The Fazendin Portfolio’s African Adventure

It is commonly understood in the African safari industry that the safari as we know it was started in Kenya, and reinvented (some will say “perfected!”) in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe was for many years widely recognized as having the best guides, the best lodges and some of Africa’s best wildlife. This was all of course before the regime of Robert Mugabe, but it seems that the tide is now turning and this great safari destination may be on it’s way back.

Victoria Falls ~ Zimbabwe on the right and Zambia on the Left

I was in Livingston for only one night and the talk of Zimbabwe and Mr. Mugabe was already prevalent in casual conversation. I was very interested how visitors and local people alike felt about the situation and how they projected the near future to play out. For the last several years it’s been simply a story of tragedy. However, the more I asked around on this October 2009 afternoon and the more I listened, I heard glimmers of hope and positive feedback. In fact, while on a boat cruising down the Zambezi River, which bisects Zimbabwe and Zambia, I had the chance to talk to Chris Worden, Professional safari guide and Senior Consultant for Zambezi Safari and Travel Company, who lives in Victoria Falls but operates his company out of the UK. Chris informed me that tourism in Zim was really starting to turn around and that in a few years it will be the emerging hotspot in Africa. Even though he proved to be very knowledgeable about the travel industry, I was very reluctant to believe him. I explained that all the news in the US was pessimistic and that people were afraid to risk taking a vacation to the politically-torn county. Chris explained that the news in the UK was very optimistic about recent politics in the country.

At first I wondered why the UK had news that the US didn’t. What did their reporters find out that we couldn’t discover? Then I did my research. The US was reporting positive news about Zimbabwe; it’s just the negative angles that the world over hog headline space.
Here are a few recent articles on Zimbabwe:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/world/africa/16zimbabwe.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=zimbabwe&st=cse – Britain invest in Zim

“Even some diplomats who were most skeptical about Mr. Tsvangirai’s deal to govern with Mr. Mugabe, 85, now sense an opportunity to weaken “the old man,” as he is called here.”

“There’s a creeping sense that we are in an endgame, that there is a new dynamic here,” said one Western diplomat who spoke anonymously according to diplomatic protocol. “Never before has the government been this prostrate. Never before has ZANU-PF been so weak or the opposition in office.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/world/africa/20zimbabwe.html

At The Fazendin Portfolio we look forward to the re-emergence of Zimbabwe as one of the great African safari destination. We look forward to exploring the camps and lodges that will have made it through this dark time in the destination’s history, and supporting and promoting the rehabilitation of the wildlife in this country. We look forward to the access and additional itinerary option Zimbabwe can offer within southern Africa, particularly in combination with Mozambique.