BY BURZIL DUBE
WITH the Easter holidays around the corner, this week’s column was meant to revisit places of entertainment and come up with an analysis in relation to their state of preparedness against the background of depressed business.
Indications on the ground are that some discount galore could be in the offing as most hotels and lodges have embarked on a crusade of luring customers during the Easter period as business in the tourism industry is currently on life support.
Other lodges are contemplating offering freebies to those whose birthdays or related facets fall during this hallowed break period which is universally celebrated by various Christian denominations.
During this four-day holiday, most Christians the world over would be commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ while to some it will be just another public holiday where wining and dining is the order of the day.
Talking of birthday parties, yours truly was recently reminded by one Augustine Zimbili when he congratulated yours truly whose column will this week be clocking the one-year mark since its inception last year.
Zimbili is a senior Zimbabwe Republic Police officer who has served in various departments within the force as a spokesperson leaving an indelible mark within the public relations fraternity.
Besides being an ardent follower of the Travelling and Touring column, Zimbili is also a former tertiary mate of yours truly and were both studying a similar journalism course at one of country’s institutions of higher learning.
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Indeed time really flies.
Whoever coined this phrase deserves some special mention even though he or she could be nowhere near the Guinness Book of Records entry.
Here we go as we look to some of the articles that found their way into the Travelling and Touring column which is growing in leaps and bounds.
When yours truly wrote an article where he had to spend a comfortable night slumber atop a tree near Hwange National Park, a number of readers wanted to prove for themselves if such a spectacle did exist.
This pioneer piece of an article was all about having some haven on a tree at Sikumi which is situated on the periphery of Hwange National Park. Following publication of the article, there were reports of a sudden flurry of guests to the Tree Lodge at Sikumi.
The Lonely Grave in Hwange was another piece of a so-called dormant tourism relic which caught residents of this coal mining town unawares. They were at sea as far as existence of this strange phenomenon which is more than 100 years old.
Senior management at this largest coal mining company were also at sea about the grave’s existence and location.
The sole marble and limestone tomb is situated on a medium-sized hill which is adjacent to the colliery company’s popular sports pavilion where the remains of Annie MacDonall are purportedly interred.
According to information on the tombstone, the late MacDonall died on June 22, 1902 at the then Wankie Hospital aged 26 years and no one knows why she was buried on such a steep hill now dubbed Hwange’s World View. The hill offers a panoramic view of the whole of Hwange town and its environs.
As to how this particular single grave came into being remains a mystery and is gradually becoming a tourist attraction courtesy of this Travelling and Touring column. There are also plans to turn the hill into a picnic site which yours truly believes could match the likes of Matopos Hills, situated a few kilometres on the outskirts of Bulawayo.
Everyone is now claiming ownership to this Hwange site that was “unearthed” by yours truly!
Pasi Pasi, a railway siding in the Nyamandlovu area, also stirred controversy after it was discovered through this column that the name was derived following the death of Lusumbami, a Nambya chief whose mystical powers were difficult to decipher.
Lusumbami was captured by the Matabele warriors who were then under King Mzilikazi. The Nambya chief was meant to be taken hostage and handed over to the Ndebele king whose demand was for the captured chief to be brought alive without fail.
However, as they were heading towards Bulawayo, the weary Lusumbami declined to proceed further and sat down and leaned against an adjacent tree. It is at this place where he muttered the famous mystical words: “Ndapinga-ndapiya”, which meant “I have crossed my feet and I can’t continue any further,” and finally said “pasi-pasi” meaning he was to be buried “deep deep” at the site where he was seated. He later died at that particular place.
True to his word and wish, he was buried “deep” at that particular place.
That is how the railway siding called Pasi Pasi in Nyamandlovu came into existence.
Such places are keys drivers in promotion of the country’s historical tourism industry which remains untapped even to this day.
Another article that sent tongues wagging during the year under review included that about a hill in the Sinamatella area which was “nearly moved” to Zambia by the Nambya tribesmen who wanted to give it as a gift to King Lewanika of Zambia.
This hill is today popularly known as Katunhu ka Ba Lozwi and continues to be a symbolic feature to the Nambya tribe. It is imperative that such features be declared shrines by the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe.
The same column also courted controversy when a number of articles were written where it was stated that thousands of the biblical Jews who some today are known as Lemba or Va Remba finally settled in Mberengwa, Zimbabwe, during the early centuries.
Various scholars and researchers are of the opinion that indeed the Lemba could have been part of the biblical Twelve Tribes of Israel whose origin is traced back from the Middle East.
This debate escalated further when it was discovered that this tribe could have been instrumental during the construction of the Great Zimbabwe Ruins on the outskirt of the city of Masvingo.
It is said their architectural expertise can once again be traced to some structures in Yemen and other Middle East countries. This continues to be a subject for debate up to this day.
Julius Malema, the Economic Freedom Fighters leader, also last year claimed to be a Lemba whose origin is traced from the Bible. It is all captured in the previous Travelling and Touring columns.
Another bone of contention that featured in these previous columns is that the Tonga tribe are believed to have been the first to settle within Hwange district and later spread to the entire Matabeleland North province and beyond.
Yours truly was called all sorts of nasty and unprintable names when it was stated in one of the columns that the Tonga gave land to the Nambya for permanent settlement in Hwange following their migration from Great Zimbabwe Ruins.
It was indeed a year full of adventures even though it was, however, hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic whose ripple effects have left the hospitality industry clutching at the proverbial straws.
The whole concept of promoting the country’s tourism industry is in some form of disarray and this calls onamadoda sibili (men/women of valour) to continue soldiering on as victory is on the horizon.
Together we can make it happen.
What an interesting year!
Till we meet again as we seek to clock the second anniversary.
- Comments always welcome on: [email protected] or Twitter@DubeBurzil
