Lions kill livestock near Zimbabwe's resort town of Victoria Falls

HARARE, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Lions suspected to be from nearby sanctuaries have killed 35 cattle and an unconfirmed number of goats and donkeys near Zimbabwe's resort town of Victoria Falls in the last two months.

At least six villages in two wards have been severely affected by the marauding animals which are said to be attacking livestock before making their way back to the sanctuaries, The state media Herald newspaper reported Tuesday.

A headman in one of the villages, Jaheliduna Ndlovu, said that the lion attacks had left many people impoverished.

"A fortnight ago, lions killed eight cattle in one day and last Monday they killed five belonging to one villager," he said.

"Last December they killed 18 cattle from our area and the village head Zikhali's cattle were attacked in the grazing area," said Ndlovu.

He appealed for an urgent solution to the human-wildlife conflict.

"This is a situation which needs everyone's input. We once suggested that we set up scout teams that will be stationed in the community to protect livestock, but some stakeholders didn't buy the idea," he said.

Zimbabwe experiences several cases of human animal conflict, especially in areas which border game parks.

Source: Lions invade villages, kill livestock near Zimbabwe's resort town of Victoria Falls (28/01/20)

New Vic Falls sporting facility a boom for sports tourism

 The Zambezi River International Circuit (ZRIC) – a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) certified motor racing circuit – is under construction 30km east of Victoria Falls, along the Batoka Gorge on the Zambezi River.

The racing circuit, spearheaded by Nanta Safaris, is one of the major attractions on the 500-hectare estate and will also offer new activities such as leisure motor racing, driving super cars and drag racing.

Nanta Safaris Director, Philani Mpofu, said the race course, designed with a conservation and safari theme, would host Formula 1 cars, other Formulas racing cars, supers cars such as Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Rolls Royces and Bentleys.

 “Construction of the theme park estate in general has started. But the construction of the racecourse is expected to commence in July. Given the present economic challenges we expect the project to be fully operational three years after commencement of racecourse construction. However, given the size of the project we should see some activities starting as soon as the end of this year.”

Mpofu said the racecourse was shaped in the form of a de-horned rhino to highlight the plight of this endangered species.

Other facilities within the development would include a 325m pit garage, conferencing and venue facilities, 1.2km drag strip, 1 070m go-karting, medical facility, theme-park, gorge coasters, cracking glass sky walkway, and a live conservation theme park headlined by a full-scale replica of Noah’s Ark.

Source: New Vic Falls sporting facility a boom for sports tourism (28/01/2020)

See Also

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (9th May 2018) Investor keen to bring Grand Prix to Victoria Falls.

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (2nd June 2018) Huge Boost for Vic Falls As UAE Investors to Build World Class Hospital, Motor Racing Course, Shopping Mall and a Hotel.

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (30th July 2018) Vic Falls’ $1.2 bn project takes shape.

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (27th September 2018) Construction of Grand Prix circuit in Vic Falls to go ahead.

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (4th June 2019) Vic Falls Grand Prix arena to boost tourism.

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (29th January 2020) New Vic Falls sporting facility a boom for sports tourism.

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (7th July 2021) Victoria Falls F1 circuit construction reaches major milestone.

Victoria Falls Falls Bits and Blogs (13th October 2022) Why a Formula One racetrack in Zimbabwe is a pipe dream.

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (16th October 2022) Victoria Falls F1-grade racecourse plans halted by High Court.

Read more on the Keep Victoria Falls Wild website.

Zambezi River levels rise

Zambezi River levels at Victoria Falls rose from 426 to 548 m3/s from 10 to 23 January 2020 (against 406 to 524 m3/s for the same period in 2019). "The Zambezi River flows at Victoria Falls are still below the long-term average. This situation of below average flows at this station is forecasted to continue throughout the season to September 2020 as depicted in the respective hydrograph (dashed blue line)." (Zambezi River Authority website - http://www.zambezira.org/hydrology/river-flows)

Victoria Falls sees increase in visitor numbers

Last year saw a 5.6% increase in visitors to the Rainforest at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, following efforts to market the countryto source markets.

Figures released by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) – which  manages the World Heritage Site -- show that 279 786 international visitors and 77 766 locals visited the rainforest in 2019 compared with 263 381 and 75 091 respectively in 2018.  

Zimparks says a further increase is anticipated in 2020. “We continue to market the Victoria Falls and other sites in the country and we hope that, this year the visitor numbers will surge due to various promotional programmes currently under way,” said a Zimparks spokesperson.

Shearwater Public Relations Executive, Clement Mukwasi, commented: “We are hopeful that 2020 will come with better fortunes for the rainforest and the industry at large.”

Source: Victoria Falls attraction sees increase in visitor numbers (17/01/20)

Microlight Pilot Killed In Livingstone

BATOKA Sky Adventures Limited owned Microlight plane has crash-landed in Livingstone, killing one person while the other is severely injured.

According to information obtained the Civil Aviation Authority the crash happened this morning [10th January] between 07:00 and 08:00 hours about 30 meters from the railway line in the Mosi-oa-tunya National Park heading to the Victoria Falls as they were conducting their
routine flights.

Source: Pilot Killed In Livingstone (11/01/20)

Pilot dies in Lstone plane crash

 A PILOT at Batoka Sky Adventures died when the microlight plane he was flying crashed in Livingstone yesterday while a passenger was severely injured.

The incident happened yesterday between 07:00 and 08:00 hours about 30 meters from the railway line in the Mosi-oa-tunya National Park, heading to the Victoria Falls.

The pilot and his passenger were conducting their routine flights.

Sources familiar with Batoka Sky Adventures identified the dead pilot as Heiko Held.

However, by press time, the Zambia Police Service had not released the details of the crash but Zambia Civil Aviation Authority (ZCAA) confirmed the development to the Daily Nation in Livingstone.

Director General Gabriel Lesa disclosed that the authority has dispatched experts from Lusaka to Livingstone to conduct preliminary investigations on what led to the crash.

Authorities at the Livingstone Central Hospital denied having received the body of the died pilot and the injured person from the crash.

“During a routine 6 monthly skills test that was performed this morning by the Batoka Sky flight training captain and a senior microlight pilot an accident occurred and one of the pilots, Heiko Held was tragically killed. We are currently waiting for the Zambian Civil Aviation Authority to conduct an investigation into the cause of the accident. All microlight flights will be suspended from today until further notice, Batoka Sky Group General Manager Daan Geldenhuys said.

And acting Senior Medical Superintendant Dr Chiyenu said that the hospital did not receive any report of admission of the injured nor the body of the pilot, meaning another medical facility could have been used.

Batoka Sky Adventures Managing Director Daan Brink which operates under the Livingstone Adventures could not be reached for a comment.

The Daily Nation could not establish the cause of the accident by press time.

Batoka Sky Adventures operates the only microlight flight training school in Zambia that is approved by the Zambian Civil Aviation.

It offers the highest standard of tutoring and the resident commercial pilots are carefully selected and Instructor rated.

Source: Pilot dies in Lstone plane crash (11/01/2020)

One dead after microlight crashes at Victoria Falls, Livingstone

 ONE person has allegedly been killed in microlight crash in Livingstone today.

The Zambia Police is yet to give details of the accident.

“We can confirm that there was a microlight aircraft crash at about 5 kilometers from the Victoria Falls. We are still establishing the facts and the identity of the persons and enquiries are ongoing.” a source said.

(Picture by Millennium Radio)

Source: One dead after microlight crashes at Victoria Falls, Livingstone (10/01/2020)

Further Information

The subsequent crash investigation report detailed:

"On Friday January 10, 2020, a Tanarg Neo Microlight operated by Batoka Sky Limited departed from Maramba aerodrome with the intention of conducting a performance check flight below the special rules area (SRA). At about 05:42 Hours UTC the Pilot tried to make an emergency landing on the road leading to Baobab Ridge helipad with the Microlight in a simulated engine failure mode. However, during the process of emergency landing, the Microlight right hand main landing gear hooked up in the 11kV ZESCO powerline causing the microlight to lose control and crash about 15 meters from the power lines. One Crew member on board died on impact while the other survived...

At the time the Microlight was in the process of simulated engine failure attempting to land, the Pilot was unable to see the power lines due to sun glare as he was flying into the rising sun." (Civil Aviation Authority Aircraft Accident investigation Board Report, 9J-YVT)

Download the Report here (external link)

Vic Falls Hotels Record Low Occupancy

Tourism players and hoteliers in Victoria Falls have experienced mixed fortunes after a subdued festive season that has seen most hotels and lodges failing to reach maximum capacity.

Without giving statistics, tourism players said hotel occupancy had remained lower than last year where bookings were an average 75 percent.

This is year’s low uptake was partly because of the low turnout to the annual Victoria Falls Carnival where people failed to fill up the three trains Sunday night for the bush party.

Some attributed the low turn-out to the prevailing economic conditions where the US dollars is pegged at 1:20 to the local currency.

Management at some lodges and hotels said they were pinning their last hopes on the Carnival New Year’s Eve Cross Over night concert which could bring in more local and foreign tourists.

As at Monday, few bigger hotels such as the Elephant Hills, A,’Zambezi River Lodge, and Kingdom Hotel had reached 100 percent for the first time this festive season.

A few other smaller lodges only filled up Sunday night as more people arrived for the Carnival.

However, a majority were still soliciting for clients Monday with some rooms being slashed to around $30 per night.

Generally, backyard lodges charge between $50 and $100 per night per room.

Even some residents and private players who usually put up their houses for accommodation failed to get occupants and were still advertising their rooms on social media platforms Monday.

Private houses range between $15 and $50 per room and are usually preferred by locals who cannot afford to book at lodges and hotels.

Hopes were high that the Carnival would bring numbers as organisers expected about 7000 over the three-day period.

However, some revellers preferred camping because of the high hotel room charges.

“We are a group of 10 and decided to use tents at Rest Camp because we wouldn’t have afforded,” said Tsepo Malisa from Botswana.

Tourism executive Clement Munkwasi said bookings for both accommodation and activities had remained subdued compared to previous years.

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority spokesperson Godfrey Koti is however hopeful the numbers will pick up.

“We are looking forward to an improvement in the flow of activities and accommodation thanks to the Carnival,” he said.

The country expects a better ending to the year after a 3 percent decrease in arrivals in the first six months of 2019.

Source: Vic Falls Hotels Record Low Occupancy (31/12/19)