, so that both company and community have a stake in the ongoing viability of tourism". It recommended that it be done through equitable local employment practices, complementary small businesses and community partnership agreements. The IUCN warned: "It is in the long-term interests of all in the industry to contribute to poverty alleviation and greater equity of access to the benefits of tourism."

Fire at A’Zambezi River Lodge, September 26 1999

Investigations are underway to establish the cause of a fire which broke out last Thursday morning at the A’ Zambezi River Lodge at the Victoria Falls resort causing extensive damage to the dining room, kitchen and part of the laundry room. The public relations manager of Rainbow Tourism Group, Precious Chitapi, confirmed the fire incident and said that apart from the kitchen and dining room, all other sections of the hotel were still operational with meals being served in the braai area. She said the hotel was in the process of refurbishing the damaged sections of the complex with a view to making them fully operational in a few weeks’ time.

United Kingdom Warns Travelers to Zimbabwe, September 26 1999

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised prospective travelers to Zimbabwe that although crime levels in this southern African nation have remained generally low, there has, however, been a disturbing increase in muggings and pickpocketing in the country’s city centers, with the highest incidents reported in the capital, Harare.

The office advised visitors to exercise caution when leaving banks and ATM machines. "Visitors to Victoria Falls and other tourist centers should be wary as tourists. Backpackers, in particular are at risk," warned the office. It advised drivers to keep their doors locked as theft from vehicles was common.

Tourists travelling by car from Harare airport were warned to be particularly cautious. "Anyone offering to help change tires, which are sometimes deliberately punctured, should be regarded with caution," said the statement from the office.

The office further advised would-be tourists to Zimbabwe not to leave vehicles unattended in isolated scenic spots such as the Nyanga mountains and the Vumba area of the eastern Highlands. "The incidence of opportunistic theft, especially of handbags, is high. Passports are at particular risk," said the office, adding that visitors should carry photocopies of their passports.

New Chobe Lodge, September 26 1999

Alan and Scotty Elliot, who made their name by founding the exclusive Touch the Wild lodge circuit now owned by the Rainbow Tourism Group and IBL, have opened Elephant Valley Lodge, a luxury tented lodge in Chobe, Botswana. So far, there are seven luxury en suite tents, custom-made to be larger than a standard safari tent. Décor is an eclectic mix of animal prints, teak and wrought iron. The lodge boasts spacious eight-square meter bathrooms, double basins and hot water showers. A temporary dining area has been opened where classic safari cuisine can be enjoyed.

Although some buildings are still under construction and lawn planting and landscaping continue around the pool area, Elephant Valley Lodge is accepting customers.

Salvage Operation Planned of Cape Town Coast, September 26 1999

Chinese porcelain worth at least US $20 million will soon be recovered from the wreck of a Dutch East India Company ship, which sank off the South African Cape coast in 1785. The "Brederode" was travelling from China with an estimated 200,000 porcelain items as well as huge quantities of gold and tin when it sank about 200 km east of Cape Town on May 5, 1785, after colliding with an uncharted reef. The search for the Brederode began in 1982 and the ship was only discovered in 1998. Maritime experts have remained silent about the discovery until a legal document was drawn up between the salvage company, the South African Maritime Museum and the National Monuments Council. Aqua Exploration, which discovered the vessel, has been awarded the rights to the cargo while the South African Maritime Museum will get the ship's organic remains and any personal effects.

A full excavation of the Brederode, which lies in 65 meters of water, about 10 km offshore, is scheduled to begin early 2000 and will cost about US $3 million. It will be the first hi-tech deep-water archaeological excavation of a shipwreck ever conducted in South Africa. Archaeologists believe that the hull of the ship is still intact under the sand. Divers have spotted piles of porcelain plates around the wreck, but it will require a mammoth salvage operation to remove all the cargo.

The ship sank after striking an uncharted reef off Agulhas. Eighty of the crew survived while 12 others drowned.

Penguin Nest Robber Fined, September 26 1999

A Chinese tourist caught stealing six penguin eggs at Boulders Beach, Cape Town has paid a R1,500 admission-of-guilt fine. The woman, who was with a tour group, was seen by a German tourist who reported the incident to conservation staff at the park. The woman was confronted and six eggs were found in a paper bag in her handbag. A seventh egg was found smashed and conservation staff believe it had been broken to test the freshness of the eggs in the nests at the colony, but this could not be linked to the woman.

Although the number of African penguins (formerly known as jackass penguins) at Boulders has increased rapidly in recent years, the overall population of this species has crashed dramatically since the turn of the century and it is considered endangered. African penguins normally lay two eggs at a time, so the woman probably robbed at least three nests.

Aggressive Baboons Eliminated, September 26 1999

As a result of repeated baboon attacks on visitors to Cape Point, one of South Africa's most popular tourist attractions, the management of the Cape Peninsula National Park has destroyed three "problem animals". "It was not a decision we took lightly, but the attacks have been becoming increasingly serious, and it was only a matter of time before someone was really badly hurt," the park's section ranger, Gavin Bell, said.

In recent years, baboons have become increasingly brazen and they often enter houses and cars looking for food. On September 19 a couple with a newborn baby were attacked and the mother was bitten by a fully-grown male baboon. Shortly before that, an elderly woman with a heart complaint was attacked and knocked to the ground. Some baboons have lost their fear of humans so completely that a mature male recently attacked two armed rangers of the park. "The tragedy is that the baboons have become problems because visitors feel that they are doing them a kindness by feeding them," Bell said.

"We have tried every other means at our disposal to prevent them from attacking visitors, but we have run out of options," he added. "Destroying the three problem males will not permanently solve the problem, but it should reduce the frequency of attacks for some time."

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