Zimbabwe Council for Tourism Achievers’ Awards Event 2018

Zimbabwe Council for Tourism Achievers’ Awards Event 2018

A total of 19 awards were handed out at the Zimbabwe Council for Tourism Achievers’ Awards event, attended by the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality, Prisca Mupfumira, and about 200 travel and tour operators, government officials and media personalities. The awards were created to reward and recognise effort and achievement by individuals and organisations in support of the travel and tourism sector, primarily during the preceding 12 months.

Barbara MurasiranwaWild Horizons are proud winners of the Achievement in Innovation award (jointly awarded to Victoria Falls Carnival, Wild Horizons and Far and Wide Zimbabwe) as well as the President’s Special Award, awarded to Wild Horizons’ Barbara Murasiranwa. Barbara, who chairs the ZCT’s Victoria Falls branch is a “tireless representative of ZCT and of operators in the Victoria Falls area.”

https://dailynews.co.zw/articles-2018-02-24-top-tourism-players-honoured/

Livingstone Update

I recently spent the afternoon with the Wild Horizons‘ team in Livingstone as they showed me around some of the attractions and developments in the town. What an amazing and fun team- these guys have fantastic camaraderie. Four members of the team have recently passed their ten year mark with Wild Horizons and you can tell that they have a strong bond after working together for so long.

Next door to the Wild Horizons’ Booking office is the Gwembe Reptile Park. I arrive early and while I was waiting one of the employees from Gwembe kindly offers to show me around. My visit to the Reptile Park is greatly enhanced by the friendliness and knowledge of their staff.

My guide eagerly shows me their tortoises and how to age them by counting the rings on their shells. We then proceed to the crocodile pens and he continues to pepper our conversation with interesting facts. As we enter the walkway over the crocodile enclosure I freeze at the sight of a leviathan.

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This huge crocodile has an estimated age of 80 years old. He is responsible for the deaths of at least two people after which time he was captured and bought to the park to prevent any more deaths. I stare awed and silently hoping the walkway I stand upon doesn’t collapse.

Following my tour the Wild Horizons Zambia team and I got in the Christmas spirit by donning santa hats and going on a tour of Livingstone. There was lots of laughter as we drove around and small children were particularly delighted to see Santa drive by!

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Our first stop was a new attraction in Livingstone; the ‘Lion King’. This new cruise vessel is owned by Royal chief Mukuni of the Toka-leya People. It’s an unusual vessel with traditionally thatched umbrellas and canopy on the upper deck lending a distinctly African feel. The boat offers morning, midday and evening cruises daily. A  cruise on the Zambezi is a must do if in Livingstone or Victoria Falls offering spectacular photo opportunities and the chance to see wildlife.

The Lion King Cruise Vessel

The Lion King Cruise Vessel

We then went on to the Livingstone Art gallery. The Gallery is run by the National Arts Council of Zambia and provides a modern space for exhibitions of contemporary Zambian art. This was the highlight of the trip for me as an art lover and is a great way for anyone with a few spare hours to spend them.

The gallery offers a diverse range of art- with sculptures, mixed media, paintings and photography on show. I was seriously impressed with many of the paintings. Many are are for sale and would make a fantastic souvenir for any visitor. I fell in love with vibrant acrylics with embedded chitenge (a type of local fabric) panels, watercolours depicting wildlife, traditional smooth stone sculptures and a modern spiky kinetic sculpture.

I had had a great day and really encourage all who visit Livingstone to check out the many attractions offered. The Wild Horizons transfer service is the perfect way to see all the town has to offer on your schedule and our driver guides are enthusiastic about sharing their town with visitors.  We will gladly assist you with information and bookings of the numerous other  activities and excursions on offer in Livingstone.

Contact res3@wildhorizons.co.zw  for more information and to book.

Wilderness Safaris Team Build @ The Lookout

On Friday 15th August, Wilderness Safaris staff members attended a team building session at The Wild Horizons Lookout Cafe. The afternoon proved to be high entertaining, whilst at the same time further enhancing the bond of this dynamic team.

The first challenge required an elected team member to embark on a Zip Line across the gorge, with his task being to “bomb” an inflatable canoe on the river below with a water filled balloon. This was highly entertaining as in most cases, the inaccuracies were something to behold! Those brave enough then had the opportunity to earn their team an extra 5 bonus points if they endured a 70m free fall on the Gorge Swing (only 3 brave souls!). 

The next activity that followed entailed team members hoisting a harnessed teammate up a tree using ropes and pulleys, in order for them to find and retrieve a hidden toy Guinea Fowl. 

After the Guinea Fowl retrieval, the three teams then moved to the new Lookout car park, for a game of “sausage soccer”. This entailed each team lining up in a relay fashion, and then using a sausage tree fruit, tied around their waist, to hit a soccer ball across the playing field to their next waiting teammate. No touching of the sausage fruit was allowed, and many, many laughs were had!

After the sausage soccer, came the tent-erecting race – whereby each team had to work together to quickly and efficiently set up a safari tent, complete with a bed and bedding on the interior. After a suspicious amount of skulduggerous pole-snatching and rope-pinching, the ‘orange’ team emerged victorious in this round! (Their attention to detail clinched it for them in the end, as their bed was made complete with hospital corners, and a flower on the pillow!). 

After the tents, the teams then found respite in the shade of the Lookout platform, and undertook a fun quiz which covered all essential aspects of Zimbabwean life, including the colours of the Zimbabwean Flag, and of course some essential wildlife facts! 

Finally, a Zimbabwean culinary tasting competition saw the end of the day’s activities – team members had to consume an array of traditional Zimbabwean delicacies such as Mopani worms, dried vegetables, a whole chilli, and of course, a coca-cola! 

Once the results were tallied, and the quiz sheets had been marked, it was seen that 2 teams, the orange and the green, needed to compete in a tiebreaker. This came in the form of performing a verse of the Zimbabwean National Anthem – some bringing music to the ears of those who listened, and others, well – they got ½ points for smiling ‘n miming!

All had a wonderful afternoon, and the Wilderness team is now undoubtedly stronger than ever before, for having been through a Wild Horizons team build!

You can find out more about Wild Horizons’ team building packages by emailing clive@wildhorizons.co.zw