travelling & touring:with Burzil Dube
Welcome to my inaugural tourism weekly column where an in-depth analysis of the country’s holiday resorts is laid bare as yours truly seeks to add his voice to the country’s fast growing industry, which also plays a pivotal role in investment and employment creation.
Before delving much into details; I will personally take no prisoners as we try to move the country’s tourism industry to glittering heights and this calls for a concerted effort from all stakeholders. A spade has to be called by its proper denomination in our quest to be a tourist destination of choice.
Now to the gist of this week’s instalment. Yours truly recently was on his way to some place called Gwayi River Mine in Matabeleland North province whose demise has been extensively written about and also reported in the country’s print as well as electronic media. Repeated calls for the reopening of the province’s major copper mine have been made and it remains to be seen if this would come to pass. The derelict mine is somehow synonymous with the Zimbabwe liberation struggle.
On my way to the mine, I drove through another desolate structure – the Gwayi River Hotel. However, more details on how this once iconic tourism facility abruptly disappeared from Mother Earth will be thoroughly tackled in one of my forthcoming instalments.
My ex-Jap jalopy suddenly developed a mechanical fault soon after crossing the Gwayi River bridge situated along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road. So much of these Gwayi River issues! The breakdown happened after sunset and I was less than 30km away from the (Gwayi) mine. The area where the vehicle had a breakdown is notorious for wild animals such as lions, elephants, and leopards among others. It is a no-go area for you and me during the night.
In the event of a vehicle breakdown especially in the evening or at dawn, motorists are strongly advised to remain in their cars with both windows and doors closed while waiting for any form of assistance. Any motorist who regularly uses this stretch of road will testify on dangers associated with being idle there in the event of any form of a vehicle fault during odd hours.
Back to my vehicle breakdown, I quickly phoned an auto-mechanic friend of mine who explicitly warned me in no uncertain terms to remain in the car while he contacted someone from an adjacent accommodation facility. This particular person was to provide me with accommodation for the night while my vehicle was also being attended to as the fault was minor.
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The accommodation happened to be at Sikumi Tree Lodge situated a few kilometres from where I had the vehicle failure.
In all honesty, yours truly is yet to come across a house situated on top of a tree and having all the necessary household and ablution facilities! The only time I remember finding “night comfort” for more than eight hours on top of a figtree was in my rural area of Insiza. This happened during my childhood days as a herd boy following my failure to “account” for some lost cattle from the adjacent grazing area.
Sikumi Tree Lodge, or also better known as Tree Lodge, at Sikumi is a tourist facility with a difference and some of the distinctions have already been alluded to above. The lodge is situated a stone’s throw from a lush vlei whose marshy ground passes upstream through Hwange Safari Lodge.
More on Hwange Safari Lodge in one of my next segments.
I will not delve much into the nitty-gritties of the sumptuous food, but on how I nearly gave up proceeding with my escapade to the legendary Gwayi River Mine.
On this particular night, it seemed lady luck was on my side as I had a chance encounter with four of the famous Big Five (minus black rhinoceros) while a spectacular movie script was in the offing: watching African wild dogs, popularly known as painted dogs, which were in hot pursuit of an antelope and later started having a feast on it.
Thanks to my host’s waiters who informed me that these breeds of animals are among the continent’s most endangered species as their population continues to dwindle, hence each of the four I managed to come across had some form of electronic collars around their necks so as to monitor their movements especially against poachers and other related predators.
As if that was not enough, I joined a group of tourists embarking on a night game drive into the adjacent Sikumi Estate. I later learnt that this type of game drive is popularly known in local tourism lingo as “night eyes”. However if the truth is to be told, “night eyes” is not for the fainthearted with lion roars and trumpeting elephants in the background. To me it seemed as if the threatening sounds from these animals were coming from just behind from where I was seated.
I might end up writing a complete book about my escapades at Sikumi Tree Lodge courtesy of the mechanical fault on my vehicle. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I will certainly bring my family during the forthcoming Easer holidays.
However, the authorities need to speedily address the issue of a standby generator, which could be handy during unpredictable electricity blackouts. On how my vehicle was repaired; let us leave it for another day because I am still fantasising about slumbering on top of a tree whose bungalow is a marvel and second to none.
Till we meet again on the next Travelling and Touring edition, let us all bear in mind that the coronavirus pandemic is real and let us all take the necessary precautions in order to save lives.
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