Forget the succession squabbles in the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, the endless coalition talks among the opposition, or fears that the introduction of bond notes will rekindle hyperinflation- Zimbabwe is the place to be for the rich and famous in 2017.
It has been named among the top 21 safari destinations for 2017 by the Robb Report- a United States luxury lifestyle magazine with a circulation of over 100 000. Zimbabwe is placed at number 4, after Peru, Malibu in California and Cuba.
Robb Report magazine has served for 40 years “as the definitive authority on connoisseurship for ultra-affluent consumers”.
According to its website: “Robb Report not only showcases the products and services available from the most prestigious luxury brands around the globe, but it also provides its sophisticated readership with detailed insight into a range of these subjects, which include sports and luxury automobiles, yachts, real estate, travel, private aircraft, fashion, fine jewelry and watches, art, wine, state-of-the-art home electronics and much more.
“For connoisseurs seeking the very best that life has to offer, Robb Report remains the essential luxury resource.”
Its write-up on Zimbabwe beats the best ZANU-PF propagandists.
It goes:
There’s an official motto in Zimbabwe that says, “Everything that flies has to land.” The adage seems particularly fitting these days, as the southern African country—which for years has been plagued by political repression, economic hardship, and rampant poaching—is at last making a return to the safari circuit.
“We are seeing tourism that we just didn’t see 4 or 5 years ago,” says Henrietta Loyd, founder and co-owner of the UK-based travel company Cazenove + Loyd .
The influx is due in part to new antipoaching efforts, which have resulted in the return of wildlife and, with it, Zimbabwe’s world-renowned safari guides.
“There is also more investment coming back to the country,” Loyd says, citing new and renovated lodges—among them camps from Singita, andBeyond, and Wilderness Safaris—as well as infrastructure improvements like the recently opened international terminal at Victoria Falls Airport.
Indeed, one of Africa’s original safari destinations is finally coming in for a landing—and tempting a new generation of travelers to do the same.
The story does not mention that Zimbabwe is under United Ststyes sanctions at all. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to lock up President Robert Mugabe duringhis election campaign.
“Mugabe and Museveni must be put on notice that their days are numbered and I am going to arrest them and lock them in prison,” Trump told war veterans in Washington.
“If the past American administrators have failed to stop these two despots, I will personally do it,” he said.
(72 VIEWS)
