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Tag: Zimbabwe

  • Victoria Falls: Chinese Tourist Survives Plunge

    As one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls is also home to tourism. There are not only beautiful pictures taken at this foreign destination and tourist hotspot, but unfortunate events that do occur while doing so. In this case, the unfortunate event transformed into nothing short of a miracle.

    According to a tourism official, a Chinese tourist fell into a gorge at the largest waterfall in the world, Victoria Falls, while attempting to capture memories of his trip with his camera. On Wednesday, November 27, 2013, Wang Shun Xue plunged into the shallow part of the gorge and thankfully survived, with “only minor injuries,” as stated by John Zulu, manager of the National Heritage Conservation Commission in Livingstone. “He looked shocked because of the accident,” he said.

    There have been numerous injuries and near-death occurrences for tourists visiting Victoria Falls. In 2012, Erin Langworthy, a 22-year-old Australian bungee jumper, was taking a plunge off the Victoria Falls Bridge. She broke free from her cord and ended up in the Zambezi River, which was infested with crocodiles. “It went black straight away and I felt like I had been slapped all over,” she said. Langworthy was stranded in the water with her feet still tied together by the bungee cord, yet only suffered minor injuries. She was not the only one who had a near-death experience.

    As Xue moved close to the ledge, he lost his footing, and fell on a rock, suffering bruises on his arm. “The depth of the gorge is 25 metres (82 feet), but where he fell from, it’s about 15 metres (49 feet) because some places there are slopes,” Zulu explained. Yet, Victoria Falls, which is located on the Zambezi River between Zambia and Zimbabwe, plunges 108 metres (354 feet) at its deepest point to sharp rocks below. The plunge could have easily been fatal, but Xue miraculously escaped almost unscathed. He was immediately taken to a local clinic for treatment and took a plane directly out of the country.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Victoria Falls Plunge: Chinese Tourist Survives 49-Feet Leap

    Yesterday, a Chinese tourist’s trip to Victoria Falls in Zambia took a turn for the worst.

    While capturing photos of the massive falls, 45-year-old Wang Shun Xue lost his footing and plunged 49 feet into the gorge.

    According to the manager of the National Heritage Conservation Commission in Livingstone, John Zulu mentioned how fortunately Xue didn’t fall at a location where the outcome could have been a lot more fatal.

    “The depth of the gorge is 25 meters but where he fell from, it’s about 15 meters because some places there are slopes,” he told AFP.

    A rock miraculously embraced his fall. Xue suffered only minor injuries including a bruise to the arm.

    Xue was taken to a local clinic and then caught a plane to leave the country.

    Victoria Falls, located on the Zambezi River, is a 354 feet dive into blinding water, sharp rocks and crocodiles. As a popular hot spot for tourists, the waterfall runs between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

    Although Xue’s survival appears to be astonishing, there have been others before him who have also defeated death at Victoria Falls.

    In 2012 on New Year’s Eve, 22-year-old Australian tourist, Erin Langworthy, bungee jumped straight into the Zambezi River after her cord snapped loose. She recovered after a week in a South African hospital.

    Here is a video showing Langworthy’s near-death plunge.

     

     Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

  • Zimbabwe Elephant Poacher Sentenced to 15 Years

    A Zimbabwe court sentenced a poacher to more than 15 years in prison on Wednesday, for poisoning and killing elephants with cyanide. The conviction was the fourth concerning the poisoning in a month, and the accused still faces charges for cyanide possession and for contravening environmental laws.

    The Hwange court also found Akim Masuku, 26, guilty of illegal possession of ivory, handing down a total jail term of 15-and-a-half years, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority said in a statement. Zimbabwean poachers had poisoned roughly 100 elephants in Hwange national park, which holds one of the world’s largest herds.

    “One hundred elephants have died in Hwange National Park due to cyanide poisoning and 12 people have since been arrested and four have been convicted and sentenced,” a representative of Hwange national park said in a statement.

    A Masuku accomplice, Norma Ncube, 18, is set to stand trial on October 30. The three other poachers also convicted in the poisoning were also sentenced to at least 15 years, and were fined $600,000.

    Park officials have given area villages until the end of October to hand over any cyanide that’s laying around, or possibly risk arrest themselves.

    Many cyanides are highly toxic, though the most hazardous compound is of the hydrogen variety. People have used hydrogen cyanide on other people for ages, and fisherman around the world use it in the controversial practice of cyanide fishing. Essentially, it’s extremely nasty stuff.

    Zimbabwean environment minister Saviour Kasukuwere stated, “we are declaring war on the poachers – We are responding with all our might because our wildlife, including the elephants they are killing, are part of the natural resources and wealth that we want to benefit the people of Zimbabwe.”

    Elephant tusks and other body parts are highly sought after in Asia and the Middle East for ornamental and traditional medicine use.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Zimbabwe Poachers Poison 87 Elephants

    Zimbabwean poachers have poisoned 87 elephants with cyanide in Hwange national park, which holds one of the world’s largest herds. Zimbabwean environment minister Saviour Kasukuwere said that park rangers and police have recovered 19 tusks, cyanide and wire snares, while searching villages close to the park. The poachers went after the ivory while authorities were preoccupied with the general election in Zimbabwe on July 31, and the elephants have been dying in the past few weeks.

    Many cyanides are highly toxic, though the most hazardous compound is of the hydrogen variety. People have used hydrogen cyanide on other people for ages, and fisherman around the world use it in the controversial practice of cyanide fishing. Essentially, it’s extremely nasty stuff.

    Kasukuwere states, “we are declaring war on the poachers – We are responding with all our might because our wildlife, including the elephants they are killing, are part of the natural resources and wealth that we want to benefit the people of Zimbabwe.” Hwange holds roughly 80,000 elephants, and the recently elected Kasukuwere is calling for stiffer penalties for ivory poaching.

    African bush elephants are of the genus Loxodonta (Greek for ‘oblique-sided tooth’), with ancestors who developed during the middle Pliocene Epoch. The bush variety is the largest living terrestrial animal, and the largest individual on record stood 13.1 feet at the shoulder, and weighed 10 tons. African elephants are highly intelligent – among the world’s most intelligent species. Their brains are larger than that of any other land animal, and elephants display behaviors associated with learning, grief, cooperation, self-awareness, art and compassion, on a level considered to be equal to that of primates and cetaceans.

    Zimbabwe, which once had a booming tourism industry, is trying to bounce back after years of decline due to destructive economic policies at the hand of long-standing president Robert Mugabe. Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party were again re-elected in July, so Zimbabwe will likely have to wait a little while for its proposed “Disneyland in Africa.”

    Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

  • Zimbabwe Plans “Disneyland in Africa”

    Zimbabwe Plans “Disneyland in Africa”

    Will your family forego California-based Disneyland for a new Zimbabwe-based theme park? That’s what Zimbabwe’s struggling tourism industry is hoping. Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi revealed the idea at the UN World Tourism Organization general assembly, which was being co-hosted last week with Zambia near Victoria Falls, renowned as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

    Zimbabwe’s tourism highlights are natural wonders Victoria Falls, the Zambezi River, the Eastern Highlands, national parks, and the “big seven” of wildlife—buffalo, elephant, rhino, leopard, lion, hippo and crocodile. Now the government plans to park a $300 million theme park on over 2,900 acres of reserved land that neighbors the Falls.

    Tourism was at one time one of Zimbabwe’s most profitable industries but a decade of conflict and hyperinflation caused damage and a virtual collapse of the economy. Last month, President Robert Mugabe gained a seventh term in office amid disputed elections. Tourists will be challenged to venture to a country plagued by the human rights record of its President.

    Map Zimbabwe

    Plans revealed by Mzembi include, “the size and the kind of vision that is on Disneyland, including hotels, entertainment parks, restaurants, conferencing facilities.” He believes the country could better leverage the Falls. In addition, the government hopes to create a “free zone” with a banking center that would encourage external customers and plans for expanding the Victoria Falls airport are already underway.

    Tourism industry experts that specialize in Africa expressed general opposition to the idea. “People go to Zimbabwe because it actually offers something that is authentically African: they are not going to want to go there for a Mickey Mouse experience. It would be completely inappropriate,” says UK-based tour operator, Chris McIntyre of Expert Africa.

    Responses over Twitter were mainly negative or mocking, including the following:

    [Images via Wikimedia Commons and the CIA World Factbook.]

  • Zimbabwe Canes Teenager For Facebook Slander

    In Aprile 2011, the U.S. state department released a report on human rights in Zimbabwe. In the report U.S. government officials outline many abuses of power and savage acts perpetrated by the Zimbabwe government and their security forces. Specific cases include mass beating of high school and college students, torture of protesters, unlawful arrests, harassment, and even imprisonment of adolescent children. According to the U.S. Government, the problem is worsening in Zimbabwe and the corruption in their government continues to hide the abuses.

    I don’t know if this next story really qualifies as abuse or an infringement on human rights by authorities, but it’s a different approach to a problem than we might take here in the United States.

    A 17-year-old boy from Chiredzi, a small rural town in South Africa, has been arrested for a “criminal insult”. For an undisclosed reason, he snapped a picture of a local business women busy at work in her office, then posted the photograph on Facebook with a caption reading, “a typical Chiredzi prostitute”. He then called the women and informed her of his actions. The two were already friends on Facebook, so she noticed the posting immediately after the call. She then contacted local security agents.

    The boy admitted to authorities that he had indeed taken the photo and posted the comments, but also explained that he was, “sorry” and didn’t know any better because he was new to online social networking. He begged the court for leniency stating that he was the only one working to support his family. The judge convicted him of “criminal insult” and he was sentenced to be beaten with a cane.

    I’m curious to know what people think about this type of punishment. It doesn’t cost the taxpayers anything and I’m pretty sure he won’t be doing it again.