Harare - Right about now, the msasa woodlands across central Africa start catching fire: not literally, but in the colours of the newly budding leaves of the trees which, in a bizarre reversal of the autumn displays of deciduous trees in other parts of the world, denote growth, not death.
Around rugged granite outcrops in hardy stands and in the flatter plains areas, msasas will be bursting out in oranges, yellows, reds and purples in one of the most spectacular shows in Africa. As summer rolls in later in the year, the leaves will turn to green and in winter, they will dry, wither and drop off, leaving bare branches.
And the best place to see the show is just north of our border, in Zimbabwe.
Having been born there, I admit I am biased but, to me, Zimbabwe is a beautiful country. One day – soon, perhaps – it is going to start coming right as a tourist destination. That day, hopefully, will be in the post-Mugabe era.
As long as he is around, the country will have a bad image in the eyes of the rest of the world – notwithstanding the support for him among the Julius Malemas of this world.
A bad image will badly hurt your tourist industry. Just ask the Kenyans: reports of the activities of terrorist group al-Shabaab have seen occupancy rates at coastal resorts fall by as much as 60 percent this year. No surprise, then, that the Kenyans have re-thought their imposition of visas on South African tourists. Last week, the Kenyan High Commission in Pretoria announced that the visa (formerly US$70) would not be required by South Africans staying less than 30 days.
South Africans travelling to Zimbabwe on SA passports do not require visas, although those landing with British or EU passports will have to pay a US$50 visa fee to the authorities in Harare.
Tourism can be the engine which pulls Zimbabwe out of the financial and social mess into which it has sunk since 2000.
I remember years ago when, in the Rhodesian bush war, I was stationed at a battle camp on Le Rhone game ranch, about 50km outside the town now known as Masvingo. The owner of the farm, well-known conservationist and man of the bush Viv Bristow, often lamented the loss of South African tourists as the war hotted up.
He would say South Africans, travelling across the border by car, were the best type of tourists to have: they would stop along the way and buy… food, drink, souvenirs, fuel. And, in those days, it seems hard to imagine, the South African rand was weaker than the then Rhodesian dollar.
After an initial wobbly period when Mugabe took over in 1980 – and the bloodshed of the infamous Fifth Brigade (Gukurahundi) massacres in Matabeleland, South Africans were heading back to Zim in numbers in the 1990s. The place was reasonably well-run, it was cheap and the people were well-educated and friendly.
With the rise of the “war veterans” and the seizures of white-owned farms, followed by a tsunami-like exodus of black Zimbabweans heading south trying to merely survive, tourism plummeted.
The country’s negative image also impacted, ironically, on the massive investment made in hotels on the Zambian side of Victoria Falls by South African companies in the 1990s.
A new $150-million international airport at Victoria Falls will certainly change the face of the region. Africa Albida Tourism chief executive Ross Kennedy was quoted as saying the development, which is being built with Chinese money, is “going to be a massive game changer, not only for Zimbabwe, but for the region”.
The airport will be capable of handling wide body jets in all conditions, which will dramatically increase potential tourist numbers. At the same time, there is talk of developments including Disney-like theme parks in the area. While I have my reservations about how that might impact on the nature of the Falls, I think you cannot turn back progress – and the example will be a good one for the mandarins in Harare that tourism is a sustainable resource.
For tourism to succeed and attract South Africans back in huge numbers, there are things that need to be done, apart from improving the country’s image. The border posts need to be sorted out: it can take four or five hours on a bad day to get through Beitbridge, for example. Money needs to be spent on infrastructure like roads and on the country’s amazing national parks.
Mostly, though, the country needs to start readying a massive “this is the first day of the rest of our lives” advertising and marketing campaign for the post-Mugabe era. Many are the doom-sayers who claim Zimbabwe is hopeless and another African basket case. I don’t think so and the msasas convince me of that.
Just after independence in 1980, I covered some of the first land invasions in Zimbabwe, just around the corner from Le Rhone game ranch, on the shores of Lake Mutirikwe. I was shocked to see the beautiful hillsides stripped bare of the msasas and, in their place, maize fields and thatched huts. It was depressing.
Ten years later, I returned. The huts were gone (Mugabe had reacted harshly in those early days and chucked the usurpers off the land), so were the mielie lands. And, through the red soil, struggling back to reclaim their place, were the msasas. Africa has a way of healing itself.
Saturday Star